Anybody expecting a character-driven story will be disappointed. Sure, characters would persist as new generations took over but they would be increasingly sidelined and irrelevant. With each chapter following a new character I never really felt like I got to know anyone. Despite this, Semiosis builds to an action-based climax that is both satisfying and left me wanting more as a good book should. There is also an environmental message behind the story that resonates with the state of climate change. While clearly science fiction, their interdependence felt realistic and believable. I really enjoyed the interactions between the humans and the intelligent plant life of Pax.

There are conflicts between the humans and the bamboo and other life on the planet while the mystery of who built the city continues to loom over the new inhabitants. Things are far from plain sailing though. The rest of the story shows the humans of Pax learning to communicate, live and collaborate with the bamboo. The debate comes to a violent climax and the majority move to the city where they find a new kind of intelligent bamboo. With no knowledge of the previous inhabitants there is a split between those who believe moving to the city will improve life and those who fear the abandoned nature of the city. Far beyond Earth plant intelligence, some species may rival or surpass human intelligence.Īs the second generation of humans to live on Pax grow up they find an abandoned city. It turns out that Pax is considerably older than Earth and some plants have evolved much greater intelligence. When previously safe fruit turns poisonous Octavo starts to realise there is more to the Pax plants than anyone expected. As you would expect, the first years on Pax are filled with difficulties. Our first narrator is Octavo, a biologist from the initial landing party. Each chapter is told from a different point of view across the first 107 years of the settlement. Semiosis is a generation-spanning sci-fi tale of humans establishing a colony on a new planet called Pax. Content warning : Semiosis contains a rape scene which is mentioned in this review.

Semiosis sue burke review