bookmarkhoarder's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ohnoflora's review against another edition
4.0
"Story of Your Life" was probably my favourite - it's the most emotionally satisfying of the stories, I think - but they are all engrossing. They did make me wish I knew more maths and physics but the stories are strong enough, the ideas clear enough, that it didn't really matter. I liked "Understand" th least but only because the super-intelligence plot has been a bit overused (at least the "10% of the brain" myth wasn't trotted out - Ted Chiang is clearly smarter than that).
greshd's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
nikkijazzie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
lisahee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
raucous's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
denishaskin's review against another edition
2.0
I read Chiang's Exhalation first, which I thought was one of the best collection of short stories I've read in a long time, so I was really looking forward to this, and... well...
...with the exception of the story on which the move "Arrival" (which I haven't seen) was based, I wasn't thrilled.
Much more abstract SF than the stories in Exhalation, and most of the stories just didn't click with me.
So if you're coming to Ted Chiang for all the "Arrival" movie buzz, I would recommend Exhalation first.
...with the exception of the story on which the move "Arrival" (which I haven't seen) was based, I wasn't thrilled.
Much more abstract SF than the stories in Exhalation, and most of the stories just didn't click with me.
So if you're coming to Ted Chiang for all the "Arrival" movie buzz, I would recommend Exhalation first.
geve_'s review against another edition
3.0
I would say for the most part, these feel like really cool and fun ideas, but not necessarily stories. The characters were so-so verging on non-existent. This was fine, for the most part, but made some of the stories a bit dry. The stories that had the most action suffered by my not really knowing or caring for any of the characters in them. There was one real stand out, for me, and that is probably the only story that will really stick with me (aside from perhaps the story that I absolutely hated). I would also say these feel a lot more like magical realism than science, sort of like just taking a scientific concept in each story and adding a magical element to it then adding a shitload of overexplanation and terminology to make it sound scientific.
Tower of Babylon: 3 stars. Started out pretty interesting, and I enjoyed some of the descriptions, but this story ended up being pretty boring, and the ending was a let down.
Flowers for Algernon: 2 stars. Very wordy, slow build up filled with over explanation. This is the one story where I forgive the poor character dev, as it fits the actual plot. I ALMOST liked the ending for this one, but it sorta went cheesy. Felt a bit like a power fantasy, also, when the other super genius is discovered to exist, but the MC doesn't actually know who it is yet, he refers to that person as a "he", though he doesn't know their sex or gender. I was hoping this would turn out to be a surprise teaching lesson to him, when it was a she or they, but it wasn't, it was just another dude. I would have thought someone whose brain was so high functioning that he can out-think computers might not assume someone else who also had the procedure to become super human wasn't necessarily a dude, but I guess I would be wrong. That sort of thing really limits my opinion of how much the author is thinking about when they write a story about the smartest human to ever exist.
Division by Zero: 2.5 stars. Mathematical concept that couldn't exist, so it ends up just being magic. It destroys the mathematician's world view. It was fine.
Story of your life: 4.5 stars. This was great. I think some of the linguistics may have been a bit "soft", but it was still a fun concept to think about. The format was a bit clunky, but ended up serving the purpose it was intended imo. By far the best story in this collection, and really well done imo.
72 letters: 2.5 stars. Started out really great, but went on and on, kinda like most of the stories here. A lot of these just end up feeling like over explanations of a cool idea the author thought of instead of stories.
Hell is the absence of god: 2.5 stars. This one had some cool concepts and didn't mind the depressing ending, but this was the 3rd religious based story. There were a bunch of characters who were very bland and had nothing really to them and the plot was all over the place. It was fine, but not great.
