Bloomsbury Archer pre-empts Callum Broadway-Bennett’s fantasy trilogy for six figures
Bloomsbury’s new SSF list, Bloomsbury Archer, has pre-empted a vampire high fantasy by debut author Callum Broadway-Bennett.
Vicky Leech Mateos, publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada in a six-figure deal with Judith Murray at Greene & Heaton.
US rights sold to Rebecca Brewer at Bloomsbury Archer US, making this the first global acquisition for the imprint in spring 2027.
Duskborn, the first book in the series, follows Caius Varros, the most feared vampire hunter in the Preylands. As a child, he watched vampires slaughter everyone he loved. Now, armed with god-blessed weapons and mastery of every form of combat, Caius lives by a code of chivalry and vengeance.
On a routine rescue mission beyond the border, he is captured by Aurelia, the cunning and beautiful heir to one of the three vampire emperors. She makes him an unthinkable offer: she will spare his captured squire if he helps her assassinate the emperors – her own mother included – so she can seize the vampire throne. To do it, she must turn Caius into the very thing he despises, and make him her consort. To save his protégé, Caius agrees. But he sees more than a bargain. He sees a way to destroy the vampire empire from within and save humanity once and for all.
Callum Broadway-Bennett was born and raised on the Central Coast, Australia, wrote his first fantasy novel when he was 12 and is newly graduated from the University of Newcastle, Australia.
He said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Vicky and the whole Bloomsbury Archer team to bring Duskborn into the world. I’m very grateful for their vision and enthusiasm – and for the support of my agent, Judith. Duskborn is my love letter to the epic fantasy genre.”
Leech Mateos commented: “Epic in every sense, Duskborn is completely propulsive and undeniable. I loved the gruff, powerful hero, the Roman-inspired world and joyous splatter of violence across the page. Callum is a fresh new voice set to take the genre by storm and his brilliant new high fantasy is exactly what I’ve been searching for, day and night. If only I’d known to look at dusk…”
