Helliconia Summer (1983) by Brian W. Aldiss is the second instalment of the Helliconia Trilogy, set on the Earth-like Helliconia. The planet, orbiting a binary star, experiences seasons that last eons. This is the the rise and fall of a civilisation that begins in Spring, thrives in Summer and die in its awful Winter over more than a thousand years. Helliconia’s two competing intelligent species, humans and phagors, fight each others during these almost eternal seasons in a war against nature itself that they can’t win, and that makes their own battles ultimately irrelevant. Chilling, moving, incredibly beautiful.
What an intriguing idea. I take it you’ve already read and enjoyed Spring? I admit I read more fantasy than sci fi so when I choose a novel I probably tend to choose a ‘softer’ option. Would you say this fits that or is it a bit tougher?
Lynn 😀
Hello Lynn, I have to say I have enjoyed more Summer than Spring, for many reasons – one being I like dystopias more 🙂 But for a “soft” option to SF maybe I won’t recommend Aldiss. Depending on your preferences, Ursula Le Guin or Doris Lessing would probably fit better. For space operas, Peter F. Hamilton is a good one too, even though sometimes a bit technical 🙂
Enjoyed this rich trilogy, and even though I reviewed this relatively recently I intend at some stage to read it a third time.