The Sun has swollen to fill half the sky and, with the increased light and heat, the plants are engaged in a constant frenzy of growth and decay, like a tropical forest enhanced a thousandfold. Set in a far future, the Earth has locked rotation with the Sun, and is attached to the now-more-distant Moon, which resides at a Trojan point, with cobwebs spun by enormous spider-like plants. According to Aldiss' account, the US publisher insisted on the name change so the book would not be placed in the horticulture section in bookshops. In the novel, Earth now has one side constantly facing the sun (which is larger and hotter than it is at present) so it has become a veritable hothouse, where plants have filled almost all ecological niches. In 2009, IDW Publishing repackaged the novel with a new introduction by Clifford Meth. In the US, an abridged version was published as The Long Afternoon of Earth the full version was not published there until 1976. Hothouse is a 1962 science fiction novel by British writer Brian Aldiss, composed of five novelettes that were originally serialised in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1961.
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