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A review by tomasthanes
Arrival by Ted Chiang
3.0
When you look at the cover of this book (which the publisher, Vintage, advertises as a "media tie-in") you think, oh, this is the novel that the movie "Arrival" is based on. It's not. It's a collection of short stories. About a third of the way through the book is a short story called "Story of Your Life" on which the movie is based.
This made it very confusing. The first story is about the Tower of Babylon ("Babel"?) about a group of miners who spend a year climbing up the tower to reach the Vault of Heaven then use their tools to (hopefully) break through. Where was that in the movie?
Then there are two more short stories before you get to the "Story of Your Life".
If I give the book 3 stars, its more a statement to the Publisher on their deceptive cover on the book rather than on the author's capable and thought provoking short stories.
BTW, I did enjoy "Story of Your Life" even though it was very different from the movie. In the movie, they rose up into the mostly vertical alien ship; in the book, they have these "looking glass" devices through which they communicate with the heptapods. There were a number of other significant differences as well.
This made it very confusing. The first story is about the Tower of Babylon ("Babel"?) about a group of miners who spend a year climbing up the tower to reach the Vault of Heaven then use their tools to (hopefully) break through. Where was that in the movie?
Then there are two more short stories before you get to the "Story of Your Life".
If I give the book 3 stars, its more a statement to the Publisher on their deceptive cover on the book rather than on the author's capable and thought provoking short stories.
BTW, I did enjoy "Story of Your Life" even though it was very different from the movie. In the movie, they rose up into the mostly vertical alien ship; in the book, they have these "looking glass" devices through which they communicate with the heptapods. There were a number of other significant differences as well.