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challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read "Exhalation" last year and loved it; I have some more mixed feelings here. The first three stories have the self-conscious author problem of being afraid the audience won't "get it". All of their endings explicate what you were supposed to intuit, which robbed them of their mystery. Many of these were written when Chiang was a younger author, so perhaps there's some first-timer's fear that they'll be misunderstood.
In fact I was very surprised to read that "Tower of Babylon" won a Hugo and a Nebula, as it feels pretty "standard" so far as magical realism goes - and also has Chiang's worst example of explication over intuiting. On the other hand, no surprises at all that "Story of Your Life" got him acclaim, even if I'm so tired of sci-fi authors using the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis to mean "language is magic powers".
The rest of the collection was written 8 or 10 years later than the earlier stories. It's cool to see an author progress so seamlessly and strongly into what makes them a "great". Everything from "Story of Your Life" onward was an absolute banger, with "Liking What You See: A Documentary" being like "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" in how it took a specific social issue, offered a technological solution, and then went with that idea as far as he possibly could. "Hell Is the Absence of God" is just as extraordinarily harrowing as one might imagine; it's a good pairing with Peck's "A Short Stay in Hell". And I loved the brief 3-page short story/fake Nature article. Metatextualism in scientific writing is an A+ trope for me.
In fact I was very surprised to read that "Tower of Babylon" won a Hugo and a Nebula, as it feels pretty "standard" so far as magical realism goes - and also has Chiang's worst example of explication over intuiting. On the other hand, no surprises at all that "Story of Your Life" got him acclaim, even if I'm so tired of sci-fi authors using the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis to mean "language is magic powers".
The rest of the collection was written 8 or 10 years later than the earlier stories. It's cool to see an author progress so seamlessly and strongly into what makes them a "great". Everything from "Story of Your Life" onward was an absolute banger, with "Liking What You See: A Documentary" being like "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" in how it took a specific social issue, offered a technological solution, and then went with that idea as far as he possibly could. "Hell Is the Absence of God" is just as extraordinarily harrowing as one might imagine; it's a good pairing with Peck's "A Short Stay in Hell". And I loved the brief 3-page short story/fake Nature article. Metatextualism in scientific writing is an A+ trope for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Mental illness
Moderate: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Addiction, Blood
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Classism
Minor: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'll admit I read this book because I liked the film 'Arrival'. However, I am glad to say that the entire book was good actually.
Right from the beginning I was hooked by 'Tower of Babylon'. I found the religious fiction to be very interesting as a genre I have never explored at all before. The sheer scale and intense descriptions of the tower was one for captivating the imagination and the resolution in the end was a pleasant twist I didn't expect.
'Understand' was unexpectedly tense, high-action and thrilling, picking up pace very quickly and holding it up intelligently while continually provoking new ideas about the true potential of the human mind and the limit of knowledge.
Of course 'Story of your life' stood out as clearly the best and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this story I already knew well from the film but told much better in more interesting detail as a written work with more interesting ideas cut out from the film that really captivated and excited the imagination.
'Hell is the Absence of God' was the only story I came out of this book having disliked. Maybe I should have just appreciated it for being well written and exploring another interesting take on religion but I found myself quite upset by the ending (I say this even as someone who is not a believer) and just struggle to look past what a rotten twist that was even if well foreshadowed. I just find myself rather pissed off about that as it turns the story upside down and though that may be the intention, that doesn't make it enjoyable to read.
Finally, 'Liking What You See: A Documentary' was a wonderfully presented thought experiment exploring a vast number of perspectives around a very grounded fictional political issue that really opens up the mind to other ways of thinking and leaves you lost for a side to choose as they all make such interesting points. I may disagree with some of the foundations on which the story is built but I can look past that to really appreciate how well this story achieves its intentions all the way through.
Overall, a very good book.
Right from the beginning I was hooked by 'Tower of Babylon'. I found the religious fiction to be very interesting as a genre I have never explored at all before. The sheer scale and intense descriptions of the tower was one for captivating the imagination and the resolution in the end was a pleasant twist I didn't expect.
'Understand' was unexpectedly tense, high-action and thrilling, picking up pace very quickly and holding it up intelligently while continually provoking new ideas about the true potential of the human mind and the limit of knowledge.
Of course 'Story of your life' stood out as clearly the best and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this story I already knew well from the film but told much better in more interesting detail as a written work with more interesting ideas cut out from the film that really captivated and excited the imagination.
'Hell is the Absence of God' was the only story I came out of this book having disliked. Maybe I should have just appreciated it for being well written and exploring another interesting take on religion but I found myself quite upset by the ending (I say this even as someone who is not a believer) and just struggle to look past what a rotten twist that was even if well foreshadowed. I just find myself rather pissed off about that as it turns the story upside down and though that may be the intention, that doesn't make it enjoyable to read.
Finally, 'Liking What You See: A Documentary' was a wonderfully presented thought experiment exploring a vast number of perspectives around a very grounded fictional political issue that really opens up the mind to other ways of thinking and leaves you lost for a side to choose as they all make such interesting points. I may disagree with some of the foundations on which the story is built but I can look past that to really appreciate how well this story achieves its intentions all the way through.
Overall, a very good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
The concepts in this short story collection are so interesting and thought provoking that I really enjoyed contemplating the implications and ramifications of the worlds that exist therein.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, War
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can't think of a better way to describe Ted Chiang's sci-fi than "deeply human." Chiang writes each story with a great amount of care for both the sci-fi premise and the characters navigating it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail