I just read Helliconia Summer. It's Aldiss, so its quite dense and thought-provoking, but it was a slog and it's not my favourite of his. In fact, I'd say its my least favourite I've read of his. It's really quite flawed.
While the story is reasonably engaging looking back on it (and I suspect it will be memorable), its very slow and told mainly in a jump back in time, so that there is next to no anticipation of what's going to happen - we know from the start what's coming, and it takes a meandering and dense 500 pages to get there. There isn't really a main character or anyone to cheer for and there is not much of a plot, to be honest; certainly its got no pace. Its a scifi Finnegan's Wake, I suspect - probably brilliant but is it worth it?
I have another gripe about it - there is a lot made in many reviews of the wonderful, rich world-building and how Helliconia is really the main character. Unfortunately, the science behind Helliconia is nonsense and full of scientific errors. Many aspects of the great year changes and 'science' of the planet are scientifically-flawed and grated with me. I've listed some of the scientific flaws below, but put them in spoilers in case you are going to give the book a go.
While the story is reasonably engaging looking back on it (and I suspect it will be memorable), its very slow and told mainly in a jump back in time, so that there is next to no anticipation of what's going to happen - we know from the start what's coming, and it takes a meandering and dense 500 pages to get there. There isn't really a main character or anyone to cheer for and there is not much of a plot, to be honest; certainly its got no pace. Its a scifi Finnegan's Wake, I suspect - probably brilliant but is it worth it?
I have another gripe about it - there is a lot made in many reviews of the wonderful, rich world-building and how Helliconia is really the main character. Unfortunately, the science behind Helliconia is nonsense and full of scientific errors. Many aspects of the great year changes and 'science' of the planet are scientifically-flawed and grated with me. I've listed some of the scientific flaws below, but put them in spoilers in case you are going to give the book a go.
- The length of days and nights would not be affected by the great year cycle despite claims in the book, only by short year cycles. In the book, the polar regions get no sun in the great year winter apparently. Why? And even of this were so (which makes no sense at all), to be consistent in summer they would get sun 100% of the time, but they don't
- Freyr would not affect the tides: a silly error
- The biology of the planet is largely unrealistic, including the helico virus, which is described as a survival device. Biologically this virus is nonsense for more reasons than I will go into here. And why didn't Billy just get a vaccination as Avernus technology could surely sort that out.
- Don't get me started on the deus-ex-machina flying fish
- The phagor would lose their coats in summer, its a simple and obvious modification
- The extreme tilt of Helliconia relative to its plane of rotation around Batalix (implied by the location of the arctic circles at only 55 degrees N and S) would mean very extreme short year seasons which are never mentioned, and which would exceed the effect of the great year changes
- Ice would melt very quickly in the Helliconia summer, but one character makes their living delivering it many thousands of miles over the course of many weeks without refrigeration in temperatures up to 150 degrees F and it all seems fine
- Glacial ice is typically very dirty and usually brown, but everyone just pops in their drinks
- The volcanic explosion is explained as being a way by which the planet's albedo increases in great summers, and therefore helps cool it down. This is nonsense, as the mildly increased heat of the larger star on the surface of the planet would not increase the chances of volcanic activity which is of course driven by much higher magma temperatures, and even if we accept it did, it would not have the affect described, unless volcanic activity was of a magnitude to be an extinction event
- Polar melt would probably cover the planet each summer leaving next to no land, and affect the coastline so much that there would be no historical record of coastline towns, unlike in the book in which the geography don't seem to change across great years
- Freyr would not affect the tides: a silly error
- The biology of the planet is largely unrealistic, including the helico virus, which is described as a survival device. Biologically this virus is nonsense for more reasons than I will go into here. And why didn't Billy just get a vaccination as Avernus technology could surely sort that out.
- Don't get me started on the deus-ex-machina flying fish
- The phagor would lose their coats in summer, its a simple and obvious modification
- The extreme tilt of Helliconia relative to its plane of rotation around Batalix (implied by the location of the arctic circles at only 55 degrees N and S) would mean very extreme short year seasons which are never mentioned, and which would exceed the effect of the great year changes
- Ice would melt very quickly in the Helliconia summer, but one character makes their living delivering it many thousands of miles over the course of many weeks without refrigeration in temperatures up to 150 degrees F and it all seems fine
- Glacial ice is typically very dirty and usually brown, but everyone just pops in their drinks
- The volcanic explosion is explained as being a way by which the planet's albedo increases in great summers, and therefore helps cool it down. This is nonsense, as the mildly increased heat of the larger star on the surface of the planet would not increase the chances of volcanic activity which is of course driven by much higher magma temperatures, and even if we accept it did, it would not have the affect described, unless volcanic activity was of a magnitude to be an extinction event
- Polar melt would probably cover the planet each summer leaving next to no land, and affect the coastline so much that there would be no historical record of coastline towns, unlike in the book in which the geography don't seem to change across great years
