The Bones of Crystal Sand

by Laura Winter

The makings of a Night Terror.

Raised in Valisea by the Veil Worshippers, Brela escaped the massacre of her shadow kingdom with more than just a Veil shard embedded in her collarbone. Hiding her supposedly-extinct magic is just one of the skills she’s been forced to learn while living in a kingdom where everyone is her enemy. She is the Night Terror assassin, and she will be feared across the forest.

But there is something more underneath the cold assassin. Something deeper than the shadow magic growing inside her. As her guild seeks to control her, Brela searches for more than just answers to her power, and she’ll find it in the most unlikely places… with the most unlikely people.


The Bones of Crystal Sand is a collection of six prequel stories following Brela’s adventures from Valisea and Rooke to the Crystal Desert. Discover how Brela came to be the most feared assassin in the forest, while picking up a few strays along the way.


Suggested reading order:
Book 1: The Curse of Broken Shadows
Book 0: The Bones of Crystal Sand
Book 2: Coming Soon

For fans of Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series, Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, and S.M. Gaither's Shadows and Crowns series.

TW: This book contains explicit content and dark elements, including language, violence and torture, mature romantic scenes, and mentions of abuse.

Genres: Fantasy

Unknown Binding

About the author

Laura Winter is a passionate creator, minimalist, and van life dreamer. She's dedicated to writing character-driven stories with intricate plots that will keep you engaged until the last page. Explore new worlds, fall in love with characters, and enjoy an escape.

You can join her community at https://sendfox.com/laurawinter and never miss a new publication.

Reviews

[Beba Andric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed book 1 in this series, The Curse of Broken Shadows, that when I saw there was a prequel, I just HAD to read it! This book gives the most incredible insight into the characters I fell in love with in book 1. It was so interesting to read how Briela started out as The Night Terror, it explains how a lost little girl becomes a hardened assassin, her fears, her perceived obligations, her need to keep her secret, well, secret. My biggest surprise was Farrah, she's the hardcore, cool, brilliant warrior in book 1 but her beginnings are so different from what she evolves into. Magnificent! And I would never have guessed how privileged Elias is, he's a loving, caring character, so out of where he initially came from. I cannot stress enough how well these insights were written, how incredible it was to read what shaped the trio into the awesome characters they are now. Talk about growing a character! Well, Ms Winters does it superbly!

[TaniaRina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author had me at “while picking up a few strays along the way”. This anthology lived up to the quirky description. The format of six prequels didn’t distract at all; in fact, it was more like reading six chapters that happened to have formal sub-chapters. The storyline flowed smoothly.
It’s another sad commentary that females need to be the ones to monitor males so as not to be harassed and/or worse. Brela and Farrah were strong women who definitely maintained their femininity.

And that last line? OH!!!

Normally, I prefer reading the origin story prior to the series so that I have the characters’ full background when I continue. Will let all y’all know after I read The Curse of Broken Shadows.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, in-depth gripping tale of Brela, who is victimised for having powers that she doesn't fully understand. As a child, she escapes death only to be mistreated and raised to fight without feelings. Finally free to live a life away from being controlled, she becomes the Night Terror Assassin, feared by all. Brela encounters others who also have hidden powers and they form a team to work together. Contains hardship, death, love and adventure. A good start to the series.  I received a complimentary copy and voluntarily leave an honest review.

[MaKayla Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading about these characters again! Great to experience how they came to be.

[Avra Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much. I was so sad when it ended. I really wanted to see the shit show Elias, I really did.

There were so many things I loved about this prequel, but as usual it's the dynamics between these amazing characters that shine the most. I absolutely can't wait to see more of them in the next book.

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am totally in love with Brela! This is a well crafted set of short stories that give you so much background on Brela and her companions. I think I'm going to be glad that I read this one first before tackling Book 1: The Curse of Broken Shadows, which is well over 700 pages!

The world creation is excellent. I felt the stinging desert sands and I'm in awe of the battle scenes, especially the ones that take place at the Glass Wilds, the home of the Sand Sprites and where she's tasked with capturing a vaarasuxa.

And then there's the prose, and the humor. I'm still laughing when I think about the various ways Laura has her characters pick on one another. For example: Brela and a friend, Emril are searching for the Sand Sprites to hopefully learn more about her shadow magic. The Crown Prince appears to them as merely a citizen tasked with taking them to the Glass Wilds for an audience with the King. Once the "interview" is over, Brela is out of the throne room and walking with Emril and the Prince to whatever contest he has determined will prove her worth in having the knowledge she seeks.

Emril leaned closer. “So… he’s the Crown Prince of the Sand Sprites.”
“Yup.”
“He’s been in charge of getting you the information you wanted this whole time?”
“Yup,” she snapped again.
“So he’s been playing you?”
Brela only glared at the redhead.
Emril grinned. “I like him.”

“Don’t make me stab you,” she grumbled.

It's got lots of action and characters you'll quickly fall in love with. Give it a read, you won't regret it.

Highly recommended with a 5 star rating.

[Linnea Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Long before she met Cason Valkip, Brela was gaining the title of Night Terror. In this collection of six short stories, readers can follow Brela from her first meeting with her parents to training with Ovid to meeting Farrah and Elias.

This prequel collection of novellas was a fun read. Despite all of the stories taking place before The Curse of Broken Shadows, Winter recommends reading The Bones of Crystal Sand second - which totally makes sense having read it. There are tons of spoilers to TCOBS but getting extra depth after the fact is fun. I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I hadn’t waited so long after TCOBS to dive in - so don’t let my 3 stars discourage anyone. There’s not a lot of big picture plot-relevant details, so great for getting a little more out of the world, but not great if you’re looking for the next step in the story. Got to wait for book 2 for that!

Content Warnings: violence, gore, misogyny, sexual violence, pedophilia, explicit sexual content

[Amberlynne O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing this review after reading book 2, and I now agree with the suggested reading order of reading this book between books 1 & 2, even though I was anxious to read the 2nd book (after that cliffhanger of an ending to book 1). The stories in this book do give some excellent insight into events and characters in book 2 without dragging down the plot of book 2. All of these stories were things that were mentioned briefly in the first book (or most of them, at least eluded to), but with a lot more detail than either of the full length novels went in to, or had time to go into. I will say, I was more interested in the stories in the beginning, of her childhood with her parents, and the two stories at the end, with Farrah and Elias, than I was of the stories in the middle. Overall, an enjoyable read.

[Shweta · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF near the end because -

1. It is a prequel and by 80% I got the gist of their backstory really nicely.

2. There are MFF scenes at the end that I didn't need to read to understand the dynamic (note that the MMC hasn't entered here yet and only comes in the main series)

Having said all this - I did really love the plot and story between all the found family characters as well as the main couple story and if you stick to MF scenes, you absolutely will not miss out on anything 😊

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good background on the characters - almost wish I read it before the first one so I didn’t find Brela to be soooo self-aware, seeing some of her background rather than just being told about it.

[Shweta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Removing one star for DNF near the end because -

1. It is a prequel and by 80% I got the gist of their backstory really nicely.

2. There are MFF scenes near the end that I didn't need to read to understand the dynamic (note that the MMC hasn't entered here yet and only comes in the main series)