This probably ought to be called "Autumn" rather than "Winter" as it mostly concerns the Sibornalese civilisation's preparations for the forthcoming "Weyr"-winter, rather than life in the depths of the planets centuries long "mini ice-age". Technology hasn't quite advanced as far as one would hope either; this is a few centuries after Summer and I'd have thought they'd have got as far as steam engines (there is a very brief mention of some primitive railways) if not electricity, but they aren't quite there and will obviously be knocked back again by the deteriorating conditions. Given that this is around 500 years after "Summer" I'd have thought they'd have got as far as the 19th Century but they seem to be stuck in around the 17th - there has also not been a religious reformation and God the Azoiaxic still reigns supreme.The first half of this is another great adventure yarn - we have the battle of Isturiacha, the retreat and then the dash along the coast before the challenges of the journey up to Kharnabar. We also have the grotesque challenges of the Fat Death and the tyranny of the Oligarch. This is all enjoyable and a lot less bogged down with politics than Summer. However, the second half is dominated by asides covering deteriorating conditions on the Avernus and indeed a lot of future history, and philosophy, on Earth itself.I found the Earth stuff in particular getting in the way of the main story. It also dates the book badly - lots of 1980s obsessions with nuclear war and Gaia. A similar phase now may include a new incarnation of Gaia but would focus more on an environmental catastrophe.A highlight of the book is the description of the Great Wheel itself. This is mentioned in the other books but the claustrophobic and isolating experience of Luterin's time in it is quite profound. But, like him, I do wonder how the thing could be made and started (I think the river actually does everything and the prisoners' contribution is negligble - otherwise they'd never had got it started and would be at risk of it stopping permanently if a plague or anything else wiped out a large enough proportion of them. "Pull you biwackers!").An enjoyable conclusion to the series and better than "Summer" though the very nature of Helliconia's Great Year means the end is with a sombre mood as civilisation girds its loins for the impending centuries of cold, even while surrounded by summery murals and in snow covered fields called "the vinyard".I still think it should be called Autumn. And I think the map is wrong - with two suns I'd expect the planet to have two sets of tropics and polar circles - unless the orbit of Batalyx around Freyr corresponds to Helliconia's ecliptic around Batalyx (and that there are eclipses suggests it doesn't). Unless my understanding of celestial mechanics is faulty (which it may be).There is scope for another "Winter" book I think, perhaps set in Hespagorat (which has a Scandinavian feel in Summer) as Freyr never sets but also never gives much warmth.
Dans ce roman, on suit les pas d'un homme, Luterin Shoderankit, dans ses aventures autour du glacial continent de Sibornal, qui s'enfonce doucement dans l'hiver des grandes années d'Helliconia. Toutes ces aventures n'ont hélas pas vraiment de but, car Luterin est un pantin dont les ficelles sont tirées par son père (mais de loin, donc il s'en doute pas). Du coup, on le voit errer à travers les préparatifs militaires d'une nation qui souhaite survivre par tous les moyens à un hiver qui durera plusieurs siècles. Et dans ce cas, d'une manière typique, on voit apparaître le combat classique entre les conservateurs, qui vont tenter de faire survivre un mode de vie quitte à le vider de sa substance, et les partisans de l'adaptation, qui ne savent pas trop ce qu'ils vont venir, mais savent néanmoins qu'ils veulent voir changer les choses.Je ne sais pas si ça se voit, mais j'ai trouvé l'ensemble de ce roman franchement ennuyeux. Le héros n'est pas franchement charismatique, pas plus que les personnages l'accompagnant, ses aventures ne sont pas non plus vraiment palpitantes et les décors traversés sont (à l'exception de la roue de Kharnabar) quasiment sinistres.Et ce n'est pas le paratexte qui nous présente une Terre transformée après un hiver nucléaire qui va semer ce roman. car ce paratexte vire dans le new-age le plus sordide, avec amour universel, illumination de Gaïa et nomadisme bobo.En fait, je me demande bien ce qui a pu m'attirer dans ma jeunesse dans le cycle d'Helliconia. Parce que oui, c'est une relecture. Je devais avoir environ quinze ans quand je l'ai lu la première fois et je dois reconnaître que ces bouquins m'avaient plutôt marqué, avec leurs phagors et autres nécrogènes. Je n'y vois plus maintenant qu'un moyen pour Aldiss de masquer les multiples incohérences de ces livre-mondes. Car incohérences il y a : de l'apparition de l'homme à la station Avernus, il n'y a pas grand chose qui tienne la route.Et du coup, je n'ai plus qu'à vous recommander de passer votre chemin, pour lire des oeuvres plus intéressantes (et il y en a quand même un paquet).
What do You think about Helliconia Winter (2002)?
My feeling about this is that Aldiss was running out of steam by Book Three - and why not? It is an absolutely magisterial trilogy; encompassing the best of world-building, almost before that phrase was invented, superb anthropology and biology, not to mention complex cosmology and wonderfully absorbing stories. Helliconia Summer is my favourite, because the characters (human and phagor) brim with life.On reflection then, as Aldiss writes about the Great Year, and in Helliconia Winter, about the turning of that more than millennial year to cold, to exhaustion, to hibernation and loss of knowledge, of community, of faith, perhaps he wasn't running out of steam after all. Perhaps, in fact, the writing style here mirrors the material; the great unknown exhaustion of a race that is about to become almost a cypher on a planet that swings its great ellipse of centurys-long seasons so that sometimes humanity is ascendent and sometimes clings to the bare edges of existence. Either way, if you've read the first two, you must read the third. If you love good science fiction, Helliconia will satisfy you, and if you enjoy epic scale stories, Aldiss, here, surpasses himself.
—Kay
And it ends, still a few centuries before true Winter descends upon the world. This time the story is a little less epic, but still compelling, as the cycle comes a little closer to home. The Earth Observation Station is a ruin, as is Earth, and Helliconia itself seems to be descending slowly into hibernation. There's a lot here to depress you, as Helliconian society seems determined to do the work of the winter for it and wipe itself out. People behave badly and do stupid things in the name of things even more ridiculous than themselves. However, this story does contain the Great Wheel, one of the most magnificent Big Dumb Objects in all of spec fic, which makes the journey worthwhile. It also contains Hope, one of the best things in the world. This is a much shorter volume than the previous two but it feels no less immense or weaker for it. It ends with a cry against tyranny as society begins to shrink and huddle in on itself. Questions are answered, more are asked, and you begin to wonder if it (meaning everything, really) is really worth it at all. But the hint is that there is always something of value to inspire us and keep us going. Like this series.
—Ian Banks
The last of the trilogy and, as with the previous volume we take a leap into the future with no continuing characters. The basic set-up remains the same but this time it's getting colder. The cold brings a harshness as the rulers believe that they must become as cruel and oppressive as the climate in order to survive.The occasional cuts to the Earth observation station and back to Earth itself finally start to make sense and are properly integrated into the story, but they're still uninvolving and, for me, unconvincing. It's not engrossing enough to work simply as an entertaining adventure story, and the ideas about human society are half-baked. I'm glad I finished it but I can't say I got too much out of it.
—Simon
