John Jarrold

Bronte-Marie Wesson is an Australian bookseller and influencer.

In November 2021, she posted a video on TikTok describing the premise of THE BROKEN CYCLE fantasy series, which went viral, amassing 920,000 views and 270,000 likes. She has a collective social following of 240,000 and has accrued 2.1 million views on a playlist documenting her progress writing the first book and has already been approached by major publishers.

THE ASCENSION OF SOULS is the first book in THE BROKEN CYCLE TRILOGY, a queer own-voices story that explores the last stand of a dying culture against a goliath empire, as well as the misfits who fall within the margins of history who try to grind an age old conflict to its end. A curse has trapped Loghar in an eternal war with their imperial neighbours, with central figures reincarnated in each generation to act out the tale. Luminara is a servant who has spent her whole life learning to go unseen, just another face amongst the hundreds who work in the kitchens. When her birthday celebrations coincide with that of the boy-king, the two strike up a serendipitous companionship that blooms into romance. Luminara finds herself pulled into a realm of prophecy that is as ancient as her homeland and as her lover begins to take up his mantle in the war, she is forced to take a stance against him or watch the world around her turn to ash.

THE ASCENSION OF SOULS will appeal to readers who loved Jasmin Throne by Tasha Suri, Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.