The Black Box

by MJ McGuiness, Liesel McGuiness (illustrator)

What does it mean when magic suddenly intrudes into a non-magical world? This is the conundrum confronting government functionaries (and spies) Josip Franson and Margerai Dokai when the Sybyline, a small clan of mysterious mages, arrive in the pre-industrial nation of Emor. The Sybyline kindly predict the weather and cure diseases, but is this because they can also control the weather and cause plagues? After the Sybyline coerce the Premier of Emor to use Josip as a glorified errand-boy, Josip and his longed-for paramour, Margerai, begin a quest to understand whether the Sybyline are really benevolent, or if their good works are cover for sinister ends. Could they be agents of the dreaded despotism on the far side of the world? Is their growing influence with the powerful merchant class a boon to trade or a play for power? Josip and Margerai must set aside their egos and personal differences to figure out who the Sybyline are and what they want. As they struggle to understand the Sybyline, greed, suspicion, betrayal, and violence — not magic — thwart their efforts. Emor devolves into chaos just as Josip and Margerai undertake a journey on the high seas to far-away islands with the two most dangerous women of the Sybyline clan as companions.

452 pages, Paperback

Published January 20, 2025