Book Review
In the spirit of continuing to try to make better use of the library system and to cross books off my long-term TBR, I saw that a book I’ve been wanting to read for about five years was available digitally and decided to make it my first book review for June: ‘Semiosis’ by Sue Burke (published in 2018).
This one is about colonists starting a new life on a planet they call Pax, and explores the challenges that the colony faces as well as the alliances they form with indigenous species.
If anyone hasn’t picked up this one yet, the vibe is somewhat similar to the more recently published ‘Alien Clay’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I enjoyed both stories, and found them interesting but not particularly inspiring if that makes sense.
I know that not every story can be, or even needs to be, something that blows your mind - and ‘Semiosis’ is definitely much better than a lot of stories - but it lacked a truly alien feel to any aspect of what could have been a fascinating exploration of a vast intellect spanning generations. The book moves along and deals with issues that face the colonists through the lens of a character from each generation. In some ways it felt kind of like Asimov’s Foundation series but with Hari as a plant system.
This is the first book in a trilogy, and I would recommend giving this one a read if you like stories where humans have to try to survive on a planet where we are the aliens - just don’t expect anything too deep.
Q. Have you read any of the books in this series? Can you recommend anything similar?
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