book data
131 ratings, 4.78 average rating, 42 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
2005
by Tor
binding
Paperback, 288 pages
isbn
0330426648
(isbn13: 9780330426640)
description
This marvelous collection by one of science fiction's most thoughtful and graceful writers belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in literary s...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 236)
Read in February, 2008
This collection includes the story Liking What You See, which is the most amazing story I've read in at least the last five years.
Liking What You See is a written as a documentary about college students raised with technology that prevents them from seeing people as attractive or unattractive. The way they see themselves and the way they interact with people with or without the technology is believable and also fascinating. It really made me think about "look-ism" and the extent ...more
Liking What You See is a written as a documentary about college students raised with technology that prevents them from seeing people as attractive or unattractive. The way they see themselves and the way they interact with people with or without the technology is believable and also fascinating. It really made me think about "look-ism" and the extent ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comment
Just posted to Paul that I thought this was a wonderful collection and that reminded me that I had not added it to my bookshelves here. If you enjoy science fiction at all and have not, this is a MUST READ.
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 expo...more
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 expo...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comment
I'd run into the name Ted Chiang on science fiction sites for many years, all referencing his Stories of Your Life And Others. I'm a bit leery of short story collections as I don't think the best means of reading them has been invented yet. Then I saw it a copy at Powell's and I went ahead and got it. I'm happy to say the advocates are right, this is a great collection.
Chiang's stories are well constructed tales generally about perception or the mind. They also ask odd questions like what if...more
Chiang's stories are well constructed tales generally about perception or the mind. They also ask odd questions like what if...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
Stories of Your Life and Others is amazing. The stories are thought provoking, ingenius, and cunningly structured. Based on the original copyright dates, these eight stories are the product of more than twelve years work, and the craftsmanship really shows. Having said that, I still can't help but echo the comments of several of the book-jacket reviewers, who wished Chiang would hurry up and produce more work for us to enjoy.
For me, these stories represent a new level of maturity i...more
For me, these stories represent a new level of maturity i...more
Like this review?
yes
4 comments
Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
sci-fi fans
Best new hardcore sci-fi book I've read. New, as in made after the 70s. Lately it seems that although the fantasy genre is blooming, most sci-fi books are just recycling old ideas. Ted Chiang is, at least, original. His stories are the kind you never heard before. And he writes science fiction at its best, that is about different assumptions about our reality, that enables him to draw conclusions about the human nature, which is fixed.
The best story in the book, to me, is the last one, which...more
The best story in the book, to me, is the last one, which...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
Wow. While I love sci-fi and read it constantly, when looking for new things to read many of the descriptions feel like books I've read before. "Oh, a first-encounter story with aliens" or "Wow, another study of the pressures of living in a confined environment on the way to a new world/biodome on Mars" etc. If they're well written with engaging characters I usually love them anyway, but they do feel very familiar. They authors I love are usually the ones who defy these c...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This collection of sci-fi stories shouldn't be missed by anyone, a fan of sci-fi or not. The short story Hell is an Absence of God is one of the best stories I have ever read. In it, Hell and Heaven and the conflict of faith that all of us face are manifested physically, with disastrous visits from angels and miracles and souls clearly ascending, or not, upon death.
Ted Chiang is fanatically creative, technically competent (important for sci-fi writing), with a touch for drama that takes his ...more
Ted Chiang is fanatically creative, technically competent (important for sci-fi writing), with a touch for drama that takes his ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This is one of my favorite books of short science fiction. I find almost every story to be delightful in one way or another. Generally, I will try to push this book on you if Science Fiction is discussed.
I had been saving two stories (72 Letters, Hell is the Absence of God) for a rainy day. I recently read them, so I've officially read everything Ted Chiang has produced. I'd say he hasn't written a story yet that was less than really good. Most of them are awesome.
Understand, and St...more
I had been saving two stories (72 Letters, Hell is the Absence of God) for a rainy day. I recently read them, so I've officially read everything Ted Chiang has produced. I'd say he hasn't written a story yet that was less than really good. Most of them are awesome.
Understand, and St...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2008
Every story in this book is an answer to the promise of science fiction. Ted Chiang has at least partially redeemed the faith I lose a bit of every time browse a selection from the SciFi section of my bookstore with boobs, ray guns, or wizards on the cover.
Real science, original themes, unexpectedly witty settings, and subtle social commentary make this a great collection for fans of serious yet entertaining science fiction.
There were plenty of moments while reading these stories when I ...more
Real science, original themes, unexpectedly witty settings, and subtle social commentary make this a great collection for fans of serious yet entertaining science fiction.
There were plenty of moments while reading these stories when I ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone
Science fiction is a tough genre to love for many. It's easily associated with aliens, spacemen, large format animals and basic scenario sillyness. This book couldn't be more far away from that description. Stories of Your Life and Others, is a book that uses science fiction as a small piece of the over-all story making it accessable for everyone. I love this book and all the short stories within its pages. It's a new more accessable type of Sci-fi for the masses. All I can say is to just give i...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
People who like ideas
Ted Chiang is really terrific. These novellas (and one very short story) written in mock academic style like Borges (using magazine articles and fake documentary style along with essay like delivery and faux 19th century style), he takes idea like superhuman intelligence, the tower of Babel, alien language that affects the nature of time, Christian theology as a scientific fact,the industrial revolution run by golems, math as arbitrary system, nanotech that prevents you from seeing beauty; and t...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Philip K. Dick fans
This book rocks. I've never been a short story reader, but this was given to me as a gift (Thanks Kris!). Each story has a unique flavor and style. Once you start a story, it's hard to put the book down until you complete it, you're just sucked in. All of the stories are good, but half of them are exceptional and worth re-reading. The stories are sci-fi, but not lasers and space sci-fi; they have a contemporary feel but you can't really tell what time period they occur in. I'd say, they're ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
In my opinion, there are two SF authors working today who stand above everyone else in terms of taking ideas and dealing with their implications exhaustively: Greg Egan and Ted Chiang. Chiang is far less prolific than Egan, but he's also a lot better with characterization, and taking what might seem like distant, abstract ideas and turning them into heartbreaking stories.
I tend to prefer short stories to long ones, and I consider Stories of Your Life and Others to be the best SF colle...more
I tend to prefer short stories to long ones, and I consider Stories of Your Life and Others to be the best SF colle...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2008
Imaginative, well-written speculative fiction. Lots of cool what-ifs: if the Tower of Babel hadn't been destroyed (which the author describes in a note as Babylonian science fiction), hyperintelligence, a documentary-style story and more. The title story made me cry, and I keep thinking about it a week later.
And I loved that there were notes at the end of the book where the author talked a little about each story -- all short story books should have that.
Also, awesomely, this is a whol...more
And I loved that there were notes at the end of the book where the author talked a little about each story -- all short story books should have that.
Also, awesomely, this is a whol...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
This book was full of really thought-provoking, smart short stories that delved into philosophy, theology, language and mathematics. I'm not usually a big short story fan, but these were impressive in the way Chiang managed to explore complicated and complex ideas and characters within the limits of each story. There was a fascinating one on lookism, and a few with intriguing ideas about disability.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2008
Ted Chiang is amazing. He has a great knack for coming up with the craziest/most creative premises, and then following them through to their logical conclusions. He is also familiar with mathematics, computer science, psychology, theology, linguistics, and the human heart. Interested parties can check out one of his short stories at:
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/...
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/...
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
I enjoyed this collection of short stories more than any other I can remember. One story in particular stands out for me, in which the main character describes his mind bending transformation, as he begins to comprehend reality at a level of detail which leaves idiot savants in the dust. It's sort of like listening to someone overcome with mania, without any delusion.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Trying to keep up with contemporary science fiction is usually disappointing and unrewarding, and I find myself increasingly relying on television to compensate. Of course, once in a while a short story cuts through all the noise. All of Chiang's stories fall into this category. Apparently he publishes with low frequency, but I don't mind being patient.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
A book of short stories, all of which are excellent and clever and will make you to think. The impact is somewhat lessened though, by reading all the stories one after another -- better to put it down after each and keep coming back to it.Still: Highly Recommended. Even if you don't think you like short stories. Or science fiction!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Reading because the story "Seventy Two Letters" is about golems, which I am very into currently, plus about which working on a story. It might be otherwise cheesy. It was in the trad. SciFi/Fan section of the library. Got the little rocket ship on the spine, ya know.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 60 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 16 people's shelves)
fiction (on 11 people's shelves)
short-stories (on 8 people's shelves)
science-fiction (on 7 people's shelves)
shortstories (on 4 people's shelves)
sci-fi (on 4 people's shelves)
own (on 3 people's shelves)
american (on 3 people's shelves)
favorites (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
currently-reading (on 16 people's shelves)
fiction (on 11 people's shelves)
short-stories (on 8 people's shelves)
science-fiction (on 7 people's shelves)
shortstories (on 4 people's shelves)
sci-fi (on 4 people's shelves)
own (on 3 people's shelves)
american (on 3 people's shelves)
favorites (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
