New Releases by Brian Wilson Aldiss

Spanning half a century and three continents, Forgotten Life is the story of two brothers, Joseph and Clement Winter; of Clement''s troubled marriage to his famous wife, Sheila; of Joseph''s astonishing adventures in Burma and Sumatra during World War II; and of a soldier and scholar tied together by kinship and death.

Linked in theme by the ever-present threat of war and violent culture clashes, these short stories embrace both the future and the ancient past.

Brian Aldiss, l''un des plus célèbres écrivains britanniques, a recréé l''histoire d''une planète entière sur des millénaires. Ses héros véritables, par-delà les individus qui s''agitent sur la scène du monde, sont des royaumes entiers, des peuples ou même des espèces. Helliconia ressemble par certains côtés à la Terre. Elle possède des montagnes et des plaines, des fleuves, des océans, des forêts et des déserts. Des quasi-humains la partagent avec des phagors, une espèce intelligente, dotée de cornes, d''une épaisse toison, familière du froid et qui semble descendre de sortes de bisons. Mais Helliconia connaît un terrible climat. Elle tourne autour d''une naine rouge en une petite année de 840 jours. Cette faible étoile l''entraîne autour d''une autre étoile géante, Freyr, en un long périple elliptique de 2 592 années terrestres. Lorsque Helliconia s''éloigne de Freyr, c''est l''hiver, une petite ère glaciaire de 500 ans. Lorsqu''elle s''approche de Freyr, c''est un insupportable été de 238 ans. La faune, la flore et les sociétés d''Helliconia doivent trouver les moyens de survivre. Les peuples, durement éprouvés, perdent presque le souvenir des grandes saisons et, à l''issue de chaque hiver, il leur faut réinventer la civilisation. Le Printemps d''Helliconia, premier volume de la trilogie, contait, sur bien des générations, la fonte des glaces, le réveil de la nature et l''épanouissement progressif de cultures entières. Dans Helliconia, l''été, Brian Aldiss décrit, sur moins d''une petite année et à travers toute la planète, l''histoire de la chute du roi de Borlien, JandolAnganol, dont les voisins ont été rendus turbulents par l''ardeur écrasante selon lesquelles Helliconia finira dans le feu. Le roi, mystique et paillard, rusé et indécis, y perdra sa reine, son trône et sa vie. Helliconia est une œuvre unique où l''Histoire, les transformations de l''environnement et les lois de l''évolution s''entrelacent en une trame qui échappe à tout précédent comparable au célèbre Dune de Rank Herbert. Le Printemps d''Helliconia a obtenu le Prix de la British Science-Fiction Association et celui du J.W. Campbell Memorial, décerné en souvenir d''un des fondateurs de la science-fiction américaine.

The planet Helliconia moves into its long winter.

A planet orbiting binary suns, Helliconia has a Great Year spanning three millennia of Earth time: cultures are born in spring, flourish in summer, then die with the onset of the generations-long winter. Helliconia is emerging from its centuries-long winter. The tribes of the equatorial continent emerge from their hiding places and are again able to dispute possession of the planet with the ferocious phagors. In Oldorando, love, trade and coinage are being redisovered, This is the first volume of the Helliconia Trilogy -- a monumental saga that goes beyond anything yet created by this master among today''s imaginative writers.

Winner of two Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award, and named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Brian W. Aldiss has, for over fifty years, continued to challenge readers'' minds with literate, thought-provoking, and inventive fiction. Now, E-Reads is proud to make available in eBook format the classic works of Aldiss. Now with a New Introduction by the Author HELLICONIA SUMMER Book Two of the Helliconia Trilogy 2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the original publication of HELLICONIA SPRING, the first volume of the Helliconia Trilogy, and E-Reads celebrates that anniversary with a brand-new re-publication of the entire trilogy, complete with map and afterward material compiled for a follow-up release of the whole series. Helliconia is a world in a very eccentric orbit about its home star which results in a very, very long "year" orbit around the central sun. After long decades of frozen winter, signs of the long-awaited thaw begin to show and an entire civilization essentially existing in suspended animation once again emerges into a world growing warmer, greener and more hospitable climatically. Old knowledge must re-emerge. Old customs begin to repeat--and old conflicts arise once again, renewed in misunderstanding, disagreement and violence. From Brian Aldiss: NASA''s telescopes in 2011 detected a planet with two suns, a lesser sun and a bigger sun. Some astronomers thought this was impossible but of course it is precisely what Helliconia is all about. As yet, it seems that the planet involved is called Kepler 16B. I think they should call it Helliconia--in acknowledgement of the way in which science fiction writers can be totally perceptive about something, without necessarily making predictions. Several fans and readers wrote to me pointing to this discovery in deep space. Some of them lauded my prescience.... So here''s a case where what in general was considered to be impossible has proved to be possible. This discovery surely adds depth and weight to the Helliconia Trilogy. "There''s the sense, even after such a long career, that (Aldiss) may still have something astonishing left to say." -- Locus Magazine Other E-Reads titles from Brian W. Aldiss: Helliconia Spring; Helliconia Summer; Helliconia Winter; Greybeard; Earthworks; Galaxies Like Grains of Sand; Cryptozoic ; The Shape of Further Things; The Dark Light Years; Barefoot in the Head; and The Squire Quartet, including Life in the West; Forgotten Life; Remembrance Day; and Somewhere East of Life.

Science fiction-noveller.

Large-format book of weird/fantasy/science fiction poetry by SF master Brian W. Aldiss, with suitably Gothic drawings and coloured illustrations (reminiscent of Escher''s work but without the trompe l''oeuil effects) by talented artist Mike Wilks.