Up In Flames

Tales of the Outlaw Mages

by Amy Campbell

Her gift of fire will either be his salvation or his end.

Kittie Larue dreams of changing the world. As a maverick mage, she faces a life on the run, forever looking over her shoulder in fear of being captured by the lackeys of the dreaded Salt-Iron Confederation. While her Pyromancy is strong, her voice is stronger and when she speaks at a festival to light a fire of rebellion under the other magic wielders in attendance, Kittie snares the attention of her enemies.

Seasoned theurgist Jack Dewitt has no qualms with hunting down renegades. When he crosses paths with the mysterious Firebrand, her fierce spirit intrigues him. But Jack serves the Confederation, with no choice–and he’s tasked with bringing her in, dead or alive.

When Jack and his crew snare her in a late-night ambush, Kittie fights back. But Jack has tricks of his own, and he proves to be tougher than any opponent she’s taken on before. Will the Firebrand blaze her way to victory, or will her dream of freedom turn to ash?

ebook

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Amy Campbell is an independent author and librarian. She grew up in Houston, which she still calls home. Amy writes epic fantasy novels about men and women who are unapologetically true to themselves (and throws in the occasional pegasus or chupacabra to keep it interesting). When not working at the library or writing, Amy is chasing after her two busy young boys.

Reviews

[André · Rating 4 out of 5]

I backed Amy Campbell’s book Breaker on kickstarter because I really liked the snippets she had there and Up in Flames is (supposedly) a short prequel. It’s a really cool intro into the world of the Outlaw Mages-series: A heavily wild wild west-inspired fantasy world where mages are either contracted (read: enslaved) by the ruling Salt-Iron Confederation as so-called theurgists or they are mavericks that very often become hunted outlaws. Kittie Larue is the latter. She is ‘Firebrand’ – because of her power over fire, but also because she wants to change the status quo of magic users and therefore gives public speeches whereever she goes. Something the Confederation does not approve of and therefore started hunting her. One of these hunters is Jack Dewitt, a theurgist who has brought in or killed quite a few rogue mages for the Confederation.
The story is told alternately from the viewpoint of these two characters giving the story its momentum. The short-story focusses clearly on the introspection of these two characters, but also gives enough of a glimpse into the worldbuilding of the Outlaw Mages. I enjoyed it a lot and am now looking forward to start the series.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, enjoyable short story in the outlaw magic series. One gets thrown into this amazing magical world where there's different kinds of magic users I found very fascinating and entertaining. Was a good teaser for her series that I now have to check out. It was sometimes hard for me to follow as it's not my first language

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was something different for me. I found it quite interesting. Enough so that I’d like to continue the series to see what happens next. This was rather short and ended leaving me full of questions. Mainly, what the heck happened to Myrtle?

I wasn’t sure if I would like this story at first, because I was so confused about the terminology. This is the first book I have read by Amy Campbell. I stuck it out and found myself drawn in by the characters and easily rooting for them. The magic use was interesting. The concept of the mage being controlled by a handler’s bond was creepy. I felt Jack’s pain.

I gave this 4 stars because of some errors that had me confused and because it took too long for any real explanation of how things work and what the point was behind it all. With just a LITTLE more revealed a little earlier I’d have given 5.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying tale that answers questions I didn't even realize I had yet. :-)

I read this before I read Breaker, and I thought that was a suitable sequence.