Semiosis
Sue Burke
Tor Books, 2019
Ebook, 333 ppg.
ISBN-10: 0765391368
ISBN-13: 978-0765391360
If there was another planet for people of Earth to escape to when our own planet is no longer habitable, would we choose to go there? Some people chose to in Semiosis, a science fiction novel by Sue Burke, and while they do manage to survive on this other planet, which they name Pax, they face new world problems, such as trying to grow food in soil that is not so compatible with their seeds and living alongside animals they name “fippokats” that take getting used to. There are also creatures on this planet which they call “eagles” but they do not sound like Earth eagles by the way they are described. Plus, they eat people, making these creatures their mortal enemies.
I picked up this book to read after I learned that it was about a group of colonizers from Earth living on a planet alongside aliens, because that’s the kind of book I was looking for to read at that time. However, the aliens in this story do not reveal themselves until Part Three, and they are certainly not what you would expect. They are not your typical aliens. It was very interesting to read a story where the aliens were this type of life form! Also, there’s another kind of alien living on this planet, but they do not enter the story until much later.
Up until then, though, readers are only offered vague clues on who, or what, the aliens could be.
In the original city that the colonizers live in, life is really tough. Not only do they struggle to have food but there are also frequent hurricanes. Then one of their children, Sylvia, discovers another city and wants them to move there. She faces ardent refusal from the elder colonizers, and discovers that they had kept so many secrets and information from her generation. At some point, though, she does lead a group to live in the newly-discovered city, which they name Rainbow City.
Life in Rainbow City is supposed to be better, and for the most part, it is. But the people living there, the descendants of the original colonizers of Pax, face the same troubles, such as eagles that could attack and kill them, sickness and disease, as well as death. Alas, no one can ever escape death, even from disease. And after a character in part three dies from an illness that they do not yet understand, the father spends some time bemoaning how she could have been saved with Earth technology that they don’t have. The other character that he is telling this to, Sylvia, agrees, and notes that they could have saved her by “the Earth way.” But then she notes that they will have to learn how to survive “the Pax way.”
“The Pax way,” she repeated. “The parents didn’t even tell us everything about the Earth way. Religion. Ideologies. Economics. War. Just words to us! They didn’t trust us with those things. They’re dead and gone, and they still decide how we live and how much we can know, because they thought they knew better than us, and they left us impaired, and worst of all we know we’re impaired. All those books we copied from the computers before they failed, that’s a tiny fraction of what there is to know, a very tiny fraction. I once saw a mention of a library on Earth with a million books.”
I tried to keep track of who everyone was as I read each chapter, but by the time I got to the chapter with Nye, I was lost. In a previous chapter, Nye is recognized as “a baker” but there’s no information about who he is the son of, not even in the chapter told from his point-of-view. Neither in the following chapters, with the other characters. So I just stopped trying to keep track of them all.
The thing that I find really interesting about this story is the fact that the plants on Pax are sentient. They’re not walking about the planet doing things, but they are intelligent and can communicate with each other and the largest of them all, named Stevland, communicates with the humans. I say Stevland is “large” but not in a sense that it towers over everyone. Stevland is large in that it is able to have roots in different locations, “seeing” things in its own way as well as hearing and feeling things. As one character says, “There are lots of Stevland.” The main Stevland, though, is in the greenhouse. This is where many of the people normally go to communicate with it (another place is called the Meeting House). Stevland is VERY intelligent, even for a sentient plant, and also has an air of arrogance towards others. In fact, it considers the tulips to be stupid, and at one point, it tells a human, “Don’t be a tulip.” Stevland may be a plant but it acts like a human. In fact, at one point it tells a human, “You cannot tell me what to do.” I thought that was kind of an interesting statement coming from a plant.
So when I first heard about this book, someone said, “It’s about humans living alongside aliens.” And I thought the aliens were the plants. Seriously, I did! I mean, they’re sentient plants. They can think and talk. They have a desire to stay alive. They feel pain! But, no, the aliens, apparently, are the Glassmakers. And for a while, yes, the humans live alongside the Glassmakers, but it goes wrong. So wrong. I guess that saying that “this book is about humans living alongside aliens” is not the correct way to summarize this book. I would say that Semiosis is about a colony of humans trying to survive on a planet that includes hostile aliens.
But, ultimately, it’s a story about survival. The humans were forced to leave Earth because Earth was no longer habitable, but in living on another planet, they faced dangers that threatened their lives there as well. They adapt, though, and they adjust. They develop laws and rules. They decide on a system that works for them. At one point, they even develop a greeting to give to others when they meet (“water and sunshine”).
This novel is also a study in what humans can expect to endure should they need to live on another planet. Hopefully, that won’t happen for several thousands of years from now, even though the decline of Earth is gradually increasing and we are faced with worsening climate change issues.
Semiosis is an engrossing, unforgettable novel about adapting to unusual living conditions on another planet. While it is a long novel, the stories readers are treated to in the many years in which this story takes place are all entertaining, educational, captivating and profound. There are many moments of betrayal, loss, and struggle, but there are also moments of love, compassion, and a plea for cohabitation. Could this novel serve as a guide to the humans of today who ponder living on other planets? Certainly not, but it is a good starting point, and it gives readers a lot to think about and prepare for should that goal ever become a reality.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I purchased a digital edition of this book online. This review is entirely voluntary and I receive nothing in exchange for posting this review.
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