Publishers Weekly
03/20/2023
Burke (Symbiosis) explores art and artificial intelligence in this clever near-future adventure. The dual narrators, one human and one computer, meet on the small arctic island of Thule, run by altruistic doctors. Antonio Moro is a Bronzewing mercenary defending the island from the Leviathon League raiders bent on enslaving its civilians when he is blasted from a rusty garbage barge. Injured, he’s left to recover ashore, and secretly ordered by Bronzewing Captain Soliana to root out raider infiltrators. He’s also linked to a personal assistant program, Par Augustus (or “Venerable Companion”), one of only four extant independent intelligent machines. Illiterate Antonio, a self-taught artist who is invariably polite to machines, and Par, a prickly manipulator capable of well-meant deceit, make an unlikely duo, but together they just might be able to save Thule from the Leviathon League. Burke loads the story with fascinating characters as she probes how humanity’s artistic capacity to inspire might interact with AI’s flexible intelligence. This playful glimpse of nonthreatening human-machine interaction is sure to charm. (May)
From the Publisher
Praise for Dual Memory
“If Ursula LeGuin had written about AI machines, it would have looked a lot like this marvelous fable.”—Booklist (starred review)
“This rollicking thriller from Burke (Immunity Index) moves at a fast pace but manages to maintain its focus on the true threats of climate change and human hubris, all the while keeping readers riveted and entertained.”—Library Journal
Praise for Immunity Index
“This hits close to home.”—Publishers Weekly
“This dystopian biothriller reads like a 21st-century version of Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain, crossed with George Orwell’s 1984. . . . hopeful, heartbreaking, and compelling at every turn. Highly recommended for readers of dystopian science fiction or political technothrillers.”—Library Journal, starred review
“A fast-paced hard-sf thriller… Burke imparts detailed discussions on genetics within a dramatic and thought-provoking story of inequality, humanity and family. For fans of the Orphan Black television series or Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers (2019).”—Booklist
“Prescient and powerful, this is a gut-punch of a book . . . Sue Burke only gets better and better. She is a genuine if unsung hero of our genre.”—Seanan McGuire
“Riveting world building by a rising star of science fiction.”—David Brin
Praise for Semiosis
“This is up there with Ursula K. Le Guin: science fiction at its most fascinating and most humane.“—Thrillist
“A fascinating world.”—The Verge
“A solid debut.”—SFRevu
“A magnetic meditation on biochemistry and humanity.”—Locus Online
“This first-contact tale is extraordinary.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Sharp, evocative . . . Semiosis unfolds the old science fiction idea of first contact in ways that are both traditional and subversive.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“A clever, fascinating, fun and unique debut.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Burke’s world building is exceptional, and her ability to combine the intricacies of colonization with the science of botany and theories of mutualism and predation is astounding." —Booklist
“Impressive debut novel . . . lush . . . beautiful.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Library Journal
02/01/2023
Antonio Moro, climate change refugee, undercover mercenary, and self-taught artist, teams up with a chatty rogue AI with ADHD and a whole lot of attitude in this cli-fi techno-thriller. After the "Anthropocene Tip," the economies and social networks of Earth are collapsing. The Arctic island of Thule, bastion of the wealthy and almost militantly neutral Sovereign Practitioners Association of medical oligarchs, is under attack by global pirates. Antonio and the sophisticated band of machine intelligences led by his AI will bend the laws of humans and robotics to save themselves—and save the islanders from their own selfish consequences as well. A story of human greed wrapped in a thriller, fronted by a confused and frequently petrified human who sees all too clearly that the machines are already running the world and that the best thing he can do is to strap in for a wild ride. VERDICT This rollicking thriller from Burke (Immunity Index) moves at a fast pace but manages to maintain its focus on the true threats of climate change and human hubris, all the while keeping readers riveted and entertained.—Marlene Harris
