Semiosis: A Novel
Written by Sue Burke
Narrated by Caitlin Davies and Daniel Thomas May
4/5
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About this audiobook
"Narrators Daniel Thomas May and Caitlin Davies breathe life into the large cast of Burke's debut science fiction...both excel at utilizing accents, inflections, and personality traits to quickly build characterizations. The unusual cadence and inflections used for the aliens work to captivating effect." — AudioFile Magazine
In Semiosis, debut author Sue Burke's character driven audiobook of first contact, human survival hinges on an bizarre alliance.
Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet's sentient species and prove that mammals are more than tools.
Forced to land on a planet they aren't prepared for, human colonists rely on their limited resources to survive. The planet provides a lush but inexplicable landscape—trees offer edible, addictive fruit one day and poison the next, while the ruins of an alien race are found entwined in the roots of a strange plant. Conflicts between generations arise as they struggle to understand one another and grapple with an unknowable alien intellect.
Sue Burke
Sue Burke spent many years working as a reporter and editor for a variety of newspapers and magazines. She is a Clarion workshop alumnus, and she has published more than 30 short stories. Her debut science fiction novel, Semiosis, published to great critical reviews and made several "Best Of" lists. She is also the author of Interference and Immunity Index.
More audiobooks from Sue Burke
Dual Memory Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Immunity Index: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Semiosis
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Semiosis: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interference: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Semiosis
79 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I am torn between giving this book 4 or 5 stars. I chose 4 because it wasn't quite as life-changing as some books I have read, but I still enjoyed it enough to listen to the whole thing within two days. Minor spoilers ahead. The fresh take on sentience in the universe was unique enough to keep me listening, separating the story out from many sci fi works. However it was this same uniqueness that then had me questioning later developments in the setting that were too similar to life on Earth. I think the author was trying to do a specific thing and not necessarily make it realistic, just use the setting to explore the main idea. The aspects of human life that are assumed to be enduring are at times different than what I would imagine, naturalizing things that I don't think are necessarily natural. Overall not a bad read though. Or listen, really. Although I didn't always love the narrators voices for the characters which often seemed very oddly stilted.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5*light spoilers ahead* I went in expecting sci-fi and exploration so I was a little turned off by the sudden, dystopian turn. After the first few chapters a big time skip happens and the main characters get replaced. The main struggle is suddenly focused on how the kids are oppressed by the adults.
I get that it’s fun to tell past perspectives if you’re writing a prologue to set up the story or something, but I had already gotten invested with the first group of characters when suddenly they were aged up and killed off.
The general age of the characters goes from adults between 25-40 to kids around 18. If I want to read YA Dystopian Sci-Fi, that’s great, but that wasn’t the book advertised at the start.
TLDR; I went in hoping for something like Plant Star Trek, but it ended up going the dystopia route which Im tired of reading... if you like dystopia though go for it!!!1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A little terrifying when you think about how the plants interact with humans and each others. It was interesting watching how the generations progressed but still held the values of the first generation.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Concept is good, sentient plants, but the voices, characters, and plot were uneven, even rocky.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful book, enjoyed the view of their natural world and how they all related to each other.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It was an interest book, but didn't give me the felling that I was was expecting.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I put it in the 2 stars category because I honestly believe some books can waste time even more
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is quite interesting - sentient plants is an intriguing concept.