Book Review: ‘The First Book of Ore: The Foundry’s Edge’
"The Foundry's Edge"
Author and Mt. Lebanon High School graduate Benny Zelkowicz
Author Cam Baity
It’s not often one gets to read and review a new novel written by a Mt. Lebanon graduate. “The First Book of Ore: The Foundry’s Edge,” by Benny Zelkowicz and Cam Baity, is the first in a trilogy of adventure novels published by Disney-Hyperion in which two kids who hate each other join forces in order to take down an evil corporation.
Zelkowicz grew up in Mt. Lebanon and graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School. His parents, Isaias and Joan, still live there. This is his first published novel.
The story begins in a futuristic city that has been revolutionized by the innovations of the Foundry, comparable to Apple in today’s society. One high-profile Foundry scientist is Phoebe Plumm’s father. Since her father is so rich, Phoebe acts like your stereotypical snotty kid, who has all the latest gadgets and treats her 10-year-old servant, Micah, disrespectfully. One day, though, her peaceful life ends when her father is kidnapped by mysterious robotic soldiers. After a search through a Foundry factory, Micah and Phoebe are transported by truck to a hidden land made of living metal. The Foundry had been exploiting this beautiful world in order to create the luxurious lifestyle the kids know. Upon realizing the Foundry’s true motivations, Phoebe and Micah set off towards the Foundry’s base of operations in order to not only save Doctor Plumm, but the metal world as well.
This book has the daunting task of creating two very different worlds at once. Since most of the story is spent in the metal world, this means that the futuristic city has some untapped potential. This is a shame, since my favorite part of the story is when the kids are infiltrating the factory. It’s the first thing they do, so they have to get used to working together while at the same time trying not to get killed. It’s a really good way to integrate character development with the action itself. The general vibe of the metal world is Avatar-esque. Phoebe is continuously appalled at how humans have been destroying the beautiful land and killing its creatures. The scenes demonstrating this can get kind of gruesome as well, which helps drive in the point, but at the same time can be off-putting. In addition, there aren’t as many landmarks as I would like in the metal world, except for a small city which is only briefly visited briefly. Thankfully, the ending sequence more than makes up for this, and it’s so exciting that it’s worth getting to the end to see.
While Phoebe and Micah’s struggle to get along makes their characters well-developed, the ones that join them are less so. Dollop, a tiny robot living in the wild, is obsessed with a robotic version of Christianity. This not only gets grating after a while, as it makes up most of his dialogue, but it could also be offensive to those with strong beliefs. Mr. Pynch and the Marquis, two mercenaries that the kids hire, are hilariously obsessed with money, but their contribution to the plot is predictable. Although Doctor Plumm is a genius, we never see any gadgets that are specifically built by him, only the implication that he helped develop the Foundry’s equipment. The villains, though, are very well-done. Goodwin, the head of the foundry, is not only very evil, but is under pressure from the board of directors because he can’t seem to catch Phoebe and Micah, even though he has amazing technology at his disposal. His lackey, Kaspar, is so obsessed with achieving his goals that he borders on insane. The chapters where the book shows how the villains react are some of my favorites.
“Ore: The Foundry’s Edge” is somewhat flawed, but still enjoyable. Quite a few characters are entertaining, and I love the first and last segments of the book. Without giving away too much, from what I can gather, it seems like following books in the trilogy will consist of more of the good parts. I would recommend taking a look if only for the technologically-themed segments; you’re likely to enjoy them.
Jeremy Farbman is a sophomore at Mt. Lebanon High School.