Underground Magic

London Coven #0·5

by M.V. Stott

Underground Magic is a prequel to Familiar Magic, the first book in the London Coven series.

Stella is the Familiar to the London Coven, a trio of the most powerful witches in the Uncanny Kingdom. Today is her first day on the job, and, if she's not careful, it may be her last...

This is available in many of the collections as well as from the author's site.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic

ebook

First published February 1, 2017

Reviews

[Jessica (Read book. Repeat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Actual rating of 3.5

Stella is the familiar to the London Coven. She's also only 12 hours old. She's hot on the tale of an Uncanny creature as it cuts a bloody swath through the streets of London. This is her first job and she doesn't want to disappoint the witches. She'd also like to make it home tonight. Can she stop the creature before it kills more innocents? Or is she destined to die after only living for a short time?

I enjoyed this story quite a bit actually. I loved the idea of the magical human familiar to a coven, and Stella was likeable enough, even though she came across as very flat and undeveloped. Though I attest this to her only existing for 12 hours. I think it was a good way to write off an underdeveloped character whom you are unable to expand upon due to the short nature of the story. It made me not mind that she was very 2 dimensional. I just hope that she evolves in the main series, otherwise I'm not going to be too happy as I'm intrigued by this story and wish to continue.

The story itself was fast paced and action packed from the word go. I was a little annoy at the fact that Stella was sent out, by the coven, after existing for less than a day, but was given no hints about human interaction. To save face, wouldn't the witches have at least given her some pointers on interacting with humans? It irked me a little that's all.

The story was well thought out and I believe it was a great introduction into an urban fantasy series that promises to be action packed, fast paced and a great read.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm. I wasn't wowed by this, but it's a prequel, and they often feel rushed and unfinished to me. I'm on the fence about continuing. 3 stars

[OldBird · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stella Familiar is... a Familiar. It's 1957, and she's been summoned up by the London Coven of witches to hunt down a nasty killer monster roaming the streets of West London.

Stella's you usual UF lady boasting superpowers, and I just didn't really care for her shout at people until they believe you attitude. The idea of the Uncanny world lurking just below our own sounds interesting, but there's not a lot to go on here that makes it stand out beyond being set in London.

Being a Londoner, I've waited for an UF that I could recognise... Sadly this wasn't it. Things didn't quite sound right for pre-60s London, plus some glaring factual inaccuracies about the Piccadilly Line (Hammersmith is to the west of central London, and the station wasn't actually underground pre-1990s - how's that for a Routemaster comment? ) that left me a bit miffed off. It felt like a postcard caricature of the city (May I invoke the love-letter to the London Underground that is Neverwhere - it didn't spend ages on description, but really felt like a recognisable place).

The writing, a few punctuation issues aside, works well enough. It was an alright urban fantasy read, but I wanted to like it more than I did. Magic-lady-kicks-butt has been done so many times, so perhaps this prequel didn't really have enough to stand out for me.

-I received a free copy of this ebook via the Uncanny Kingdom newsletter-

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mixing crime with supernatural elements makes for an interesting experience.
Underground Magic is a prequel to the London Coven series and the story begins on the day Stella Familiar was created by three witches to guard, protect and remove all supernatural threats for the same.
Narrated in the first person, the reader follows Stella as she embarks and works through her emotions, trials and mistakes at solving a hideous crime. She is a strong heroine and it is beautiful to see her grow into her persona.
Magic, witches and monsters abound. The story is fast paced and full of action - at times humorous -at times gory and is a good combination of mystery, crime and fantasy as it captures the reader's attention from the beginning. My only grouse is that the book was too short.
Gifted with a copy for an honest review.

[The Mysterious Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when someone takes an established genre, especially when it's urban fantasy (my fave), and stretches the envelope a bit. That's exactly what MV Stott has done with Underground Magic. The idea of a familiar is not remotely new. The idea of following one on the day she was created as a full fledged human(ish) person? Yeah, it might be out there, but I've not seen it. Stella Familiar (gotta love that name) is a great character, part newborn and part kick-a** heroine. She's a wonderfully drawn character. Experiencing her stumble through her first days and first adventures is a riot (that's a very good thing for those who don't understand my slang). Add in a strong plot full of thrills and magical battles, an excellent supporting cast and great writing? The result is a clear winner.

