Good narration, great premise, arc doesn't end

The narration is well acted. Changing voices between chapters really worked. The premise is really interesting and slowly unfolds really well. My only complaint is that it doesn't really feel like an arc with an ending. It's not a discrete chunk of a larger story but a chunk that was just arbitrarily cut off. Can't wait for the second book to come out

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amazing and very original story

Loved it! Easily one of the best narration I've listened, the voice actors were fantastic. The story was very interesting. A unique take on science-fiction.

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Some imaginative fresh air in SicFi

Humans colonize a planet where plants are the dominant species with several twists and turns that will keep you hooked to the story.

Plants with a conscience, a naturalist human group with strong female leaders, with a good human angle, exploring not only a planet full of surprises but also the fears and emotions in the human mind.

The glassmakers are a bit cliche, I think they're a missed opportunity.

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2 people found this helpful

Amazing narration. Alright story

The narration is amazing and that's all that needs to be said about it. the story started off extremely intriguing but after about 3/4 of the way through it became essentially a war tactics / strategy story with very little substance. The ending was a commentary on some fairly simple philosophy. A but disappointing given the start but overall worth it

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1 person found this helpful

Plant intelligence plausibly articulated

I really liked this story. The different phases over generations were well paced - the right amount of detail and the author knew when to move on.
Weird thing in the second to last chapter, where a particular character’s voice, being an alien, and portrayed by the narrator as computerish/throaty, actually continues for an entire hour uninterrupted by any other character voices - that was a long slog.
Otherwise great voice acting. Love the 60%-Jennifer-Coolidge quality of Caitlin Davies’ voice. And some of Daniel Thomas May’s male voices were walking the line very deftly between soothing and sultry.
I definitely need to know what happens in the second and final book. This is more hard sci-fi with heart, by a woman author too which is always great to see in this genre. Strongly recommend.

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interesting take on other sentient beings.

good narrators. keeps in line with the pace of the story. I never felt it slow down too much.

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It's not action packed, but it is endless intrigue

Humans struggle to thrive on a planet already occupied by sentient plants. As the generations progress we unpack their purpose for being, solve inter-personal and inter-species conflict, and always try to find a thoughtful peace as they make a new world. It's not lazer beams and boarding parties, it's thoughtful and fascinating multi-layered and multi-generational experience.

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2 people found this helpful

Nice worldbuilding and POV from non-human

I struggled through the first chapters, not really sure where the story was going and confused about all the different names from different generations. As the story went on, I got more emersed. The worldbuilding is astonishingly done, and the way everything was connected, which was obvious through bamboo/steveland's POV, nothing short of marvelous. I really liked the steveland POV because it is different to a human's mind. At first I wasnt too sure about the narration but that was mainly because of the first accent. Now that I listened to it completely, I can say that the narration is brilliant. This will be one of those books I'll re-listen to on a regular base.

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2 people found this helpful

Utterly incedible

Utterly incredible and masterfully put together. Incredible world building, just the right amount of self-indulging character creation. The dangerous environment and ever changing surroundings leads you to believe nothing is certain on this world. Up there among my favourite sci-fi books with Children of Time and Dogs of War. Can't wait for Sue's next adventure!

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Was a chore to finish

Loved the 1st half. Interesting premise and engaging. Peaked my interest as the story could have gone anywhere. Decided to look up the meaning of Semiosis and got worried... If the book decided to follow the meaning of the word then it could turn into a slog. Unfortunately for me it was true to the word and the second half dragged on and on. Almost didn't finish but kept hoping for a final twist or some redeeming feature. It didn't happen. Will skip the sequel

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