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laurenmiller100's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I loved this. Most of the stories left me gobsmacked and excited to talk about them with friends to really dissect the ideas. This compilation is excellent. As always, I love Ted Chiang’s commentary on where each story came from.
Favorites: The Tower of Babylon, Division by Zero, The Story of Your Life, Hell is the Absence of God, Liking What You See: A Documentary
Favorites: The Tower of Babylon, Division by Zero, The Story of Your Life, Hell is the Absence of God, Liking What You See: A Documentary
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture
malaikawrites's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was absolutely wonderful! Every story held its own, nut all together? All together it was dynamic, thought provoking and world-view shifting. It was a holistically powerful collection and I'm so glad I decided to pick it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death and Suicide
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexism
kimbo8's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, War, Medical trauma, Grief, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Misogyny
kylieqrada's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
😱 I'm not usually an anthology girly, but this absolutely slapped. Almost all of the stories were highly rated, but Story of Your Life will definitely stick with me. I need to read Exhalation, like, now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Child death, and Suicide
Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Bullying
loujanae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
Every time I finished a story, I would look at my cat and say "well that was weird."
Three stand out stories:
Tower of Babylon
Story of Your Life
Hell is the Absence of God
Three stand out stories:
Tower of Babylon
Story of Your Life
Hell is the Absence of God
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Murder
ryyy27's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Violence
rlgreen91's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
What a wonderful collection of stories! I had never heard of Ted Chiang before, but I was happy to squeeze this book in for an online book club, and I'm so glad I did. Each story was wonderfully thought-provoking and engrossing.
In response to another reader's question, I'd have to say that "The Tower of Babylon", "Story of Your Life", and "Seventy-Two Letters" are tied for my favorite. As a fairly devout Christian, I loved the idea of an alternate version of the Tower of Babylon Bible story. I enjoyed the twists that emerged from the narrative structure of "Story of Your Life," as well as the linguistic and anthropological aspects of it - it reminded me a bit of "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler, another short story I really enjoyed. Finally, I loved "Seventy-Two Letters" because it also invoked linguistic and anthropological concepts - how do you create an epithet that reflects the essence of something? But Stratton's work is so similar at its core to what I do as a software developer. And the way Chiang captured Stratton's final idea was perfect - it was exquisite prose that managed to capture not just how revolutionary the discovery of DNA must have been, but also that moment when you've been puzzling over a difficult problem in programming and you finally figure out a simple, elegant solution. Well, maybe I do have a singular favorite after all, haha.
But really, these short stories are great. I believe Chiang has another collection so I'll have to pick it up soon. 5 stars.
In response to another reader's question, I'd have to say that "The Tower of Babylon", "Story of Your Life", and "Seventy-Two Letters" are tied for my favorite. As a fairly devout Christian, I loved the idea of an alternate version of the Tower of Babylon Bible story. I enjoyed the twists that emerged from the narrative structure of "Story of Your Life," as well as the linguistic and anthropological aspects of it - it reminded me a bit of "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler, another short story I really enjoyed. Finally, I loved "Seventy-Two Letters" because it also invoked linguistic and anthropological concepts - how do you create an epithet that reflects the essence of something? But Stratton's work is so similar at its core to what I do as a software developer. And the way Chiang captured Stratton's final idea was perfect - it was exquisite prose that managed to capture not just how revolutionary the discovery of DNA must have been, but also that moment when you've been puzzling over a difficult problem in programming and you finally figure out a simple, elegant solution. Well, maybe I do have a singular favorite after all, haha.
But really, these short stories are great. I believe Chiang has another collection so I'll have to pick it up soon. 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide attempt, and Classism
Minor: Misogyny
leftandleaving_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
megsimsdavies's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
samotage820's review against another edition
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
5.0
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, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt