The Phoenix and the Mirror

Name: The Phoenix and the Mirror
Author: Avram Davidson

core novel 1969 Vergil Magus

Record

First published	1969
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	core
Reader rating	3.61 (319 ratings, collected 2026-11-02)
Internal chronology	1

Synopsis

In a learned, magic-filled alternate Mediterranean, the magician Vergil escapes from a maze of underground tunnels with the help of servants of Queen Cornelia of Carsus. The queen has magically taken his masculinity hostage and will give it back only if he makes a virgin mirror able to find her missing daughter. Such a mirror needs carefully smelted tin and copper. The Tartismen control the tin, and copper means reaching Cyprus, where raiding Sea-Huns disrupt shipping. With a Phoenician captain he meets in Naples, Vergil sets out for the blockaded island, crowded with rival religious cults, to find the ore.

Where it sits

Universe: Vergil Magus
Series: Vergil Magus core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
Author: Avram Davidson

Notes

Published first, but set last in Vergil's life; the later novels Vergil in Averno and The Scarlet Fig take place earlier.
From the series record (Vergil Magus): Three novels about the legendary magician Vergil, published out of story order.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.

Reading order, within the series Vergil Magus: position 1 of 3: next Vergil in Averno (1987)

Sources

← Vergil Magus dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.