They are are incredibly thought provoking, but my favorites are (in no particular order) “Story of Your Life”, “Tower of Babylon”, and “Hell is the Absence of God”. I cannot wait for you read Exhalation! And then Ken Liu’s collections.
I recommend you read Ken Liu’s short story collections as well After I read those short story collections, I, too, thought Ken Liu was a genius! Ted and Ken are such great polymaths- masterful storytellers with expertise in many other fields Ken is a tax attorney, patent lawyer, programmer, rhetorician, public speaker on tech, and celebrated writer of epic fantasy and short stories I think you’ll really like The Paper Menagerie collection and the Hidden Girl Collection My goat tiered Ken liu short stories are Man Who Ended History (in paper menagerie collection) and Byzantine Empathy (in hidden girl collection)
I love Ted Chiang’s short stories, Exhalation is my favorite of the two since it really focuses on entropy and destiny and I loved that thematic consistency across the stories
I’m so glad I backed tracked and found this episode! This book sounds wonderful. I’m a big fan of short stories, Neil Gaiman and Ray Bradbury being two of my top authors because of the work they put into short stories. Sometimes a short story can have tremendous impact on me and be done within 20 pages. Thanks for your in-depth review…going to grab the book this weekend.
Story of Your Life was my fav, but I don't think I actually ever finshed it out to read Liking What You See so I'll need to do that for sure! Also I have Exhalation on the shelf and may need to crack that open soon to keep up with you -- agree Chiang is one of the most brilliant writers out there!
So glad you to finally read Ted Chiang! No other author has changed my expectations as a reader as much as him. Hearing you talk about the stories brings back memories of how good they were. It's hard to choose a favorite but I think I will go with Hell is the Absence of God. I also really enjoyed Liking What You See. What's incredible is that Chiang turned down an Hugo nomination for this story because he didn't feel that it was his best writing. This story was published in 2002 but I feel it's relevancy has only increased. Can't wait to hear what you think of Exhalation. I like it just a bit more than this one.
Yes this is one of the best SF short story collections of all time. I can also recommend the collections Axiomatic by Greg Egan and The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith.
I'm glad to see that you really liked Ted Chiang! I have another collection by him called Exhalation and I really want to read it sometime. I've also been getting more into science fiction recently. I'm on the last 50 pages of The Expanse and have absolutely loved it. I'm excited to get to some more science fiction
Sold!! I need this book in my life. Now to figure out how to it in! I agree with Steven Erikson that science fiction is about exploring ideas probably more any other type of fiction, and these particular stories sound like the type that challenge worldviews and arouse discomfort. For some reason that appeals to me. 😅
I can’t imagine how in the world you read so many books so quickly, either you read one book a day or you are superhuman, ‘cause it takes me at least a week to read one book and that’s only if I like it as much as to binge it the whole day
I'm sold! Been wanting to get into short stories. I just picked up Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu because of all the praises, and definitely picking this one up when I have the chance as well
This collection and his other one Exhalation have been on my wish list for a long time. (Especially after I saw Arrival, what a great movie) Time to move it up the TBR order!
Oh man I love this collection and am thrilled to find a booktuber talking about it (even if I'm a couple months late haha) Liking What You See: A Documentary is absolutely my favourite story here as well - just crazy relevant in our social-media crazed times. Hell is the Absence of God was a miss for me personally but I am a Christian guy and just couldn't quite get past how God was represented in this story vs. what I believe to be true about Him. That's a personal gripe though and I get why others enjoyed that entry. Loved Understand. Really liked Story of Your Life but felt like it was a de-evolution of Arrival (one of my top 5 favourite films) which made it a little harder to really get into since it almost felt like an early draft of the movie that was improved upon to create something truly exceptional. I also felt like 72 Letters would be the most adaptable out of the bunch (after Story of Your Life). Would be really interested in seeing that concept of the world come to life. Thanks for reviewing this - I just came across your channel and was pumped to find Stories of Your Life getting some press!
I absolutely LOVED this collection! I think my favorite story is probably Seventy-Two Letters. Such wacky, wild worldbuilding-it felt like Chiang dug into the history of academia, picked one branching point, and explored it to such incredible depths. It’s absolutely amazing. Others I enjoyed: - meta human story (can’t remember what it’s called) - Hell is the Absence of God. Such incredible philosophy. And it’s not afraid to NOT give you a satisfactory conclusion. Not in a bad way, in a compelling way. - Tower of Babylon. The ending is so cool. - Division by Zero. The core idea, of discovering something that disproves your very axiomatic thinking, was so compelling to me. I’m realizing as I write this that for me, my ‘favorites’ list is just this book’s list of contents. So I’ll stop there. I do think Seventy-Two Letters is my favorite, though.
Will def check this short story collection out :) I know you loved the dandelion dynasty by Ken Liu, I am currently reading his short story collection. There is a good change you will like that one too, it is also a mix of exploring ideas and humanity. I especially like the Chinese cultural influence in these stories.
Do you publicly share your reading schedule somewhere? Or do you read whatever you’re interested in at the moment? Im just curious what you’re currently reading and what you plan on reading next month Personally I’m rereading the dandelion dynasty and will finish veiled throne the week speaking bones releases And also reading a game of thrones for the first time (I watched the show) Im also rereading one piece because I want to analyze the themes of the each arc- plus it’s just fun to reread it because one piece is one my favorite stories ever I also plan on reading jade setter of Janloon, bad blood, invisible women, and the winter king in the near future
My reading for the past year or so has started to skew towards science fiction and I think you made some interesting points of soft vs hard scifi. I've found the difference between the two a lot harder to pinpoint than I was led to believe and that a blend of the two works best for me. Also, I loved this collection and ranking the stories is a fun idea! I loved his second collection, Exhalation, even more.
