"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (BR)

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Come join us in delving into Ted Chiang's short story collection Exhalation!

Please clearly state which short story you're commenting on in each post and use spoiler tags where appropriate. Comparisons and observations in regard to Stories of Your Life are welcome as well as any other tangentially related topics.

Exhalation is made up of:
(view spoiler)[
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" (originally published by Subterranean Press in 2007; Nebula Award, Hugo Award, and Seiun Award winner)

"Exhalation" (originally published in Eclipse 2 in 2008; BSFA, Locus Award, and Hugo Award winner)

"What's Expected of Us" (originally published in Nature, Volume 436 Issue 7047, 6 July 2005)

"The Lifecycle of Software Objects" (originally published by Subterranean Press in 2010; Hugo Award and Locus Award winner)

"Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny" (originally published in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities (edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer) June 2011, Harper Voyages)

"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" (originally published by Subterranean Press Magazine, August 2013; Hugo Award finalist)

"The Great Silence" (originally published by e-flux journal, 2015)

"Omphalos" (Hugo Award finalist)

"Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" (Hugo Award and Nebula Award finalist) (hide spoiler)]

[Paul]

His first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, on the title story of which Arrival is based, is stunningly good, so I look forward to jumping into this.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Yeah, I was really impressed with Stories of Your Life and Others. It was added to our group shelf last year and the discussion can be found here.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

I'm in.

[Sarah]

My hold should be up soon 😎

[Cheryl]

My brief review, from when I read it and gave it four stars: (view spoiler)[Wow. This is my favorite kind of SF. Explorations. What If, and Sense of Wonder, and Science. Like the best of the old pulps, but bright & shiny, relevant to what we know better now. Not plagued with 'isms. Thoughtful character development. Tight, crisp craftsmanship. I highly recommend this collection to everyone who reads any sort of SF. (hide spoiler)]
I will check to see if I can get a copy to read with you-all.

[Cleo]

I also plan to read it soon. Maybe in about 2 weeks.

[Tesseract]

I love Ted Chiang! I read this ages ago, but I’ll be excited to jump in on the conversation :)

[Raucous]

"Exhalation:" (view spoiler)[I really hadn't expected this to turn into a fictional take on entropy and the heat death of universe. Parallel universes too! Wow. This is one of the most compelling takes on the subject that I've seen. I would have liked more on their creation myths, but this was still an amazing piece. (hide spoiler)]

[Raucous]

"What's Expected of Us:" (view spoiler)[This one came out about 20 years ago, but just yesterday I read a review of the recently released Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will. This seems to be one of those evergreen subjects. (hide spoiler)]

[CBRetriever]

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate (view spoiler)[was quite interesting and read like it was part of The Arabian Nights (hide spoiler)]

[CBRetriever]

Raucous wrote: ""Exhalation:" [spoilers removed]"

I too was blown away by this one (view spoiler)[- especially the self-dissection of the main character's brain (hide spoiler)]

[CBRetriever]

finished and the last three stories really blew me away

[Cheryl]

CBRetriever wrote: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)["What If" times how many plots? Stories within stories, time travel that doesn't change anything but still is a puzzle. I do like this a lot. Would you use the Gate of Years? I sure wouldn't. (hide spoiler)]

[CBRetriever]

me either and I'm reading (view spoiler)[The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August which has the same type of roundaboutation (hide spoiler)]

[Cheryl]

Raucous wrote: ""Exhalation:" [spoilers removed]"

What you said! Yes, I also want more about (view spoiler)[ their creation myths, and about their own existence... is it safe to assume they don't have a concept of reproduction? (hide spoiler)]

[Cheryl]

Raucous wrote: ""What's Expected of Us:" [spoilers removed]"

A particularly effective treatment of the concept. I will check out the (nonfiction) book that you mention. I also appreciate Susan Blackmore's take on it.

[Cheryl]

The Lifecycle of Software Objects. Wow. My favorite topic, How to define a Person?

I do have one minor quibble, but I forgive the author for not knowing that there are asexual people. And I do have a major question, please, why (view spoiler)[do the digients talk in baby talk, even after years of hearing humans talk, and even after learning to read (hide spoiler)]?

I like the Voyl (& Hecht) strategy and would have liked to meet Voyl. For that matter, I would have liked to meet Andro and some of the others, too.

And I giggled at "(view spoiler)[On the one hand, Marco made some good arguments. but on the other Derek remembers his college years well enough to know that (hide spoiler)] skill at debate isn't the same as maturity."

Hm. Typing that out makes me notice for the first time that the story is told in present tense. I wonder why I didn't before. And I wonder how it would be a different story if told more traditionally.

[Cheryl]

Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny. Very short, reads as if true. Chiang isn't prolific enough and so therefore I treasure every story, but this didn't exactly wow me. It could have been one of those barely accepted for the pulps in the 1950s. Still absolutely worth reading though!

[Cheryl]

The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling is about memory, the fallibility of it, the pros and cons of keeping it that way, told from two viewpoints, one very near future and one as writing was just being discovered. Very thoughtful, philosophical, literate.

If you find yourself interested in another story about how memories influence who we are and how we think, you might want to join the group Speculative Fiction in Translation to read Time Shelter with us (or read it on your own).

[Cheryl]

The Great Silence. What if parrots were truly sapient? Might help if you knew about Alex first, or maybe the story will inspire you to read Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process. Chiang's story very short, the book much longer, natch, but well worth reading imo.

[Cheryl]

Omphalos. I'm an atheist. I've never understood what it means to have faith, or to be spiritual (two different things). Chiang's novelette helps me to understand the faithful, and also (view spoiler)[shows that one who was faithful to her Lord can find a sort of spiritual experience in the pursuit of truth (hide spoiler)].

(view spoiler)["'Science is not just the search for truth,' he said. 'It's the search for purpose. ... I had always assumed those were one and the same, but what if they aren't?" (hide spoiler)]

(Neither of my hidden comments are really all that spoilery. Only if you are extremely sensitive should you be hesitant to click through.)

[Raucous]

"The Great Silence:" (view spoiler)[This one is so sad... (especially the closing)." (hide spoiler)]

[Raucous]

"Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom:" (view spoiler)[I've had occasion to spend time looking back and wondering "What if I had..." This story really tapped into that mindset. I loved the facilitator's take on living a better life for all of your future instances and the twist at the end based on that. (hide spoiler)]

I've always had a weakness for SF stories that take a basic scientific idea and examine in depth how it impacts cultures and beings in those cultures. Ted Chiang is a master of this style of story. My favorites in this collection are "Exhalation" and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom."

[Cheryl]

Raucous wrote: ""Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom:" [spoilers removed]

I've always had a weakness for SF stories that take a basic scientific idea and examine in depth how it impacts cultures and beings in tho..."

I agree exactly. What If people were robots and their universe was limited? Or, What If we could see what would have happened if we'd made other choices?

I actually have quite a bit to say about 'Anxiety...' but will do so in my review.

I also appreciated the story notes - I highly recommend them to all who liked any of the stories in this book! :)