Semiosis (2018)

Settlers hoping to build a peaceful community discover that the plants of their new world are active participants in its politics. Burke follows several generations as survival requires negotiation, adaptation and revisions to the founding ideals. This is a particularly useful corrective to the fantasy of starting with a clean slate. Cooperation includes unequal partners and painful mistakes, with violence along the way. The first Semiosis novel earns its forward movement through the settlement's changing relationships.