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A review by nic55
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
4.0
I always love when I read from an author and think: "I just love the way their mind works". Ted Chiang's mind is a great place to be in.
This is my second short story collection by this author, and I liked it better than the last. The highs in this collection were very high. Starting with, of course, the ever popular "Story of Your Life". For some unacceptable reason, I haven't watched the movie Arrival but after reading the story that inspired it, I will be watching it very soon. Just so interesting, engaging, surprisingly emotional...I loved it. Other than that, the other standouts for me are "Understand", "Hell is the Absence of God", "Liking What You See: A Documentary". Overall, I just really appreciate the way Ted Chiang explores topics of contact with aliens, superintelligence, religion/afterlife, and even beauty standards. These stories are equal parts creative, nuanced, and moving with good pacing and writing. Of course, not every story can be a hit, so this wasn't a full 5 star for me. But I'm glad I went back and read this one after my meh feeling with Exhalation.
This is my second short story collection by this author, and I liked it better than the last. The highs in this collection were very high. Starting with, of course, the ever popular "Story of Your Life". For some unacceptable reason, I haven't watched the movie Arrival but after reading the story that inspired it, I will be watching it very soon. Just so interesting, engaging, surprisingly emotional...I loved it. Other than that, the other standouts for me are "Understand", "Hell is the Absence of God", "Liking What You See: A Documentary". Overall, I just really appreciate the way Ted Chiang explores topics of contact with aliens, superintelligence, religion/afterlife, and even beauty standards. These stories are equal parts creative, nuanced, and moving with good pacing and writing. Of course, not every story can be a hit, so this wasn't a full 5 star for me. But I'm glad I went back and read this one after my meh feeling with Exhalation.