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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A collection of short stories, some better than others. Some of the longer ones dragged on a little bit, but there are some real nuggets in here. Particularly with Babylon!
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The whole collection is just masterful. The stories are engaging and well-written, and as soon as you begin to ponder on them you are struck by the insight, creativity, and intelligence of their author. It is not without reason that some of these stories have been turned into movies.
In the comments at the end, the author says, "One of the things we admire most in fiction is an ending that is surprising but inevitable." This is fully evidenced in his writing. The endings are uniformly wonderful.
Todd McLaren, great narrator.
Tower of Babylon - 3.5/5
Interesting and well written, with a nice math thing going on there, but not quite as much punch as I had hoped for.
Understand - 4.5/5
I find most literary portrayals of genius to be frankly uninspired. Uncreative, uninteresting, unrealistic, and seemingly conceived by authors who barely manage to be above average themselves. Understand was captivating, thrilling, and let shine the author's own formidable intelligence. The mechanics of the ending were wonderful, but I question the need for any battle at all. It must simply be the case that they could have achieved their aims in concert without death.
Division by Zero - 4/5
Lovely idea. Not the most engaging. Interesting ideas of empathy, sympathy, and understanding. Great ending.
Stories of Your Life - 4.5/5
Great intertwining, great plot, great emotion. The author touches on so much. Linearity of time, linguistics, determinism. As usual, the author has punchy endings.
72 Letters - 3.5/5
Pretty good. I don't know that Chiang does action as well as contemplation. The idea is really neat -- a world where homunculi and golems are real and normal. I love that Chiang never babies you into a story, he immerses you in the world and lets you swim. The ending is a really interesting view of the philosophical implications of DNA.
The Evolution of Human Science - 3/5
Can't even remember the ending.
Hell is the Absence of God - 5/5
DAYUM. What a great story. I have the feeling it could be read by a devout or an atheist with similar pleasure. I love how it speaks of the arbitrariness of God's acts, the senseless casualties of miracles, the internal struggle with blessing and curse. The idea that god is truly real, but people struggle to love him and go to hell anyway. Really the whole thing is masterfully crafted. And the ending. I was so worried it would be trite and disappointing. It was perfect.
Liking what You See - 4/5
Are we more fully realized when we minimize the physical part of our natures? This is simply great. All the different viewpoints. The comparisons to magic. The incredible foresight of filters etc.
In the comments at the end, the author says, "One of the things we admire most in fiction is an ending that is surprising but inevitable." This is fully evidenced in his writing. The endings are uniformly wonderful.
Todd McLaren, great narrator.
Tower of Babylon - 3.5/5
Interesting and well written, with a nice math thing going on there, but not quite as much punch as I had hoped for.
Understand - 4.5/5
I find most literary portrayals of genius to be frankly uninspired. Uncreative, uninteresting, unrealistic, and seemingly conceived by authors who barely manage to be above average themselves. Understand was captivating, thrilling, and let shine the author's own formidable intelligence. The mechanics of the ending were wonderful, but I question the need for any battle at all. It must simply be the case that they could have achieved their aims in concert without death.
Division by Zero - 4/5
Lovely idea. Not the most engaging. Interesting ideas of empathy, sympathy, and understanding. Great ending.
Stories of Your Life - 4.5/5
Great intertwining, great plot, great emotion. The author touches on so much. Linearity of time, linguistics, determinism. As usual, the author has punchy endings.
72 Letters - 3.5/5
Pretty good. I don't know that Chiang does action as well as contemplation. The idea is really neat -- a world where homunculi and golems are real and normal. I love that Chiang never babies you into a story, he immerses you in the world and lets you swim. The ending is a really interesting view of the philosophical implications of DNA.
The Evolution of Human Science - 3/5
Can't even remember the ending.
Hell is the Absence of God - 5/5
DAYUM. What a great story. I have the feeling it could be read by a devout or an atheist with similar pleasure. I love how it speaks of the arbitrariness of God's acts, the senseless casualties of miracles, the internal struggle with blessing and curse. The idea that god is truly real, but people struggle to love him and go to hell anyway. Really the whole thing is masterfully crafted. And the ending. I was so worried it would be trite and disappointing. It was perfect.
Liking what You See - 4/5
Are we more fully realized when we minimize the physical part of our natures? This is simply great. All the different viewpoints. The comparisons to magic. The incredible foresight of filters etc.
Really great read - only one story that I really didn't care for. I'll be thinking about Divided by Zero and Hell is the Absence of God long after the conclusion of this book.
reflective
medium-paced
Wow. This is a collection of some of the highest concept short stories I have ever read, and it doesn’t feel pretentious or preachy at all. Time, religion, beauty, mathematics, and more. I will actively seek out more of his books. I recommend this to everyone who likes science fiction at all.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
An interesting anthology. Chiang employs a range of innovative structures to explore reactions to paradigm shifts. Some of these stories were superb and affecting. Others bounced off me entirely.