Fantasy Book Critic: Exclusive Cover Reveal with Q&A: Before The End by John Palladino

Q] Welcome back to Fantasy Book Critic John. How have you been since the release of Buzzard’s Bowl, the 2^nd title in the Tragedy of Cedain saga?

JP: I’ve been well! It’s been a seriously crazy time since Buzzard’s Bowl released. I moved across the country, which was an experience. I’ve been writing book three (the conclusion) in the Tragedy of Cedain series for a while now, but things keep delaying my progress. Hoping to get that done and published sometime in 2025 – should be pretty doable, I think.

Q] What was the main inspiration for BEFORE THE END? Where did the idea come from and what compelled you to see it through to the end?

JP: The funny thing is that if anyone asks me, I absolutely hate short stories. I dislike reading them and I’ve never been a fan of writing them. I’ve always preferred to live inside the world for longer than a short story offers. There was a time between The Trials of Ashmount and Buzzard’s Bowl where I was awaiting the edits for Trials. I had a compulsive need to write at the time, and I didn’t want to begin book two before I’d done the early edits for the first book. I knew that if I started writing book two, I’d never get back to book one. So, instead, I wrote the first short story in Before the End. It was more of a test than anything else, but it seemed to work well enough and I enjoyed it.

Another one of the collection’s stories (Child of Children) was a finalist in a short story competition—it was only the second short story I’ve ever written. I then got into this habit of writing short stories during my down times and kept them all within the world of Cedain, to expand on a few things and give some characters proper introductions. Before the End was always meant to be a 1.5 book, bridging the first two books, but somehow, book two was just ready to go first.

Q] Let’s talk about the intriguing cover for BEFORE THE END. Who’s the artist/designer behind it? Can you tell us how it all came together?

JP: The artist is Dusan Markovic, who does outstanding art, and has done so for all my books thus far. His art is just phenomenal and I’m always shocked when he delivers his drafts to me because they come out so much better than I anticipate. My designer, Jake Caleb, also deserves a huge shoutout for really enhancing the book. He’s the brain behind the awesome barcode outlines, which are super cool.

Honestly, it was a pretty simple process to bring it all together. I had a vision for this cover art from the very beginning, when I’d decided to bundle all of my short stories together. I’ll touch more on the idea in the next question, but simply put, I just described what I wanted and Dusan made it a reality.

Q] The focus of the art is on a secretive looking tavern & several particular items within it. Is there a specific reason for this?

JP: There is! When putting together Before the End, I couldn’t decide on a cover art that would fit the book. Or, rather, I was too lazy to think of which moment usurped the others. I’m not sure which. One things for certain, I couldn’t decide how to decide on an image representing a single story. And I’m not sure I wanted to, either. Instead, I thought it’d be a really cool idea to make it a tavern setting, because it’s the right place for stories to be told. There are eleven stories in Before the End, and each one has an important item in it that’s represented on the cover art. For example, there’s a broom leaning against the wall because brooms are a very big part of the story (shockingly) entitled Brooms.

Q] What was your first reaction when you saw it? How does it hold up (in your opinion) to what the stories are about?

JP: I thought it was great! I didn’t invest as much financially in this cover art (you may notice it’s not a “full” wrap, as are my other two) because it’s just a short story collection and I doubt it’ll see the sales numbers a “regular” novel will, so I didn’t want to go too crazy. Originally, I actually tried a different artist and didn’t connect with their draft, so we parted ways and I decided I should just go back to my original artist. If it’s not broken, why try to fix it?

I personally like the idea of readers knowing there are eleven items on the cover, one representing each story, and trying to find them/figure out which story they may pertain to. There are, obviously, other things in the image that don’t correlate to the stories at all, but add to the vibe of the art.

Q] So what can readers expect from BEFORE THE END and what should they be looking forward to according to you?

JP: Before the End is a short story collection that requires zero knowledge from the reader beforehand. However, it was written/designed to be read AFTER The Trials of Ashmount. Although it’s not a requirement, I think readers would appreciate the stories more if they’ve read the first book. Alternatively, if you are a reader who wants to sample some of my writing, I think Before the End is a great place to check it out. Short stories are unique in that you get to see if an author can end a story in a satisfying or conclusionary way that, at the very least, interests a reader further (or completely turn them away, but at least if that happens, they won’t have wasted nearly as much time on a full novel).

Q] In closing, do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to share with our readers?

JP: I’m hard at work on book three, which is the conclusion, of the Tragedy of Cedain series. And after that’s finished, I have another book I’m super eager to begin writing (although I must admit that I’m unsure I’ll be able to execute it in the way I want… we’ll see). Otherwise, I just want to say thanks to everyone who took their time to read this and thank you FBC for hosting this cover reveal!

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OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Edelbrock Brendis fights to save his country from the rampaging Camel Clans before the events of The Trials of Ashmount.

Captain Decklin Hoarst—otherwise known as Royal—battles alcoholism, friendship, and a questionable order from his superior.

Duke Velturo seeks solace and comfort with his favorite foods while feeling the pressures of a family who doesn’t respect him.

And in Rivane, an up-and-coming group of ragtag rebels fight to secure equal rights by murdering their countrymen and drawing attention from their king.

Before the End contains these stories and more, all set in the world of Cedain.