Liking what you see: 1 star. This was bad. It's all about beauty, and ends up being very sexist. It def feels like the author attempts to show multiple sides of the "beauty" situation, but it is clearly written from the perspective of a man. There is this whole insinuation that beauty has a magical, spellbinding quality to it, and the viewer has no power to resist it, and even that the beautiful person is intending to control and affect others with their appearance. This is something I've heard some men say, that they feel that when beautiful women just exist, they are INTENDING men to be attracted to them, and INTENDING to control men with their looks, even if it's just literally walking down a grocery store aisle while having a pretty face. The male/female dynamic in the story is very tropey and not at all unique, and there is even a main component of the story where a beautiful girl is trying to manipulate her ex bf with her beauty, ok, we get it, you think women are manipulative and men are unable to control their impulses, you're really not saying anything new here. I just get annoyed at things like this that insinuate that women can manipulate others into doing what they want, it's classic witch accusation. And yet, with all their spellbinding beauty, women have far less power in literally every single society in the world. Doesn't seem like that manipulation or magic is doing them any good, does it? And the fact that men are just unable to resist a beautiful woman or girl is utterly ridiculous and infantilizing. So over all, just very very sexist, but I guess since it's sexist against males and females, it's hitting most of us, right?
Tower of Babylon: 3 stars. Started out pretty interesting, and I enjoyed some of the descriptions, but this story ended up being pretty boring, and the ending was a let down.
Flowers for Algernon: 2 stars. Very wordy, slow build up filled with over explanation. This is the one story where I forgive the poor character dev, as it fits the actual plot. I ALMOST liked the ending for this one, but it sorta went cheesy. Felt a bit like a power fantasy, also, when the other super genius is discovered to exist, but the MC doesn't actually know who it is yet, he refers to that person as a "he", though he doesn't know their sex or gender. I was hoping this would turn out to be a surprise teaching lesson to him, when it was a she or they, but it wasn't, it was just another dude. I would have thought someone whose brain was so high functioning that he can out-think computers might not assume someone else who also had the procedure to become super human wasn't necessarily a dude, but I guess I would be wrong. That sort of thing really limits my opinion of how much the author is thinking about when they write a story about the smartest human to ever exist.
Division by Zero: 2.5 stars. Mathematical concept that couldn't exist, so it ends up just being magic. It destroys the mathematician's world view. It was fine.
Story of your life: 4.5 stars. This was great. I think some of the linguistics may have been a bit "soft", but it was still a fun concept to think about. The format was a bit clunky, but ended up serving the purpose it was intended imo. By far the best story in this collection, and really well done imo.
72 letters: 2.5 stars. Started out really great, but went on and on, kinda like most of the stories here. A lot of these just end up feeling like over explanations of a cool idea the author thought of instead of stories.
Hell is the absence of god: 2.5 stars. This one had some cool concepts and didn't mind the depressing ending, but this was the 3rd religious based story. There were a bunch of characters who were very bland and had nothing really to them and the plot was all over the place. It was fine, but not great.
Liking what you see: 1 star. This was bad. It's all about beauty, and ends up being very sexist. It def feels like the author attempts to show multiple sides of the "beauty" situation, but it is clearly written from the perspective of a man. There is this whole insinuation that beauty has a magical, spellbinding quality to it, and the viewer has no power to resist it, and even that the beautiful person is intending to control and affect others with their appearance. This is something I've heard some men say, that they feel that when beautiful women just exist, they are INTENDING men to be attracted to them, and INTENDING to control men with their looks, even if it's just literally walking down a grocery store aisle while having a pretty face. The male/female dynamic in the story is very tropey and not at all unique, and there is even a main component of the story where a beautiful girl is trying to manipulate her ex bf with her beauty, ok, we get it, you think women are manipulative and men are unable to control their impulses, you're really not saying anything new here. I just get annoyed at things like this that insinuate that women can manipulate others into doing what they want, it's classic witch accusation. And yet, with all their spellbinding beauty, women have far less power in literally every single society in the world. Doesn't seem like that manipulation or magic is doing them any good, does it? And the fact that men are just unable to resist a beautiful woman or girl is utterly ridiculous and infantilizing. So over all, just very very sexist, but I guess since it's sexist against males and females, it's hitting most of us, right?
emmaura's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0