What do you think?
Rate this book
Going Underground #1
Going Underground
The year is 2044. A decree is put into effect that brings about a new era—a revived holocaust against mixed-lineage humans. Being of non-pure blood, Jen Cole has been forced to live under the oppressive government’s radar.
Jen and her closest friend, Myron Cutter, one day request an alliance with conspiracy theorist and rabble-rouser, Oscar Saracen. Incarceration is only the beginning of Jen’s problems when she’s caught conspiring against the government.
Yet when Jen ends up in the same labour camp as Saracen, escape becomes palpable as serendipity reunites her with Myron, and hope looms on the horizon. As Jen uncovers treasonous plans, she heads underground—the only safe place for her now, and where she can continue her pursuit of the dark truths enveloping the world she once knew.
Packed with political turbulence and a chilling existence, Going Underground is a thrilling journey of a troupe of misfits in a fight to win back their freedoms. December 31, 2046, would be a day to remember. The new Independence Day. But who will win the battle?
Jen and her closest friend, Myron Cutter, one day request an alliance with conspiracy theorist and rabble-rouser, Oscar Saracen. Incarceration is only the beginning of Jen’s problems when she’s caught conspiring against the government.
Yet when Jen ends up in the same labour camp as Saracen, escape becomes palpable as serendipity reunites her with Myron, and hope looms on the horizon. As Jen uncovers treasonous plans, she heads underground—the only safe place for her now, and where she can continue her pursuit of the dark truths enveloping the world she once knew.
Packed with political turbulence and a chilling existence, Going Underground is a thrilling journey of a troupe of misfits in a fight to win back their freedoms. December 31, 2046, would be a day to remember. The new Independence Day. But who will win the battle?
356 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2015
4 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
L.N. Denison
5 books199 followersWriter of things dark and disturbing..but that will soon change...watch this space!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 29, 2017
My rating is 4.1- 4.3 with a little editing of the book would be the 5.
Book Going Underground by L.Y.N. Denison is a frightening display England in the dystopian world of 2044. The war that took place after the separation of Scotland, who started the English government, is in full swing. The government is making "witch hunt" for residents who are not purebred. Opens the concentration camps in which it attaches all the mixed blood and those who are against them. For them perform the terrible torture and test all types of drugs. The story is set in London who became the ruin of the city that it once was. After the London, government patrol guards and whoever I suspect they taken to laboratories located in the parliament, or those who is for them suspicious, eliminate on-site places. The main characters in the book, want, to tell the truth about what is happening. They try to prove that the government is making terrible crime against humanity. They want to warn people of London on what is going on, but the cost of any struggle is sometimes too high. The author takes us into the dark dystopian world and through his characters; Jen, Myron, and Carlos lead us into the world in which no places for different opinions. Where is the world under the control of influential figures who would stop at nothing to consolidate their power? Such dark period was too much in our past; some are now occurring on our planet, and probably will be in our future. There is only one question, will we allow this to happen.
"Copy provided courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review."
Book Going Underground by L.Y.N. Denison is a frightening display England in the dystopian world of 2044. The war that took place after the separation of Scotland, who started the English government, is in full swing. The government is making "witch hunt" for residents who are not purebred. Opens the concentration camps in which it attaches all the mixed blood and those who are against them. For them perform the terrible torture and test all types of drugs. The story is set in London who became the ruin of the city that it once was. After the London, government patrol guards and whoever I suspect they taken to laboratories located in the parliament, or those who is for them suspicious, eliminate on-site places. The main characters in the book, want, to tell the truth about what is happening. They try to prove that the government is making terrible crime against humanity. They want to warn people of London on what is going on, but the cost of any struggle is sometimes too high. The author takes us into the dark dystopian world and through his characters; Jen, Myron, and Carlos lead us into the world in which no places for different opinions. Where is the world under the control of influential figures who would stop at nothing to consolidate their power? Such dark period was too much in our past; some are now occurring on our planet, and probably will be in our future. There is only one question, will we allow this to happen.
"Copy provided courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review."
October 22, 2017
Having read 'Only the Few' from the same author and enjoying it I picked up 'Going Underground' simply because I wanted to peruse something else from Ms. Denison mostly just to appease my own curiosity. I was not disappointed. As with most people, if I like an author- I of course will read more from the same person. Although the book was violent when it came to some of the torture scenes, it was not overtly so, at least not to me anyway. I like the way this author has very strong female leads, take no sh*t kinda women that one does not want to screw with or your gonna get yer noggin' slapped around. Makes me chuckle some yes, but it's not terribly common in a lead role I find. It should be, I personally think it makes the story more engaging. If I had had the time I would have read this cover to cover in one sitting yet even though I could not do such the story stuck with me until I was able to get back to it. That's not easy to do.
A very descriptive and entertaining read that I would definitely recommend.
I'm eagerly awaiting December and the release of 'Hyde's Lament' Ms. Denison.
A very descriptive and entertaining read that I would definitely recommend.
I'm eagerly awaiting December and the release of 'Hyde's Lament' Ms. Denison.
November 15, 2016
I really enjoyed this dystopian thriller. It is well written and certainly a good 'page-turner'. It is set in London in 2044, and while this is the future for us it's not too far away. This makes the story more tangible and suspenseful. Many will definitely enjoy and be able to identify with it. The struggle to be heard, to form one's own identity, and to be loved will resonate deep. In fact, there are valuable lessons for us all about categorizing people and belonging to groups - good and bad.
May 13, 2016
Resentment and rage fuel a dark dystopia.
Summary: Jenara Celesta Cole is a fiery, f-bomb-dropping, beautiful, red-headed, rebellious, “lower class gutter trash” reform school escapee who teams up with “extremely attractive,” born-with-a-silver-spoon, upper class, gallant and brave cadet leader at the military academy, Myron James Cutter, and the “acne-ridden, bi-focal wearing, teenaged crusader” Oscar Saracen to overthrow the oppressive English government.
Set in a dystopian London around 2044, Jen’s battle to save herself and liberate the English people begins days before her eighteenth birthday, when she defies curfew to taste freedom. Freedom, alas, is not Jen’s lot. She is not only lower class, but also of “non-pure blood,” Scottish blood bearing that evil taint. Thus tainted, through her mother’s line, Jen is subject to being “culled” by vicious government patrols. England is, oddly enough, at war with Scotland. A plague also afflicts the long-suffering English public, although Oscar “suspected they were victims of a government patrol’s bloodlust” and not authentic plague victims at all.
The cast of villains is imaginative and diverse. First we meet the sadistic Dr. Simon Besson, who must multi-task between torturing Jen (“’I have such plans for you, my pretty one,’ he said smugly”), murdering captured Scottish soldiers with his own hands (“’Ah, what a delicious display of horror,’ the doctor said with an evil chortle”), hiding his illicit connections to non-pure bloods and overseeing the building of an army of clones from the repurposed DNA of culled non-pure bloods by double-agent scientist-saboteur Gerick Meyer, “your typical geeky scientific type who was an easy target for bullying.” Then we encounter Prime Minister Edward Myosin and “the Himmler to his Hitler,” revered war hero Brigadier John Howard. Brought into the inner ruling circle by Myosin to do his dirty work and eliminate the opposition, Howard “made short order of the list of Edward Myosin’s opposition, dealing with them swiftly and without fuss,” even including the prime minister’s own brother Joseph, who fell to “a simple bullet to the back of the head.”
Alas for the prime minister, the brigadier lacked loyalty and craved power. “The brigadier said nothing as he trussed the prime minister up like a prize hog; hands tied behind his back and feet pulled tight to his knees. Myosin screamed blue murder, which did him no good.” I will leave to the pleasure of the reader the details of Myosin’s demise and the colorful way in which Howard disposed, and re-disposed, of Myosin’s corpse, for this writer is best in describing scenes of torture, mayhem and death, always vivid, creative and unforgettable.
The plot is a straightforward heroic uprising that moves along with vigorously brisk pacing. The three heroes meet, gather allies, repair a printing press and then bravely print and brazenly distribute anti-government propaganda that blows the lid off the whole culling-non-pure-blood-DNA-to-create-clone-army government conspiracy. Various counter-attacks, captures, torture sessions and rescues ensue, with our three heroes and their allies risking life and limb and balls, not to mention possibly perishing into martyrdom in utterly unexpected ways. Fear not, for “Myron, Jen, Oscar and others of a similarly brave and defiant stripe were damned if they were going to languish under [John Howard]’s iron fist.” In the brave and desperate final assault demanded by the genre, vengeance is extracted, villains punished, evil governments toppled, wars ended, clone armies destroyed and freedom restored by our Clone Cudgel-wielding heroes.
Review: I came to this book with high expectations, as the published reviews were strong overall and I enjoy heroic tales set in dystopias, from Hunger Games and the Divergent series to the Mad Max and Matrix series movies. Going Underground seemed a perfect fit with my tastes, and a substantial 420-page epic fifteen years in the making to boot.
However, I did not enjoy the book as much as I had hoped.
While the (British) spelling was perfect throughout, the copy-editing could have been better, as the author struggled at times with capitalization and punctuation, especially in dialogue.
I did not enjoy the writing style. The author is fond of adverbs and embellished dialogue tags, so lots of sneering and smirking and lamenting tagged along with the characters’ words. The author also brandished frequent and disorienting changes in point of view. The dialogue is reminiscent of 19th century English penny dreadfuls or American 19th century melodramas. I wondered if perhaps it was an intentional ironic melodrama style, a humorous parody of bad period writing, but as page after page wore on for 420 pages, the parody did not wear well if parody it was.
The world-building was haphazard and illogical, although the author came up with some great ideas that, fully developed, could have made for a magnificent dystopian world. A war. A clone army. A plague, or possibly a government-induced fake plague. Genocide perpetrated upon the non-pure bloods. Any of these alone could have carried the book. All of them together, well done, would have been stupendous. However, these world-building elements were left underdeveloped and not well integrated with the plot.
We live in a time of terrible battles over religious and racial ideologies, so I was intrigued by Oscar Saracen’s surname, which means the “Arab” or the “Mohammedan” in medieval usage. At first I thought maybe the book would explore the Western/Muslim divide in Britain in a fictional context, and the non-pure bloods were Muslims. Writing this review the day after London elected its first Muslim mayor, a very interesting fact in the real world, I held vainly on to this hope through many pages before realizing Saracen’s name was just random and the tainted bloodlines were…Scottish.
I could have forgiven an implausible world, girded as it was by the sturdy plot, but the characters I cannot forgive. I hate Jen. She begins, and ends, as a rude, selfish, foul-mouthed, ungrateful, dim and bratty girl who does not deserve half the care and concern lavished on her by noble Myron and brave Oscar. I know she is meant to be fiery and tempestuous, but she is just major league annoying.
