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kmeyer13's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Abandonment
Minor: Drug use
scmiller's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Minor: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
isalime's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I enjoyed this collection of sci-fi/speculative fiction short stories. This was my first time reading Ted Chiang. While the concepts and tech weren't new to me, I like the way Ted explored them in each of the short stories. The stories had overlapping themes and commentary on agency and free will. I enjoyed reading the Story Notes after each story. It gave me a little peek at how or why the story was written
My favorites and the ones I'll likely keep thinking about are
My favorites and the ones I'll likely keep thinking about are
- The Merchant and Alchemist's Gate
- The Lifecycle of Software Objects
- The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling
- Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom
I look forward to reading more of his work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Abandonment
mlewis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, Car accident, and Murder
cassimiranda's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
~The past has left its traces on the world, and we only have to know how to read them.~
This collection of short stories explores intelligence, agency, and self-determination. Each story explores these questions in a unique hard science fiction settings. The worlds are interesting and well-developed and the themes are intriguing. My favorite story, The Great Silence, explores human’s inability to recognize intelligent, if dissimilar, communication from close to home. While thought-provoking and imaginative, the prose style is distancing. This made it difficult to connect with the characters, and reduced my overall enjoyment.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment