(Subdue) Exhalation by Ted Chiang 4.5*s

[MargieD2017]

While sitting in the caboose I happened to pick up this book of short stories written by Ted Chiang found in cubby number 9. What a game of mental gymnastics! The short stories, each in their subject matter, raised the 'what if' question. It makes you think about what if pets were AI pets, what if you could interact with yourself in a parallel universe, what if .... and so on. There are 9 stories in this collection and each wrestles with a totally different concept. While these tales are not plot or character driven you are nonetheless drawn to complete each one and to discover the conclusion of the thought.
Ted Chiang's style of writing is easy to read quickly so each story can be completed in short order. They were all thought provoking and somewhat unnerving thinking of myself in one of these settings. What would I do?

[NancyJ]

Great review. I agree with all your comments. I really loved this book. It’s amazing that he can cover so many different topics in his stories. I would love to live in his head for a while. I guess the closest I can get is to read his books. This book opened my mind to more sci topics or sub genres. I still remember how I felt while reading about the AI pets. I’m off to see what else he has written, though I would like to read this one again.