Mary Gentle - The Black Opera (epub)[j_ray]

Naples, the 19th Century.

In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, holy music has power. Under the auspices of the
Church, the Sung Mass can bring about actual miracles like healing the sick or
raising the dead. But some believe that the musicodramma of grand opera can also
work magic by channeling powerful emotions into something sublime. Now the Prince's
Men, a secret society, hope to stage their own black opera to the empower the Devil
himself - and change Creation for the better.

Conrad Scalese is a struggling librettist whose latest opera has landed him in trouble
with the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Rescued by King Ferdinand II, Conrad finds
himself recruited to write and stage a counteropera that will, hopefully, cancel out
the apocalyptic threat of the black opera, provided the Prince's Men, and their
spies and saboteurs, don't get to him first.

And he only has six weeks to do it . . . .

Title: The Black Opera
Author: Mary Gentle
Published: May 1, 2012, by Night Shade Books
Language: English
Genre: Alternative History / Fantasy
ISBN-10: 1597802190
ISBN-13: 978-1597802192
Length: 550 pages