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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Short stories are not usually my chosen genre but I really loved this anthology. The stories are smart and well written with interesting commentary on our society’s fascinations with faith, love, beauty, and the future. Definitely my favourite type of science-fiction, the realistic-makes-you-think-what-if kind!
Stories of Your Life is the short story on which the movie Arrival was based and while I loved the story, it didn’t have the same impact once I knew the plot twist. I think my favourite of the collection was “Liking What You See: A Documentary”; I definitely want to use it with my students next semester. I’ll definitely seek out more Ted Chiang to read!
Stories of Your Life is the short story on which the movie Arrival was based and while I loved the story, it didn’t have the same impact once I knew the plot twist. I think my favourite of the collection was “Liking What You See: A Documentary”; I definitely want to use it with my students next semester. I’ll definitely seek out more Ted Chiang to read!
4.5/5
Excellent. I’ve been struggling with short story collections all by one author; they feel too one note and I’d simply rather a novel than the shorter repetitive stories. This didn’t suffer from this issue in the slightest. So many of these stories are excellent. I need to watch Arrival immediately because the story it’s based on? That’s as perfect as short fiction gets.
Excellent. I’ve been struggling with short story collections all by one author; they feel too one note and I’d simply rather a novel than the shorter repetitive stories. This didn’t suffer from this issue in the slightest. So many of these stories are excellent. I need to watch Arrival immediately because the story it’s based on? That’s as perfect as short fiction gets.
Chiang's strength is in the ideas of each story, and the ideas are unique and well-wrought. This is an awesome collection of short stories and you should read it end of review.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
It’s not badly written; I’m just particular about short stories, and this one just didn’t hit the mark for me.
While I think “Story of your Life” is just about flawless, the others in this collection didn’t have the refinement or craft that those in Exhalation did. I still loved them though, and they gave me a lot to think about. “Understand” and “Seventy-Two Letters” in particular were so clever, but the latter I thought ended too soon. I was shocked it ended where it did, there was still so much in the world to talk about! These stories are meant to be read and re-read, discussed and dissected, and I look forward to recommending this book to others and talking to my friends about them.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
