- Paperback: 333 pages
- Publisher: Orb Books; 1st edition (Aug 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0765304198
- ISBN-13: 978-0765304193
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,705,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"Shining, haunting, mind-blowing tales...this collection is a pure marvel. [Ted] Chiang is so exhilarating so original so stylish he just leaves you speechless. I always suggest a person read at least 52 books a year for proper mental functioning but if you only have time for one, be at peace: you found it."--Junot Diaz
"Meticulously pieced together, utterly thought through, Chiang's stories emerge slowly...but with the perfection of slow-growing crystal."--Lev Grossman
"United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang's calm passion."--China Mieville
"Ted is a national treasure...each of those stories is a goddamned jewel."--Cory Doctorow, "BoingBoing"
"Confirms that blending science and fine art at this length can produce touching works, tales as intimate as our own blood cells, with the structural strength of just-discovered industrial alloys."--"Seattle Times"
"Ch --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"Meticulously pieced together, utterly thought through, Chiang's stories emerge slowly...but with the perfection of slow-growing crystal."--Lev Grossman
"United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang's calm passion."--China Mieville
"Ted is a national treasure...each of those stories is a goddamned jewel."--Cory Doctorow, "BoingBoing"
"Confirms that blending science and fine art at this length can produce touching works, tales as intimate as our own blood cells, with the structural strength of just-discovered industrial alloys."--"Seattle Times"
"Ch --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
"Essential. You won't know SF if you don't read Ted Chiang."-Greg Bear
"Ted Chiang is one of the rare contemporary science-fiction writers who has made his considerable reputation without producing one novel. His stories brim with originality and seduce with their complexity."-Ellen Datlow
"One of our very best writers. Prepare: Ted Chiang will astonish you."-James Patrick Kelly
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Ted Chiang is one of the rare contemporary science-fiction writers who has made his considerable reputation without producing one novel. His stories brim with originality and seduce with their complexity."-Ellen Datlow
"One of our very best writers. Prepare: Ted Chiang will astonish you."-James Patrick Kelly
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This has to be one of the best SF short story collections I've read in a long while. The concepts and McGuffins that drive the plots- from the disproving of arithmetic to an industrial revolution based around golems to a society that can prevent the perception of beauty- are novel and intricately thought out. Moreover, they provide a motor for human drama that stops them simply becoming cold philosophizing and makes them genuinely moving. Ted Chiang feels completely in control of his story-telling, relying on ingenuity and subtle writing, rather than bombastic fireworks, to incite wonder. Read it if at all possible!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
56 reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
One of the best recent collections I've read . . .
30 Jan 2003
Format:Hardcover
I gave up a decade ago on trying to keep up with the science fiction magazines, so I only recently became aware of Ted Chiang's wide range of ideas and considerable proficiency at communicating them. There are eight stories in this anthology; all of them are at least good and several are excellent. Perhaps the best is the title piece, "Story of Your Life," which is also the only one I had previously read. It's about simultaneity vs. sequentiality and free will vs. predestination, with a strong taste of the sort of notions regarding time that Vonnegut originally made use of in _Slaughterhouse Five_. "Tower of Babylon" is sort of Babylonian science fiction, about the building of a mud-brick tower that takes four months to ascend and which reaches all the way to the vaults of heaven. An intriguing yarn, though the ending is a little weak. "Understand" is an interesting kind of riff on Flowers for Algernon, but with the implications very much updated. "Division by Zero" is about the effect on a woman mathematician who discovers (and proves) that the basic principals of math are quite arbitrary and inconsistent. While it's a good psychological portrait, and also vividly presents some (to me) novel ideas, the math and the character development really have nothing to do with each other. "Seventy-Two Letters" is set in an alternate Victorian London in which nomenclature, the act of bestowing names on things, has become an experimental science. There's a certain Bruce Sterling flavor here, but it's really not at all derivative. "The Evolution of Human Science" is a short-short that originally appeared in NATURE. I'm not sure I got the point of it, frankly, though it has a rather neat twisty ending. "Hell Is the Absence of God" is another terrific tale of an alternate world in which the souls of the deceased can be seen ascending or descending, Hell is often visible just below street level, and miracles are a regular news item. But a visitation by an angel (tracked by CB) is just as likely to kill an innocent bystander with an exploding window as to restore sight to the blind. Moreover, the whole God and salvation thing is entirely happenstantial, arbitrary, and without justice of any kind; a convicted child-killer who sees the Light goes to Heaven after his execution, while the victim of two previous miracles -- the first crippling, the second restorative -- receives a wasted third miracle she doesn't want or need. This is a quietly angry story and, as a thoroughgoing secularist who is frequently ... off by smug santimony, I really enjoyed it. "Liking What You See: A Documentary" is a very thoughtful and insightful examination of the misuse of beauty, of the effects of "lookism," and of the ruthlessness of media advertising. Very nicely done. In all, I have to say that while Chiang doesn't always get it quite right, he's certainly well above the average. I'm definitely going to have to keep up with his future work.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Wow!
22 Oct 2002
Format:Hardcover
This is some of the best SF being written today. The stories are uniformly good, and some of them are spectacular. Every one of them has an idea at its core, and the ideas will remain with you after you finish reading. That's one of the things that SF is supposed to do (but usually doesn't).
