Ted Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF.
Now, collected here for the first time are all seven of this extraordinary writer's stories so far--plus an eighth story written especially for this volume.
What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven--and broke through to Heaven's other side? What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? …
Ted Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF.
Now, collected here for the first time are all seven of this extraordinary writer's stories so far--plus an eighth story written especially for this volume.
What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven--and broke through to Heaven's other side? What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? What if all the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity were literally true, and the sight of sinners being swallowed into fiery pits were a routine event on city streets? These are the kinds of outrageous questions posed by the stories of Ted Chiang. Stories of your life . . . and others.
Goodreads Review of Stories of Your Life and Others
5 stars
Ted Chiang is the best, and I think he needs no explanation. The best-known story in here is "Story of Your Life" (better know as the film Arrival). But, I think the best story in here is "Hell is the Absence of God." All of the stories left me thinking a bit after, and I'm continuing to do so now. The last set of stories in my version were also in Exhalation, so I skipped over them.
Ted Chiang: Stories of Your Life and Others (Hardcover, 2002, Tor)
4 stars
Arrival is one of my favorite movies so I wanted to check out the source material and I'll say I was not disappointed. I think the movie did the text justice. Lots of fun, short speculative fiction ideas played with in this collection. If you're a sci-fi/fantasy to hard sci-fi person and you haven't read this already, I'd recommend it.
The two stories of 'Stories of Your Life' (the inspiration of the movie Arrival) and 'Tower of Babylon' are very readable. The others are still great, but get technical. Chaing really is a great short story writer if you like the media.
Not my type of sci-fi at the end of the day, a little too pop science focused. Loved tower of Babylon, story of your life (the more metaphysical and less pop-sci ones). Rest were ok.
Even if you find yourself less interested in one of the short stories, most will probably be very engaging. The short story "Story of your life", on which the movie "Arrival" is based on, is worth it. The story goes into much more depth than the movie.
This is one of those science fiction books that really manage to blow your mind with the possibilities that the writer proposes. As a short story collection, you're always left out wanting more of the stories. But they are as long as they have to be.
"Hell Is the Absence of God" has stuck with me since I first read it in a collection almost 20 years ago, and Arrival was an instant favourite film when it came out, but somehow it has taken me until the past few years to read more of Chiang's work. I'm glad that I did. Exhalation was brilliant, but I think this collection tops it—the combination of religious/mythical thinking and the methodical, engineering mindset gives each story a unique blend of rigor and depth. He makes worlds where impossible things happen but feel entirely believable, and tells stories that are laden with metaphor and commentary that don't feel didactic. They're magical and often beautiful, but never fanciful—which I mean as high praise.
At this point, I'll read anything from Ted Chiang after having read several short story collections and articles. If you only want to read one collection, I think Exhalation had more stories that will stick with me for a long time than the ones from this earlier collection, but I really enjoyed so many bits of this one too.
Review of 'Stories of Your Life and Others' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Pretty uneven set of stories, but the good ones are very very good. I particularly liked Tower of Babylon, Stories of your life, Hell is the Absence of God and Liking What You See: A Documentary.
All of these give a definite impression of starting with a "what if.... X?" and running with it - sometimes at the cost of feeling like "concepts" rather than "stories with a plot and characters". Which is not necessarily a bad thing, mind you! some of the explored concepts are indeed very intriguing and/or fun!
A collection of beautiful short stories, each mulling over one existential problem or another. They're worth it just to let your mind soak and contemplate the big questions you spend most of your time ignoring.
This is my favorite format of science fiction : short but thought provoking stories. Surprisingly, the story that gave the name to this book is far from being the best in my opinion. If you want mind-bending novels that are both fun and at the same time disturbing, this book is a must-read.
Review of 'Stories of Your Life and Others' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Well, it's time for the truth to come out. I love science fiction. There, I said it. And Ted Chiang is a genius!!!