About a quarter of the way through the story, Myron and Jen have overcome their early differences, those character introduction bits where he calls her “gutter trash” and she beats him up in front of his mates, and they are now allies sneaking back into London at the risk of their lives. She is tired and footsore and grumpy, as she often is. They reach a silent and deserted Hyde Park. Myron, sensible fellow that he is, points out that “Something’s not right.” So we should go hide, perhaps, to avoid attracting the attention of the sadistic patrols that take one to the camps for unspeakable tortures and death, no? Not our fiery and tempestuous heroine, oh no! Instead, and I quote,
“She wrenched her hand away from Myron’s and ran as fast as she could towards the centre of the park. He gave chase, but there was no stopping her. Upon reaching the centre, she let out one of the loudest screams Myron had ever heard. He knew she was letting out all the tension of recent events and tried to comfort her with a hug.
“’Myron, please! Can you just leave me alone for one fuckin’ minute?’ she begged frantically, rebuffing his advances.
“He respected Jen’s wishes and walked away from her as she began to wail like a banshee again. He concentrated his efforts on finding the food they both so desperately needed.
“For a full fifteen minutes, she wailed and screamed until her throat was sore.”
So.
Jen screams a lot.
She physically abuses her friends a lot, and her enemies even more. She swears with every breath, “arsehole” and “f***in’” being favorite forms of expression. She repeatedly endangers herself, her friends and critical missions by disobeying orders, randomly screaming and fighting, again with both friends and enemies. She marinates in seething resentment against the privileged upper class, constantly raising class differences between herself and son-of-privilege Myron, even after he has defied his father and thrown away all his advantages to save her, repeatedly.
In fact, it is Jen’s raging resentment that lingers with me long after putting down the book after their final victory, not Oscar’s insight and bravery, or Myron’s nobility, or the creativity of the clone army or the diverse and unique ways different characters were tortured, maimed, killed and their bodies disposed of throughout the story. (Body disposal methods—memorably creative.)
No, Jen’s resentment and rage permeate the entire story, even when she is not on the page. Resentment is the scent that lingers in her wake.
A wild and fierce argument broke out recently in the Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) Facebook group. Someone posted an article positing that correcting grammar, spelling and punctuation and enforcing rules of “good” writing was racist and classist, an oppressive form of white privilege used to keep down minorities and prevent underprivileged people from expressing their truths. I did not join the Facebook argument, but I watched it rage for days with great attention and thought hard about the two sides, on one side the defenders of classical and high standards in written communication and on the other those arguing for creating space for marginalized voices to make themselves heard.
In my own life, I have struggled to speak with the “right” accent and write in the most correct manner possible, without regard to whatever deficiencies might have plagued my early upbringing and education, in hopes that my message will reach and touch listeners. I instinctively value those writers who make the same effort with their written expression. And I suppose it is also true that I instinctively devalue the writing of those who do not make that effort or value it as I do.
However, after hearing the many heartfelt and moving arguments in the great Facebook debate from the side of those arguing that grammar and punctuation standards are powerful weapons used to silence marginalized voices, I found myself wondering if I was participating, through sharing in this review my frustration with small nits of grammar and punctuation and writing style and logic lapses, in the silencing of a marginalized voice.
Had I, by picking on those things, completely missed the heart of the author’s message? Was the author was trying to communicate something powerful and heartfelt about the author’s view of the class system in Britain, a class system the author sees as so evil and pernicious that it turns the very bodies of the marginalized into the actual instruments of their own capture, torture and oppression in the form of the clone army, a class system deeper than race—the enemy Scots are white like the ruling English—and more profound than religious ideological differences between native British and immigrant Muslims? Perhaps Oscar Saracen was not named randomly after all, but his Muslim-hinting name was put in the story to underline the author’s position that the evil in Britain is found not in racial issues, nor in religious ideology struggles, but in class oppression like that which so suffocates Jen, who, inarticulate and marginalized, can only scream when she finds her way to the center of Hyde Park.
If so, then Jen cannot change, cannot mellow, cannot soften, cannot forgive, cannot take on the nuanced speech and polite behaviors of the upper class enemy, for they are and forever will be her enemy and her resentment and rage must be equally eternal.
Recommendation: Read it if you love vividly described torture and the darkest of dark dystopias and don’t mind heroes who are constantly fighting, insulting each other and beating each other up. Read it if I am wrong to care about details like writing style, character development, world-building and punctuation, and missing the point about the evils of class oppression in England. Read it in case it is a brilliant work by an overlooked and marginalized voice rejected by a classist grammar Nazi.
Summary: Jenara Celesta Cole is a fiery, f-bomb-dropping, beautiful, red-headed, rebellious, “lower class gutter trash” reform school escapee who teams up with “extremely attractive,” born-with-a-silver-spoon, upper class, gallant and brave cadet leader at the military academy, Myron James Cutter, and the “acne-ridden, bi-focal wearing, teenaged crusader” Oscar Saracen to overthrow the oppressive English government.
Set in a dystopian London around 2044, Jen’s battle to save herself and liberate the English people begins days before her eighteenth birthday, when she defies curfew to taste freedom. Freedom, alas, is not Jen’s lot. She is not only lower class, but also of “non-pure blood,” Scottish blood bearing that evil taint. Thus tainted, through her mother’s line, Jen is subject to being “culled” by vicious government patrols. England is, oddly enough, at war with Scotland. A plague also afflicts the long-suffering English public, although Oscar “suspected they were victims of a government patrol’s bloodlust” and not authentic plague victims at all.
The cast of villains is imaginative and diverse. First we meet the sadistic Dr. Simon Besson, who must multi-task between torturing Jen (“’I have such plans for you, my pretty one,’ he said smugly”), murdering captured Scottish soldiers with his own hands (“’Ah, what a delicious display of horror,’ the doctor said with an evil chortle”), hiding his illicit connections to non-pure bloods and overseeing the building of an army of clones from the repurposed DNA of culled non-pure bloods by double-agent scientist-saboteur Gerick Meyer, “your typical geeky scientific type who was an easy target for bullying.” Then we encounter Prime Minister Edward Myosin and “the Himmler to his Hitler,” revered war hero Brigadier John Howard. Brought into the inner ruling circle by Myosin to do his dirty work and eliminate the opposition, Howard “made short order of the list of Edward Myosin’s opposition, dealing with them swiftly and without fuss,” even including the prime minister’s own brother Joseph, who fell to “a simple bullet to the back of the head.”
Alas for the prime minister, the brigadier lacked loyalty and craved power. “The brigadier said nothing as he trussed the prime minister up like a prize hog; hands tied behind his back and feet pulled tight to his knees. Myosin screamed blue murder, which did him no good.” I will leave to the pleasure of the reader the details of Myosin’s demise and the colorful way in which Howard disposed, and re-disposed, of Myosin’s corpse, for this writer is best in describing scenes of torture, mayhem and death, always vivid, creative and unforgettable.
The plot is a straightforward heroic uprising that moves along with vigorously brisk pacing. The three heroes meet, gather allies, repair a printing press and then bravely print and brazenly distribute anti-government propaganda that blows the lid off the whole culling-non-pure-blood-DNA-to-create-clone-army government conspiracy. Various counter-attacks, captures, torture sessions and rescues ensue, with our three heroes and their allies risking life and limb and balls, not to mention possibly perishing into martyrdom in utterly unexpected ways. Fear not, for “Myron, Jen, Oscar and others of a similarly brave and defiant stripe were damned if they were going to languish under [John Howard]’s iron fist.” In the brave and desperate final assault demanded by the genre, vengeance is extracted, villains punished, evil governments toppled, wars ended, clone armies destroyed and freedom restored by our Clone Cudgel-wielding heroes.
Review: I came to this book with high expectations, as the published reviews were strong overall and I enjoy heroic tales set in dystopias, from Hunger Games and the Divergent series to the Mad Max and Matrix series movies. Going Underground seemed a perfect fit with my tastes, and a substantial 420-page epic fifteen years in the making to boot.
However, I did not enjoy the book as much as I had hoped.
While the (British) spelling was perfect throughout, the copy-editing could have been better, as the author struggled at times with capitalization and punctuation, especially in dialogue.
I did not enjoy the writing style. The author is fond of adverbs and embellished dialogue tags, so lots of sneering and smirking and lamenting tagged along with the characters’ words. The author also brandished frequent and disorienting changes in point of view. The dialogue is reminiscent of 19th century English penny dreadfuls or American 19th century melodramas. I wondered if perhaps it was an intentional ironic melodrama style, a humorous parody of bad period writing, but as page after page wore on for 420 pages, the parody did not wear well if parody it was.
The world-building was haphazard and illogical, although the author came up with some great ideas that, fully developed, could have made for a magnificent dystopian world. A war. A clone army. A plague, or possibly a government-induced fake plague. Genocide perpetrated upon the non-pure bloods. Any of these alone could have carried the book. All of them together, well done, would have been stupendous. However, these world-building elements were left underdeveloped and not well integrated with the plot.
We live in a time of terrible battles over religious and racial ideologies, so I was intrigued by Oscar Saracen’s surname, which means the “Arab” or the “Mohammedan” in medieval usage. At first I thought maybe the book would explore the Western/Muslim divide in Britain in a fictional context, and the non-pure bloods were Muslims. Writing this review the day after London elected its first Muslim mayor, a very interesting fact in the real world, I held vainly on to this hope through many pages before realizing Saracen’s name was just random and the tainted bloodlines were…Scottish.
I could have forgiven an implausible world, girded as it was by the sturdy plot, but the characters I cannot forgive. I hate Jen. She begins, and ends, as a rude, selfish, foul-mouthed, ungrateful, dim and bratty girl who does not deserve half the care and concern lavished on her by noble Myron and brave Oscar. I know she is meant to be fiery and tempestuous, but she is just major league annoying.
About a quarter of the way through the story, Myron and Jen have overcome their early differences, those character introduction bits where he calls her “gutter trash” and she beats him up in front of his mates, and they are now allies sneaking back into London at the risk of their lives. She is tired and footsore and grumpy, as she often is. They reach a silent and deserted Hyde Park. Myron, sensible fellow that he is, points out that “Something’s not right.” So we should go hide, perhaps, to avoid attracting the attention of the sadistic patrols that take one to the camps for unspeakable tortures and death, no? Not our fiery and tempestuous heroine, oh no! Instead, and I quote,
“She wrenched her hand away from Myron’s and ran as fast as she could towards the centre of the park. He gave chase, but there was no stopping her. Upon reaching the centre, she let out one of the loudest screams Myron had ever heard. He knew she was letting out all the tension of recent events and tried to comfort her with a hug.
