I thought they were brilliant and I greatly enjoyed them. Certainly they are not optimistic American-style SF but I wouldn't call them "grim" - they are grand n

I thought they were brilliant and I greatly enjoyed them. Certainly they are not optimistic American-style SF but I wouldn't call them "grim" - they are grand novels about the cycle of civilisations, "deep time" and the impact of individuals (or not) upon those.