Scan barcode
A review by whoischels
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - 4
This story explores time travel with awareness of the constraints of it. It's a great thought exercise and a well-crafted story. While it isn't structured like an essay at all, the three parts of it (told as stories by a character similarly to Arabian nights), it somewhat feels like one...each part explicitly backs up Chiang's ideas about how time travel might work.
Exhalation - 5
A weird story about a race of beings whose thoughts are driven by the play of air over their processing centers, and what a scientist of that race might have to do in order to understand how their brains work. A metaphorical stab at answering the question of whether the self is defined by the parts that make up the brain and the thoughts in it, or if the self is defined by our interactions with the things outside of us.
Remarkably well-thought out world building for such a short story.
What's Expected of Us - 4
A fun little device called a Predictor, which lights up a second before you press it--every time, without fail--is the precursor to a worldwide epidemic of catatonia. Because the Predictor provides proof that fate is determined and free does not exist, it causes sparks incredible psychological problems for some people. A wonderful little speculative story framed as a sort of news article. Short, to the point, concise.
The Lifecycle of Software Objects - 3.5
I wonder if this was perhaps meant to be a novel, but ended up fizzling out at the novella stage. As is generally the case with Ted Chiang stories, demonstrates incredibly deep thinking about the concept and worldbuilding. Docking points because the voice throughout the story felt a little bland to me.
Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny - 2
This was a very short little story, but it was a slog to get through.
The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling - 3.5
Again, a well-thought out concept: a device called Remen which records all of your interactions to a searchable database. Nobody misremembers anything anymore. The story revolves around a journalist writing about the device in the context of his own relationship with his daughter, and his encounters with his own misremembered memories of how he treated her. An excellent concept with an emotional plot to explore it, but was missing a sort of emotive spark.
The Great Silence - 3
A parrot's take on how humans think about extraterrestrial life. Cute. Seems like how a parrot would think about this.
Omphalos - 3
An alternative history where religion is very mixed up in science and perhaps the way the solar system and universe is laid out is totally different from real-Earth? I kind of checked out during reading this, but the concept was excellent.
Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom - 4
I would love to see this adapted into a scam-heist-thriller. I have never read a heist thriller, only watched them, but I believe this one was expertly planned. Great concept, a business around tools that branch off into different universes, but allow communication between them...so that you can talk to yourself or a loved one in a universe where things turned out differently. Provides some good examples of how that goes, but centers around some ways one might immorally profit from this business. Would love to see someone like Charlie Kaufman adapt this.
This story explores time travel with awareness of the constraints of it. It's a great thought exercise and a well-crafted story. While it isn't structured like an essay at all, the three parts of it (told as stories by a character similarly to Arabian nights), it somewhat feels like one...each part explicitly backs up Chiang's ideas about how time travel might work.
Exhalation - 5
A weird story about a race of beings whose thoughts are driven by the play of air over their processing centers, and what a scientist of that race might have to do in order to understand how their brains work. A metaphorical stab at answering the question of whether the self is defined by the parts that make up the brain and the thoughts in it, or if the self is defined by our interactions with the things outside of us.
Remarkably well-thought out world building for such a short story.
What's Expected of Us - 4
A fun little device called a Predictor, which lights up a second before you press it--every time, without fail--is the precursor to a worldwide epidemic of catatonia. Because the Predictor provides proof that fate is determined and free does not exist, it causes sparks incredible psychological problems for some people. A wonderful little speculative story framed as a sort of news article. Short, to the point, concise.
The Lifecycle of Software Objects - 3.5
I wonder if this was perhaps meant to be a novel, but ended up fizzling out at the novella stage. As is generally the case with Ted Chiang stories, demonstrates incredibly deep thinking about the concept and worldbuilding. Docking points because the voice throughout the story felt a little bland to me.
Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny - 2
This was a very short little story, but it was a slog to get through.
The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling - 3.5
Again, a well-thought out concept: a device called Remen which records all of your interactions to a searchable database. Nobody misremembers anything anymore. The story revolves around a journalist writing about the device in the context of his own relationship with his daughter, and his encounters with his own misremembered memories of how he treated her. An excellent concept with an emotional plot to explore it, but was missing a sort of emotive spark.
The Great Silence - 3
A parrot's take on how humans think about extraterrestrial life. Cute. Seems like how a parrot would think about this.
Omphalos - 3
An alternative history where religion is very mixed up in science and perhaps the way the solar system and universe is laid out is totally different from real-Earth? I kind of checked out during reading this, but the concept was excellent.
Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom - 4
I would love to see this adapted into a scam-heist-thriller. I have never read a heist thriller, only watched them, but I believe this one was expertly planned. Great concept, a business around tools that branch off into different universes, but allow communication between them...so that you can talk to yourself or a loved one in a universe where things turned out differently. Provides some good examples of how that goes, but centers around some ways one might immorally profit from this business. Would love to see someone like Charlie Kaufman adapt this.