Semiosis cover art

Semiosis

A novel of first contact

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Semiosis

By: Sue Burke
Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Daniel Thomas May
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About this listen

‘Up there with the best of Le Guin in terms of beautiful, engrossing, brilliantly imagined sci-fi’
VULTURE

‘SEMIOSIS combines the world-building of Avatar with the alien wonder of Arrival, and the sheer humanity of Atwood. An essential work for our time’
STEPHEN BAXTER

NOMINATED FOR THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD

Escaping conflict on Earth, an idealistic group of settlers arrive on a distant planet – Pax – with plans for a perfect society.

The world they discover is rich with life, but this is not the Eden they were hoping for. The plants on Pax are smart – smart enough to domesticate, and even slaughter, its many extraordinary animals.

To survive, the colonists realize that they must strike bargains of their own. But if they are to make Pax their home, they must go further, searching for a way to communicate and coexist with these utterly alien intelligences.

©2018 Sue Burke (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Adventure Fantasy Fiction First Contact Genetic Engineering Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Interstellar Solar System

Critic Reviews

BEST BOOKS OF 2018 – THRILLIST, VULTURE, THE VERGE, CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
LOCUS RECOMMENDED READING LIST 2018

‘This is top class SF, intelligent and engaging and I loved every moment of it’
Adrian Tchaikovsky, award-winning author of CHILDREN OF TIME

‘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, award-winning author of THE POSTMAN

‘A magnetic meditation on biochemistry and humanity’
LOCUS

‘A clever, fascinating, fun and unique debut’
KIRKUS
All stars
Most relevant  
The narration is well acted. Changing voices between chapters really worked. The premise is really interesting and slowly unfolds really well. My only complaint is that it doesn't really feel like an arc with an ending. It's not a discrete chunk of a larger story but a chunk that was just arbitrarily cut off. Can't wait for the second book to come out

Good narration, great premise, arc doesn't end

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Loved it! Easily one of the best narration I've listened, the voice actors were fantastic. The story was very interesting. A unique take on science-fiction.

amazing and very original story

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Humans colonize a planet where plants are the dominant species with several twists and turns that will keep you hooked to the story.

Plants with a conscience, a naturalist human group with strong female leaders, with a good human angle, exploring not only a planet full of surprises but also the fears and emotions in the human mind.

The glassmakers are a bit cliche, I think they're a missed opportunity.

Some imaginative fresh air in SicFi

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The narration is amazing and that's all that needs to be said about it. the story started off extremely intriguing but after about 3/4 of the way through it became essentially a war tactics / strategy story with very little substance. The ending was a commentary on some fairly simple philosophy. A but disappointing given the start but overall worth it

Amazing narration. Alright story

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I really liked this story. The different phases over generations were well paced - the right amount of detail and the author knew when to move on.
Weird thing in the second to last chapter, where a particular character’s voice, being an alien, and portrayed by the narrator as computerish/throaty, actually continues for an entire hour uninterrupted by any other character voices - that was a long slog.
Otherwise great voice acting. Love the 60%-Jennifer-Coolidge quality of Caitlin Davies’ voice. And some of Daniel Thomas May’s male voices were walking the line very deftly between soothing and sultry.
I definitely need to know what happens in the second and final book. This is more hard sci-fi with heart, by a woman author too which is always great to see in this genre. Strongly recommend.

Plant intelligence plausibly articulated

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good narrators. keeps in line with the pace of the story. I never felt it slow down too much.

interesting take on other sentient beings.

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a world of curious choices & quick adaptation. the intelligence of plants was delightfully explored.

society evolving..

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interesting concept but too boring and stilted. it was a bit childlike fairy story ..not interested to see what happens

I gave up

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amazing look in to the idea of peace and its costs, illustrated through the lens of humans colonizing a new planet and trying to find their ecological niche within the world, definitely recommend

great story

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Humans struggle to thrive on a planet already occupied by sentient plants. As the generations progress we unpack their purpose for being, solve inter-personal and inter-species conflict, and always try to find a thoughtful peace as they make a new world. It's not lazer beams and boarding parties, it's thoughtful and fascinating multi-layered and multi-generational experience.

It's not action packed, but it is endless intrigue

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