“’Myron, please! Can you just leave me alone for one fuckin’ minute?’ she begged frantically, rebuffing his advances.
“He respected Jen’s wishes and walked away from her as she began to wail like a banshee again. He concentrated his efforts on finding the food they both so desperately needed.
“For a full fifteen minutes, she wailed and screamed until her throat was sore.”
So.
Jen screams a lot.
She physically abuses her friends a lot, and her enemies even more. She swears with every breath, “arsehole” and “f***in’” being favorite forms of expression. She repeatedly endangers herself, her friends and critical missions by disobeying orders, randomly screaming and fighting, again with both friends and enemies. She marinates in seething resentment against the privileged upper class, constantly raising class differences between herself and son-of-privilege Myron, even after he has defied his father and thrown away all his advantages to save her, repeatedly.
In fact, it is Jen’s raging resentment that lingers with me long after putting down the book after their final victory, not Oscar’s insight and bravery, or Myron’s nobility, or the creativity of the clone army or the diverse and unique ways different characters were tortured, maimed, killed and their bodies disposed of throughout the story. (Body disposal methods—memorably creative.)
No, Jen’s resentment and rage permeate the entire story, even when she is not on the page. Resentment is the scent that lingers in her wake.
A wild and fierce argument broke out recently in the Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) Facebook group. Someone posted an article positing that correcting grammar, spelling and punctuation and enforcing rules of “good” writing was racist and classist, an oppressive form of white privilege used to keep down minorities and prevent underprivileged people from expressing their truths. I did not join the Facebook argument, but I watched it rage for days with great attention and thought hard about the two sides, on one side the defenders of classical and high standards in written communication and on the other those arguing for creating space for marginalized voices to make themselves heard.
In my own life, I have struggled to speak with the “right” accent and write in the most correct manner possible, without regard to whatever deficiencies might have plagued my early upbringing and education, in hopes that my message will reach and touch listeners. I instinctively value those writers who make the same effort with their written expression. And I suppose it is also true that I instinctively devalue the writing of those who do not make that effort or value it as I do.
However, after hearing the many heartfelt and moving arguments in the great Facebook debate from the side of those arguing that grammar and punctuation standards are powerful weapons used to silence marginalized voices, I found myself wondering if I was participating, through sharing in this review my frustration with small nits of grammar and punctuation and writing style and logic lapses, in the silencing of a marginalized voice.
Had I, by picking on those things, completely missed the heart of the author’s message? Was the author was trying to communicate something powerful and heartfelt about the author’s view of the class system in Britain, a class system the author sees as so evil and pernicious that it turns the very bodies of the marginalized into the actual instruments of their own capture, torture and oppression in the form of the clone army, a class system deeper than race—the enemy Scots are white like the ruling English—and more profound than religious ideological differences between native British and immigrant Muslims? Perhaps Oscar Saracen was not named randomly after all, but his Muslim-hinting name was put in the story to underline the author’s position that the evil in Britain is found not in racial issues, nor in religious ideology struggles, but in class oppression like that which so suffocates Jen, who, inarticulate and marginalized, can only scream when she finds her way to the center of Hyde Park.
If so, then Jen cannot change, cannot mellow, cannot soften, cannot forgive, cannot take on the nuanced speech and polite behaviors of the upper class enemy, for they are and forever will be her enemy and her resentment and rage must be equally eternal.
Recommendation: Read it if you love vividly described torture and the darkest of dark dystopias and don’t mind heroes who are constantly fighting, insulting each other and beating each other up. Read it if I am wrong to care about details like writing style, character development, world-building and punctuation, and missing the point about the evils of class oppression in England. Read it in case it is a brilliant work by an overlooked and marginalized voice rejected by a classist grammar Nazi.
November 4, 2015
The author sets a good pace for her main characters--Jen who is nearly eighteen and "had a fearsome reputation for her infamous redheaded temper," and Myron, a military cadet--Jen found him extremely attractive although he initially thought of her as "lower class gutter trash" and tried to see "how much it would take to see her lose her temper." He found out, but soon they are running away together into the English countryside some time in the not too distant future when dystopian political conditions prevailed. Oscar, a voice "screeching through a megaphone" in Hyde Park warned of the government conspiracy to enslave most of the population. A war is on against the "non-pure bloods" and it is gives one pause to learn that the author means the Scots. Though it is nearly the middle of the twenty-first century, there are still caravan parks and wind-up flashlights.
Many scenes involve the London Underground and are narrated with confident detail; many scenes involve labor camps, "scarily efficient torture technicians," and men fighting men, told with equal confidence but conveying not much beyond the sound and the fury. There are clone soldiers that move like robots, there are tired cadets that move in a similar fashion because of "sleep deprivation." There is the evil genius, a Himmler to the ruling Hitler (because of a political assassination/military coup it is not clear exactly who the author had in mind).
People are ordered around, screamed at, among them the male MC who resists defiantly, braves torture and then discover that "in reality he had no choice but to do as he was told." One character, the military leader on the other side, was an older man "whose biological clock was winding down and his burning need and drive for glory for exceeded" his opponent. The opponent became Prime Minister of England and old MacAulay was never heard from again.
Jen, we are told, "loved to write but hated reading." This might explain much.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Many scenes involve the London Underground and are narrated with confident detail; many scenes involve labor camps, "scarily efficient torture technicians," and men fighting men, told with equal confidence but conveying not much beyond the sound and the fury. There are clone soldiers that move like robots, there are tired cadets that move in a similar fashion because of "sleep deprivation." There is the evil genius, a Himmler to the ruling Hitler (because of a political assassination/military coup it is not clear exactly who the author had in mind).
People are ordered around, screamed at, among them the male MC who resists defiantly, braves torture and then discover that "in reality he had no choice but to do as he was told." One character, the military leader on the other side, was an older man "whose biological clock was winding down and his burning need and drive for glory for exceeded" his opponent. The opponent became Prime Minister of England and old MacAulay was never heard from again.
Jen, we are told, "loved to write but hated reading." This might explain much.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 19, 2017
Going Underground tells the story of a future dystopian Britain in which England and Scotland are at war and the English are oppressed by an authoritarian government. Society has crumbled, people are impoverished and segregated, and there are curfews, concentration camps and public executions. After suffering at its hands, two friends join a young revolutionary in ‘going underground’ to oppose the English government.
Despite this intriguing beginning, it did not read as though the story was taking place in the future – at least I found it very difficult to believe that England and Scotland could be at war in 2044 given the limited explanation of how this occurred (this applies to most of the events in the novel) and why electronic technology seems to be non-existent. The novel also suffered from simplistic explanations of the world the characters inhabit; it felt very under researched and cartoonish, with a number of inconsistencies and impossibilities, which made it very difficult to suspend disbelief. Additionally, the writing felt very rushed with far too much telling instead of showing, stereotypes and clichés.
Despite this, the story has promise and was interesting enough to pull me through to the ending. If you enjoy dystopian fiction, you might find it refreshing to read about the UK descending into tyranny. All the merits of the novel, for me, stem from the promise of the story outline, and in this sense, the author has succeeded.
Despite this intriguing beginning, it did not read as though the story was taking place in the future – at least I found it very difficult to believe that England and Scotland could be at war in 2044 given the limited explanation of how this occurred (this applies to most of the events in the novel) and why electronic technology seems to be non-existent. The novel also suffered from simplistic explanations of the world the characters inhabit; it felt very under researched and cartoonish, with a number of inconsistencies and impossibilities, which made it very difficult to suspend disbelief. Additionally, the writing felt very rushed with far too much telling instead of showing, stereotypes and clichés.
Despite this, the story has promise and was interesting enough to pull me through to the ending. If you enjoy dystopian fiction, you might find it refreshing to read about the UK descending into tyranny. All the merits of the novel, for me, stem from the promise of the story outline, and in this sense, the author has succeeded.
October 14, 2015
Hymn to courage
This is a profoundly imagined foray into a future totalitarian Britain, in the grip of a reign of terror presided over by a malign, paranoid regime. The racial and class agendas of which are enforced through extreme, terrifyingly random, violence meted out by bored sadistic louts deliberately left to their own devices.
Various social no-nos have been re-introduced. Corporal punishment is back with a vengeance. Torture is institutionalised as government policy. Apparently pointless laws are enacted and prohibitions dreamed up and implemented through systematic brutality in order to keep the population in a state of continual bewildered terror. ‘The government’s hold over the people had tightened to point where people were too frightened to breathe for fear of retribution.’
This savage satire achieves a gruesomely plausible edge by projecting current British political, economic and social mores and prejudices, already culturally in place to ‘logical’ extremes. Future single mothers are identified as a cause of economic stagnation and marked for elimination. Extreme class segregation policies are on the Statute Books and ruthlessly pursued. Those identified as working class are not allowed to set foot upon middle-class or upper-class ground without a permit . . .
Some might wonder - does this view of ‘single mothers’ as an intolerable burden on the state differ all that much from that currently, if unconsciously, held in some quarters? Similarly with class segregation, is this, as envisioned for the future here, not already present, institutionalised by history, various policies, barriers, labeling and self-labeling in a country in which class consciousness never goes away and is if anything undergoing a resurgence?
With ‘The patrolmen couldn’t deny that Jen had the features of an angel, despite her lowly social standing,’ the author neatly characterises the prevailing Zeitgeist as these individuals, themselves no doubt working class, display a whole range of prejudices they have been indoctrinated with. And again one is prompted to wonder - are these attitudes already current, lurking, that beauty is the prerogative of the rich?
Sent north for being Scottish, is also creepily tenable. How any government could define pure Scottish or English remains unclear, but such considerations would in no way deter the attempt by a regime that has learned nothing from history.
The novel, in which spilt guts and human agony permeate the relentlessly dark and foreboding atmosphere, is a brooding, thoughtful, piece of work, executed with passion and total commitment, although slow to take off and textually challenging to negotiate in places.
The author has created memorable characters, particularly the confrontational, socially disadvantaged, Jen whose deprivations, sufferings, and powers of recovery at times take on a transcendental quality, and her mother, the tragic, powerfully evoked, Lavinia.
The background is civil war. One might quibble over the credibility of some aspects of this as presented, but the apposite symbolism of this particular type of conflict as metaphor mutes such objections, given the essential, elemental, authenticity of the book, its poetic truth, and redemptive message.
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a profoundly imagined foray into a future totalitarian Britain, in the grip of a reign of terror presided over by a malign, paranoid regime. The racial and class agendas of which are enforced through extreme, terrifyingly random, violence meted out by bored sadistic louts deliberately left to their own devices.
