Helliconia Summer

This was a fantastic sequel to Helliconia Spring and featured incredible world-building. It did not address the cliff-hanger at the end of the previous book, but painted a pessimistic picture of a human-dominated Helliconia and the adventures of some fascinating characters. We get to travel with the......more

Having mostly enjoyed Helliconia Spring I thought I would continue on with the trilogy. (I purchased the omnibus edition.) Events in this book take place several hundred years after the events in 'Spring'. The planet is now at it's closest approach the super giant star that it circles around once eve......more

Helliconia basks in the glow of the Great Summer. The continent of Campannlat is now dominated by the Holy Empire, a loose religious affiliation between the three great kingdoms of Pannoval, Oldorando and Borlien. These nations find themselves threatened by the far less technologically-advanced but......more

The first Helliconia novel took place over a long period of time and saw vast changes in the world it takes place in, with the snow melting and the civilization seeing its start. The third, I presume, will do much the same except in reverse. So this middle one is put in a bit of an awkward position:......more

First, authors will find Helliconia Summer a goldmine of technique. Definitely read it for that. Aldiss frames exposition and narration through character viewpoint so it flows naturally rather than becoming an infodump. He also uses a technique I've encountered before but in the far past; he starts......more