[Dixie Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really neat story about a familiar to the London witches coven who had just been created, this being her first day on the job. Her job at the direction of the witches is to do what is necessary to keep the people of London safe from magical mayhem. The familiar investigates, delivers warnings, makes judgments and metes out punishment as required. In this case, she is after a "being" that has been committing murders all over. What she has to do, where she has to go, with whom she has to deal/examine/investigate since the "being" has the ability to shape change at will, is what keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat. I will want to read more by this author.

[David Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second glimpse of The Uncanny Kingdom and I'm very happy.
This time around a witches familiar is followed on her first day on the job. Along the way she meets some great characters who share the worst day ever. The dialogue is both witty and sarcastic, really bringing the human element to life. Although short, this story is dripping with brutality and the author does not go easy on his heroine, placing her in harms way on numerous occasions. The pace is fast and adds a new element to a genre that is quickly becoming one of my favourites.

If you haven't tried the Uncanny Kingdom / Urban Fantasy, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

[J.Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful beginning to a fascinating new series. In this little novella, we get an introduction to Stella, who was created by the three witches of the London Coven to be their familiar. Stella Familiar is a tool, a servant, an assassin, or anything else her Masters wish her to be. If a bogeyman needs taken down, it's Stella's job to do it. And, on this, Stella's very first day…on the job, in London, of being alive…Stella must find a murdering, shape-changer who is killing its way all around London, and destroy it, putting a stop to its depredations once and for all. Can she handle the job, or will her inexperience let the creature escape to kill and kill again?

[Christina Luberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This prequel just flowed. Stella is born today as a familiar to the London Witches Coven. The witches try to protect the innocent from finding out about the uncanny. Stella is their new familiar that will take these monsters on and hope to live. Can Stella do her job? Was she born strong enough? How long will she live before she dies and a new Familiar takes her place. I received an arc copy for my honest review.

[Jennine · Rating 4 out of 5]

PERFECT FOR THE RIGHT READER
Full on bloody gory action and suspense of a magical unseen world amongst London. Not my usual cup of tea you might say, but well written and attractive to murder mayhem and magical type readers. Intriguing plot with the familiar and the three old ladies. I was attracted to the magical part when offered this arc and can certainly see the attraction but l cant watch the 6 O'clock news so no more of this for me. Back to my dragons and magical romances. But you enjoy!

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this tale intriguing, set in central London around the Hammersmith area there is a lot of hustle and bustle, how people do not see what is going on was thought that I found amazing. The main character Miss Familiar was a little annoying at times. She found it necessary to repeat many times that whilst she knew a lot she was new. This became a theme throughout. A couple of times the book was predictable but there was no way to guess how it was going to end. A character that has much potential and I am looking forward to reading more. Hopefully she grows past the new girl phase.

[Christine Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Uncanny Kingdom is fast becoming one of my favourite places. In the Uncanny Kingdom, in the underbelly of London, Stella Familiar is on her first case. She's all of about twelve hours old. So, there's a lot of violence in this book and some profanity but I don't think you could write this without it. It wouldn't make sense. The storyline is tight and it's fast-paced. It'll keep you reading right to the end.

[Scarolet Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my honest and unbias opinion of the story. I loved reading this book cause it is by some of my favorite authors and it is about witches. I am so into this series I love all the strong characters and the very well written story line. I can not wait to continue reading everything by this author.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stella is the Familiar to the London Coven, a trio of the most powerful witches in the Uncanny Kingdom.
What a day she loses her coven and also becomes a target along with others ,why?
You will have to read this exciting book to find out what happens.
You will love it as i did.
An awesome book cannot wait for next one.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

As ‘mini story’ suggests this is a very quick read but is a good glimpse into Stella Familiar’s first day after being created by her witches.
Stella finds herself facing a deadly monster, she’ll have to learn fast or she won’t see a second day.
A unique world and I really cant get enough of all the series in the uncanny kingdom.

[Sherri Shade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed. Doesn't have the humor of the Jake Fletcher books but it makes up for that in magic filled battle scenes. Can't wait to see what the Magic Eater guy is like. I've not read anything less that great in this series so far.

[Evelyn Goughnour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Full of magic through time! Someone that feels bad magic and has to find a way to stop it. She find something she doesn’t expect with a creature that can feel her soul. Also she find unlikely allies.

[BarbaraH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good scary tale with magic

[Phthon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an intense first day on the job! I'm glad my life isn't this exciting!

