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Underground Magic
She’ll give in to the darkest power to gain their freedom.
Five years ago, Lawrence Kincade walked away from the underground resistance, having lost all she loved in the fight against the Party -- her friends, her family, her freedom to use her magical ability. Everything.
Since then, she's been in hiding, trying to come to terms with living outside a society that now reviles everything she values. But when she learns the Party has reinstated the extermination policy in the Purity Camps, she realizes she can no longer remain apart from the fight.
As Lawrence attempts to rejoin and revitalize the resistance she abandoned, she must once again seek out allies, often in unexpected places. With the help of a surprisingly sexy shifter who prowls the streets of post-apocalyptic Birmingham, Alabama, she'll have to deal with the last place she ever wanted to end up, and the first on the Party's list to be eradicated: Purity Camp D.
With a little luck and a lot of work, maybe she can save the prisoners using her own brand of Underground Magic.
Five years ago, Lawrence Kincade walked away from the underground resistance, having lost all she loved in the fight against the Party -- her friends, her family, her freedom to use her magical ability. Everything.
Since then, she's been in hiding, trying to come to terms with living outside a society that now reviles everything she values. But when she learns the Party has reinstated the extermination policy in the Purity Camps, she realizes she can no longer remain apart from the fight.
As Lawrence attempts to rejoin and revitalize the resistance she abandoned, she must once again seek out allies, often in unexpected places. With the help of a surprisingly sexy shifter who prowls the streets of post-apocalyptic Birmingham, Alabama, she'll have to deal with the last place she ever wanted to end up, and the first on the Party's list to be eradicated: Purity Camp D.
With a little luck and a lot of work, maybe she can save the prisoners using her own brand of Underground Magic.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 31, 2017
26 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 22, 2017
This book was really interesting but also not easy to follow due to a complex of the world. Lawrence is a character that can't be loved or hated. Her character is so complex! I really enjoyed her!
Ty was an ass The beginning but after some time I started liking him and I was rooting for him in the end.
Enjoyable read.
Ty was an ass The beginning but after some time I started liking him and I was rooting for him in the end.
Enjoyable read.
June 2, 2017
I first reviewed this wonderfully enjoyable story and promised start to a new series when choosing which of the three stories in the Myths and Legends boxed set collection that I would use to provide more specific example stories for my review. Rather than rewrite it using my now changed and standard format, I've opted for copying and pasting it straight from the larger review of the aforementioned coloection where it first appeared. As the subsequent novel in the series is due out in roughly six weeks, I'll return to my format for the Underground Resistance release: currently scheduled for a July 17th 2017.
_____________________________________________________________
For the past five years Lawrence Kincade has been dealing with the aftermath of her fight against The Party (TP). As a member of the Underground Resistance (UR) the cost of her involvement had been totalitarian. The TP sanctions everything she considers important. Chief among the crimes she's prepared to make a return to the frontline is a reinstated extermination policy in the Purity Camps (PC). If it isn't stopped it'll become the preferred example of non-compliance, starting with Camp D.
If the post-apocalyptic social order believes they can act with impunity, she's prepared to give into a form of darkness in the name of freedom. On a high note there's an initial unforeseen benefit of working with a super sexy shifter. She'll do whatever it'll take to win and to see an end to both the PC and the TP. But will the pitfalls of being a general eat away at her, before she has the chance to make a difference. Sometimes fighting fire with water only turns it to steam, such that the fire remains after the two forces meet. Sometimes, though, to fight fire you must use fire because no matter how hot it burns it cannot damage itself.
Whilst Lawrence's mother had still been alive they'd together worked immeasurably to teach her a control over the rare magic, once in only every several generations, that burns in her so dark and powerful that when it became obvious that it wouldn't be controlled, it was in the end a choice to contain it lest she lose herself to its seductive embrace. A leash became necessary in the form of a necklace pendant that she never removed fully from her person. The best thing that had happened for those who'd she come to fight against, was the bounding of her magic; so it should come as no surprise that the best thing that could happen for the underground resistance was for the necklace to come off. But for Lawrence, the type of good soul that balks any mistreatment, even that of her enemies, it may forever devouring of the woman she is.
