book: Semiosis , Sue Burke
as a speculative bio enjoyer, it did take me a bit to get in-tune with Semiosis. I kept distracting myself with questions about why an alien planet would have plants and animals very much within a reasonable Earthen frame (like the fippokats). I had to get over myself. The words (e.g. bamboo, lentil, tulip, eagles, slugs...) referred to aliens that were non-Earthen in nature, and they were not the focus of the book. The only POV character with a knowledge of phylogeny doesn't last long as the POV.
Semiosis is at its best when it is engaging with the POV of a sentient plant, one of its main focuses. I do wish the alien-ness of this POV was explored more; even an Earthen plant POV would be very, very different to that of a human. I want the minutiae. I did get some: the precise description of chemistry in the plant-POV sections really centered chemical-communication in a way that human-communication would not.
Semiosis is also very good in its meditations on humans. I quite like the way it takes devotion to a cause of peace, as motivation for murder, and puts it under the microscope. This theme recurs, first with the Parents vs. the Children and then Cedar vs. the Glassmakers. (the first instance is really good: the arrogance of people who believe they are uniquely good and selfless specimens of humanity, such that they leave Earth behind!)
I have to vouch for Semiosis since sessile life is very rarely the focus of a book. I'd love to see more like it.
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