The Black River Chronicles Collection - Books 1-3

Prologues

The Time Before…

The Time Before…One speaks of the time before the Summer of Fire in the same hushed tones as one speaks of the time before the cataclysm, as though the world was somehow softer then, as though we were more innocent and more lovely. As though no trouble existed. The golden age, not long ago but far away, seen as almost out of reach by those who don’t really know of what they speak.

One speaks of the time before the Summer of Fire in the same hushed tones as one speaks of the time before the cataclysm, as though the world was somehow softer then, as though we were more innocent and more lovely. As though no trouble existed. The golden age, not long ago but far away, seen as almost out of reach by those who don’t really know of what they speak.To speak of a time before the Summer of Fire, a time truly before the cacophony of events that chose to confluence in those short months, is to speak of a time more than four hundred years gone by. Very few have a genuine understanding of what led to the time known as the Summer of Fire, of the rising powers that had grown with the patience of mountains, over centuries. Only in looking back could scholars completely understand the full scale of events that preceded it.

To speak of a time before the Summer of Fire, a time truly before the cacophony of events that chose to confluence in those short months, is to speak of a time more than four hundred years gone by. Very few have a genuine understanding of what led to the time known as the Summer of Fire, of the rising powers that had grown with the patience of mountains, over centuries. Only in looking back could scholars completely understand the full scale of events that preceded it.It is particularly difficult to distinguish what came ‘before’, as this is a relative term. Each individual will have a point in time that they consider to be the time ‘before’, after which their life will have irrevocably changed. General consensus suggests that by 1099 AC it was already too late, but for some it started long before that.

It is particularly difficult to distinguish what came ‘before’, as this is a relative term. Each individual will have a point in time that they consider to be the time ‘before’, after which their life will have irrevocably changed. General consensus suggests that by 1099 AC it was already too late, but for some it started long before that.