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A review by fipah
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
challenging
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Absolutely mind-bending and refreshing. Top star story collection.
I enjoyed this much more than Mr Chiang's first short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others (which I also very much enjoyed, don't get me wrong). Exhalation had two "types" of stories, if I may generalise this a bit:
1.) There was a strong representation in <b>that futuristic yet very humane atmosphere (bye bye overused dystopia), it felt very solarpunk-inspired with slice-of-life themes – reminded me of Becky Chambers and her The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet universe. The characters are not too complex or deeply fleshed out, yet they feel honest, real, and breathing.
2.) The second type of stories IMHO were mind-bending concepts woven into crispy fiction. The stories here are a bit less human-focused, they rather serve to completely throw us into brainy out-of-the-box questions. Very refreshing!
The last story started off super amazing and then almost turned into something too.. moralising? It felt so weird when one takes into consideration Mr Chiang's complex work and how his fiction never really ends in black-and-white polarising judgements. Apart from that, all the surprises in this collection were only very positive and well-executed in my opinion.
Absolutely recommended, not many short story collections are this captivating to me – this comes from someone who rarely enjoys short stories, so if you're like me, do give this a go. <3
I enjoyed this much more than Mr Chiang's first short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others (which I also very much enjoyed, don't get me wrong). Exhalation had two "types" of stories, if I may generalise this a bit:
1.) There was a strong representation in <b>that futuristic yet very humane atmosphere (bye bye overused dystopia), it felt very solarpunk-inspired with slice-of-life themes – reminded me of Becky Chambers and her The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet universe. The characters are not too complex or deeply fleshed out, yet they feel honest, real, and breathing.
2.) The second type of stories IMHO were mind-bending concepts woven into crispy fiction. The stories here are a bit less human-focused, they rather serve to completely throw us into brainy out-of-the-box questions. Very refreshing!
The last story started off super amazing and then almost turned into something too.. moralising? It felt so weird when one takes into consideration Mr Chiang's complex work and how his fiction never really ends in black-and-white polarising judgements. Apart from that, all the surprises in this collection were only very positive and well-executed in my opinion.
Absolutely recommended, not many short story collections are this captivating to me – this comes from someone who rarely enjoys short stories, so if you're like me, do give this a go. <3