Interference

A Novel (Semiosis Duology, Book 2)

De: Sue Burke

Narrado por: Caitlin Davies, Daniel Thomas May

“Narrators Caitlin Davies and Daniel Thomas May reprise their roles, and between them, they’ve once more captured the essence behind the voices of multiple characters, and even more impressively, this time there are non-humans thrown into the mix.” — Bibliosanctum

Sue Burke's sweeping, award-finalist, SF Semiosis epic continues in Interference as the colonists and a team from Earth confront a new and more implacable intelligence.

Over two hundred years after the first colonists landed on Pax, a new set of explorers arrives from Earth on what they claim is a temporary scientific mission.

But the Earthlings misunderstand the nature of the Pax settlement and its real leader. Even as Stevland attempts to protect his human tools, a more insidious enemy than the Earthlings makes itself known.

Stevland is not the apex species on Pax.

Semiosis duology
Semiosis
Interference

©2019 Sue Burke (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

The trip was better than the destination

I enjoyed the story as it played out and the performers were excellent. The problem was that the story was much more interesting than where it all ended up.

finally complex nonhumanoid aliens!

Burke evokes everything I love about classic scifi, the tone the ideas the compex sociology. i loved semiosis and now im a forever fan.

Interesting premise

Sentient plants, some pretty dull, some brilliant. Interstellar travel with its attendant time distortions and delays. A whole family of corals yet to be explored.
This is clearly the second in at least a trilogy. So far it has been interesting, but the way the main characters keep switching is kind of disorienting. I enjoyed both books and hope that the next installment isn’t so far in the future that the story has to be extensively reviewed.

Communities in space

I think I liked this volume even better than I did the first volume. Having familiarized ourselves with the two intelligent species in Rainbow City besides the human colonists, we are slowly led to consider a couple of others over the course of this book, and by shifting point of view between the different parties come to understand something pretty deep about the idea of consciousness and species identity. There are now two groups of humans, the Pacifist colonists and the "Earthlings" who volunteered to investigate what became of the colony now that a couple hundred years have passed. They have diverged considerably in their social systems (though the dystopian tendencies of Earth cultures were already making themselves known at the time the first generation of Pacifists left), so they are properly two distinct collections. Midway though the book they mount a quick expedition to another inhabited continent on Pax where they encounter creatures which are the same and yet different from what they have come to know, giving rise to a number of questions about the origin of life on the planet. At the climax of the story there is violent strife between the different power centers in Rainbow City, and by this time I was able to sympathize with more than one of the points of view (although the one chief bad guy never really does anything to redeem himself much at all). Then, finally, in the epilogue there's another long jump in time, at least for humans, not so much for plants, and the author closes the circle back to an Earth that was still far from a utopia. There is one alien intelligence that remains mostly a mystery, the dangerous corals which seek to encroach on the forest, except for a brief period where their thoughts are translated via technology. There is a kind of epic scope in one way, and yet also a cozy feel because of the way we never lose sight of the most fundamental motivations for all the actors: sunlight and water, warmth and food, family and happiness.

The various narrators are sketched out in an economical way so you can imagine their personalities through their actions and what other characters say about them. The worldbuilding is certainly rather extensive but never takes over from the focus on the characters, which I liked. Important things are constantly at stake and keep the tension up, even when it's time for a festival or just a communal meal.

Solid Follow-up

I’m assuming you’ve read or listened to the first book in the series and I really enjoyed it. This is solid, not outstanding. It expands PAX but I felt it could get a bit confusing and I didn’t understand the motivations of some major characters. The story doesn’t appear to be over so I’m looking forward to more depth in the next book but this was an enjoyable addition.

Moral Ambiguity... Through Plants!

Interference follows Volume 1 well. It does not stand alone, though. Burke raises excellent questions about the nature of freedom, agency and care through speculative interaction of very different intelligent species. There is a decent story under the morality play, but not a great one. Davies and May are competent readers, although I don't understand why the book needs two.

Great story

Great story and what made it even better was no use of profanity. Must read !

Great sequel

Intrplanetary-multispecies relationships are complicated... but so much interesting. Refreshing story, couldn't stop and finished the book in 2 days.

Another great book from Burke!!!

The second book in the Duology Series takes place generations after Semiosis. And we get to learn more about Stevland, and Stevland gets to learn more about Pax, humans, and Earth.

Without giving away too much, Stevland finds ways to experience the wider world and even gets her seeds back to Earth, which that story has been setup at the end of this book, and promises to be another great book from Sue Burke!!! A 4 out of 5 star read, and I cant wait for her next book!

Great books! I hope that there is a book 3.

I loved both books. But I wish it not to end, tell me there's more.