Helliconia Spring
Ratings23
Average rating2.8
Winner of two Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award, and named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Brian W. Aldiss has, for over fifty years, continued to challenge readers' minds with literate, thought-provoking, and inventive fiction. Now, E-Reads is proud to make available in eBook format the classic works of Aldiss. Now with a New Introduction by the Author HELLICONIA SPRING Book One of the Helliconia Trilogy 2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the original publication of HELLICONIA SPRING, the first volume of the Helliconia Trilogy, and E-Reads celebrates that anniversary with a brand-new re-publication of the entire trilogy, complete with map and afterward material compiled for a follow-up release of the whole series. Helliconia is a world in a very eccentric orbit about its home star which results in a very, very long "year" orbit around the central sun. After long decades of frozen winter, signs of the long-awaited thaw begin to show and an entire civilization essentially existing in suspended animation once again emerges into a world growing warmer, greener and more hospitable climatically. Old knowledge must re-emerge. Old customs begin to repeat--and old conflicts arise once again, renewed in misunderstanding, disagreement and violence. From Brian Aldiss: NASA's telescopes in 2011 detected a planet with two suns, a lesser sun and a bigger sun. Some astronomers thought this was impossible but of course it is precisely what Helliconia is all about. As yet, it seems that the planet involved is called Kepler 16B. I think they should call it Helliconia--in acknowledgement of the way in which science fiction writers can be totally perceptive about something, without necessarily making predictions. Several fans and readers wrote to me pointing to this discovery in deep space. Some of them lauded my prescience.... So here's a case where what in general was considered to be impossible has proved to be possible. This discovery surely adds depth and weight to the Helliconia Trilogy. "There's the sense, even after such a long career, that (Aldiss) may still have something astonishing left to say." -- Locus Magazine Other E-Reads titles from Brian W. Aldiss: Helliconia Spring; Helliconia Summer; Helliconia Winter; Greybeard; Earthworks; Galaxies Like Grains of Sand; Cryptozoic ; The Shape of Further Things; The Dark Light Years; Barefoot in the Head; and The Squire Quartet, including Life in the West; Forgotten Life; Remembrance Day; and Somewhere East of Life.
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3 primary books4 released booksHelliconia
Helliconia is a 4-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1982 with contributions by Brian W. Aldiss.
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Feels alot like [b:To Your Scattered Bodies Go 189147 To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld, #1) Philip José Farmer https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327657439l/189147.SY75.jpg 3171254] and [b:The Long Earth 13147230 The Long Earth (The Long Earth, #1) Terry Pratchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335532694l/13147230.SY75.jpg 18164154]; interesting concepts but way too slow! Spends alot of time with 1 person, no back ground or intro to the terms, as well as describing the surroundings. No action at all.
World-building is a term that gets tossed around a lot. I think Patrick Rothufuss, N.K. Jemisin, and lots of others are magnificent world-builders. That said, I know of relatively few authors who are both excellent world-builders and planet-builders, which is wha makes Helliconia Spring (and I assume the following two books) such an impressive achievement. The amount of research Aldiss put into the science of his world must have been intense. And yet, the book does not end up as dry science fiction, but a vivid, fantastical tone grounded in hard science. Not an easy marriage.
I was also impressed by how un-dated the book feels. The characters are all interesting and could have been written about at any point. The idea of women founding a scientific academy and working through the scientific method while being repressed by a pre-enlightenment society is an interesting twist on what usually happens to women in traditional SFF. Vry stands out as unique in her independence and thought process, even among her cohorts.
It's an acclaimed series that I'm glad I finally had motivation to read, and I'd highly recommend it to people who like sweeping but still sciency sagas.
UGH. I did not enjoy this book very much at all.
It's one of those sprawling epics that traces the development of civilization from basic hunter-gatherer tribes up to rudimentary trader society. It's very boring.
My original complaint was that the author doesn't describe anything, but that's not true. He does describe a lot of things, but not many things that I am interested in or care about. So, it reads as very flat and dull. The characters are interesting, but the dialogue is stilted and lame. Their inner lives are rather simplistic.
It's clearly setting up for some bigger, galaxy-spanning story, but because this book was so boring, I am not interested in finding out what happens in the next two books.