Various social no-nos have been re-introduced. Corporal punishment is back with a vengeance. Torture is institutionalised as government policy. Apparently pointless laws are enacted and prohibitions dreamed up and implemented through systematic brutality in order to keep the population in a state of continual bewildered terror. ‘The government’s hold over the people had tightened to point where people were too frightened to breathe for fear of retribution.’
This savage satire achieves a gruesomely plausible edge by projecting current British political, economic and social mores and prejudices, already culturally in place to ‘logical’ extremes. Future single mothers are identified as a cause of economic stagnation and marked for elimination. Extreme class segregation policies are on the Statute Books and ruthlessly pursued. Those identified as working class are not allowed to set foot upon middle-class or upper-class ground without a permit . . .
Some might wonder - does this view of ‘single mothers’ as an intolerable burden on the state differ all that much from that currently, if unconsciously, held in some quarters? Similarly with class segregation, is this, as envisioned for the future here, not already present, institutionalised by history, various policies, barriers, labeling and self-labeling in a country in which class consciousness never goes away and is if anything undergoing a resurgence?
With ‘The patrolmen couldn’t deny that Jen had the features of an angel, despite her lowly social standing,’ the author neatly characterises the prevailing Zeitgeist as these individuals, themselves no doubt working class, display a whole range of prejudices they have been indoctrinated with. And again one is prompted to wonder - are these attitudes already current, lurking, that beauty is the prerogative of the rich?
Sent north for being Scottish, is also creepily tenable. How any government could define pure Scottish or English remains unclear, but such considerations would in no way deter the attempt by a regime that has learned nothing from history.
The novel, in which spilt guts and human agony permeate the relentlessly dark and foreboding atmosphere, is a brooding, thoughtful, piece of work, executed with passion and total commitment, although slow to take off and textually challenging to negotiate in places.
The author has created memorable characters, particularly the confrontational, socially disadvantaged, Jen whose deprivations, sufferings, and powers of recovery at times take on a transcendental quality, and her mother, the tragic, powerfully evoked, Lavinia.
The background is civil war. One might quibble over the credibility of some aspects of this as presented, but the apposite symbolism of this particular type of conflict as metaphor mutes such objections, given the essential, elemental, authenticity of the book, its poetic truth, and redemptive message.
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
September 29, 2016
This was a dark albeit somehow optimistic YA dystopian novel. In some aspects, it reminded me of V for Vendetta (the movie, not the graphic novel – one of my favorites), although Going Underground was both uglier in the depths to which London had sunk and more optimistic than V.
I both hated the ugly world L.N. Denison built for us here and loved the youthful optimism of the young protagonists believing that they could make a difference. Besson, the camp doctor, was a sufficiently creepy character to make the revelation he makes at the end of his time (no spoiler) startling to me as well as to the MC, Jen.
I do wish that Jen had had more memories or thoughts about her mother because I’m not sure that part of Jen’s character was fleshed out as much as I would like. Certainly, what we are given about their relationship, it would have had a huge impact on Jen, and perhaps would have explained her volatile personality better.
Overall, this was a good read – I was going to say “fun” but I’m not sure I can apply that to such an awful situation as existed in this book.
I strongly recommend this book to lovers of YA dystopian novels set in the not-too-distant future – especially if you want one set in London!
I both hated the ugly world L.N. Denison built for us here and loved the youthful optimism of the young protagonists believing that they could make a difference. Besson, the camp doctor, was a sufficiently creepy character to make the revelation he makes at the end of his time (no spoiler) startling to me as well as to the MC, Jen.
I do wish that Jen had had more memories or thoughts about her mother because I’m not sure that part of Jen’s character was fleshed out as much as I would like. Certainly, what we are given about their relationship, it would have had a huge impact on Jen, and perhaps would have explained her volatile personality better.
Overall, this was a good read – I was going to say “fun” but I’m not sure I can apply that to such an awful situation as existed in this book.
I strongly recommend this book to lovers of YA dystopian novels set in the not-too-distant future – especially if you want one set in London!
January 5, 2016
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Going Underground is a futuristic dystopian novel that takes place in the future in the British Isles. An oppressive government has taken over England, putting the people into strict classes, and severely punishing anyone who speaks out against the government. England and Scotland are at war, and in the middle of all this chaos, comes an unlikely friendship/romance between Jen Cole and Myron Cutter. Together, with other brave folk, they form a secret resistance and go about doing what they can to bring down the tyrannical government.
The premise is a good one, and I like Jen and her courage. The writing however, was awkward, with many more adverbs than necessary, and with some confusing point of view shifts. Also, there were many instances when there was a great deal of “telling” the reader what had happened, or was happening with not as much “showing”.
Again though, the idea behind the story is promising, and it has great potential. If the author were to edit the story and pass it by a professional editor, I think it would give the author a chance to tighten up the writing, and strengthen a very promising story.
Going Underground is a futuristic dystopian novel that takes place in the future in the British Isles. An oppressive government has taken over England, putting the people into strict classes, and severely punishing anyone who speaks out against the government. England and Scotland are at war, and in the middle of all this chaos, comes an unlikely friendship/romance between Jen Cole and Myron Cutter. Together, with other brave folk, they form a secret resistance and go about doing what they can to bring down the tyrannical government.
The premise is a good one, and I like Jen and her courage. The writing however, was awkward, with many more adverbs than necessary, and with some confusing point of view shifts. Also, there were many instances when there was a great deal of “telling” the reader what had happened, or was happening with not as much “showing”.
Again though, the idea behind the story is promising, and it has great potential. If the author were to edit the story and pass it by a professional editor, I think it would give the author a chance to tighten up the writing, and strengthen a very promising story.
February 9, 2017
Taking place in 2044, Going Underground takes us to a world where humans of mixed-blood are banished from the face of the earth. I do enjoy reading the occasional dystopian tale, and Going Underground is a great addition my collection, which embodies the appropriate darkness inherited by the genre while also being more accessible that other of the genre’s entries which tend to skew more literary.
I really did enjoy the author’s preference toward constantly developing the characters and plot to produce a lean and efficient novel. The style is fittingly gritty and raw.
A story like this (with the latest iteration published on October 18, 2016) couldn’t have been more timely. While the story is in 2044, there’s a horrific similarity to recent political changes seen in the world today. As put on the Amazon page, Going Underground took 15 years to write, and the effort and countless revisions have resulted in a polished, impressive dystopian thriller.
I really did enjoy the author’s preference toward constantly developing the characters and plot to produce a lean and efficient novel. The style is fittingly gritty and raw.
A story like this (with the latest iteration published on October 18, 2016) couldn’t have been more timely. While the story is in 2044, there’s a horrific similarity to recent political changes seen in the world today. As put on the Amazon page, Going Underground took 15 years to write, and the effort and countless revisions have resulted in a polished, impressive dystopian thriller.
October 26, 2016
This story absolutely reeled me in. From the very beginning I was under its spell with my heart beating fast and no desire to put it down.
It isn't a pretty story, or a nice story. But it is a very thrilling story to read, and naked in its realism of the darker side of humanity. The characters are raw and without refinement, which suits exactly where they are and what they are having to put up with just to survive. There is no fluffiness in this story - there is terror, pain and a sense of evil in some people who pass through it - but I believe it is entirely believable fiction.
What I've read in this story today will stay with me for quite a while, I expect. It is thought provoking about where humankind can go if a series of seriously wrong turns are taken.
I found this to be an exceptional read and I look forward to reading more by this author.
It isn't a pretty story, or a nice story. But it is a very thrilling story to read, and naked in its realism of the darker side of humanity. The characters are raw and without refinement, which suits exactly where they are and what they are having to put up with just to survive. There is no fluffiness in this story - there is terror, pain and a sense of evil in some people who pass through it - but I believe it is entirely believable fiction.
What I've read in this story today will stay with me for quite a while, I expect. It is thought provoking about where humankind can go if a series of seriously wrong turns are taken.
I found this to be an exceptional read and I look forward to reading more by this author.
June 12, 2016
Well written with few mistakes, I enjoyed this journey into a dark and brutal future England in the year 2044. Heroine Jen, hunted by an authoritarian regime, is marked for culling becdause she is of mixed race. She is a survivor and her feisty nature helps her through many scrapes, beatings and torture as she goes underground with her odd-ball mates to join a resistance movement trying to expose the brutal Big Brother-esque regime that has the country in its grip. An enjoyable, if bleak, read, and a worthy first effort by UK author L.N. Denison.
October 16, 2016
Someone once said that some books should instead be movies, and some movies should instead be short stories, and some short stories should be tales told on a drunken night nobody else remembers.
Going Underground should be a TV show. There’s a little too much swearing (a lot too much swearing) and a little too much torture (really graphic torture) but it’s built in an interesting alternative future London. There’s a few cliff hangers, three or four twists and a story that carries you through this dystopian nightmare.
But there are a few issues. Put it like this –
Story – 3
Writing - 4
Characters – 1
Total – 3.5
It needs another draft. It may be that it should be two books. There’s some chuff in here that detracts from the story – I don’t care how characters get from one place to another ALL the time. There’s lots of eating from bins – it’s not like James Bond’s gentleman’s club luncheons where you’re hooked into a smoky world of 50s Cordon Bleu cookery. It’s a half -eaten pasty from a bin. Some arguments between characters lead nowhere – but more of that arguing thing later.
London is under siege. Scotland has attacked England and there are freedom fighters and general ne’er-do-wells in Kent and other outlying areas. The fascist government value only Pure Bloods and treat the rest of the people as their own play things. There are curfews and patrols and slums and arrests. Lots of arrests. Basically it feels like 30’s Berlin but in the UK in a few decades’ time. I guess there will always be jackboots.
(To be honest, with Brexit and a hardcore right wing rising up around the first world, the timing of the novel seems extremely prescient.)
Moving gently on…
Jen is from the wrong side of the tracks – which most people in this version of London seem to be. Her boyfriend, Myron (Myron?!) is from a family whose head is a member of the government. Oscar is a rabble-rouser who randomly shouts about the corrupt government to anyone who will listen. The three of them come together to take down the government.
With leaflets.
Yup. That’s why I say the 1930’s. They don’t attempt to save London by uploading a virus or storming a TV station – there are hardly any computers or media to speak of. (We know what the government’s story is, but it’s not clear how they disseminate it). Our heroes find a bloody great printing press and print leaflets, which they then hand out.
Now I quite like this traditional remedy. It feels grungy and old school. I imagine those old Weimar republic Dadaist leaflets, and it would be nice to have seen one in the book, but we do get to see what they say. And luckily dystopian future London has a few printing presses rolling around, so they don’t need to rely on an HP laserjet – which would have added some more drama (but not necessarily good drama. Nobody needs to see a revolution stalled by a paper jam or low toner.)
