Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2018
336 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Human survival hinges on a bizarre alliance in Semiosis, a character-driven science fiction novel of first contact by debut author Sue Burke.
Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they'll have to survive on the one they found. They don't realize another life form watches...and waits...
Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet's sentient species and prove that humans are more than tools.
"Starred Review. Impressive debut novel ... lush .... beautiful." - Publishers Weekly
"Burke's world building is exceptional, and her ability to combine the intricacies of colonization with the science of botany and theories of mutualism and predation is astounding." - Booklist
"This first-contact tale is extraordinary."- Library Journal
"An outstanding science-fiction novel hobbled by its rushed story structure." - Kirkus
"Intelligent, riveting and ultimately uplifting, Semiosis asks big questions and gives satisfying answers." - Emma Newman, author Planetfall
"This is top class SF, intelligent and engaging and I loved every moment of it." - Adrian Tchaikovsky, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Children of Time
"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
"A first contact novel like none you've ever read. ... The kind of story for which science fiction was invented." - James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards
"Sue Burke has created one of the most fascinating alien personae science fiction has seen in this decade." – David Nichols, early American historian and author of Engines of Diplomacy
"A gripping story of colonization and biological wonders." - Gregory Frost, author of the Shadowbridge novels
"A fantastic SF debut ... Semiosis will remain relevant for years to come." - Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, award-winning author of What a Plant Knows and Director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University.
This information about Semiosis was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sue Burke has worked as a reporter and editor for a variety of newspapers and magazines, and Semiosis is her debut novel. She is a Clarion workshop alumnus and has published over thirty short stories. Burke also worked extensively as a literary translator, and while living in Madrid, Spain, she headed the long-running Madrid Writer's Critique Group. She now lives in Chicago.
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