The setting of this first encounter-tale with a twist is a faraway - albeit earth-like – planet which “the earthlings” have named Pax. Semiosis is no exception to that rule, but ‘the others’ in the novel are not human-like aliens but sentient plants. And because Burke’s book is science fiction, the story centers around the communication with sentient non-humans.Įncountering otherworldly beings for the first time is a classic theme in science fiction, and mostly, these stories are about miscommunication and the problems that arise from misunderstanding one another, like in Mary Doria Russell’s classic novel Sparrow or in the 2016-movie Arrival (based on Ted Chiang’s novella Story of Your Life). Semiosis might be a title you would rather associate with a scholarly tome about language than with a work of fiction but it does give a clear indication of what Sue Burke’s debut novel is about: communication.
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