The War Before Reality

Blackwater has survived the impossible. Now Jack Mercer is about to discover why reality exists at all. The oldest door has opened again, drawing Jack back to Greyhaven in 1891 and to Evelyn Cross—the mysterious girl whose choices helped create Blackwater. But history is not what Jack expected. There have been other attempts. Other beginnings. Other versions of him. And buried beneath everything Jack thought he understood is the truth about Blackwater itself: it was never simply an island, an Anchor or a refuge between worlds. It was created to give contradictions somewhere to exist without destroying each other. That discovery should answer the questions that have followed Jack since the beginning. Instead, it opens the door to something far older. Before the Anchors. Before the networks. Before Blackwater. Before reality itself. There was a war. As forgotten histories begin to surface, Jack and those closest to him uncover the terrifying reason reality was created—and the countless lives hidden beneath the systems that were supposed to protect it. Once again, Jack is faced with the same question in a far more dangerous form. Who gets to decide what another person must become? Ancient powers want certainty. Old systems demand sacrifice. Entire histories have been reduced to memories, and Blackwater itself must decide whether it wants to continue carrying the purpose others gave it. Jack has spent his life refusing to accept that people are functions. Now he may have to extend that belief to worlds, histories…and reality itself. Because the greatest war did not begin inside reality. Reality was created to stop it. And as beginnings themselves start to disappear, Jack is confronted with a question no one has ever dared to ask: Does reality want to have begun? The War Before Reality is Book Three of The Chronicles of Blackwater, a fast-paced science-fiction fantasy adventure of impossible worlds, forgotten histories, ancient mysteries, family, identity and the power of choice. The doors have always led somewhere. This time, Jack must discover what existed before there was anywhere for them to lead.