Besides leaflets, there’s torture. Lots of torture, mainly by an evil scientist who actually, and I quote, “cackles” at one point. Finally – torture and leaflets in the same story!
Oh, and a heads up. In the future, you will need a London tube map and plasters (band-aids). Blister plasters specifically. (Blisters can be torture, but the torture in this is EVEN WORSE than blisters.)
And so the elephant in the room. That “1” point for characters…
I can understand that living in a dystopia might drag you down. You might get a little short tempered and snippy with your friends. You may not display much affection or humility. You might become a bit of a d*ck.
The first person we meet is Jen and she is singularly the most unlikeable lead character I have ever met. Petulant, pointlessly rude, lacking any class or social graces, alarmingly violent, her one redeeming feature is that she apologises. Once. In a 302 page book.
As well as the evil government, she hates her mum, her boyfriend, her friends. Everybody. Spending time with her is like being trapped in a 14 year old’s temper tantrum. She’s a complete sociopath with more issues than a box of t-issues.
And a lot of the characters speak with the same voice as Jen, but without the frequent swearing and unrelenting anger. At one point a character enters a speakeasy (see? It’s the 30s, surely?) and the barman greets him with, “Where the hell have you been?” Now that is not customer service. Even in the pubs in London, of which I have visited a few, the bar staff don’t lay into you on entrance.
Another lead, Oscar, is driven by the need to fight against the injustices the government is inflicting on its populace. But his honourable fight is undermined by how he communicates with everybody else. Like Jen, he snaps at people and storms off in huffs to such an extent you start to sympathise with the government.
The final lead, Myron (Myron?!) actually has a character arc. He starts off petulant and angry but slowly over the course of the book matures into the leader of a legitimate rebellion, who is a bit less petulant and angry than the others. Thank heavens for Myron (Myron?!)
Snark aside, Denison can write. It’s why this 3.5 is being rounded up to a 4…
The world is constructed so you really get a feel for the awful environment around the characters. Denison has crafted a cold, nasty, evil world, peopled by ruined, corrupted, broken people. It is BLEAK.
There are twists that come out of nowhere that add to the drama. These twists would lend themselves to episodic TV very well. They add a cliff hanger feel in a shocking way that raise an eyebrow.
So if you like BLEAK. If you like torture. If you’ve suffered with blisters. If half-eaten pasties from bins is your bag. But most importantly, if you can put up with pretty unlikeable characters arguing all the time, give Going Underground a go.
I hope Denison keeps writing, as she has a real panache for world building and action scenes, and I’d be interested to see where she goes next.
Going Underground should be a TV show. There’s a little too much swearing (a lot too much swearing) and a little too much torture (really graphic torture) but it’s built in an interesting alternative future London. There’s a few cliff hangers, three or four twists and a story that carries you through this dystopian nightmare.
But there are a few issues. Put it like this –
Story – 3
Writing - 4
Characters – 1
Total – 3.5
It needs another draft. It may be that it should be two books. There’s some chuff in here that detracts from the story – I don’t care how characters get from one place to another ALL the time. There’s lots of eating from bins – it’s not like James Bond’s gentleman’s club luncheons where you’re hooked into a smoky world of 50s Cordon Bleu cookery. It’s a half -eaten pasty from a bin. Some arguments between characters lead nowhere – but more of that arguing thing later.
London is under siege. Scotland has attacked England and there are freedom fighters and general ne’er-do-wells in Kent and other outlying areas. The fascist government value only Pure Bloods and treat the rest of the people as their own play things. There are curfews and patrols and slums and arrests. Lots of arrests. Basically it feels like 30’s Berlin but in the UK in a few decades’ time. I guess there will always be jackboots.
(To be honest, with Brexit and a hardcore right wing rising up around the first world, the timing of the novel seems extremely prescient.)
Moving gently on…
Jen is from the wrong side of the tracks – which most people in this version of London seem to be. Her boyfriend, Myron (Myron?!) is from a family whose head is a member of the government. Oscar is a rabble-rouser who randomly shouts about the corrupt government to anyone who will listen. The three of them come together to take down the government.
With leaflets.
Yup. That’s why I say the 1930’s. They don’t attempt to save London by uploading a virus or storming a TV station – there are hardly any computers or media to speak of. (We know what the government’s story is, but it’s not clear how they disseminate it). Our heroes find a bloody great printing press and print leaflets, which they then hand out.
Now I quite like this traditional remedy. It feels grungy and old school. I imagine those old Weimar republic Dadaist leaflets, and it would be nice to have seen one in the book, but we do get to see what they say. And luckily dystopian future London has a few printing presses rolling around, so they don’t need to rely on an HP laserjet – which would have added some more drama (but not necessarily good drama. Nobody needs to see a revolution stalled by a paper jam or low toner.)
Besides leaflets, there’s torture. Lots of torture, mainly by an evil scientist who actually, and I quote, “cackles” at one point. Finally – torture and leaflets in the same story!
Oh, and a heads up. In the future, you will need a London tube map and plasters (band-aids). Blister plasters specifically. (Blisters can be torture, but the torture in this is EVEN WORSE than blisters.)
And so the elephant in the room. That “1” point for characters…
I can understand that living in a dystopia might drag you down. You might get a little short tempered and snippy with your friends. You may not display much affection or humility. You might become a bit of a d*ck.
The first person we meet is Jen and she is singularly the most unlikeable lead character I have ever met. Petulant, pointlessly rude, lacking any class or social graces, alarmingly violent, her one redeeming feature is that she apologises. Once. In a 302 page book.
As well as the evil government, she hates her mum, her boyfriend, her friends. Everybody. Spending time with her is like being trapped in a 14 year old’s temper tantrum. She’s a complete sociopath with more issues than a box of t-issues.
And a lot of the characters speak with the same voice as Jen, but without the frequent swearing and unrelenting anger. At one point a character enters a speakeasy (see? It’s the 30s, surely?) and the barman greets him with, “Where the hell have you been?” Now that is not customer service. Even in the pubs in London, of which I have visited a few, the bar staff don’t lay into you on entrance.
Another lead, Oscar, is driven by the need to fight against the injustices the government is inflicting on its populace. But his honourable fight is undermined by how he communicates with everybody else. Like Jen, he snaps at people and storms off in huffs to such an extent you start to sympathise with the government.
The final lead, Myron (Myron?!) actually has a character arc. He starts off petulant and angry but slowly over the course of the book matures into the leader of a legitimate rebellion, who is a bit less petulant and angry than the others. Thank heavens for Myron (Myron?!)
Snark aside, Denison can write. It’s why this 3.5 is being rounded up to a 4…
The world is constructed so you really get a feel for the awful environment around the characters. Denison has crafted a cold, nasty, evil world, peopled by ruined, corrupted, broken people. It is BLEAK.
There are twists that come out of nowhere that add to the drama. These twists would lend themselves to episodic TV very well. They add a cliff hanger feel in a shocking way that raise an eyebrow.
So if you like BLEAK. If you like torture. If you’ve suffered with blisters. If half-eaten pasties from bins is your bag. But most importantly, if you can put up with pretty unlikeable characters arguing all the time, give Going Underground a go.
I hope Denison keeps writing, as she has a real panache for world building and action scenes, and I’d be interested to see where she goes next.
February 14, 2017
This is my second book by the author and her dark gripping view of an Orwellian future is spot on. She again brings to life the dystopian bleakness of society and how ordinary people can survive is such an authoritarian world. The characters are dynamic, especially Jen, and how they interact with each other with the burden of evil surrounding them is well crafted.
The author also does an excellent job of creating twist and turns along with some startling surprises. A good read, but recommend you read Oscar first, but not required.
The author also does an excellent job of creating twist and turns along with some startling surprises. A good read, but recommend you read Oscar first, but not required.
September 30, 2015
Entertaining read, but could have been better
This is a nice book, at times typical and at other times, quite unconventional. The one thing I loved about this novel is its level of humor: certainly not slapstick, and yet capable of leaving you in splits. I couldn't help but chuckle at this:
"‘The Government bureaucrats have been lying to us for years. The war has been nothing more than a cleansing exercise that has gone terribly wrong and—’
The crowd erupted in mocking laughter, thinking that he was a crazy man, not believing a word he said."
Or this one: "‘I’ll retract the word celebration. How about riotous tendencies instead?’ he proposed whimsically."
The dialogs are quite realistic, but too close to the way we speak in 2015. Point to ponder: would people really be speaking in this fashion in 2044 and beyond?
"‘You can’t be serious!’ Oscar said despondently. ‘I can’t read this chicken scratch, let alone understand it! Can you please tell me what it says?’
Myron snatched the paper back and retrieved his actual, proper notes from his coat pocket. He and Jen stifled their smiles.
‘Ha-ha! Very funny! We’re supposed to be taking this seriously!’ Oscar retorted, stamping his foot for emphasis like a spoiled child.
‘Chill out, mate,’ said Myron. ‘What with all we’ve been through, I thought a little light-hearted fun would take some of the pressure off.’"
Among the characters, Jen is admirable. Her resilience and strength of character redeems her in my eyes despite her overly rebellious nature; she could as well be the poster girl for modern feminists; at times she even sounds as prophetic as Jesus Christ (‘One of the people in that room is going to betray our trust—I can feel it, Myron,’). Myron is the typical bad-guy-turned good guy (well sort of), someone the heroine starts to hate but grows to get attracted to ("she was relieved that he was finally growing a backbone—and his bullish manner made her a little horny"). I felt as though, the real hero of the book was Oscar!
Some of the character portrayals are a bit stereotypical; like being a redhead means she would be a bad tempered person, or being from rich family means he would be a bully etc. Even the way the protagonist is bullied is quite tacky, I felt. The heroine is a rebellious teen female but thankfully not totally powerless in the hands of her male bully as is typical with this genre's novels. She knows how to fight back, a character trait of her that I admired very much. Sure Jen's a bit screwed up but who won't be, given the circumstances in which she grew up (not to mention the impurity of her blood)? It would have been interesting to see how the story would turn out had the author reversed the stereotypes; it would also have been interesting to have the bully as a 'lowborn' female and the protagonist as a privileged male. Personally I have found that school bullying has little to do with artificial class distinctions and more with personality issues (my own experience), but maybe things would become different by 2044, who knows!
Warning: Some of the scenes, especially involving Jen's 'punishment' can be a bit uncomfortable to some readers ("She had grown weak from having stood in the same position for nearly two days. Her trousers were covered in stale urine, the smell of which had become unbearable in the confined space.")