_____________________________________________________________
When it comes to decisions it's an unavoidable consequence of making them that no matter if they're wrong or right, you can always identify things you didn't consider after it's too late to make it differently. Regarding good decisions we have a tendency toward considering how they could've been better. Regarding bad decisions we essentially still do the same, except they aren't buffered by what was gained. You could therefore say that people have an unavoidable tendency to regard all decisions in at least some poor manner. Just as decision-makers can make a hundred choices where ninety-nine are correct, the wrong choice will nonetheless be remembered even after the other ninety-nine are long forgotten. Only decisions that are the pinnacle of success are those without loss, but they're more likely to be around one in ten-thousand.
In fairness, though, as a species we often learn more from the mistakes we make, because they could after all be injurious to ourselves or the people we love. Thus our attention is often more geared toward seeing errors in judgements, so we can hopefully avoid the same mistakes should we be faced with a similar choice again. It's the bane of any decision-maker just as it's ultimately the reason why Lawrence is set at the precipice of what will become the context and legacy for her future regarding the UR. It must also be remembered that sometimes the situation requiring a decision is a failure just awaiting the choice to see how many losses happen no matter how it the choice is made. Lawrence's paths were in the proverbial crap-storm of being damned if she did, and if she didn't, that's how it was intended to begin with.
In this exclusive new world purity is determined by a number of markers, including but not limited to biology and ethnicity. Some of the painful lessons of humanity's past are now forgotten or simply ignored. Other markers that had paved the way for humanity to become exclusive of even itself were the original impure weeding out of races not considered human at all. These paved the way for the acceptance of such notions so that it could later be extended to the features of human makeup no longer deemed desirable. Given it created an enormous workforce of the have-not's who go without so that the have's get more of the things that make life more enjoyable, its gradual rolling out whilst the majority maintained control, the keeping of control was eventually swindled into the hands of the powerful minority so that the majority going without were kept segregated to prevent them from uprising. In such ways the environment has some of the flavours of The Hunger Games.
The first two were shifters and witches, essentially the so-called supernatural. As if having magical abilities makes you any less human, which biologically is a flawed argument to begin with. In essence the exclusion of said types setup for ultimate failure those who agreed in said exclusions, only to later become defined in much the same way. A poetic justice of sorts was achieved regarding later minorities, because their own agreement when they were part of the majority paved the way for continuance regarding other minority standards. Such easily identified ones became the indigenous and the disabled, this last factor not even purely biological; not if you consider that disabled can just as easily be caused by accidental extraneous factors. Then cosmetically based aspects relating to BMI found their way onto the list, and personality expressions of the right balance between masculine and feminine traits. An example includes: eye color, skin tone, blood type, hair color, BMI, height, and age.
Resistance is just that, a choice to not accept whatever is being said or done. Lawrence has resisted too, but as much as she's the unofficial leader, most of her resistance is consumed not in fighting TP but in fighting who she truly is and why her magic makes her so important. For the resistance to become more it needs not just a single and focused leader, but perhaps even more important is that it must grow from the halls of resistance to the expanse of a revolution. Confined within a hall the resistance is capable of walking only so many steps before it hits a closed door. But freed from the hall to the expanse means vigor and endless ability and reach. Its only therein that it could become the tool to sweep away all traces of TP, or to at least meet them on a more even playing field not confined to only the set doors of the hall that it can only open or close, but not walk through as is necessary for them to win. As isolated pockets and disenfranchised slavery they are too separated to be able to change from a resistance into a revolution.
I try to avoid saying it, because I tend to find that I'm saying it for every other book, but I've got to say that this is one of the best books I've read in a while. Although given what I've just noted I should probably rephrase that as in several books, but it just doesn't feel like saying enough. It's important to add the distinction that this is not to disrepute any of the others I've said it about, though. Perhaps I'm geared toward seeing the positives, which I try to do in life as well. Seeing the negatives, constructive or otherwise, feels like not paying credit where it's due and setting yourself up to always be at least partially disappointed. It's probably easy to just pick the crap out of things but it doesn't help your perception of the world or to enjoy what you do have. Between the cast, the content, the environment, and the direction of the story it takes you on a path that's difficult to put down. There's always something going on and you can skip through so infatuated in keeping on reading that you don't notice when you've passed to a new chapter, and similarly couldn't tell what chapter you're even on.
