Vernor Vinge had an excellent novel named "A Deepness in the Sky" that dealt with the development of intelligent life on a planet whose star would extinguish and re-ignite itself predictably. Something like 3 decades of ignition and then 7 or 8 decades of darkness. The dominant life form was a spider-like being that could hibernate and ride out the darkness by creating a "deepness" (essentially a den).

Great book, with interesting insights about unusual planetary configurations with life. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes hard science fiction.