The Virus of Beauty Series
by: C.B. Lyall
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Hazel Publishing Company
Amazon | Paperback | Goodreads
Ugliness is power, and the Virus of Beauty is spreading causing panic throughout the witch population.
Wilf Gilvary is a teenage wizard who is terrified of using magic. When his father dies under mysterious circumstances, Wilf is plunged into the middle of a political struggle between the witches and wizards in the Magical Realm. He’d rather play soccer than practice magic, but he’s forced to make a choice between the life of a normal Hong Kong teen and one of wizardry after a powerful virus begins to decimate the witch community. The cure is spellbound in a journal Wilf inherited from his father and when his friend Katryna contracts the virus, Wilf understands that he must overcome his fear of magic to unlock the journal’s secrets – but will it be too late to save her?
Witches and magic are taking over Wilf's life.
After being thrust into a long-standing conflict between the witches and wizards that has destabilized the Magical Realm and finding the antidote for the Virus of Beauty, Wilf would like to return to his normal soccer playing teenage life. But he can’t rest until his stepsister, Myra, is caught and brought to justice. It’s been three days since Myra took to the skies above Hong Kong and disappeared. Now Wilf is accused of corrupting the Veil, a defensive barrier between the witch and wizard cities. As the spell expands throughout the magical realm it is attacking witches and wizards. But Wilf would rather embrace his witch friend, Katryna, than his wizard powers. When evil forces have other plans and they kidnap Katryna, Wilf realizes that he’d do anything to save her and the Magical Realm, even if it means risking his own life by connecting to the primary source of all magic.
Wilf Gilvary is a slave to the magic he hates.
Yet his powers seem a solution for saving the Magical Realm and Katryna, the girl he loves. If only he could figure out how to tap his magic’s full potential.
As factions of witches and wizards vie for control of the Magical Realm, Wilf embarks on a harrowing journey that plunges him into the realm’s ancient secrets. At first, Wilf begins to doubt everything. His affection for Katryna might be the remnants of a broken love spell. And he still struggles to control his magic.
But Wilf risks his life to learn more about his powers and his destiny. It leaves him facing an impossible choice: forever abandon his dreams of life as a Normal in Hong Kong, or allow magic and the Magical Realm to perish from the world.
Exploring The Virus of Beauty Series – setting.
The Virus of Beauty Series is set in four locations: Hong Kong, Mathowytch, Kureyamage and Mulkulth.
Each book in the series begins and ends in Hong Kong. When I began writing the series I lived in Hong Kong. At that time, I volunteered to run a hiking group and organize local tours for The American Women’s Association. So, it felt natural to set the series there. Myra, Wilf’s step-sister, even runs a local tour guide company in Hong Kong.
For the city of Mathowytch my inspiration was the New York skyline of glass and steel. Mathowytch is a new city the wizards built for the ruling class as a showcase of their power and dominance. The westside of Manhattan with its new buildings and greenspaces can be seen in my descriptions of Mathowytch. Driving along the Westside Highway when we first returned to New York there were buildings shooting up like magic.
Kureyamage was drawn from the narrow streets of Kowloon and London. Kureyamage has older buildings, which seem to lean on each other for support. Streets are connected by dark alleyways in the older sections of the city. A vast difference from the beautiful new city of Mathowytch that the witches stole from the wizards and now occupy.
In the third book we have the new location of Mulkulth. Mathowytch and Kureyamage are located on Mulkulth. It’s the realm where witches and wizards originated from. When they left it was an environmental disaster, but has now regenerated.
The Vassal of Magic – The Virus of Beauty Book 3
Wilf glanced over at Ermentrude and Jayden. “Ready?”
Ermentrude tightened her hold on Catcus and gave a brief nod. Wilf took a deep breath and laid his hand on the sphere’s surface. Flashes of energy spiked upward to connect with his fingers. He clenched his teeth and grunted when they made contact.
The wall on his left disappeared, leaving a view down Tai Wang Street. He swallowed the lump in his throat. These could be his last glimpses of the city he loved, but this was no time to be sentimental. He needed to focus on keeping to the right path through the Thermals. After they rescued Katryna, then he could worry about how he would return to Hong Kong. The portal shuddered and lifted off the ground.
Lights wove together, forming a pathway through the sky. The portal rattled and rose higher. Cloud patterns reflected on the surfaces of Mong Kok’s glass and steel skyscrapers, but the outline of both portals remained cloaked. He steered into a thick bank of clouds, and Hong Kong disappeared.
“Shouldn’t the fissure be appearing by now?” Jayden stared at the sky above them.
Ermentrude leaned forward. “You’re right. The gateway should have opened by now.”
Wilf pressed his hand down on the sphere, strengthening the connection. The energy spikes sizzled and expanded. He winced as the portal picked up speed. An explosion of green light burst in the sky and the fissure opened. The portal sped up, and they blasted into the Thermals.
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You can read the Background on The Virus of Beauty here.
Carolyn Lyall was born in Stockton-On-Tees, United Kingdom. As a child Carolyn growing up in Northern England in the sixties Carolyn loved sports, reading and amateur dramatics. She joined a renaissance group, practiced the broadsword and dreamed of visiting other worlds. Her passion for what could be drove her forward when faced with everyday struggles. Her first memorable skirmish with gender inequality came at nine-years old when she was told that only boys were allowed to play soccer. In response, she simply refused to do any classwork until they changed their old-fashioned policies. She won that battle.
At the age of 18, she took a role as typist for a nursing school in Middlesbrough. She then moved to London and enrolled in night school. She was quickly recognized for her ability to fit in anywhere and for not being afraid to push back on the predominantly male leadership. She eventually became a project manager in software development and micro-computers, bridging the gap between computer programmers and management.
Her dream to travel was finally realized in 1990 when she moved to New York City, USA with her husband and the first of three sons. This was the steppingstone to a lifelong adventure that has taken her and her family to India, Belgium and Hong Kong.
Raising her family in multiple countries around the world, she saw that each move, while a shock, was an opportunity for her sons to redefine themselves against new challenges and different cultural norms. Now, that her sons have left home, Carolyn has used her passion for the fantastic to create a world where every day gender inequalities are at the forefront of a world ending conflict. She shares this story through the eyes of a young man who is suddenly thrust into this new world along with all of his own woes and prejudices. The introduction to this world is in Carolyn’s debut YA fantasy novel, “The Virus of Beauty,” due to be released July 31, 2019 under C B Lyall.
Carolyn has published two short stories in an annual anthology by 25 Servings of Soop. She wrote a number of articles for the American Women’s Associates Magazine. Fueled by her love of the works of Terry Pratchett, Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Brandon Sanderson and others, Carolyn has completed a number of writing courses, which included a Master Fantasy/Science Fiction writers course with Gotham Writers’ Workshop, a YA Voice class and Advance Novel Writing course at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute.
Places to find C.B. Lyall:
You can follow the Virus of Beauty Series Blog Tour here.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the exploration of the setting and the excerpt is great, The Virus of Beauty sounds like an excellent series to read and the covers are quite eye-catching! Thanks for sharing the series with me and have a fantastic day!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover and look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your guest post, bio and books' details, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading The Virus of Beauty Series
ReplyDeleteThe book sound fun to read and I like the cover.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting my series and for all the wonderful comments. I'm so glad you enjoyed the excerpts and hope you will equally enjoy reading the series.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Your series sounds very intriguing. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.
DeleteThanks for the great blurb and excerpt. The books sound very intriguing. Love the covers!
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