Semiosis Audiobook By Sue Burke cover art

Semiosis

A Novel

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Semiosis

By: Sue Burke
Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Daniel Thomas May
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"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 First Contact Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction

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.

Featured Article: The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans


Throughout the history of storytelling, we humans have been curious about the possibility of worlds beyond Earth and its inhabitants. Thanks to our endless fascination with extraterrestrial life, there is a mountain of literature, from novels to memoirs, exploring the potential outcomes of interacting with creatures from other planets. Without further ado, here are 20 of our favorite listens about alien life.

Featured Article The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans
Original Concept • Multigenerational Storytelling • Excellent Voice Acting • Compelling Characters • Phenomenal Performance
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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.

Great story, but jumps a lot and without warning

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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!

The best, most original book I have ever read!

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

Plants domesticating Mammals. Awesome

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

Awesome

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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.

Interesting concept but I don't love the execution

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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.

Surprised

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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!

Unique perspective set over a century

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Truly you are reading a great book when the end sucker punches you in the face and cause you wanted more. That's how I felt with this novel.

Great tale of human survival.

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Deeply emotional analysis of the characters over generations. Characters are trying not just to survive but to find the inner emotional and ecological balance that Earth hasn't ot hadn't.

I had to struggle with the slowness or attitude of certain characters voicings. The suspense of certain scenes was held painfully long.

I found some metaphors to be political discourse on the attributes and pitfalls of idealism and liberalism, while contrasting libertarian views.

Emotional analysis ecologic balance on alien world

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This book is a must-read. The timeline skips makes it feel like a bunch of mini-books in one, each being unique and bringing something new to the table while building the overall narrative. The writing makes it easy to imagine the epic world and the reading is fantastic.

Incredibly Rich Sci-Fi

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