A race of fictional creatures in Brian Aldiss

Brian Aldiss

Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...

' Helliconia

Helliconia

The Helliconia Trilogy is a series of science fiction books by Brian Aldiss, set on the Earth-like planet Helliconia. It is an epic chronicling the rise and fall of a civilization over more than a thousand years as the planet progresses through its incredibly long seasons, which last for...

trilogy. Also known as the ancipital race, due to their prominent double-edged horns, they are shaggy biped

Biped

Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet"...

s, remotely descended from bovine-type

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 stock, and possess thought patterns, customs, and culture inimical and almost incomprehensible to human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

s. They coexist with humans on the planet Helliconia, subservient during mankind's summer ascendancy and dominating humanity through the centuries-long winter.