The Crystal Window
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Beneath the waters of the Pacific, hidden from the human world, lies a kingdom few have ever seen.
From the ancient City of Light beneath Mount Shasta to the depths of the Emerald Castle, the ocean is alive with memory, power, and guardians sworn to protect its balance. At the center of it all stands the Crystal Window, an ancient relic that reveals not the future, but the consequences of choice.
Angelica, Princess of the Sea, has been warned never to interfere with what the Window reveals.
But when she sees a vision of a young woman drifting alone on the open ocean, she breaks the rule that has protected the sea for generations.
Above the surface, Michael, a lifeguard on a quiet stretch of coastline, begins his day like any other. Until the ocean calls him into something greater, a rescue that will bind his fate to the sea forever.
As the boundaries between worlds begin to blur, ancient forces stir beneath the waves, and the balance of the ocean hangs in the balance.
Because the future is not written.It is chosen. And one decision can change everything.
Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, director and author. His first book, a non-fiction work telling the true story of New Zealand’s worst miscarriage of justice, In Dark Places, won Best Non-Fiction Book at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards. Michael's second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas, is a time-travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang.
Better the Blood, the first Hana Westerman thriller, was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction/Ockham New Zealand Book Award, as well as for the Audio Book of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards and Best First Mystery Novel at the Barry Awards. It was also longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Debut Dagger and was a finalist for Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, where it won the award for Best First Novel. Return to Blood, the second novel in the acclaimed series, won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in 2025.
Michael's short and feature films have won awards internationally and have screened at numerous festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London and Melbourne. Michael is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award, in recognition of members of the Māori filmmaking community who have made high-level contributions to screen storytelling.
He lives in Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand), with his partner Jane, and children Tīhema, Māhina and Matariki.
More by Michael Bennett
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