Helliconia is long.

That was going to be the entirety of my review, but having read all the others from one to five stars, I feel that I should add something that has - unaccountably - been neglected by every single one: amongst the epic world building, the poignant pointed stories of human struggle, the parallel histories of three worlds rising, falling and sprawling together across the millennia, and the philosophical musings that improbably hold the whole thing together, Aldiss found the creative and narrative wherewithal to drop in a spaceship overrun by giant, carnivorous, genetically-modified, genitalia. For this alone, Helliconia is worth reading. ( )

Dat verhaal blijft maar aanslepen. Ik vind er niet veel science fiction aan. Miskoop. Niet uitgelezen. ( )

I have been reading this on and off for just coming up on two years now. Still not finished. But still enjoy it when I do pick it up.

If I ever get to the end, I will rate it then.

Helliconia: Spring
Because approx 20-25 years ago I`ve read the hungarian translation of this book, which was literally unreadable, I was worried a bit when I started to read the original but after a few pages I`ve realized that it`s called one of the pinnacles of the SF literature for a reason. Great, detailed, original world, epic storyline, great characters.... genius! And now, let`s start the second volume.
:)
4.5 stars

Helliconia: Summer
I have to tell, I liked the second book of the trilogy a bit less than the previous one. The ‘summer ‘ story is basically a bit overwritten story of a medieval kingdom full with politics and intrigue. The only thing which elevates the book highly above the average is the description of this unique world in high details.
4/5

Helliconia: Winter
The third book of the trilogy (like the first one),is one of the pinnacles of the SF literature. The story about the world preparing for a long winter uniquely genius and entertaining. My only criticism (and it’s true to the whole trilogy) is about the storyline about the Earth and it’s satellite which adding nothing to the whole and the ‘Gaia’ mysticism getting stronger at the end of the third volume for me was simply irritating and damaged the quality of the trilogy.
4.5/5 ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2583651.html

Brian Aldiss is one of my favourite writers, and the Helliconia trilogy is one of his core works: three novels set centuries apart on Helliconia, a planet whose orbit brings it from freezing winter to hot summer over the centuries, and whose two major races (humans and horned furry Pharos) are under constant observation from Earth. Aldiss himself promoted it at the time as a major breakthrough, and I think it was - for him, as it was his first really long fiction, and for the genre, in that he caught the wave of Gaia-style ecology but managed to wear his (extensive) research pretty lightly while hanging interesting stories on the context.

Reading Helliconia Spring when it first came out in 1982, when I was 15, was tremendously exciting. I last reread it, along with the other two, on holiday in Croatia in 1996, I think. I'm glad to say that it pretty much stands the test of time. It is in two parts, the first being the short tale of Yuli, who escapes the (vividly drawn) theocratic underground city of Pannoval (I was sorry that we saw no more of it) to bring new expertise to the town which becomes known as Oldorando, and the second, many generations later, being the story of how the people of Oldorando adapt to the coming of Spring. We readers are told what is going on in terms of climate change, but the characters are in the situation of their world gradually (and sometimes suddenly) changing out of all recognition.

Helliconia Spring popped up on my reading list again thanks to having won the BSFA Award in 1983 (beating a pretty tough field: Little, Big, Nebula-winning No Enemy But Time, Philip K. Dick's The Divine Invasion and Gene Wolfe's The Sword of the Lictor; the Hugo that year went to Foundation's Edge). It also won the Campbell Memorial Award (again beating No Enemy But Time).

Helliconia Summer also still worked for me - the twist here is that the Earth observation satellite sends a volunteer from its crew to the surface of Helliconia, where he knows he will not survive long due to a lack of immunity from local diseases, but gets very much mixed up in a complex dynastic / political / gendered dispute among local rulers. Aldiss plays the theme of technologically advanced individual failing to impress a much more medieval civilisation very nicely. It didn't win any awards, the BSFA going that year to Tik-Tok.

On the other hand, Helliconia Winter didn't work for me anything like as well as the first two. I found the plot meandering, the gender politics pretty unpleasant, and the Earth observation sections taken in unwelcome and not very interesting directions. I may be in a minority; it also won the BSFA award, though I must say I have not heard of three of its four opponents - Free Live Free by Gene Wolfe, Kiteworld by Keith Roberts and The Warrior Who Carried Life, by Geoff Ryman, though of course I know other work by all three authors. The other BSFA nominee that year was The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers, which I read and loved when it came out. The Hugo and Nebula that year both went to Startide Rising. None of the BSFA shortlist was on either the Hugo or Nebula ballots. ( )