Simon & Schuster signs Luke Bateman's Fireforged fantasy trilogy

The Queensland former NRL player and BookTok creator will debut with Son of Ember in 2027, published at the same time in the UK, Australia and the US.

Queensland writer Luke Bateman has signed a three-book young adult fantasy deal with Simon & Schuster. Gallery YA in the UK has taken UK and Commonwealth rights to his Fireforged trilogy, and Simon & Schuster will release the books in Australia and the US at the same time as the UK edition.

Bateman is a former NRL player who started the @lukesreads TikTok account in 2025 and hosts the In the Good Books podcast. Son of Ember, the first book in the series, is his first novel. It is due in hardback in mid-2027. Dates for the second and third books have not been given.

The story follows 14-year-old Aeyun Dawns, a loner from a logging town called Edge. After a man in glowing armour kills his mother, Aeyun ends up in an orphanage and later trains for the Fist, an elite force that hunts Weavers, people who use banned magic. He begins to suspect his mother was a Weaver and finds a secret from her past that could upend his world.

Publishing director Yasmin Morrissey acquired the UK rights for Gallery YA. Bateman said the book was a story told by his 10-year-old self.