The ending definitely knocked my socks off!
This is a nice book, at times typical and at other times, quite unconventional. The one thing I loved about this novel is its level of humor: certainly not slapstick, and yet capable of leaving you in splits. I couldn't help but chuckle at this:
"‘The Government bureaucrats have been lying to us for years. The war has been nothing more than a cleansing exercise that has gone terribly wrong and—’
The crowd erupted in mocking laughter, thinking that he was a crazy man, not believing a word he said."
Or this one: "‘I’ll retract the word celebration. How about riotous tendencies instead?’ he proposed whimsically."
The dialogs are quite realistic, but too close to the way we speak in 2015. Point to ponder: would people really be speaking in this fashion in 2044 and beyond?
"‘You can’t be serious!’ Oscar said despondently. ‘I can’t read this chicken scratch, let alone understand it! Can you please tell me what it says?’
Myron snatched the paper back and retrieved his actual, proper notes from his coat pocket. He and Jen stifled their smiles.
‘Ha-ha! Very funny! We’re supposed to be taking this seriously!’ Oscar retorted, stamping his foot for emphasis like a spoiled child.
‘Chill out, mate,’ said Myron. ‘What with all we’ve been through, I thought a little light-hearted fun would take some of the pressure off.’"
Among the characters, Jen is admirable. Her resilience and strength of character redeems her in my eyes despite her overly rebellious nature; she could as well be the poster girl for modern feminists; at times she even sounds as prophetic as Jesus Christ (‘One of the people in that room is going to betray our trust—I can feel it, Myron,’). Myron is the typical bad-guy-turned good guy (well sort of), someone the heroine starts to hate but grows to get attracted to ("she was relieved that he was finally growing a backbone—and his bullish manner made her a little horny"). I felt as though, the real hero of the book was Oscar!
Some of the character portrayals are a bit stereotypical; like being a redhead means she would be a bad tempered person, or being from rich family means he would be a bully etc. Even the way the protagonist is bullied is quite tacky, I felt. The heroine is a rebellious teen female but thankfully not totally powerless in the hands of her male bully as is typical with this genre's novels. She knows how to fight back, a character trait of her that I admired very much. Sure Jen's a bit screwed up but who won't be, given the circumstances in which she grew up (not to mention the impurity of her blood)? It would have been interesting to see how the story would turn out had the author reversed the stereotypes; it would also have been interesting to have the bully as a 'lowborn' female and the protagonist as a privileged male. Personally I have found that school bullying has little to do with artificial class distinctions and more with personality issues (my own experience), but maybe things would become different by 2044, who knows!
Warning: Some of the scenes, especially involving Jen's 'punishment' can be a bit uncomfortable to some readers ("She had grown weak from having stood in the same position for nearly two days. Her trousers were covered in stale urine, the smell of which had become unbearable in the confined space.")
The ending definitely knocked my socks off!
November 8, 2015
Going Underground by L.N. Denison is a story that takes place in London of 2044, and paints a dour future involving a race war, clone army, authoritarianism, medical experimentation, torture, and more. The three main protagonists: Jen, Myron, and Oscar are the only ones left that can save the people from their oppressive government. Early in story, Jen and Myron are captured and taken to a camp, where they meet Oscar. Together, they form The Independent Mind and seek to disrupt the government's plans and save London from tyranny.
Overall, I struggled with this book. There were elements of the story that were interesting, but I had a difficult time taking the story seriously and making sense of what was happening. One thing I struggled with initially was trying to figure out who was fighting who. At first, it seemed like the government was committing genocide against its own people to maintain the purity of the race, but then they were also fighting Scotland, and then there was a clone army they were building up and also performing torture and medical experiments. The protagonists, from General Howard and Doctor Besson to Jen, Myron, and Oscar come off as kind of cartoon characters taking into account some of the things they say and their actions.
The aspect I found most confounding was that this story is supposed to take place almost thirty years in the future, but expect for the clone army, the descriptions seemed like the story takes place in the past. For example, one of the main elements of the story is a newsletter by The Independent Mind and its use as a tool to disseminate information. At one point, the characters search for a printing press and have to figure out ways to share their letter with the public. I don't recall any mention of a mobile phone, internet, or any other piece of advanced communication in this story. It just did not make this plot element regarding the time setting believable.
The final issue I had was with the writing. This felt like reading a first draft of a novel. There were long passages where the story drags and the author reveals much of the plot elements through narration instead of showing and engaging the reader. I felt there was an overuse of adverbs which detracted from the story. And also there were points in the story where the author would set up something interesting and then just write past it. Here is an example from the novel:
"Myron and Jen made it to the centre of London after two days of travelling. They were footsore, and their empty bellies were grumbling. Their priority was to find food, and then to find another place to stay. The old school offered no refuge. They passed it and saw it had been reduced to rubble in yet another unexpected missile attack on the capital. Hyde Park was in reach, and beyond that, Knightsbridge. After finding food, Myron expressed a wish to show Jen his family home from a distance. He had no wish to confront his father, as thoughts of killing him had entered his mind on more than one occasion."
Here, the story sets up the challenges the characters have with finding food and then a couple sentences later they just magically find food without any explanation. I think this book has some potential, but there are some issues that need to be fixed. The story just didn't work for me.
Overall, I struggled with this book. There were elements of the story that were interesting, but I had a difficult time taking the story seriously and making sense of what was happening. One thing I struggled with initially was trying to figure out who was fighting who. At first, it seemed like the government was committing genocide against its own people to maintain the purity of the race, but then they were also fighting Scotland, and then there was a clone army they were building up and also performing torture and medical experiments. The protagonists, from General Howard and Doctor Besson to Jen, Myron, and Oscar come off as kind of cartoon characters taking into account some of the things they say and their actions.
The aspect I found most confounding was that this story is supposed to take place almost thirty years in the future, but expect for the clone army, the descriptions seemed like the story takes place in the past. For example, one of the main elements of the story is a newsletter by The Independent Mind and its use as a tool to disseminate information. At one point, the characters search for a printing press and have to figure out ways to share their letter with the public. I don't recall any mention of a mobile phone, internet, or any other piece of advanced communication in this story. It just did not make this plot element regarding the time setting believable.
The final issue I had was with the writing. This felt like reading a first draft of a novel. There were long passages where the story drags and the author reveals much of the plot elements through narration instead of showing and engaging the reader. I felt there was an overuse of adverbs which detracted from the story. And also there were points in the story where the author would set up something interesting and then just write past it. Here is an example from the novel:
"Myron and Jen made it to the centre of London after two days of travelling. They were footsore, and their empty bellies were grumbling. Their priority was to find food, and then to find another place to stay. The old school offered no refuge. They passed it and saw it had been reduced to rubble in yet another unexpected missile attack on the capital. Hyde Park was in reach, and beyond that, Knightsbridge. After finding food, Myron expressed a wish to show Jen his family home from a distance. He had no wish to confront his father, as thoughts of killing him had entered his mind on more than one occasion."
Here, the story sets up the challenges the characters have with finding food and then a couple sentences later they just magically find food without any explanation. I think this book has some potential, but there are some issues that need to be fixed. The story just didn't work for me.
December 12, 2016
When I saw the cover of this book, I was looking forward to reading the story. It is well done and evokes some of the old WWII posters.
There is a war between the Scottish and the English. The English side of the "wall" has decided to cull out all "non-pure bloods" so they're making life hell for anyone who is not pure English. The characters must negotiate through patrols of bully boys who randomly beat, maim, or kill anyone they catch after curfew. The main characters, a teenage boy and girl, are breaking the law as he is of the elite and she is poor. They must find a way to evade arrest and later to survive the increasingly extreme government dictates.
The first problem arises with the bad science. There is no such thing as pure blood English. What of all the other ethnic groups that make up the people of London and the UK? They do not exist in this story. No other countries exist, only Scottish and English. So I switched my thinking from dystopia to dark fantasy. For me, the story still didn't work.
Many other reviewers mention the graphic nature of the torture scenes. That did not bother me as much as the fact that most of the torture described would not work that way. This is more bad science. For example: The physical hardships endured, by the female character, are beyond what the human body can endure. The shock from a catastrophic eye injury would endanger the life of a healthy person much less someone who had no food for 6 days, was beaten until she was unconscious twice, tortured, then had her eye destroyed by flying shrapnel. She would have been dead less than a third of the way through the book.
The characters are shallow and not well developed. What is shown of them makes them unsympathetic. They lack intelligence and compassion and they behave irresponsibly throughout. One might expect teenagers to be self absorbed and irresponsible, but over time in a life and death struggle, they would either grow up or die. The idea that the girl's fits of temper and loose cannon attitude is tolerated because she is beautiful, is not one that holds water. People will forgive a lot for a beautiful woman, but not at the risk of their own survival. It just doesn't make sense. In a dystopian setting, I need at least one character I can hope will make it through.
The text is in severe need of a good edit. There are serious grammatical issues throughout; misspelled words, misused words, redundancies, inconsistencies and sentences that don't end or don't make sense. I found multiple plot holes big enough to float an aircraft carrier through.
It is a shame this book could not live up to the cover's first visual promise. Maybe with a lot of research, a good editor, and some careful rewriting, it could be the basis for a much better dystopian fantasy novel in the future.
There is a war between the Scottish and the English. The English side of the "wall" has decided to cull out all "non-pure bloods" so they're making life hell for anyone who is not pure English. The characters must negotiate through patrols of bully boys who randomly beat, maim, or kill anyone they catch after curfew. The main characters, a teenage boy and girl, are breaking the law as he is of the elite and she is poor. They must find a way to evade arrest and later to survive the increasingly extreme government dictates.
The first problem arises with the bad science. There is no such thing as pure blood English. What of all the other ethnic groups that make up the people of London and the UK? They do not exist in this story. No other countries exist, only Scottish and English. So I switched my thinking from dystopia to dark fantasy. For me, the story still didn't work.
Many other reviewers mention the graphic nature of the torture scenes. That did not bother me as much as the fact that most of the torture described would not work that way. This is more bad science. For example: The physical hardships endured, by the female character, are beyond what the human body can endure. The shock from a catastrophic eye injury would endanger the life of a healthy person much less someone who had no food for 6 days, was beaten until she was unconscious twice, tortured, then had her eye destroyed by flying shrapnel. She would have been dead less than a third of the way through the book.
The characters are shallow and not well developed. What is shown of them makes them unsympathetic. They lack intelligence and compassion and they behave irresponsibly throughout. One might expect teenagers to be self absorbed and irresponsible, but over time in a life and death struggle, they would either grow up or die. The idea that the girl's fits of temper and loose cannon attitude is tolerated because she is beautiful, is not one that holds water. People will forgive a lot for a beautiful woman, but not at the risk of their own survival. It just doesn't make sense. In a dystopian setting, I need at least one character I can hope will make it through.
