Child of Venus

In CHILD OF VENUS, The Project—the terraforming of Venus—has been going on for centuries and it will be many more years before the planet's surface has been rendered fully habitable and the human settlers , the Cytherians, can leave their protective domes—but there are those who are foolishly unwilling to wait. In a colony still ravaged by the after-effects of a battle between two religious cults that divided families and created civil war, Mahala Liangharad, a true child of Venus, conceived from the genetic material of the rebels and brought to birth only after their deaths, is seen as a beacon of hope and a pointer to the way of the future. Nonetheless, Mahala sees herself in conflict, bearing the burden of a strange birthright and the responsibility of lifelong service to The Project.Mahala fears the expectation of duty and that she may miss the chance to discover her own destiny. Her world (and the worlds) are being torn apart by a drive for independence...