This collection of stories presents a wide array of scenarios: some are the classic AI dystopia, but others tap into proto-Western folklore, or present a relatively plausible present day. What they all have in common is that through his stories he can make you (re)consider cool concepts such as the existence of free will, the nature of time, the role of beauty in society, or (and I admit this one was hard to grasp lol) the validity of mathematics. Also there's one on like the limits of human consciousness. Or one on like, how entropy is the ultimate physical requirement for life to occur. Does this make sense? Lol
Idk man these new worlds and realities - and the philosophical musings that ensue - really tickled my …
Well, it's time for the truth to come out. I love science fiction. There, I said it. And Ted Chiang is a genius!!!
This collection of stories presents a wide array of scenarios: some are the classic AI dystopia, but others tap into proto-Western folklore, or present a relatively plausible present day. What they all have in common is that through his stories he can make you (re)consider cool concepts such as the existence of free will, the nature of time, the role of beauty in society, or (and I admit this one was hard to grasp lol) the validity of mathematics. Also there's one on like the limits of human consciousness. Or one on like, how entropy is the ultimate physical requirement for life to occur. Does this make sense? Lol
Idk man these new worlds and realities - and the philosophical musings that ensue - really tickled my brain in a very nice way. Very well written, great pace, keeps you engaged, 11/10 would (will!) read more from him.
PS. The movie Arrival with Amy Adams as badass linguist is based on "Story of your Life" which you find in this book!
PPS. Don't be fooled by my enthusiasm this is still your classic nerdy white boy sci-fi so refrain if you don't normally vibe with the genre!!!
Review of 'Stories of Your Life and Others' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
As I have grown older, more stressed, more worried, more cynical, and have read more books; I suppose I have gotten a bit blasé. It is not often that I read a book that stirs me so much that it feels like it sits in my body for days after, and poses questions and tells stories that somehow feel urgent to think about and mull over in my head. I am glad to report that this book showed me it is still possible.
Not all the stories are fantastic. But Chiang has that rare quality to his writing where even the stories that are not good are still good. I didn't care much for "Understand", "Division by Zero" or "Liking What You See". They are great ideas, and Chiang does a formidable job of diving into his own ideas and examining them from all angles. But sometimes, as in these …
As I have grown older, more stressed, more worried, more cynical, and have read more books; I suppose I have gotten a bit blasé. It is not often that I read a book that stirs me so much that it feels like it sits in my body for days after, and poses questions and tells stories that somehow feel urgent to think about and mull over in my head. I am glad to report that this book showed me it is still possible.
Not all the stories are fantastic. But Chiang has that rare quality to his writing where even the stories that are not good are still good. I didn't care much for "Understand", "Division by Zero" or "Liking What You See". They are great ideas, and Chiang does a formidable job of diving into his own ideas and examining them from all angles. But sometimes, as in these two stories, he seems to be too much into the idea itself and forget a bit about the story, and I find I do not feel much for or care much about the characters and their feelings or motivations. Even so, Ted Chiang at his poorest is still better than a lot of other writers at their best.
And Ted Chiang at his best is... A force of Nature. Apart from "Story of Your Life", the story behing the movie "Arrival", I absolutely adored stories like "The Tower of Babylon", "Seventy-Two Letters", and "Hell is The Absence of God", for very different reasons, as they are stories with very different atmospheres. I am a sucker for the "What if we assume that old fashioned world models are actually literally true and then examine what that would be like" kind of stories. It's not a genre Chiang has invented - one great example is [a:Philip José Farmer|10089|Philip José Farmer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234714074p2/10089.jpg]'s novelette [b:Sail On! Sail On!|52489268|Sail On! Sail On!|Philip José Farmer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564382468l/52489268.SX50_SY75.jpg|72440550] from 1952 - but he has certainly refined it and elevated it to new heights. And unlike most other examples I have seen, these stories do not only play with the idea of what such worlds would be like - the design, the make, of these worlds, and the experiences of the protagonists inside them, also make important and interesting philosophical points; philosophy that spans from cosmology to the human condition, suffering, loss and redemption. This may sound cheesy, but it's just not.
I am a little ashamed that I lived to be 43 years old to know Chiang's stories (apart from watching Arrival), but I'm gonna make up for it now!
