Human survival on another planet hinges on a bizarre alliance in this character-driven debut science fiction novel of first contact.
“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, award-winning author of The Time Ships
Colonists from Earth wanted the perfect home, but they’ll have to survive on the one they found. They don’t realize another life-form watches . . . and waits . . .
Can humans learn how to communicate with the planet’s sentient species and forge an alliance to prove that humans are more than mere tools?
Praise for Semiosis
Esquire’s Best Science Fiction Books of All Time
2019 Campbell Memorial Award Finalist
2019 Locus Finalist for Best Science Fiction Novel
Locus 2018 Recommended Reading List
New York Public Library—Best of 2018
Forbes—Best Science Fiction Books of 2018–2019
The Verge—Best of 2018
Thrillist—Best Books of 2018
Vulture—10 Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of 2018
Chicago Review of Books—The 10 Best Science Fiction Books of 2018
Texas Library Association—Lariat List Top Books for 2019
“This is up there with Ursula K. Le Guin: science fiction at its most fascinating and most humane.” —Thrillist
“Original, gripping, and gloriously unpredictable.” —Mira Grant, New York Times–bestselling author of Parasite
SUE BURKE has worked as a reporter and editor for a variety of newspapers and magazines, and Semiosis is her debut novel. She is a Clarion workshop alumnus and has published over thirty short stories. Burke also worked extensively as a literary translator, and while living in Madrid, Spain, she headed the long-running Madrid Writer’s Critique Group. She now lives in Chicago.