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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
May 2019, 368 pages
Paperback:
Jun 2020, 368 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Jamie Chornoby
Buy This Book
From an award-winning science fiction writer, the long-awaited new collection of stunningly original, humane, and already celebrated short stories.
This much-anticipated second collection of stories is signature Ted Chiang, full of revelatory ideas and deeply sympathetic characters. In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and the temptation of second chances. In the epistolary "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications not just for his own people, but for all of reality. And in "The Lifecycle of Software Objects," a woman cares for an artificial intelligence over twenty years, elevating a faddish digital pet into what might be a true living being. Also included are two brand-new stories: "Omphalos" and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom."
In this fantastical and elegant collection, Ted Chiang wrestles with the oldest questions on earth--What is the nature of the universe? What does it mean to be human?--and ones that no one else has even imagined. And, each in its own way, the stories prove that complex and thoughtful science fiction can rise to new heights of beauty, meaning, and compassion.
Some of the stories in this collection have been published elsewhere, including the title story at Lightspeed (link opens in a new window).
Although this may not be a great choice for readers who find comfort in thematically-oriented stories that have tidy resolutions, those with more experimental tastes will find a lot to enjoy in Exhalation. The book offers nine distinct and fascinating worlds, making it perfect for either dipping in-and-out or devouring in one go. Sci-fi fans will appreciate the different experimental lenses through which to view humanity...continued
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(Reviewed by Jamie Chornoby).
Aja Gabel, author of The Ensemble
There's so much excellence in the labyrinth of ideas in Exhalation—machines that question free will, AIs that challenge love, software that shapes memory—what truly astounds is the tenderness that pulses through each story like a heartbeat...He is not only at the top of his genre, but a true storyteller, and one of our most skilled and fascinating. I am so excited to live in a world where Ted Chiang is writing. Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter
Ted Chiang has no contemporary peers when it comes to the short story form. His name deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Carver, Poe, Borges, and Kafka. Every story is a universe. Every story is a diamond. You will inhale Exhalation in a single, stunned sitting, because true genius doesn't come along nearly as often as advertised. This is the real thing. Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad
Ted Chiang's stories are lean, relentless, and incandescent. Karen Russell, author of Orange World
Ted Chiang writes with such a matter-of-fact grace and visionary power that one simply takes on faith that his worlds and his characters exist, whether they are human or robot or parrot; he is the rare author who makes me feel, also, that he believes in his readers, in our integrity and our imagination. Kevin Brockmeier, author of The View From the Seventh Layer
Ted Chiang brings to science fiction both the refined human insight of the best contemporary literature and the shapeliness and resonance of myth. Stories of Your Life and Others has proven to be one of the finest collections of the last twenty years, and Exhalation, if anything, outdistances it. Surely the grace, lucidity, intensity, heart, and intelligence of these stories will allow them to endure. Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin
From Ted Chiang's singular mind comes another innovative and mind-bending collection of short stories...Chiang's writing does what good writing should: make the universe feel both vast and small at the same time.Artificial intelligence (AI) is an idea that extends to ancient times, when Hephaestus — a character in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Hera — used his skills as a blacksmith to create mechanical servants. Despite this longstanding fascination, it was not until the 1950s that AI became a feasible technology with the invention of stored-program electronic computers. Today, streaming services, social media platforms, vehicles, virtual assistants and other technologies all function in part using AI-related systems.
But what is artificial intelligence? Those within the scientific community have yet to agree on a definition, with at least three distinct schools of thought:
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