Lawrence is the type of character who you can really sink your teeth into. She is complex and lively, even in her vulnerabilities she brings individual flavour to the plot. The sort of person who often finds herself bumbling through her life and environment, she makes it exceptionally easy to empathise with because she is you in many ways. Her narration is fine tuned to pick up on the things that are most important to take away from the contexts and situations she finds herself in. Like her best friend says, she might not want her mantle but she is very well suited to it. Even in her direst moments she still sees the world from the way it affects those around her. The dystopian society is cruel in the ways that the social conscience fears could actually be possible by humans and has been done in our own pasts. It's a significantly deep analysis but not in the somewhat boring way of reading an essay, it's instead a lively and far reaching tale that permits you to put in only as much thought as you want because it spends its time entertaining you but not requiring you to address anything you don't want to. It's the perfect example of why sometimes a good story does way more for developmental thinking than even a detailed thesis could.
_____________________________________________________________
For the past five years Lawrence Kincade has been dealing with the aftermath of her fight against The Party (TP). As a member of the Underground Resistance (UR) the cost of her involvement had been totalitarian. The TP sanctions everything she considers important. Chief among the crimes she's prepared to make a return to the frontline is a reinstated extermination policy in the Purity Camps (PC). If it isn't stopped it'll become the preferred example of non-compliance, starting with Camp D.
If the post-apocalyptic social order believes they can act with impunity, she's prepared to give into a form of darkness in the name of freedom. On a high note there's an initial unforeseen benefit of working with a super sexy shifter. She'll do whatever it'll take to win and to see an end to both the PC and the TP. But will the pitfalls of being a general eat away at her, before she has the chance to make a difference. Sometimes fighting fire with water only turns it to steam, such that the fire remains after the two forces meet. Sometimes, though, to fight fire you must use fire because no matter how hot it burns it cannot damage itself.
Whilst Lawrence's mother had still been alive they'd together worked immeasurably to teach her a control over the rare magic, once in only every several generations, that burns in her so dark and powerful that when it became obvious that it wouldn't be controlled, it was in the end a choice to contain it lest she lose herself to its seductive embrace. A leash became necessary in the form of a necklace pendant that she never removed fully from her person. The best thing that had happened for those who'd she come to fight against, was the bounding of her magic; so it should come as no surprise that the best thing that could happen for the underground resistance was for the necklace to come off. But for Lawrence, the type of good soul that balks any mistreatment, even that of her enemies, it may forever devouring of the woman she is.
_____________________________________________________________
When it comes to decisions it's an unavoidable consequence of making them that no matter if they're wrong or right, you can always identify things you didn't consider after it's too late to make it differently. Regarding good decisions we have a tendency toward considering how they could've been better. Regarding bad decisions we essentially still do the same, except they aren't buffered by what was gained. You could therefore say that people have an unavoidable tendency to regard all decisions in at least some poor manner. Just as decision-makers can make a hundred choices where ninety-nine are correct, the wrong choice will nonetheless be remembered even after the other ninety-nine are long forgotten. Only decisions that are the pinnacle of success are those without loss, but they're more likely to be around one in ten-thousand.
In fairness, though, as a species we often learn more from the mistakes we make, because they could after all be injurious to ourselves or the people we love. Thus our attention is often more geared toward seeing errors in judgements, so we can hopefully avoid the same mistakes should we be faced with a similar choice again. It's the bane of any decision-maker just as it's ultimately the reason why Lawrence is set at the precipice of what will become the context and legacy for her future regarding the UR. It must also be remembered that sometimes the situation requiring a decision is a failure just awaiting the choice to see how many losses happen no matter how it the choice is made. Lawrence's paths were in the proverbial crap-storm of being damned if she did, and if she didn't, that's how it was intended to begin with.
