Semiosis by Sue Burke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a ‘freebie’ loan from the library. It was part of a promotion where readers in particular book clubs were given a ticket to visit Longwood Gardens as part of picking this book to read for the club. I was one of the folks that was able to get a ticket as part of this deal.

This was a slow read for me. I was really hesitant when I tried to get into it. Part of me thinks it’s because as a book club book it felt a little like ‘homework’ and I’m particularly good at avoiding that (always have been). Once I got a feel for the writing style then I was OK with it and things really moved along.

As I told folks at our on-line book club meeting, this book feels a lot like an “old school” science fiction book. The big deal part of this book revolves around the idea rather than a single protagonist. That made it difficult for a lot of our book club members, but not so much for me. There was enough tying each generation together that the story carried for me.

As for the idea itself – a sentient plant as our friend or foe on an alien planet is very interesting. There was a lot of bits that felt like science class, but I could move through those pretty easily. I liked the number of different ideas that cropped up through each section of the book as well. The story spans a fair amount of time but that didn’t seem to slow it down.

I found out this is part of a duology, but I don’t know that I’m invested enough to go and dig up (see what I did there – dirt joke) the next one. IF you’re into plants, alien life and survival stories this could be for you.



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