The Trouble With Telstar by John Berryman

The Trouble With Telstar by John Berryman

By the decree of her parents, King and Queen of the gods, Zeus and Hera, young Junia must travel to Olympus on the occasion of her fourteenth birthday. Once there, she will have to decide her fate: whether to remain among her Olympian kin and live out eternity under her father's rule or join the crew of the City-Ship Nephele under her mother's purview and sow Earthly Life among worlds yet unknown across the vast Cosmos.

To ensure that her youngest daughter chooses her fate according to her own designs, Queen Hera enlists Eris, goddess of Chaos, to show Junia the darker side of immortality, while Aphrodite, Dionysus, the Titans, and other factions of immortals try to sway the maiden's mind one way or another to advance their own agendas. Their schemes are further complicated as Junia brings along her mortal friend Derek to Olympus to spare him from spending a weekend alone and isolated at the Polaris station below the Nephele.

As the gods prepare the lavish coming-of-age celebration with great pomp and ceremony, Eris takes Junia on a mind-bending voyage across the realms, while Derek goes on a trip of his own, culminating in a cutting and penetrating finale to the tale of the Nephele's genesis.