The text is in severe need of a good edit. There are serious grammatical issues throughout; misspelled words, misused words, redundancies, inconsistencies and sentences that don't end or don't make sense. I found multiple plot holes big enough to float an aircraft carrier through.
It is a shame this book could not live up to the cover's first visual promise. Maybe with a lot of research, a good editor, and some careful rewriting, it could be the basis for a much better dystopian fantasy novel in the future.
August 11, 2016
Most reviews are just opinions on people’s personal likes of genre or style used. This book is placed in a dark setting and your happy go types will not like this book. The book is intended for people who like the darker settings showing turmoil in life. Author L N. Denison uses past tense in her writing style to describe things. Denison does a good job using dialogue with the characters.
Most of the characters are likeable and all are believable. The main character Jen is a poor and feisty red head that explodes in a heartbeat. I like her free spirit; she never backs down from a fight. Myron is a wealthy 19 y/o who plays an important role as a supporting character to Jen. Myron starts out as a weak character in the beginning. He grows into a strong character as the book progresses. Oscar starts a movement to spread truth around about the corrupt government. He believes spreading propaganda is better than using blunt force. A mad scientist named Dr. Besson tortures people out of enjoyment. This sadistic mad scientist would have been a perfect fit for Nazi Germany. John Howard is the leader of England. John is a tyrant who ruthlessly rules with an iron fist. Gerick Meyer works as a scientist for John Howard in the Parliament buildings. Gerick is a double agent who secretly wants to bring down the evil parliament.
I read some reviews that criticize on the use of grammar and spelling. This story is written using Scottish and English methods. I personally think L. N. Denison did a wonderful job using the dialect. I can tell this book has been edited. No book is perfect you will find mistakes in every book you read.
Many issues in life are targeted in the book such as government oppression, social classes and abusive parents. Other events in history are discussed in this book as well. Events such as the holocaust, black death, and times of England controlling Scotland are referenced. All references are used in a futuristic civil war setting placed in the years 2044-2047. The book has a shocker Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker moment, that reminds me of Empire Strikes Back.
Denison does a great job building events like a puzzle in this book. Certain events are hinted in the beginning that lead to events further along in the book. I personally think “Going Underground” by author L N. Denison is a compelling read.
Most of the characters are likeable and all are believable. The main character Jen is a poor and feisty red head that explodes in a heartbeat. I like her free spirit; she never backs down from a fight. Myron is a wealthy 19 y/o who plays an important role as a supporting character to Jen. Myron starts out as a weak character in the beginning. He grows into a strong character as the book progresses. Oscar starts a movement to spread truth around about the corrupt government. He believes spreading propaganda is better than using blunt force. A mad scientist named Dr. Besson tortures people out of enjoyment. This sadistic mad scientist would have been a perfect fit for Nazi Germany. John Howard is the leader of England. John is a tyrant who ruthlessly rules with an iron fist. Gerick Meyer works as a scientist for John Howard in the Parliament buildings. Gerick is a double agent who secretly wants to bring down the evil parliament.
I read some reviews that criticize on the use of grammar and spelling. This story is written using Scottish and English methods. I personally think L. N. Denison did a wonderful job using the dialect. I can tell this book has been edited. No book is perfect you will find mistakes in every book you read.
Many issues in life are targeted in the book such as government oppression, social classes and abusive parents. Other events in history are discussed in this book as well. Events such as the holocaust, black death, and times of England controlling Scotland are referenced. All references are used in a futuristic civil war setting placed in the years 2044-2047. The book has a shocker Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker moment, that reminds me of Empire Strikes Back.
Denison does a great job building events like a puzzle in this book. Certain events are hinted in the beginning that lead to events further along in the book. I personally think “Going Underground” by author L N. Denison is a compelling read.
October 9, 2016
I'll start by saying that I don't usually read dark dystopian novels, and I didn't realize just how dark this story would be going in.
The premise was interesting, if not extremely unique--England has fallen into a dystopia with harsh laws and punishments, and "non-pure-bloods" are prosecuted.
One of the main characters, Jen, is a non-pure-blood who spends most of the book fighting to survive...as well as fighting her allies. Her recklessness placed herself and sometimes others in danger, and despite the reprimands she sometimes got for that, she never seemed to grow or change over the course of the book, even becoming more violent towards the end. I couldn't bring myself to sympathize with her, much less like her, which made it difficult to stay with the story--this lost the story one star.
Myron and Oscar--Jen's two compatriots--saved the story a bit in that they did show some personal growth and were doing their best to help the general public. However, their constant loyalty and kindness to Jen, despite how she treated them, bothered me a bit.
What really bothered me in this book was the extreme detail given to the torture scenes (and the killings)--of which there were quite a few scattered throughout the book. When I read a story, I expect the characters to be put through a lot, and torture might be part of their trials, but I don't want every awful detail spelled out for me. These scenes made me cringe and skip ahead, and that lost the story another star and a half.
Ultimately, the story didn't manage to hold my attention, and I ended up speed-reading a good portion of the final chapters. For this reason, I'm only giving the story two stars.
However, as I stated above, I am not the target reading demographic for this book, and you might find it an interesting take on a dystopian government and the fight of those brave enough against its harsh regime.
The premise was interesting, if not extremely unique--England has fallen into a dystopia with harsh laws and punishments, and "non-pure-bloods" are prosecuted.
One of the main characters, Jen, is a non-pure-blood who spends most of the book fighting to survive...as well as fighting her allies. Her recklessness placed herself and sometimes others in danger, and despite the reprimands she sometimes got for that, she never seemed to grow or change over the course of the book, even becoming more violent towards the end. I couldn't bring myself to sympathize with her, much less like her, which made it difficult to stay with the story--this lost the story one star.
Myron and Oscar--Jen's two compatriots--saved the story a bit in that they did show some personal growth and were doing their best to help the general public. However, their constant loyalty and kindness to Jen, despite how she treated them, bothered me a bit.
What really bothered me in this book was the extreme detail given to the torture scenes (and the killings)--of which there were quite a few scattered throughout the book. When I read a story, I expect the characters to be put through a lot, and torture might be part of their trials, but I don't want every awful detail spelled out for me. These scenes made me cringe and skip ahead, and that lost the story another star and a half.
Ultimately, the story didn't manage to hold my attention, and I ended up speed-reading a good portion of the final chapters. For this reason, I'm only giving the story two stars.
However, as I stated above, I am not the target reading demographic for this book, and you might find it an interesting take on a dystopian government and the fight of those brave enough against its harsh regime.
October 5, 2016
Going Underground is a dystopian novel set in a futuristic London setting. The novel centres around an uprising to a tyrannical regime whose methods to control its population involve detention, torture and various forms of segregation/cleansing. I won't summarize in detail anything else regarding the plot as other reviewers have done so. But suffice it to say it is worth a read.
My opinion of this work really depends on which "hat" I'm wearing. As an everyday reader it is a good choice if you like dystopias. It is relatively fast moving, has plenty of diverse characters and the author does a good job of creating a sense of terror/forbiding. I can tell the author has been passionate about her plot line and character development. All this would be enough for a self-published novel.
There were times when I read "Going Underground", especially at the beginning when I thought to myself, "Hey, this might have what it takes!" However, as I went on I began to spot some technical issues, (my editor hat) that maybe would prevent the novel (in its current form) going further. In my opinion (and this is just that) I think the narrative could have been improved. There were far too many cliches and "turn of phrases" whose sometimes comical tone really didn't suit the setting. Much of the time these were in sentences that if removed, wouldn't have changed anything. This is a stylistic thing but I think in dystopians the tone should be dark, stripped bare and austere. Other issues were POV and scene changes (denoted with an asterisk) that didn't seem right.
All this said, I think the author was quite skillful in that there was no massive info dumping and backstory. World building was drip fed along the way - which is good.
So I give three stars but I think it it could be more.
My opinion of this work really depends on which "hat" I'm wearing. As an everyday reader it is a good choice if you like dystopias. It is relatively fast moving, has plenty of diverse characters and the author does a good job of creating a sense of terror/forbiding. I can tell the author has been passionate about her plot line and character development. All this would be enough for a self-published novel.
There were times when I read "Going Underground", especially at the beginning when I thought to myself, "Hey, this might have what it takes!" However, as I went on I began to spot some technical issues, (my editor hat) that maybe would prevent the novel (in its current form) going further. In my opinion (and this is just that) I think the narrative could have been improved. There were far too many cliches and "turn of phrases" whose sometimes comical tone really didn't suit the setting. Much of the time these were in sentences that if removed, wouldn't have changed anything. This is a stylistic thing but I think in dystopians the tone should be dark, stripped bare and austere. Other issues were POV and scene changes (denoted with an asterisk) that didn't seem right.
All this said, I think the author was quite skillful in that there was no massive info dumping and backstory. World building was drip fed along the way - which is good.
So I give three stars but I think it it could be more.
January 26, 2016
Going Underground by L.N. Denison presents an engaging premise: The year is 2044 and humans of mixed blood face annihilation by government decree. The lessons of the past have been forgotten, and genocide looms near for the mixed blood minorities. Going Underground is set in future Britain, and all the grit one would expect in a dystopia is present. Political instability is the norm, and a troupe of dissenters must fight against the ruling powers to win their freedom, and their lives.
While Going Underground presents an interesting premise, and at times is very engaging, there are some flaws. In particular, at times the characters find solutions to their problems all too easily, leaving the reader skeptical of the validity of the story. That notwithstanding, the novel definitely offers something unique and interesting to lovers of dystopian novels, and other readers alike. L. N. Dension has created a troubling future which is worth exploring.
While Going Underground presents an interesting premise, and at times is very engaging, there are some flaws. In particular, at times the characters find solutions to their problems all too easily, leaving the reader skeptical of the validity of the story. That notwithstanding, the novel definitely offers something unique and interesting to lovers of dystopian novels, and other readers alike. L. N. Dension has created a troubling future which is worth exploring.
October 26, 2015
Nice to read a futuristic dystopian novel set in Britain for a change! However, what a bleak future it turns out to be what with a totalitarian regime that controls its populace with an iron fist and separates its denizens by class and race. We follow our young heroine Jen as she meets up with Myron and Oscar, two young men that share a revolutionary bent and are intent on doing what they can to educate the populace about the lies they are being fed by the ruling elite and hopefully will rise up against their enslaved predicament. Trying to revolt against their predicament they must avoid civil war (an uprising by the Scots) and the more harder to avoid, imprisonment. Indeed some of the imprisonment, torture scenes are the most real and most harrowing as a result. Loved the character of Jen and envied her spunk; oh that I was so brave!
