From the Bookshelf of Undead & UnRead Book Club - Frisco Public Library…

Semiosis (Semiosis, #1)

Sue Burke

Start date: April 10, 2019

Finish date: May 14, 2019

Discussion: 2019 Meetings

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2019 Meetings

November - Enclave
By Amy · 1 post · 8 views

last updated Oct 14, 2019 01:24PM

October - John Dies at the End
By Amy · 1 post · 9 views

last updated Oct 14, 2019 01:22PM

What Members Thought

May 05, 2019 Amanda Kratz rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-undead-and-unread-book-club

I found this to be a unique read.

So the basic premise is a colony of earth’s citizens have traveled 158 years to a new planet in hopes of colonizing it in a peaceful pacifist way. There are only 50 colonist to start with (which seems an extremely small number). They meet the main sentient life form on the planet and it is a plant and it is their struggle to understand each other. We also start getting the plants POV also. (For those that have read Illuminae. The plant is like like AIDAN)

This is I found this to be a unique read.

So the basic premise is a colony of earth’s citizens have traveled 158 years to a new planet in hopes of colonizing it in a peaceful pacifist way. There are only 50 colonist to start with (which seems an extremely small number). They meet the main sentient life form on the planet and it is a plant and it is their struggle to understand each other. We also start getting the plants POV also. (For those that have read Illuminae. The plant is like like AIDAN)

This is a character driven story - but it isn’t. Each “chapter” is a different character’s POV and a generation apart from the previous chapter (some times same year sometimes 30 years apart.). It is extremely difficult to connect with any of the characters because they are constantly changing. By the same token I could tell each of the character’s chapters apart. Some were difficult to read because they were so emotionless and direct. Others were artists and their chapters were full of descriptions of art and the environment. The first character me meet is a very difficult personality and she is hard to care about. I finally came to the realization it’s because she is so direct. It tells you what is relevant to the story and moves on without any extra details. Example: three characters die, they move the bodies and bury them, and play a sad song and the story goes on. Just no details really. No emotion. It’s kind of odd almost like a factual text book at times. I feel that some of the characters are a bit easier to connect with but it is a struggle for me to get involved.

I really found the plant Stevland interesting. Poison fruit, good fruit, smart fruit, dumb fruit, controlling other plants, manipulating animals, I don’t wanna say much more on him but yeah.... “he” is fun.

The world building was fun and created an interesting and unique environment but there were times I got sick of the term fippokats. (I understand you want to thank your friend for the word but golly gum - it was too much)

Overall it was an interesting read. I might even finish the duology. I’m a bit torn I wanna know where it is going, but the characters are just so uninteresting.

Also rape trigger warning for those that need/want a heads up.

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May 09, 2019 Amy Gideon rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

3.5 / 5 stars

I love the concept of this book, but it took me awhile to get into the rhythm of it. I found the lack of transitions between each chapter to be jarring. Just when I was interested in one story it would move on to another with very little connection to the previous one. It's hard to stay invested in a story when the characters keep changing.

The last part of the book, before, during and after the glass makers approach the town, is what saved this book from being a 2.5/3 star rating fo ...more

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Apr 15, 2019 Amy marked it as to-read

Apr 22, 2019 Pamela marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-reads

May 14, 2019 Lawrence rated it liked it · review of another edition

Jun 28, 2019 Kristen marked it as to-read

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