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. Helliconia, the chief planet of a binary system, 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 rediscovered. - Aldiss's short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" was the basis for the Steven Spielberg/Stanley Kubrick film A.I.-Artificial Intelligence. - Introduction by the author. - Over 1,000,000 Brian W. Aldiss books in print! - Aldiss novel Frankenstein Unbound was adapted for the film starring John Hurt and Bridget Fonda. - Aldiss's was named a science fiction Grandmaster in 2000 by the Science Fiction Writers of America - A Robert Silverberg selection