In this exclusive new world purity is determined by a number of markers, including but not limited to biology and ethnicity. Some of the painful lessons of humanity's past are now forgotten or simply ignored. Other markers that had paved the way for humanity to become exclusive of even itself were the original impure weeding out of races not considered human at all. These paved the way for the acceptance of such notions so that it could later be extended to the features of human makeup no longer deemed desirable. Given it created an enormous workforce of the have-not's who go without so that the have's get more of the things that make life more enjoyable, its gradual rolling out whilst the majority maintained control, the keeping of control was eventually swindled into the hands of the powerful minority so that the majority going without were kept segregated to prevent them from uprising. In such ways the environment has some of the flavours of The Hunger Games.
The first two were shifters and witches, essentially the so-called supernatural. As if having magical abilities makes you any less human, which biologically is a flawed argument to begin with. In essence the exclusion of said types setup for ultimate failure those who agreed in said exclusions, only to later become defined in much the same way. A poetic justice of sorts was achieved regarding later minorities, because their own agreement when they were part of the majority paved the way for continuance regarding other minority standards. Such easily identified ones became the indigenous and the disabled, this last factor not even purely biological; not if you consider that disabled can just as easily be caused by accidental extraneous factors. Then cosmetically based aspects relating to BMI found their way onto the list, and personality expressions of the right balance between masculine and feminine traits. An example includes: eye color, skin tone, blood type, hair color, BMI, height, and age.
Resistance is just that, a choice to not accept whatever is being said or done. Lawrence has resisted too, but as much as she's the unofficial leader, most of her resistance is consumed not in fighting TP but in fighting who she truly is and why her magic makes her so important. For the resistance to become more it needs not just a single and focused leader, but perhaps even more important is that it must grow from the halls of resistance to the expanse of a revolution. Confined within a hall the resistance is capable of walking only so many steps before it hits a closed door. But freed from the hall to the expanse means vigor and endless ability and reach. Its only therein that it could become the tool to sweep away all traces of TP, or to at least meet them on a more even playing field not confined to only the set doors of the hall that it can only open or close, but not walk through as is necessary for them to win. As isolated pockets and disenfranchised slavery they are too separated to be able to change from a resistance into a revolution.
I try to avoid saying it, because I tend to find that I'm saying it for every other book, but I've got to say that this is one of the best books I've read in a while. Although given what I've just noted I should probably rephrase that as in several books, but it just doesn't feel like saying enough. It's important to add the distinction that this is not to disrepute any of the others I've said it about, though. Perhaps I'm geared toward seeing the positives, which I try to do in life as well. Seeing the negatives, constructive or otherwise, feels like not paying credit where it's due and setting yourself up to always be at least partially disappointed. It's probably easy to just pick the crap out of things but it doesn't help your perception of the world or to enjoy what you do have. Between the cast, the content, the environment, and the direction of the story it takes you on a path that's difficult to put down. There's always something going on and you can skip through so infatuated in keeping on reading that you don't notice when you've passed to a new chapter, and similarly couldn't tell what chapter you're even on.
Lawrence is the type of character who you can really sink your teeth into. She is complex and lively, even in her vulnerabilities she brings individual flavour to the plot. The sort of person who often finds herself bumbling through her life and environment, she makes it exceptionally easy to empathise with because she is you in many ways. Her narration is fine tuned to pick up on the things that are most important to take away from the contexts and situations she finds herself in. Like her best friend says, she might not want her mantle but she is very well suited to it. Even in her direst moments she still sees the world from the way it affects those around her. The dystopian society is cruel in the ways that the social conscience fears could actually be possible by humans and has been done in our own pasts. It's a significantly deep analysis but not in the somewhat boring way of reading an essay, it's instead a lively and far reaching tale that permits you to put in only as much thought as you want because it spends its time entertaining you but not requiring you to address anything you don't want to. It's the perfect example of why sometimes a good story does way more for developmental thinking than even a detailed thesis could.
April 24, 2018
Cover/Title: The cover is ok but the title is what drew me in this time. I couldn't wait to read this one.
