A review by smartflutist661
Exhalation by Ted Chiang

challenging

5.0

Five stars despite a few of the stories not quite working for me, because the ones that did absolutely knocked it out of the park. "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", "Exhalation", "What's Expected of Us", and "The Great Silence" were all masterpieces of the science fiction short story; The Lifecycle of Software Objects and The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling were both excellent, and "Omphalos" was nearly as good. I didn't really connect with "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom", though I did appreciate it. "Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny" is the only story from the collection that I was disappointed by, though I did enjoy the humor about Victorian parenting. Lots of focus throughout on existence, fate, truth, and purpose (which are admittedly my catnip), so if you're in the mood for an existential crisis, this may be your collection.