A review by one_womanarmy
Usurpation by Sue Burke

adventurous mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Sue Burke's Usurpation brings her "Semiosis" trilogy to a close. I pre-ordered this book I was so excited to read it after devouring the first two back to back.  The final book was a bit weaker than those two. I confess I found myself longing for the grandeur and sweeping scope of the first book, Semiosis. Where that initial foray into the world of Pax delivered a captivating exploration of human-plant coevolution on an epic scale, Usurpation felt a bit bogged down in the minutiae.

Don't get me wrong, Burke's talent for crafting believable alien ecologies remains undeniable. The sentient plants of Pax are as fascinating as ever, with their intricate communication networks and complex social dynamics. But in this final installment, I found myself yearning for a bit less botanical bickering and a bit more of the grand evolutionary leaps that made Semiosis so compelling.

The narrative picks up centuries after the events of book two - Interference - with the humans on Earth having now had long-term exposure to the alien Stevland's sentient plant offspring, but failing to make the same symbiosis flourish as in the previous two books. We're introduced to a new cast of characters - but a bit too fast - throughout several additional centuries, each grappling with the challenges of navigating this unique symbiosis, or the perceived lack thereof. While the individual stories are engaging enough, they lack the collective momentum that propelled the earlier books.

One of the highlights of was its depiction of human history devolving alongside the plants' continued evolution. Burke masterfully portrays the gradual erosion of human knowledge and technology, as future Earth generations become increasingly reliant on the plants for survival. This regression is both fascinating and unsettling, serving as a stark reminder of humanity's fragility in the face of an ever-changing world. As one character laments, "We were once a people of starships and cities, now we are little more than caretakers in a garden." The plants become increasingly self-aware and able to manipulate, and care for, humans - their advancement seemed a parallel to artificial intelligence / A.I. fear and concerns we are grappling with as I read this at the end of 2024.

The novel also delivers some poignant reflections on the nature of consciousness and the meaning of intelligence. The plants, with their slow, deliberate way of thinking, offer a unique perspective on the human condition. As the Glasswort muses, "Humans are so quick to act, so eager to change the world around them. They rarely stop to consider the consequences of their actions." Burke's exploration of human-plant coevolution was still thought-provoking, even if the narrative occasionally gets lost in the weeds (pun intended). If you're a fan of the series, you'll undoubtedly find some things to appreciate in this final chapter, even if it doesn't quite leave you feeling as exhilarated as the first.