I am Valshara, the black stone born of fire. Break me, and my edges turn into knives.

Condemned to a slave camp for her crimes, goblin convict Valshara Sh’a makes a death-defying escape to freedom. But navigating Vindor’s treacherous cavern system is only the beginning of her troubles. An encounter with a rogue king turns her world upside down, and a bargain with fairy tricksters leaves her with a human child she doesn’t know how to care for.

As she tries to smuggle the boy through the walls of a barricaded city, Valshara can’t let down her guard. Because somewhere in the darkness behind her, a bounty hunter rises—relentless as nightfall and merciless as death itself.

Emily Golus re-imagines Victor Hugo’s beloved Les Misérables as an epic fantasy adventure about suffering, redemption, and the extraordinary power of love.

Standalone fantasy from A Classic Retold series.

Valshara Sh’a is a criminal goblin. Her crime was joining up with the wrong faction. Now she is on the run from the law and must decide what lines she will cross to stay free. Emily Golus cleverly reimagines Victor Hugo’s masterpiece Les Misérables into Crack the Stone’s high fantasy world of goblins, elves, and humans. Crack the Stone, however, simplifies the original Hugo novel, focusing on core ideas of repentance and grace while revealing comical insights into human culture as Valshara struggles to escape a caste-based value system. Unique voices and creative characterization bring whimsical balance to deep themes of redemption.

Best for: Teens and older readers, fans of fantastical retellings of classic literature.

Discern: Prejudice from a caste system, mildly descriptive violence.