Semiosis by Sue Burke (Narrated by Caitlin Davies & Daniel Thomas May)

 Original and Thought Provoking

4 out of 5 stars

This was listed on my Most Anticipated Audiobooks of 2018 and for a good reason.  When you read the synopsis things pop out like: “They don’t realize another life form watches…and waits…”  and “prove that humans are more than tools”. I was SUPER intrigued.  Seriously, it just had a ring to it that you don’t normally hear.

The thing that I noticed about Semiosis is that it is beautifully written with really good character building.  Honestly, one of the best character built novels I’ve read in a long time.  Sue Burke is a name that I had not heard of before Semiosis, but I will remember long after finishing it.

There were some parts that irked me a bit.  I’m familiar with both time jumping around and “skippy” type books that have you going from place to place. Some of them do it to confuse you on purpose – while others do it to skip around and just allow readers to see glimpses of different parts.  I think that Semiosis did a little of both.  Burke wanted the reader to enjoy the book without digging really deep into the “how and why” as I call it.

The story itself was a little longer than my usual but I didn’t really notice it.  Burke wrote a book that I enjoyed reading and something that I did have a hard time putting down. A lot of people love 12-14 hour audiobooks but in my history, they usually drag on.  Semiosis did not drag on but was crafted into a flowing and crazy view of what could happen if humanity and Earth were threatened.

The narration was done by Caitlin Davies and Daniel Thomas May and I thought they did a really nice job.  It made this 14-hour book fly by and a breeze to listen to.

Overall, an interesting take on an alien invasion book and a character-driven book that will have me looking for other books written by Sue Burke.

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Brian

I’ve loved reading since I was little when my dad would read me Dr. Suess books. Fast-forward a little and I noticed that he was always reading on his lunch breaks at work, and I wondered why.Then, I found a book that took me to another place and time, to another feeling,another sense of “being”.It was the first book that I ever fell in love with, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.

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