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BingChat says it's Helliconia[1] by Brian W. Aldiss. Nightfall and the movie Pitch Black also go in that direction. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellicon

• YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
  Thanks! Unforutnately Helliconia is not the one. I've read quite a bit of Brian Aldiss, but not that one. I think I would have remembered reading the Winter book in particular, judging from the discussion of the "Wheel of Kharnabar" in Wikipedia: >> The Wheel is an extraordinary revolving monastery/prison built into a ring-shaped tunnel with a single entrance and exit, powered entirely by the efforts of the prisoners pulling it along by means of chains set into the outer wall. Once a prisoner enters a cell of the Wheel, it is impossible for him to leave until its full ten-year rotation has passed. That's the kind of thing that sticks in my head. Anyway I remember bits of the plot and there wasn't so much intrigue and armies and whatnot. The native society was a primitive society that lived in yurts or tepees and didn't have much technology. I think they were supposed to be less intelligent than humans. I don't think I'll ever forget Nightfall! :)