Modern Classics Hothouse

I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second. It began life as a short story, which led to a serial of further short stories, which eventually led to the book. The beginning is clearly a science fiction author in awe of the sheer scale of the world he has imagined, and it is breathtaking. As the story progresses, it feels like Aldiss is trying more and more to write a Proper Book with Characters and Plot, and the wonder of the mad flora world is the worse for it.