I am still trying to find this series - I read it in paperback in about 1981 - 83, and it may have been newish then. I read it on an island in the South Pacific, so they could be by an Australian/New Zealand writer. It is set in a system very like Cherryh's Company series, with a world more or less run as a family concern. The aliens on that world are also very like those in her Downbelow Station, but the story, and the whole atmosphere, are quite different. I did wonder if it was part of a collaborative series, but can't find anything that matches.
There are a number of parallel plots, continuing from one novel to the next. One more or less psychopathic brother has been experimenting on the native population to build an artificial womb, with which he clones himself a son. Another brother finds himself on the central world of the Company, where he meets a girl whose ancestors were genetically engineered with cat dna, giving her feline attributes. She is trying to recover something precious that the Company has taken from her and is holding hostage - she has discovered the co-ordinates of their super-secret safe place. When they find the place, and she retrieves her property, she knocks him out, or otherwise somehow disables him, and uses every ounce of power in his ship to resuscitate the contents of the pod she carries - her stolen baby.
As you can see, I have vivid recollection of parts of the books after 25+ years - I would love to find them again!
There are a number of parallel plots, continuing from one novel to the next. One more or less psychopathic brother has been experimenting on the native population to build an artificial womb, with which he clones himself a son. Another brother finds himself on the central world of the Company, where he meets a girl whose ancestors were genetically engineered with cat dna, giving her feline attributes. She is trying to recover something precious that the Company has taken from her and is holding hostage - she has discovered the co-ordinates of their super-secret safe place. When they find the place, and she retrieves her property, she knocks him out, or otherwise somehow disables him, and uses every ounce of power in his ship to resuscitate the contents of the pod she carries - her stolen baby.
As you can see, I have vivid recollection of parts of the books after 25+ years - I would love to find them again!
