In celebration of the release of Until the Beginning by Amy Plum we have illustrations of the main characters Juneau and Miles.

Did 17-year-old Juneau Newhaven grow up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland hiding from World War III’s deadly scavengers? Or has she been surviving in an isolated stretch of today’s Alaskan wilderness mere miles from modern civilization?

In her young adult novel After the End, Amy Plum blurs the lines between dystopia and a modern-day action and adventure story, throwing in a car chase, a touch of magic and a messenger raven named Poe for good measure.

To celebrate the May 5 release of the sequel Until the Beginning, Amy commissioned illustrations of her books’ two protagonists. First asking her readers to send photos of people they thought resembled Juneau and Miles, Amy then passed the crowd-sourced images to Polish artist Magdalena Pagowska who mixed those images with her own perception of the characters as she read the two books. And the result is nothing less than extraordinary.

In this exclusive reveal, here are the portraits of Juneau Newhaven and Miles Blackwell from After the End. Signed postcards of the illustrations will be sent to the first 500 readers to purchase the books. Details here.

‘After the End’

Juneau Gaia Newhaven was born into a post-apocalyptic world.
Her parents’ clan fled to the Alaskan wilderness at the onset of WWIII and for thirty years have lived off the land, practicing their brand of earth magic and hiding from the war’s deadly survivors. A prodigy in Reading and Conjuring, 17-year-old Juneau was raised to become her people’s next leader and protector. When she returns from the hunt to find her clan missing, she must set out to find them in a perilous post-war world.

‘Until the Beginning’

Juneau Gaia Newhaven was born into a complex web of lies.

Believing that earth’s population was destroyed in WWIII, she and the rest of her clan’s children were raised in complete isolation, mere miles from Anchorage, Alaska. When her clan is mysteriously kidnapped, Juneau wanders her way into civilization and discovers the truth. Now she must navigate a modern world that is completely foreign to her while being chased by two factions desperate for a secret she doesn’t know she holds. Raised in a net of deception, Juneau must decide for herself what is truth and what is lie; what is magic and what is science; who to trust and who to fight.

Miles Blackwell, the spoiled son of a pharmaceutical magnate, is kicked out of high school mere months before graduation. He is desperate to win back his dad’s approval, even if it means kidnapping the girl his father is searching for and putting himself in mortal danger. When Miles finally finds her, his world is turned upside down.

Now he must choose between a secure future backed by his father’s fortune and the inherent danger of Juneau’s chaotic world.

Amy Plum is AN international bestselling author of the Die For Me series and the After the End duology. Visit her at Amy Plum Books.

Magdalena Pagowska is a Polish concept artist and illustrator working under the artist name Len-Yan. Her art can be see at Len-Yan Devianart.