On Pax the new arrivals find descendants of the original colonists living side-by-side in a glass city with alien arthropod-like Glassmakers, and Stevland, a sentient rainbow bamboo.

Once calm is restored to the city, most of the Earthlings return home with specimens of Pax's fauna and flora, including some of Stevland's seeds.

The seeds are planted on Earth and grow into a young rainbow bamboo named Levanter, who becomes aware of his sentience and soon learns how to exploit it.

[3] David Walton wrote in New York Journal of Books that Interference is, like its predecessor, "a rich and engaging exploration of different forms of intelligent life".

[4] In a review of Interference in Locus, Adrienne Martini said that genetics and their role in a species' survival are central to Burke's writing, and when she dwells on the nature versus nurture question, her stories are "gripping".

[5] Martini was impressed by Stevland and his manipulation of the creatures around him for his own benefit, but felt that many of Burke's other characters tended to be "emotionally opaque".

Jones added that while Pax is an intriguing planet and the book successfully conveys the dangers the characters face, she felt that Burke's prose is "merely serviceable".