I'd compare this book to Greg Egan's _Axiomatic_, another collection of fascinating idea-driven work. Chiang's vision is not as dark as Egan's, and he's not nearly as fixated on the idea of posthumanity, but his breadth is if anything greater. These stories range in type from the classical-SF ("Liking What You See") to charcter pieces ("Stories of Your Life") to alternative but utterly convincing societies ("72 Letters"). No, there are no space battles, no massive technical infodumps, and not a great deal of action here. Don't worry; you probably won't miss it.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Gateway to Chiang's Universes!
2 Nov 2010
Format:Paperback
As I say in my Amazon Home Page I'm a sci-fi fan, nevertheless Ted Chiang was unknown to me. This year I've started to attend a seminar on "Creative Writing & Sci-Fi" and this author was introduced to us.
I'm delighted!
"Stories of Your Life and Others" (2002) is a wonderful collection of short stories of such quality I haven't seen since Sturgeon, Cordwainer Smith or Octavia Butler. Engaging, intelligent, well researched, creative, puzzling amongst many other adjectives may be attributed to this book!
I'll detail each story with comment & evaluation.
"Tower of Babylon" (1990) Nebula Award winner is a kind of Sumerian-sci-fi! The construction of the famed Tower is in its way nearing completion and miners from Elam and Egypt are convoked to penetrate Heaven's Dome. The story chronicles their lengthy ascent giving way to unexpected results. 5 stars.
"Understand" (1991) have some points in common with Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" (1959 and 1966) versions; nevertheless enhanced human intelligence is boarded from a very different point, confronting selfish and altruistic positions. IMHO this is one of the best of the volume. 5 stars plus.
"Division by Zero" (1991) with a deep mathematical basement, it is an interesting tale, just a little too complex for my taste. 4 stars.
"Story of Your Life" (1998) is an incredible good story about deciphering alien communications. Not a new theme in sci-fi but extraordinarily solved by Chiang, earned for his author Nebula Award and T. Sturgeon Memorial Award. 5 stars plus.
"Seventy-Two Letters" (2000) aka "Vanishing Acts", Sidewise Award winner is a story situated in an alternative Victorian era, populated with golems and the power of written names. 4 stars.
"The Evolution of Humana Science" (2000) aka "Catching Crumbs from the Table" it is an ultra-short tale, effective but not my cup of tea. 3 and a half stars.
"Hell is the Absence of God" (2001) a weird and delightful mix of alternate universe and religious beliefs; angels and miracles; healing and death; Hugo, Locus and Nebula Awards winner. What else you may ask to certify quality? 5 stars plus.
"Liking What You See: A Documentary" (2002) first published in this book it is about beauty and its perception and influence. 3 and a half stars.
This book is a real gem and I fervently hope Mr. Chiang will continue giving life to more magnificent stories (and to a long novel, perhaps). Not only sci-fi fans may appreciate it, general (open-minded) public too!
Enjoy!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
I'm delighted!
"Stories of Your Life and Others" (2002) is a wonderful collection of short stories of such quality I haven't seen since Sturgeon, Cordwainer Smith or Octavia Butler. Engaging, intelligent, well researched, creative, puzzling amongst many other adjectives may be attributed to this book!
I'll detail each story with comment & evaluation.
"Tower of Babylon" (1990) Nebula Award winner is a kind of Sumerian-sci-fi! The construction of the famed Tower is in its way nearing completion and miners from Elam and Egypt are convoked to penetrate Heaven's Dome. The story chronicles their lengthy ascent giving way to unexpected results. 5 stars.
"Understand" (1991) have some points in common with Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" (1959 and 1966) versions; nevertheless enhanced human intelligence is boarded from a very different point, confronting selfish and altruistic positions. IMHO this is one of the best of the volume. 5 stars plus.
"Division by Zero" (1991) with a deep mathematical basement, it is an interesting tale, just a little too complex for my taste. 4 stars.
"Story of Your Life" (1998) is an incredible good story about deciphering alien communications. Not a new theme in sci-fi but extraordinarily solved by Chiang, earned for his author Nebula Award and T. Sturgeon Memorial Award. 5 stars plus.
"Seventy-Two Letters" (2000) aka "Vanishing Acts", Sidewise Award winner is a story situated in an alternative Victorian era, populated with golems and the power of written names. 4 stars.
"The Evolution of Humana Science" (2000) aka "Catching Crumbs from the Table" it is an ultra-short tale, effective but not my cup of tea. 3 and a half stars.
"Hell is the Absence of God" (2001) a weird and delightful mix of alternate universe and religious beliefs; angels and miracles; healing and death; Hugo, Locus and Nebula Awards winner. What else you may ask to certify quality? 5 stars plus.
"Liking What You See: A Documentary" (2002) first published in this book it is about beauty and its perception and influence. 3 and a half stars.
This book is a real gem and I fervently hope Mr. Chiang will continue giving life to more magnificent stories (and to a long novel, perhaps). Not only sci-fi fans may appreciate it, general (open-minded) public too!
Enjoy!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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