Dr Venetia Constantine, married to prominent Greek Cypriot tech entrepreneur Alexander Constantine, becomes a number one Sunday Times bestselling author with her debut novel The Last Starborn Seer.
The Last Starborn Seer is the first book in an epic romantic fantasy trilogy, published by Head of Zeus. Set in a dying world of feuding realms and cursed elemental powers, it follows Leilani Stellarion – a princess shunned for her dangerous Starborn magic, which grants her visions of the future but is slowly corrupting her mind – as she embarks on a perilous quest to retrieve a lost relic with the power to save her dying world. The book has earned Constantine extensive praise, being described as a, ‘Tolkienesque journey through a gorgeous, shimmering world,’ by Samantha Shannon, bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Venetia has been writing the novel since 2018. Significant portions were drafted in Cyprus, as Constantine spends every summer in Paphos. Venetia and Alexander married at the Anassa Hotel in Latchi in 2010, the beginning of her love affair with Cyprus, which she now considers her second home. When writing her novel, Constantine took inspiration from the Cypriot mountains, ancient ruins, watermelon farms and local landmarks like Viklari and the Avakas Gorge in Akamas to build her magical world of Arcelia.