Helicon

A reader halfway through Brian Aldiss's Heliconia trilogy says they remain absolutely obsessed with it, calling what Aldiss wrote incredible and saying they now understand why Ursula K. Le Guin praised him as a writer. The comment adds to ongoing appreciation of the classic science fiction series among book lovers.

A new reading app called Helicon lets iPhone and iPad users turn their own PDF and EPUB files into spoken audio. It highlights each sentence as it reads and turns pages in sync with the voice. The app offers seven natural-sounding voices that download once and run entirely on the device, so it works offline. A Read Aloud feature is available in the free public version. Early reactions note it fills a gap for books that never receive a professional audiobook edition.

Helicon, a new PDF and EPUB reader for iPhone and iPad, has launched on the App Store as a free download. The app lets users long-press the margin to pin a note beside a line of text, write or draw in notes with Apple Pencil, and use a review feature that resurfaces notes days later. Notes can also be exported from a book as Markdown, a detail readers have highlighted in early discussion.

Helicon, a free PDF and EPUB reader for iPhone and iPad, has opened its public beta. The app lets readers press a finger on the page to drop a pin beside a line and attach a note, either typed or handwritten with Apple Pencil. It also includes a speed reading guide, a review feature and Markdown export, and requires no account to use.