[Barrie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start let's see what comes next

Baz

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

she is the familiar of the coven but will she fail before she even starts. she what she will do? will she succeed? how will she do it? a wonderful read

[Jan Sjostrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story and characters. Liked this a lot and anxious to read the next book. I received this book for free from the author and this is my honest review

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It is a quick read. It has a unique storyline. You feel for the familiar.

[Elizabeth McDaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting concept for a familiar. This was a fast paced story that was full of adventure and surprises! Good beginning to a series

[Lynn Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great plot! Very descriptive! Definitely a must read!

[Margarita Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Like the movement of the story.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stella has just been created and is trying to hunt down a demon creature that is murdering people in London. However she lacks experience and makes several mistakes that cause deaths, finally trapping it on an underground train. But which human is the demon hiding inside?

I liked Stella and her back story, being newly created as a familiar to the powerful London Coven and out on her first day to track down a nasty demon that can shapeshift into human form. This makes it harder to trace and Stella isn't experienced enough to know when she is talking to a human or the demon. She makes a lot of mistakes that cost lives and her plans all seem to fail. I like her as a character and the fast pace of the story kept me interested. Definitely want to read more of the series.

[Damian Southam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning February 16th, 1957, this short story occurs in London. It surrounds the day the Uncanny called Stella Familiar (whose namesake gives rise to the first full-length novel in The London Coven Series - Familiar Magic) was created to become a key character in this stream of stories that take place in the An Uncanny Kingdom Urban Fantasy Universe. The London Coven Series is written by Matthew Stott (M.V. Stott) and is just one stream that occurs in this universe. David Bussell writes a second stream of stories which is called The Ghosted Series.
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If Londoners could truly see the place they call home in the way Stella Familiar sees it, an exodus would occur alongside the unveiling of the truth about who and what walks the streets. The things that hide in the shadows and in plain sight would have them either chasing after possibly safer locations to live in, or staying frozen with fear inside their homes now barred to the outside world. In truth it is the Uncanny like Stella who attempt to stem the tide, trying to keep the wolves at bay with only a limited success. She can't be everywhere at once, so for some her arrival will be too late, whilst for others its not at all. Like the blood drops she now follows in pursuit of a shape-changing demon, its the underbelly of places like London that gives rise to the real world: known as the Uncanny Kingdom. Whilst Uncanny permeate everywhere people can live, there are hubs which drive the Uncanny to accumulate in greater density, such is the case for London.

The noise, the chaos, and the concentration of magic draws the Uncanny like moths to a flame. Monsters are real, if that's what kids' story books wish to call them. Not all Uncanny feed on humans. Some do so only to live, but others live to kill. If you do happen to see an Uncanny, its best not to try working out which is which. Like for any prey you're safer to never see that which hunts you. For some Uncanny, by the time you've worked out which one you're seeing it can be too late to escape an impending doom. To reduce attention that has the capacity to out the Uncanny, some hunt the ones bringing too much attention to their existence. Today its Stella's birthday but not in the usual way the event denotes: for her its a quite literal birth. She didn’t exist before today and nor did she grow up. This is because Stella wasn't born, she was Conjured. In a universe where magic permeates everything from the inanimate to the living, from the ephemeral to the very air you breathe, the sky's the limit of possibilities.

The London Coven, a trio of centuries old witches, combined their magic to create a new sort of Familiar. They imbued Stella with the necessary knowledge to enable her to function in the capacities for which she was created. Stella Familiar is a means by which regulation and punishment of the Uncanny can be metted by her Wiccan conjurers. In essence she is tasked with the responsibility of keeping in place the veil behind which the Uncanny exist. She doesn't yet know what happened to the last familiar of the London Coven, or for that matter, what type of familiar it might've been; and she figures quite quickly that its probably best to neither wonder nor ask. Being her first day on the job she is allowed no minutes or hours to acclimate or to practice the skills her knowledge creates the potential for. Some learning can only be found through experience. She has been thrown into the proverbial deep end, in a creek with no paddle to speak of.

As you might expect in the case of any novice, regardless of how much knowledge was imbibed or however powerful the spells she can invoke, mistakes are inevitable. Damaging to her burgeoning conscience, Stella's mistakes are of the sort where lives are lost. With a self-abuse found only where moral responsibility resides, Stella quickly resolves to repeat no mistakes and to learn from those that are made, providing there's a next time, that is. She vows to do her best by those whose lives are lost because she didn't master a situation quickly enough. Of all the possible task-masters she could've had, she's promptly become her hardest yet and in less than the few hours she's being alive. Her first ever practical lessons are of the sort which result in deaths. She's baptised in a conflagration to learn the greatest cost there is. Hitherto unbeknownst, she comes to know that determination isn't all there is to success. For some lessons you have to live them to learn what they seek to teach, no matter how unpalatable they might be.

