What is "cythera"

Cythera may refer to:

• Cythera (island) an island of Greece, also written Kythira, Kythera, Kithira
  • Cytherean pertaining to the island Cythera
• Cythera (video game) a computer game by Ambrosia Software
• USS Cythera, the name of two US Navy ships
• Cythera (novel), a 1998 novel by Richard Calder
• Cythera (yacht), a steel ketch, designed and built by Peter A. Fenton

Cythera is the fourth novel by British science fiction author Richard Calder, and was first published in 1998. While it is not explicitly advertised as a continuation of Calder's previous novels it does appear to be set in the same universe as his 'Dead...' trilogy, as it references some of the background of the earlier novels and features two supporting characters - Kito and Mosquito - who were introduced in Dead Girls, though knowledge of these novels is not required to understand this stand-alone novel. Due to the timeline given the events of Cythera appear to take place before those of Dead Girls, making this a prequel of sorts.

Richard Calder has said that the inspiration for the novel came from a series of news reports that he heard on the BBC World Service whilst living in Thailand which suggested that England was gripped by hysterical fear that bands of children were committing crime and mayhem and threatening to destroy society as we know it.