The
Kingdom Lights
By
Steven
VS
BLURB:
In
a world where cities float, airships sail the skies and mythical
creatures are summoned in a pinch, Celes Vale is distinctly average.
Living in the shadow of his talented cousin and his powerful aunt and
uncle, Celes is resigned to a future of soot, factories and well,
more soot.
But
on the night of his twelfth birthday everything changes. A blinding
light, a whispered voice and in an instant Celes becomes the first
ordinary child in history to develop magic, sending him on a
fast-track ticket to the greatest of the floating cities, Gardarel.
Boasting grand, elegant buildings wrought from shimmering white
stone, the entire city appears as though it has been built from
light, and so it has come to be called the Kingdom Lights.
Though
some welcome Celes, others want the dirt-ridden up-start off their
city preferably head first. Nowhere is this clearer than in the
attitude and actions of the beautiful and haughty Lady Ban and her
sneering nephew, Marcus Blackwood. But Blackwood, with his gang of
goons and unimaginative one-liners, is soon the least of Celes s
problems.
With
a little magic and a lot of detective work, Celes and his group of
Scurriers and Wisps unravel the dark truth behind Lady Ban s prim,
perfect smile an alliance to the villainous Wardens and the masked
man who leads them. However, in his attempt to expose Lady Ban, Celes
unwittingly stumbles onto an even darker conspiracy a plan that could
lead to the complete destruction of Gardarel itself.
EXCERPT
With
his immaculately polished shoes, carefully preened suit and even more
carefully preened moustache Jaime Milton was the last person one
would expect in the sooty factory city of Midgard. His father, Lord
Milton, Sr., a great wobbly man with fat flapping fingers like purple
bananas was a close second.
It
was a brilliant June morning and the city of Floating City of Midgard
was alight with life. Jaime walked through the weathered cobblestone
streets and watched as houses flung their windows and doors open,
lapping in the sunlight. Jaime had not been here for two years and
yet the City of Factories was exactly as he had remembered; there
were rows of homes huddled together, tightly packed into the little
street as high rising billows of smoke sailed into the sky. The
cobblestones of rose-tinged granite underfoot were boisterous and
uneven and Jaime had to be extra careful so as not to fall over as
racing children zoomed past, chasing one another furiously through
the street. Some were covered in soot whilst others were rosy clean
but, he noted, all were breathless.
Jaime
Milton couldn’t help but smile.
“What
are you smirking about?” barked Lord Milton, Sr. as his son pushed
him through the streets in a beautiful silvery wheelchair.
“Just
thinking about the first time I came to Midgard,” replied Jaime.
“It was a…”
“I
didn’t ask!” announced Lord Milton, Sr., brandishing his polished
walking cane. “Always answering questions I didn’t ask! And stop
your smiling! There’s no reason to smile!”
AUTHOR
INFORMATION:
A
resident of the sleepy coastal town of Bexhill, East Sussex, England.
Steven graduated in the summer of 2013 from the University of
Southampton with a Bachelor of Medicine Degree and a Master’s
Degree in Global Health from Sussex University – where he spent the
majority of his time in Shawcross writing this novel!
In
between writing and dreaming Steven is a medical doctor and has
worked at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and the
Princess Royal where he fights the system with quirky lanyards.
Steven’s
debut novel steampunk fantasy The
Kingdom Lights is
out on October 17th published by Neverland
Publishing.
Thanks for hosting! Readers: Enter to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sounds like a wonderful book, especially dealing the issue of magic, the non-acceptance of those who are different, and the never ending conflict of the haves and the have nots.
Thank you for the invitation!