Readers have long known of the idea of familiars imbued with gifts to perform certain services for those involved. Traditionally we've seen and experienced the more traditional interpretation, such as animals with a symbiotic relationship to the practitioner involved in the bond. An imbibing of magic allows communication and a range of other capabilities to exist between the two who are bonded. Sometimes the familiar has no intrinsic gifts before the bond takes place. Alternatively only the bond occurs because the familiar already holds their own magic that permits the gifts to occur. Regardless of which type a sharing of abilities and magic usually exists getween the bonded. The shared strengths are the most obvious elements to consider the worth of having a bonded familiar. Whilst on the basis of observation only it isn't always easy to detect which of the two beings holds supremacy, or if such a variable even enters into it. In this respect I guess it comes down to the voluntary or involuntarily manner of the bond.

Its often only the direction of the bond that alternates, but its usually multidirectional once it takes effect. An imbibing of gifts is typically the defining feature. There's often a degree of mysticism with the interpretation that sees the familiar consciously choosing a person for whom they bond with. In the alternate direction of the bond an element of reciprocation permeates the symbiosis, but in either direction these elements aren't exclusive; that is they're present in both. Some darker interpretations may also include the elements of coercion and/or enslavement. The unique quality of the series herein is the concept of conjuring a familiar with who's a living person ostensibly with a soul. Its an intriguing aspect of the series and dare I say, its likely a concept that won't always be particular to Matthew Stott's creation. With any really interesting and rewarding concepts there's often an adopting that soon follows the success of the original creation. Given I've not read every fantasy title that exists, I should probably rephrase the uniqueness as pertaining to the several hundred to nearly a thousand fantasy books that I have read, though.

As to how much free will Stella will have, a concept reminiscent of the aforementioned enslavement, is something we'll just have to wait and see. The unique qualities of this universe also goes a way into broadening the possible conceptions by readers in regards to the types a demon entities, appearing herein as the Uncanny. Whilst the urban fantasy platform of environments and supernatural beings never ceases to amaze my own imaginings, I'm frequently happily reminded that although its exceptionally well established there's still unique introductions and new spins on things previously encountered. Cases like that herein, where writers expand it's outer bookends by adding more to the already large parameters, reinforces for me why I love to read stories categorised as urban fantasy. I suspect it's not inconsiderable in the extent of tomes that could be collated to include each and every creature and human being, plus the laws which govern the universes and dimensions inclusive in it's construction. The sky does truly seem to be the limit.

Gone are the days where detailed bestiary companion novels would be sufficient as introductory texts in its range of inclusions. Indeed, save perhaps individual writers who might consider writing one for application suitable only for their own universes, its likely a task that's too mammoth to ever consider producing. Perhaps a large collaboration with well defined individual scopes of research might have some success, providing they had an inexhaustible access the plethora of books already in production, say nothing for those that'd be released whilst the collaboration was still collating their information. Seen from this perspective it has fast chased its earlier fantasy brethren included in the more traditional forms of epic, low, high, and dark; to name but several of the earlier classifications. It really has evolved into more contemporary styles of the long appreciated scope of traditional fantasy subgenres. Herein is another perfect example of that trend, and its only around a thirty minute read. It examples like this short prelude that help make urban fantasies the increasingly popular place to find your fanastical escape.

[B. Sinsational · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story is one who definitely looses by being just that- too short.
If it had been a longer story there is no doubt that it would have had the storyline,characters and skill (by the author)to be a eye popping awesome read. As it is in this format, I as a reader get the feeling of "hey, what the heck happened, it cant end like that..?" Sort of snubbed, cut short, like I missed half the book..
One can always wish that it will one day grow..

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

underground magic ARC 12:05 PM 8/27/2017

I got this book as a free download from Instafreebie or someplace like it.

Got me from the first page. Reads like a Noir, descriptive.
(You can feel it.) When I read it it reminded me of Mickey Spillane books. First person details and descriptions of feelings and emotions. Can't wait to read more books by M.V. Stott.