Welcome to a new cover reveal!

Today I have the pleasure of collaborating on revealing the cover of a debut novel, A Memory of Song, our first step into the Ardura world created by Scott Palmer, and which will kick start The Last Ballad Series (and a fellow #thebreakin author).

Let's first take a look at the blurb:

In a dying land, the armies of the dead hold sway. And those who rule them are more god than human. 

James Culdaine, the last heir of the Northern Throne, was just a young man when the armies of the South murdered his parents and subjugated his lands. He has never forgotten those responsible, nor has he forgiven. He has spent the last ten years living in isolation with The Feldarra; a sacred Northern clan of fierce warriors, led by the fearless Wulfee who, still reeling from the loss of her own children, finds new meaning in protecting what only family she has left. 

Now, an ancient order of warlocks has returned to the North, singing dark songs composed of blood magic that null the elements and threaten all that is living.

With nature depleted and the Southern armies returning to the North, James struggles to embrace the unique power he has long tried to repress; the ability to commune with the spirits of the dead. In the bitter heart of a growing war, with the world dying around them, James and Wulfee desperately seek answers, vengeance, and a way to save the ones they love... No matter the cost. 

Fires refuse to burn. The skies are thirsty and breathless. The earth won’t eat its rot…

Welcome to Ardura.

This first novel will be available during March 2024. Your best way to keep yourself updated with Scott's progress is by joining his newsletter. 

A Memory of Song is the first book of a planned four book series called The Last Ballad. This is a dark epic fantasy book that deals with heavy themes such as love, loss, found family, and revenge.

In words of the own author: "It was my goal to fill Ardura with real people experiencing real things—the things we all go through and hope we’re not alone. This is an important story to me because writing it allowed me to process some of my own life’s events, and it is my hope that I was able to capture that raw emotion on the page."

The cover has been designed by Stuart Bache, whose work you can check at this link.

In this post:

Scott Palmer

Scott Palmer was born in London, Ontario, Canada, where he lives with his wife, daughter, and two cats, and they conjure up magic (love and happiness) daily. His whole life has been a journey of collecting stories and stowing them like a library of experiences. 

Growing up in Middle Earth, Kanto, and Hyrule, before moving to darker worlds like Westeros, The Circle of The World, and The Randlands provided a sturdy foundation for Scott’s imagination to grow upon. He travelled to those other worlds and walked, and fought, and bled with the people that lived there. It was somewhere in those pages that he fell in love with the art of storytelling. Since taking those first steps out of reality, Scott has immersed himself in creating his own world. A place that could transport readers somewhere they could only dream of. A place of magic, and love, forgotten lore, and long history.

Scott started writing seriously in 2020 and now he cannot stop.