Characters:Lawrence (although saddled with a very male name) is a heroine that I can appreciate. She can kick ass but still care about people deeply.
Plot: Lawrence left the resistance years ago but is drawn back into it when extermination resumes in the Purity Camps. She is desperate to save her friends, both old and new. She makes new alliances and gets to work.
Overall: This is a great start to a new series. I love reading about shifters that actually shift. Lawrence is an interesting change from the typical witch so I enjoyed learning about her. I love that the book wrapped up but left just enough to make the reader want to read more. I am hoping there is a book 2 in the future.
Characters:Lawrence (although saddled with a very male name) is a heroine that I can appreciate. She can kick ass but still care about people deeply.
Plot: Lawrence left the resistance years ago but is drawn back into it when extermination resumes in the Purity Camps. She is desperate to save her friends, both old and new. She makes new alliances and gets to work.
Overall: This is a great start to a new series. I love reading about shifters that actually shift. Lawrence is an interesting change from the typical witch so I enjoyed learning about her. I love that the book wrapped up but left just enough to make the reader want to read more. I am hoping there is a book 2 in the future.
June 5, 2017
This Is the first book in this new series. We get intoduced to the characters & their abilities. Lawerence Kincade is a member of The Underground Resistance (UR) & for the past fivery years she has been dealing with the aftermath of her fight against The Party (TP). The cost of her involvement had been totalitarian. A dystopian novel that can be compared to the hunger games. With a intriguing plot & well detailed settings. Lawrence's character is complex & spirited. I volunteerly reviewed an advanced reading copy of this book.
September 28, 2017
This is the first book in a new series and I am in love with the world building and characters. There is plenty of actions and whoa what happened there moments that make you wanna go back a few pages to read again to see if you missed something. I can not wait to see what happens next
October 3, 2017
Entertaining
This was an exciting read, great world building, not a big fan of the whole racist world and angle, but not a fan of racism in general. Then again, I'm not black. I'm assuming the author must be.
This was an exciting read, great world building, not a big fan of the whole racist world and angle, but not a fan of racism in general. Then again, I'm not black. I'm assuming the author must be.
October 17, 2017
The story line was great, easy to follow and left me wanting more. There’s a twist in there that makes me excited to read book 2. I really enjoyed the characters. I like the fact that she’s learning how to control her power since no one really taught her how when she was growing up.
June 22, 2017
A fast-paced thrill ride from beginning to end. This author collaboration brings you characters you have to love - even the ones you hate. Every time you think you can put it down, you can't.
June 8, 2017
This was a great start to this series! I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this story but was glued til the end. Lawrence is a great character, she's strong and fragile, powerful but afraid of her magic and very much human. She's the leader of The Underground but it's a role that she didn't ask for and isn't really comfortable with. Lawrence's journey helps her learn to be herself without being afraid. I loved seeing the people that help Lawrence and getting to know Ty. I can't wait to see where Lawrence's journey takes her and if she will be able to take down the Party.
July 3, 2017
5 Cranky Stars
I was absolutely riveted from start to finish. I pretty much finished it in one night and immediately checked to see if the next one was available. Trust me. That is rare!
Alas, I have to wait until July 2017 for the follow up, but as soon as it arrives on my hot little kindle - I'll be devouring it.
Lawrence Kincaid used to be in the resistance fighting against the fascist, Eugenics based ruling Party with laws based on "racial purity" and anti supernatural. Camps, enslavement, kill orders - the Party has no compassion when it comes to those declared "impure". Lawrence is everything they hate: she's black and a powerful witch.
Five years ago, she walked away and hid with a small group of survivors in the magically protected Underground. Lawrence avoids the surface. She's suffered too many defeats there, but people she loves has been taken and she aims to get them back.
A chance meeting with a shifter, Ty, puts Lawrence on a collision course with not only the Party, but her self. Her element is a power that even she is afraid of, but in order to change the world, she might have to break it.
I highly recommend this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the parallels with history and also, current events. The characters were engaging and likeable. Some of the twists made me sit up and take notice.
I can't wait for the sequel and also, a pre-equal would be good too. *Hint, hint*.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews