Description

‘Up there with the best of Le Guin in terms of beautiful, engrossing, brilliantly imagined sci-fi’

VULTURE

‘SEMIOSIS combines the world-building of Avatar with the alien wonder of Arrival, and the sheer humanity of Atwood. An essential work for our time’

STEPHEN BAXTER

NOMINATED FOR THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD

Escaping conflict on Earth, an idealistic group of settlers arrive on a distant planet – Pax – with plans for a perfect society.

The world they discover is rich with life, but this is not the Eden they were hoping for. The plants on Pax are smart – smart enough to domesticate, and even slaughter, its many extraordinary animals.

To survive, the colonists realize that they must strike bargains of their own. But if they are to make Pax their home, they must go further, searching for a way to communicate and coexist with these utterly alien intelligences.

Publisher Review

BEST BOOKS OF 2018 - THRILLIST, VULTURE, THE VERGE, CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS, NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY LOCUS RECOMMENDED READING LIST 2018 'This is top class SF, intelligent and engaging and I loved every moment of it' Adrian Tchaikovsky, award-winning author of CHILDREN OF TIME '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, award-winning author of THE POSTMAN 'A magnetic meditation on biochemistry and humanity' LOCUS 'A clever, fascinating, fun and unique debut' KIRKUS