Mars the Divine, or: Secret of the Seven Lenses

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Synopsis

On Holy Mother Mars, the [terraformed] climate is failing and mankind seems doomed. The cities of Mars in the mountains are crowded, while the lakes and oases of the lowland deserts are drying up. Green Mars is increasingly becoming a red and desolate Mars. What about ancient legends that Mars was once a blue world with fresh, frothing seas? Young monk Brother Farr is startled by a sneak visit into Graniston Domes by wild-eyed exile Shan the Heretic, who tells of the looming assassination of the Popess. Shan starts to reveal other heresies to Farr—for instance, that there really was once a home world, and that Earth is more than a myth or a pious scripture paradise. Moments later, Shan is killed by temple police, and his secrets die with him. But the seeds of question, of rebellion, of searching for truth have been awakened in Brother Farr, and there is no turning back. An assassination of the Holy Mother—a murder of such magnitude will throw the entire world into turmoil unless the renegade Duke Balesso can be stopped. [NOTE: contact with Earth was lost ages ago, and the Mars humans believe they were brought to their holy planet by gods]. Farr begins an epic journey fraught with danger, intrigue, and ancient mysteries. His quest for the lost seas of Mars, takes him through the valleys and kingdoms of Mars, and into a transit world (the Temporale) outside time and space. Farr is on a quest to learn the truth about Mars, himself, and the human race. He gets more than he bargained for as he learns of the players (some human, some alien) in a saga spanning eternally many times and infinitely many spaces. Besides Brother Farr, we meet his tragic childhood love Sudie; a stern abbot hiding family secrets; the military priestesses Trinity and Singularity; a doomed king; a pair of gloriously charismatic Martian lady popes; and a host of other strongly crafted, breathing, and engaging characters. Brother Farr travels to the past and future, meeting the historical H.G. Wells