A review by laurareads87
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I just assume that any book by Ted Chiang is going to receive a five-star rating from me, and Stories of Your Life and Others unsurprisingly met that expectation.  I'd read some of the stories in this collection before and I've taught the film Arrival, based on one of them, in a university Cultural Studies class.  What Ted Chiang does remarkably well, in my mind, is take what might seem like a simple premise -- for example, what if a technology existed to disrupt the ability to respond to beauty (or lack thereof) in human faces, thereby eliminating lookism? -- and explore it from multiple angles in a remarkably brief number of pages.  His writing ranges from exhilarating to tragic to hilarious but is always, always thought-provoking in the best possible way.  Highly, highly recommend.
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