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 thirty speculative fiction novels (including the historical fantasy series The Order of the Air with Melissa Scott and tie-ins for several 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 starship for both her Calpurnian Wars cinematic space operas and her mythic historical fantasy series Memoirs of the Borgia Sibyl: first the highly acclaimed A Blackened Mirror, now The Borgia Dove (with two more underway to complete the arc). 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, The Borgia Dove is kin to Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel works and Guy Gavriel Kay’s imaginative transmutations. Here’s the appetite-whetting synopsis:

1492: Giulia Farnese is the mistress of the powerful Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. Educated, brave and ambitious, Giulia revels in the art and ideas of the Renaissance and in her newfound influence as the consort of one of the leaders of the humanist movement within the Vatican. The gifts of prophecy and magic that made her a weapon against Rodrigo but allowed her to save his life are gone with her virginity—or so she thinks.

Now the pope is dying, plunging Rome into lawless chaos until a new pope can be elected. The most likely candidates want to purge Rome of heresy, endangering both Giulia’s friends and the fragile Renaissance itself. A dark horse candidate who most people underestimate to their peril, Rodrigo is ruthless and clever; but to seize the ultimate prize of the papacy, he’ll need all the help he can get. He relies on Giulia to be his eyes and ears in the world of powerful women and to negotiate on his behalf when the voting cardinals are locked in seclusion.

Drawn into a high-stakes game of bribery and bargains, Giulia discovers all too soon that losing means paying a deadly price. Her only hope of protecting those she cares about from Rodrigo’s enemies lies in mastering the magical gifts she once thought lost. For Giulia to claim the divine power of a pagan priestess may be the ultimate heresy—or a way to win her lover the papal crown.

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

The Borgia Dove, second in the series Memoirs of the Borgia Sibyl, will launch on June 10, 2024. Until then, keep your divination books and diplomatic channels open, and visit the title at GR!