I first became aware of Jo Graham when I read Black Ships, an absorbing take on the Aenead with a young sibyl as its narrator. Since then, Jo has gone on to create twenty-seven speculative fiction novels (including the Calpurnian Wars space operas, the historical fantasy series The Order of the Air with Melissa Scott, and tie-ins for Stargate series), three books on pagan spirituality, and three online games; and has garnered a slew of SFF and Romance awards.

So I was thrilled when Jo chose Candlemark as the laboratory for her mythic historical fantasy A Blackened Mirror. The stories follow Giulia Farnese, known to historians as a formidably learned and intelligent advisor to two Renaissance popes. But in Graham’s vision Giulia is also a seer, despite the dangers of such a talent in her era. Transposing the myth of Persephone and Hades onto the opulent Rome of the Borgias, A Blackened Mirror is kin to Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel works and Guy Gavriel Kay’s imaginative transmutations. Here’s the appetite-whetting synopsis:

1489—When Giulia Farnese came to Rome to make an arranged marriage with young noble Orsino Orsini, she dreamed of learning and power in the glittering city of the Renaissance popes. However, her mother-in-law seems frightened, and her husband refuses to consummate the marriage at the direction of the head of his family, Lord Bracciano. But Giulia herself has a secret: she sees visions in mirrors and hears the whispers of spirits, the gifts of an ancient sibyl in an age when magic is heresy punishable by death. Is this ability the reason Bracciano has trapped her in this sham of a marriage?

As she struggles to unearth answers, Giulia finds herself drawn to her mother-in-law’s cousin, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. Ruthless, sophisticated, and old enough to be Giulia’s father, Rodrigo is a humanist, a collector of pagan art and heretical writings, and a loving father to his illegitimate children. He is a bright spot in Giulia’s chilly life—but to Bracciano, he’s a political rival to be removed. Bracciano’s dark rites to summon demons may make Giulia the instrument of Rodrigo’s destruction.

Dealing with demons is a mortal sin. Refusing Bracciano would be a fatal mistake. And Giulia’s growing attraction to Rodrigo might be her downfall—or the key to her salvation. To defy the demon’s power and seize control of her life, Giulia will need to cross the line between innocence and dangerous knowledge. And once she’s descended into that underworld, she is not coming back unchanged.

Such a riveting work calls for a cover artist of equally potent talent. Today I get to share the stunning, evocative cover of A Blackened Mirror, created by Alexael, which distills the content of the work and brings its protagonist to vivid symbolic life.

A Blackened Mirror, first in the projected series Memoirs of the Borgia Sibyl, will launch on March 6, 2023. Until then, keep your mirrors polished, your tarot cards pristine, and visit the title at GR!