October 31, 2016
Going Underground presents a possible future, which seems far too believable, in light of headlines about suicide bombers. In fact, some aspects were as disturbing as the reports about the Nazi concentration camps and disgusting experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele.
The story projected a dark and forbidding feeling throughout. The description, characters and attention to detail were well done. While Jen could be very annoying, she is a teenager, so she was believable.
IMHO, this sentence captures the concept of the book, "You will never be safe from scrutiny— remain vigilant at all times. Do not let the government bureaucrats bring you to your knees, and don’t give them a reason to make you victims."
The story projected a dark and forbidding feeling throughout. The description, characters and attention to detail were well done. While Jen could be very annoying, she is a teenager, so she was believable.
IMHO, this sentence captures the concept of the book, "You will never be safe from scrutiny— remain vigilant at all times. Do not let the government bureaucrats bring you to your knees, and don’t give them a reason to make you victims."
February 22, 2016
First, let me say that I love futuristic dystopian books, and this one hit the ball out of the park. Well-written, well-edited, and highly imaginative.
I really loved Jen and the courage that she showed when facing overwhelming obstacles. Myron was someone that I could easily envision as a friend in real life. The suspense and intensity kept me reading until the very end. The story was original and it flowed well.
Going Underground is a book that drew me in, and it will live in my imagination long after the last page.
I really loved Jen and the courage that she showed when facing overwhelming obstacles. Myron was someone that I could easily envision as a friend in real life. The suspense and intensity kept me reading until the very end. The story was original and it flowed well.
Going Underground is a book that drew me in, and it will live in my imagination long after the last page.
February 24, 2016
I enjoyed L.N. Denison's version of London in 2044. The story intrigued me and took me into a future I have never really thought about. I was caught up in the lives of the characters and their challenges. I don't want to spoil the reading for anyone else so I will only say that the book is haunting in it's portrayal of what could happen in a society that is becoming increasingly racist. I almost felt as if I was reading a history of 1944 instead of 2044. If you enjoy this genre, read it! You will not be disappointed.
April 17, 2016
L. N Denison has a great style of writing...smooth, flowing. and keeps you on the edge of your seat, you just want to keep reading. I loved the plot, and I really loved how the protagonist was a strong hearted 18-year-old girl who knew how to stand her ground. Having such a strong female lead with the futuristic setting of 2044 is a very realistic prediction compared to 1944. If you like racy, dark, violent, suspenseful novels, read this.
October 15, 2016
I enjoyed the pace of this book, it's always moving, rarely resting as we follow a young woman in trouble and on the run. The reader immediately bonds with Jen (she has such an interesting full name!), we feel her desperation, her urgency and the desolation of her life set in the grimy future. Descriptions are spot on, other character's names are easy to remember and each character is unique.
April 29, 2016
Very well written book and interesting story. It had a ton of detail, just the story itself took me a while to get connected to. Seems a little drawn out, like is meant to be more of a first book in a series than a stand alone title on it's own but the ending pulled things together. Nice read.
March 2, 2017
L.N. Denison’s Going Underground is a dark dystopian novel set in 2044 London. A British authoritarian government seizes control of the country in the middle of its war with Scotland, oppressing all citizens not of British pure blood, capturing and torturing them, and driving them “underground.”
Jen Cole is a rebellious, attractive red-headed teen, estranged from her alcoholic mother and fighting her own personal battle with authority. She flees a correctional institution, and with help, rips a tracking device from her ankle. Jen then links up with Myron Cutter, the son of an upper class government figure, and Oscar Saracen, a self-appointed crusader with a mission to end British oppression. The book follows their efforts to spread the truth about the British government in their effort to spark an uprising.
L.N. Denison’s writing is suspenseful and dark. The dialogue is minimal, but crisp, and successfully aids in developing the characters and the plot. I found it easy to accept the main premise of the dystopian novel, but for me, there are parts of the story that don’t ring true. As an example, Jen and her partners are smart, strong-willed, and resourceful, yet they seem to take unnecessary risks (like throwing leaflets off a 40-story building, not thinking about the time it would take them to descend). Their risks lead to suspenseful situations, but I’m not sure these defenseless young adults would survive these events.
I root for underdogs, and Jen, Myron, and Cutter fit that definition. This book takes them in and out of hopeless circumstances and me along with them. It is an entertaining novel, and one I think most readers would enjoy.
Jen Cole is a rebellious, attractive red-headed teen, estranged from her alcoholic mother and fighting her own personal battle with authority. She flees a correctional institution, and with help, rips a tracking device from her ankle. Jen then links up with Myron Cutter, the son of an upper class government figure, and Oscar Saracen, a self-appointed crusader with a mission to end British oppression. The book follows their efforts to spread the truth about the British government in their effort to spark an uprising.
L.N. Denison’s writing is suspenseful and dark. The dialogue is minimal, but crisp, and successfully aids in developing the characters and the plot. I found it easy to accept the main premise of the dystopian novel, but for me, there are parts of the story that don’t ring true. As an example, Jen and her partners are smart, strong-willed, and resourceful, yet they seem to take unnecessary risks (like throwing leaflets off a 40-story building, not thinking about the time it would take them to descend). Their risks lead to suspenseful situations, but I’m not sure these defenseless young adults would survive these events.
I root for underdogs, and Jen, Myron, and Cutter fit that definition. This book takes them in and out of hopeless circumstances and me along with them. It is an entertaining novel, and one I think most readers would enjoy.
October 17, 2015
2044, hard to think about while we’re living in 2015 but author L. N Denison does a great job at giving us her electrifying version of how life will be. It’s an adventure for sure.
We’re being told a story that addresses discrimination in a very original and—plainly—cool way. In 2044 there will be a holocaust against people of mixed lineage, wrap your head around that and then throw in heart pounding scenes, people running for their lives, and corporal punishment. The terror is real but it’s so entertaining that you don’t want it to end.
Our main character is Jen, a very tough young girl. She’s someone I wouldn’t want to mess with in 2015 but in the hardened world imagined in 2044, she’s like a ball of scorching fire. I think she goes a little beyond a “tom boy” but the characterization is still believable and I found myself enjoying her very much. She was comical when the story needed some relief and she was serious when it was time to thunder through those intense, heart-stopping scenes—which there were plenty of.
While I won’t say that Denison’s writing is crafty, it is to-the-point which really works here. She has a solid form where she leads you in the right direction at the right pace. Going Underground held my attention and got me turning pages faster than I realized. I didn’t have to force myself to read it, I actually enjoyed it and I wouldn’t be surprised if others did too.
I would say this is a great addition to the dystopian genre, there are some typical aspects to it—which you’ll find in every genre—but this is one that I can see getting bigger and more popular as time goes on. The level of violence is so-so, but I’m one who loves dark stories and such so it didn’t bother me. But in a world that’s being dominated by evil, brain washing, governmental control, you should expect a certain level of violence and warfare.
Myron is the other character in this story, my favorite over Jen. I thought he was a little more realistic than Jen but he balanced her out really well and served as a great counter to her energy. He was a character that developed well so it didn’t surprise me when I started cheering for him, hoping that he survived everything and made it through the twists and turns as the story progressed. That desire to see the main characters succeed served as a major page-turner for me. It’s horrible to have a good story but bad characters so I was pleased to be able to happily root for the protagonists.
That leads me to my one and only complaint. The story is told from third person so the narration follows both Jen and Myron through their adventures. In third person, I’d expect some POV switching—especially in a thrilling dystopian novel—but the switching happens suddenly and in the same chapter, even the same page. One paragraph would detail what Jen was doing then the next paragraph we’d be with Myron. It seemed a little flip-floppy but it wasn’t enough for me to toss the book away. I just think it would have played out better to at least split their POV between chapters. That way I know exactly who I’m following around.
Regardless, I found Going Underground to be a well thought out and clearly planned novel. The layers meshed well and the development was strong. I loved the humor and the bond between the characters. The book was creative as it tied in typical pieces to make a completely original story. The ending seemed solid but I think it could continue to a second piece. Would definitely recommend to fans of dystopian books and thrillers.
We’re being told a story that addresses discrimination in a very original and—plainly—cool way. In 2044 there will be a holocaust against people of mixed lineage, wrap your head around that and then throw in heart pounding scenes, people running for their lives, and corporal punishment. The terror is real but it’s so entertaining that you don’t want it to end.
Our main character is Jen, a very tough young girl. She’s someone I wouldn’t want to mess with in 2015 but in the hardened world imagined in 2044, she’s like a ball of scorching fire. I think she goes a little beyond a “tom boy” but the characterization is still believable and I found myself enjoying her very much. She was comical when the story needed some relief and she was serious when it was time to thunder through those intense, heart-stopping scenes—which there were plenty of.
While I won’t say that Denison’s writing is crafty, it is to-the-point which really works here. She has a solid form where she leads you in the right direction at the right pace. Going Underground held my attention and got me turning pages faster than I realized. I didn’t have to force myself to read it, I actually enjoyed it and I wouldn’t be surprised if others did too.
I would say this is a great addition to the dystopian genre, there are some typical aspects to it—which you’ll find in every genre—but this is one that I can see getting bigger and more popular as time goes on. The level of violence is so-so, but I’m one who loves dark stories and such so it didn’t bother me. But in a world that’s being dominated by evil, brain washing, governmental control, you should expect a certain level of violence and warfare.
Myron is the other character in this story, my favorite over Jen. I thought he was a little more realistic than Jen but he balanced her out really well and served as a great counter to her energy. He was a character that developed well so it didn’t surprise me when I started cheering for him, hoping that he survived everything and made it through the twists and turns as the story progressed. That desire to see the main characters succeed served as a major page-turner for me. It’s horrible to have a good story but bad characters so I was pleased to be able to happily root for the protagonists.
That leads me to my one and only complaint. The story is told from third person so the narration follows both Jen and Myron through their adventures. In third person, I’d expect some POV switching—especially in a thrilling dystopian novel—but the switching happens suddenly and in the same chapter, even the same page. One paragraph would detail what Jen was doing then the next paragraph we’d be with Myron. It seemed a little flip-floppy but it wasn’t enough for me to toss the book away. I just think it would have played out better to at least split their POV between chapters. That way I know exactly who I’m following around.
Regardless, I found Going Underground to be a well thought out and clearly planned novel. The layers meshed well and the development was strong. I loved the humor and the bond between the characters. The book was creative as it tied in typical pieces to make a completely original story. The ending seemed solid but I think it could continue to a second piece. Would definitely recommend to fans of dystopian books and thrillers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews