Brian Wilson Aldiss (August 18, 1925-August 19, 2017) was a British writer of more than 80 books. He is best known for his contributions to science fiction. Having first received acclaim in the 1950s, Aldiss earned nearly all of the major science fiction awards over the course of his career, including the Nebula, Hugo, and John W. Campbell awards. He is known for thematically dense work that uses genre tropes in compelling and experimental ways. In addition to his science fiction work, Aldiss wrote realistic novels, an autobiography, a travel book and a variety of essays and poems.

The Helliconia trilogy is an ambitious series of science fiction books by Aldiss, consisting of Helliconia Spring (1982), Helliconia Summer (1983) and Helliconia Winter (1985). The books are set on Helliconia, a planet with an orbit that takes thousands of Earth-years to complete, and on which the slowly changing seasons see the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Aldiss’s extensive research into astronomy, geology, biology and anthropology give Helliconia a realistic and credible quality, while themes such as environmental change and the frailty of civilization are explored.