Brian W. Aldiss Book order (chronological)

The great drama of life on Helliconia is shaped by its cosmic limitations. In fierce contrasts of climate, whole seasons last for centuries and civilizations rise and fall as the planet orbits the giant sun Freyr every 3000 years. The trilogy won the J.W. Campbell Memorial Award.

Brian Aldiss bietet eine witzige und einfühlsame Geschichte dieses außergewöhnlichen Phänomens, eingebettet in seinen sozialen und literarischen Kontext. Voller faszinierender Einblicke führt uns diese großzügige Erzählung durch Jahrzehnte von Anreizen für die Vorstellungskraft: Flucht in andere Dimensionen, Reisen zu anderen Planeten, verlorene Welten, Utopien, mechanische Kreaturen und intelligente Aliens. Amüsant, intelligent und autoritativ nimmt sie uns mit auf eine Reise durch die Zone, in der Literatur und Wissenschaft in einem ewigen Flirt stehen. Die großen Schriftsteller, die die Science-Fiction hervorgebracht hat, und die Bilder, die zum kulturellen Hintergrund der Gegenwart geworden sind, werden untersucht. Diese umfassende Expedition richtet sich an Enthusiasten und Neulinge gleichermaßen.

It is the summer of the Great Year on Helliconia. The humans are involved with their own affairs. Their old enemies, the phagors, are comparitively docile at this time of year; yet they can afford to wait, to take advantage of human weakness - and of the king's weakness. How they do so brings to a climax this powerfully compelling novel, in which the tortuous unwindings of circumstance enmesh royalty and commoners alike, and involve the three Helliconia continents.

This collection features a range of influential science fiction works, showcasing the genre's evolution and creativity. It begins with essays by Kingsley Amis, setting the stage for the Golden Age of Science Fiction. The anthology includes notable stories such as Anthony Boucher's "The Quest for Saint Aquin," R. S. Richardson's "The Xi Effect," and Frederik Pohl's "The Tunnel Under the World." Additionally, readers will find Brian W. Aldiss's "Old Hundredth," James Blish's "A Work of Art," and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s iconic "Harrison Bergeron." J. G. Ballard's "The Voices of Time" and Robert Sheckley's "Specialist" further explore imaginative themes. The collection also features H. Beam Piper's "He Walked Around the Horses," Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon," and Arthur C. Clarke's thought-provoking "The Nine Billion Names of God." Other highlights include Harry Harrison's "The Streets of Askelon," Damon Knight's "The Country of the Kind," and Isaac Asimov's "The Machine That Won the War." The anthology concludes with F. L. Wallace's "Student Body" and Jerome Bixby's "It's a Good Life," along with Poul Anderson's novella "Sister Planet," offering a rich tapestry of speculative fiction.

This is the first volume of the Helliconia Trilogy - a monumental sage which goes beyond anything yet created by this master among today's imaginative writers. An entire solar system is revealed, and with it a world disturbingly reflecting our own, Helliconia: an Earth-like planet where dynasties change with the seasons . . . . . . Events and characters and animals stream across the pages of this gigantic novel. Cosmic in scope, it keeps an eye lovingly on the humans involved. So the 5,000 inhabitants of the Earth's observation station above Helliconia keep their eyes trained on the events of Oldorando and may long to intervene though the dangers are too great. So we on Earth have them all in our vision in one of the most consuming and magnificent novels of scientific romance.

In his electrifying new novel, Brian Aldiss transports his readers one million years into the future - into the company of a utopian race called homo uniformis: Man Alike Throughout. Supremely logical, their thoughts controlled by a centralised nervous system, these utopianists are freed, by a beneficial design called Biocom, from the emotional problems and absurd evolutionary flaws which have always plagued homo sapiens.

Contents: Introduction by Harry Harrison Budget Planet by Robert Sheckley Appointment on Prila by Bob Shaw Lost Ground by David I. Masson The Rime of the Ancient SF Author, or Conventions and Recollections by J. R. Pierce The Annex by John D. MacDonald Segregationist by Isaac Asimov Final War by K. M. O'Donnell 2001: A Space Odyssey, review by Lester del Rey 2001: A Space Odyssey, review by Samuel R. Delany 2001: A Space Odyssey, review by Ed Emshwiller Apeman, Superman-or 2001's Answer to the World Riddle by Leon E. Stover The Serpent of Kundalini by Brian W. Aldiss Golden Acres by Kit Reed Criminal in Utopia by Mack Reynolds One Station of the Way by Fritz Leiber Sweet Dreams, Melissa by Stephen Goldin To the Dark Star by Robert Silverberg Afterword: The House That Jules Built by Brian W. Aldiss

Brian Aldiss marked the centenary year of H G Wells' birth with this ingenious novella combining comedy, terror and, intriguingly, late nineteenth-century period charm. In a sleepy East Anglian town we meet Bruce Fox and Gregory Rolles - two young men who have sworn to Think Large in order to distinguish themselves from the masses of Cottersall. When a meteor lands in the pond of a local farm, Gregory seeks the advice of Mr Wells. Nine short stories complete the collection, including the highly autobiographical 'Girl and Robot With Flowers', which was taken up as a seminal story demarcating the new SF from the old.

Ecological disaster has left the English countryside a wasteland. Humanity faces extinction, unless Greybeard and his wife Martha are successful in their quest for the scarcest and most precious of resources: human children.

Brian W. Aldiss - Schijn van leven (Appearance of Life) John Varley - Rood staan bij de geheugenbank (Overdrawn at the Memory Bank) Michael G. Coney - Die goeie ouwe tijd van de vloeibare brandstof (Those Good Old Days of Liquid Fuel) Richard Cowper - Het Hertford-manuscript (The Hertford Manuscript) Lester del Rey - Natuurlijk voordeel (Natural Advantage) Isaac Asimov - Twee honderd jaar mens (The Bicentennial Man, 1976) Joanna Russ - Mijn boot (My Boat) James Jr. Tiptree - Housten, Housten, ontvangt u mij? (Houston, Houston, Do You Read?)

Been a Long Time (Lafferty), The Possessed (Clarke), Protected Psecies (Fyfe), All the Way Back (Shaara), The Star Plunderer (Anderson), Foundation (Asimov), We're Civilized! (Clifton and Apostolides), The Crime and Glory of Commander Suzdal (Smith), The Rebel of Valkyr (Coppel), Brightness Falls from the Air (Seabright), Immigrant (Simak), Resident Physician (James White), Age of Retirement (Lynch), Planting Time (Adams and Nightengale).

In een oneindig verre toekomst staat de zon stil. De broeihete aarde is overwoekerd door een dodelijke plantenwereld. De mens heeft er geen kans... Met de jongeman genaamd Gren, en het meisje Yattmur, beiden geboren op onze aarde in een ondenkbaar verre toekomst, gaat de lezer een hachelijke ontdekkingstocht beginnen door een wereld waarin het hersenloze plantenrijk alle andere levensvormen heeft verdrongen en vernietigd. Te land, ter zee en zelfs in de lucht.