This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Cracks, book one in the Saga of the Spheres, by L.A. Prendergast follows Travis Black, a twenty-two-year-old human who survives a fatal stabbing when an ancient incorporeal being called Marrow merges with him, giving Travis powers and casting them into another universe. There, Travis reaches an underground civilization of green-skinned people called Fragments, whose society depends on the Mother Crystal, the power at the heart of their enclosed world. As Travis learns to control his bond with Marrow, he discovers a breach called the Crack that can carry living beings between separate universes. When the Fragments face the possibility of leaving their failing world, Travis becomes connected to a conflict involving Fragment societies beyond the Crack. With Marrow sharing his body and mind, Travis must understand what their combined power can do before competing worlds collide.
L.A. Prendergast’s Cracks is a fantastic portal fantasy, with an imaginative multiverse that gives every Sphere its own physical identity. The Fragment city feels enormous beneath green crystals, where stone structures rise around cavern streets lit far below. These gorgeous depictions are on every page, the standout being a second Fragment world beneath a strawberry-pink sky, where a walled capital sits beyond peach-colored grass and forests of red leaves. The magic is unique in how Marrow’s power runs through Travis's body, and it gives him strengths like sharpened sight and being able to tear through stone. The tradeoff is that heavier use can leave him physically spent, which proves to be more of a detriment as the story progresses. Travis is a great lead, but it is Prendergast’s fleshing out of ancillary characters that is most impressive. Among them are Hefful, the Fragment metalsmith whose Dew-infused alloy becomes crucial during the underground expedition, and Eko, a pink-skinned Fragment sent to meet Travis in the second world, whose direct curiosity and easy conversations with Travis are pitch-perfect. Readers who enjoy darker portal fantasy with unusual civilizations and transformative magic are in for an absolute treat. Very highly recommended.
