Fire Time

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Fire Time is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson, first published in 1974.

Fire Time takes place on the planet Ishtar, whose peculiar orbit around three stars (Bel, Ea, and Anu) results in the "Fire Time", a dramatic increase in heat, every thousand years (the "Fire Time" of the title). As the northern hemisphere heats up, large numbers of Ishtarians flee south, leading to a collapse of civilization. The presence of visitors from Earth (also engaged in their own war off-planet) raises the prospect of changing the dynamics of history.