Semiosis

A Novel

By: Sue Burke

Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Daniel Thomas May

Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

"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.

©2018 Sue Burke (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrators Daniel Thomas May and Caitlin Davies breathe life into the large cast of Burke's debut science fiction. ...May and Davies 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

"Daniel Thomas May and Caitlyn Davies...did very well, utilizing varied accents and inflections to portray the different characters of each generation so that each person felt like they had a distinct and unique voice." -TheBiblioSanctum

“In Semiosis, Sue Burke blends science with adventure and fascinating characters, as a human colony desperately seeks to join the ecosystem of an alien world.” —David Brin, author of Earth and Existence.

Great story, but jumps a lot and without warning

As a biologist, I really enjoyed this book. The story was well thought out and written. It was also very well performed.

I only gave 4 stars for story because I do wish the book had told more about many of the characters. You are introduced to several people from the different generations in order. After being introduced and telling a piece of the character's story, the story skips to the next (sometimes with large gaps in time). The earlier stories were just enough to captivate me and make me irritated when they jumped to the next generation and character without warning.

The ending was both interesting and satisfying, which I find to be quite rare.

The best, most original book I have ever read!

This book was outstanding! The story was original and unexpected. It is science fiction but based on science fact of plant physiognomy. The animals were also amazing as were the Glassmakers.

The narration was excellent! This is truly an exceptional book!

Plants domesticating Mammals. Awesome

I really thrilling book new ideas I have yet to hear in science-fiction I highly recommend it

Awesome

A well thought out plan for people to live without harmful aggression. Well worth reading.

Interesting concept but I don't love the execution

A multi-generational story of a world being colonized with a variety of intelligent flora and fauna. An intriguing idea but I struggled to finish the book. I would not recommend it but I respect the message and concept.

Surprised

This was excellent exceptional and simply outstanding. A very different perspective than what I expected with elements I would never have guessed. Very well written and illustrated character growth and modeling. A movie or tv series of this would actually be pretty good and this is now one of my bookshelf favorites.

Unique perspective set over a century

This book really stands out for two reasons.

The first is it’s use of time as a plot point, which 25 year time jumps happening that split the story into segmented short stories showing the development of a small colony which starts off with idealistic ambitions which quickly sour in realistic ways before finding equilibrium.

The second is through the alien point of view chapters which offer an interesting idea I hadn’t seen before, even if it seems like the author started off with one idea for the direction she wanted her alien to intelligence to take, but changed her mind to make it more relatable and human. Still a satisfactory result, but you can see when she decides not to commit to her original idea and change things in the narrative.

Definitely worth a read though!

Incredible

This was one of the most refreshing takes on sci-fi I have ever heard. I usually favor robots and lasers over organics and self reflection, but this book defied expectations and gave me a truly amazing listen. Told from the perspective of generations of humans and one massive plant, Semiosis is a brilliant and thought provoking look at humanity and it’s coexistence with alien life, both animal and plant. I was gripped by all the conflicts and dangers our poor settlers encountered and always satisfied with the resolutions. I highly recommend this book for people looking for something new to discover, to find a fresh take on what life would be like on an alien world.

Not to mention the excellent voice acting that kept me engaged till the very end! 10/10 for me.

Gem of a novel - classic sci-fi vibes but modern

I didn’t expect such a character driven read from this but it was a pleasant surprise to have each and every character I met leave a mark on me after reading this - I already downloaded book two to finish this duology but I think I’m going to save it for another “rainy” day re: mental & physical symptoms because this really turned my mood around even though it wasn’t an always uplifting read.

It felt like I was a part of the community but on the outside, watching over the generations of these humans that think only they are sentient on this new planet of theirs all the way through to them warring with the others who also “found” this planet but experienced a loss of knowledge due to malnutrition and illness to them making peace & deciding to work with each other in the end because they’ve far more in common than they have different from each other. And there was a peace in watching & experiencing that journey with these people, both human & otherwise.

Sue Burke has made a really gem of a series and I am very glad I managed to not return it despite never reading it until almost three years after buying it 😝 it was worth waiting to be in the right mood for it.

Great find! This is original Science Fiction.

I wanted to write a review for this book that does it justice. After having thought about it for a few days I decided that I'm just not that accomplished a writer. Sue Burke has written an original and intellectually satisfying masterpiece. Semiosis is destined to become a classic and is as unique and thought provoking as I Robot was in 1950.

The narration of Caitlin Davies and Daniel Thomas May is beyond superb.