Helliconia Spring by
Brian W. Aldiss is the author's attempt to make a real statement about humanity through a world that has a truly alien set of inhabitants and life cycle. I really enjoyed Greybeard which was a story that Aldiss wrote in the 1960's about a nuclear end-time. The author is remarkably detailed and really took a lot of effort to understand the potential world of Helliconia, though he freely admits that he departed from physics when it suited the story to do so.
Here is a an audio discussion of this book by the author in an interview.
Started: 9/2/2012
Completed: 9/22/2012
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Words I looked Up:
ancipital - Flattened and having two heads
apastron - That point in the orbit of a double star where the smaller star is farthest from its primary.
cataplexy - A medical condition in which strong emotion causes a person to suffer sudden physical collapse though remaining conscious.
cerise - A bright or deep red color
ecrythmous - out of tune
eddre - The English is serpent (the author seems to use this word to mean "spirit"). As Marco pointed out in the comments, this word does mean "spirit" in Olonets (it took me a while to find the reference, but it seems that Olonets is a Finnish language also known as
Livvi-Karelian). The language, Olonets, is mentioned in the book, but I simply thought it was a made-up language and did not realize it was a true, existing language.
imagos - The adult stage of an insect
mesentery - A fold of the peritoneum that attaches the stomach and other organs to the posterior wall of the abdomen
necrogene - This word does not exist, it is made up by the author to describe a class of animals that give birth through death.
noctiferous - Bringing night.
ostler - Someone employed in a stable to take care of the horses
pelage - the fur, hair, or wool of a mammal.
penumbral - The partial or imperfect shadow outside the complete shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the light from the source of illumination is only partly cut off.
prod - a poke with a finger, foot, or pointed object. The author used it to refer to a penis.
pudendum - A person's external genitals, esp. a woman's
sang-de-boeuf - a deep red color
scumble - The application of a very thin coat of color over the surface of a picture. The author used it to mean manure.
scut - A stubby erect tail, as that of a hare, rabbit, or deer.
spatch-cock - To interpolate (usually words) inappropriately. The author used it with inappropriate color in a landscape.
sporran - A small waist pouch (like what is worn with a kilt)
sybaritic - Fond of sensuous luxury or pleasure; self-indulgent
queme - pleasant or attractive. The author used it to refer to a vagina.
verdiagris-hued - The color of a bright bluish-green encrustation formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation.
viscera - The internal organs of the body especially those of the abdomen.
zygomatic - The arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek.
Review:
Epic. Bold. A vision of another place that is, at least a bit, a reflection of our own, viewed by ourselves. Pretty tough description, huh? So this book is rather clearly an allegory for our own lives, but it is more than that...a multi-generational trip to places so alien that they become acceptable. Suspension of disbelief is easy in this rich, consistent world. The turn of phrase is often beautiful and the language, though esoteric, is comprehensible within context. One might think that the author let loose with a thesaurus, but it seems that he must think with these words and have them ready at hand for just the right moment to unleash them on the page. It would seem that there is an inexhaustible supply of new words for both new and old concepts that trip off the lips of the author and rush about the page looking for their perfect place. Having established the setting over and over with colorful descriptions and populating it with complex characters, the race is on for the setting of the season that must come with Helliconia Fall.