I read this a couple years ago and I thought all the stories were pretty good. Story of Your Life was probably my favorite. Most of the time I end up wishing there was just a little more with short stories. I’m also excited about Exhalation which I expect to read in the next 2-3 months.
I haven't read him yet, but I sure love Arrival. My mom read "Story of Your Life" since she also loves the film, and she didn't get into it so much, as if he was more interested describing the language translations then the emotional moments the film excelled at - so I'm a little worried his Sci-Fi could be overly hard for me, but I'm still mostly an initiate to the genre, so I must keep an open mind. I did read a short story by Frank Herbert called "Try to Remember" that was a remarkably similar plot to arrival (not that it feels like a rip-off), and I thought it was really, really great and poignant - It made me wonder if Chiang was inspired by it.
I was particular impressed by Ted's ability to write in the very different styles of speakers in each section of your number one choice 'Liking What You See'. For example, the young woman and the professor. This also think this story would make a fascinating movie/series.
Understand feels a lot like Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys. Have you read it ? Its really good and I really recommend you reading it coz its awesome. Its just 250 pages and a classic for a reason
Great review. I haven't read this collection yet but his other one ranks with Paper Menagerie as one of my two favorite collections. Idk if I agree you need to like every story in a collection to give a collection five stars, but everyone's ratings are personal. There are Stephen King collections I've given five stars to because the stories that are great have stuck with me very clearly for ~15 years, which is a better indicator to me than whether every story is good haha. Besides we all know how stingy Bookborn is on five star ratings 🤣 I'll probably read this collection soon, I'm sure I'll love it.
It's not hyperbole to call Ted Chiang a genius lol This collection is insane. I haven't read any of these stories in almost a decade lol and I still find myself thinking about the ideas in ALL them from time to time. I've never read any other collection of stories where the ideas have stuck with me from literally every piece in the collection and for so long :3
I read the short story collection last year with my friend and this was my immediate tier list of the short stories after finishing the collection. Story of your life collection short story rankings: Goat: Liking What You See S Tier) Story of Your Life, Understand A Tier) none of them B Tier) none of them C Tier) Division by Zero, Hell is the absence of God D Tier) Tower of Babylon Forgettable Tier) 72 Letters, Evolution of Human Science C-tier is good and D-tier is decent. B-tier is really good with flaws; A-tier is just really good S-tier is exceptional, perhaps perfect (five stars) and GOAT is not just my favorite story of the collection but one of my favorite stories EVER The Exhalation short story collection is also really good, especially the specific short story “Anxiety is the Dizzyness of Freedom” (goat tier)
We both agree that Liking What You See: A Documentary is the best, but I disagree on some too. Evolution of Human Science was the least compelling to me too, but I'd place Seventy-Two Letters and Tower of Babylon higher and bring Hell is The Absence of God way down. It's from Ted Chiang so it's still good, but I found the others way more enjoyable to read. Story of Your Life is second, Division by Zero is third, Understand is fourth, Tower of Babylon is fifth, and Seventy-Two Letters is sixth. Between Stories of Your Life and Exhalation, I don't think one is better than the other, they both have strengths and weaknesses that keep them on equal footing. Stories of Your Life has the best story of the two, but it also has the worst one. I found Exhalation to be more consistently enjoyable, but Stories of Your Life had some of the better stories. Really glad Ted's work introduced me to your channel, just subbed!
Whats your favorite story from this collection!?
Either the title story or the final one!
They are are incredibly thought provoking, but my favorites are (in no particular order) “Story of Your Life”, “Tower of Babylon”, and “Hell is the Absence of God”. I cannot wait for you read Exhalation! And then Ken Liu’s collections.
I recommend you read Ken Liu’s short story collections as well
After I read those short story collections, I, too, thought Ken Liu was a genius!
Ted and Ken are such great polymaths- masterful storytellers with expertise in many other fields
Ken is a tax attorney, patent lawyer, programmer, rhetorician, public speaker on tech, and celebrated writer of epic fantasy and short stories
I think you’ll really like The Paper Menagerie collection and the Hidden Girl Collection
My goat tiered Ken liu short stories are Man Who Ended History (in paper menagerie collection) and Byzantine Empathy (in hidden girl collection)
Definitely will be reading those!
I love Ted Chiang’s short stories, Exhalation is my favorite of the two since it really focuses on entropy and destiny and I loved that thematic consistency across the stories
I can get behind that
I’m so glad I backed tracked and found this episode! This book sounds wonderful. I’m a big fan of short stories, Neil Gaiman and Ray Bradbury being two of my top authors because of the work they put into short stories. Sometimes a short story can have tremendous impact on me and be done within 20 pages. Thanks for your in-depth review…going to grab the book this weekend.
I hope you love it!
Story of Your Life was my fav, but I don't think I actually ever finshed it out to read Liking What You See so I'll need to do that for sure! Also I have Exhalation on the shelf and may need to crack that open soon to keep up with you -- agree Chiang is one of the most brilliant writers out there!
Liking What you see is so relevant!
So glad you to finally read Ted Chiang! No other author has changed my expectations as a reader as much as him.
Hearing you talk about the stories brings back memories of how good they were. It's hard to choose a favorite but I think I will go with Hell is the Absence of God.
I also really enjoyed Liking What You See. What's incredible is that Chiang turned down an Hugo nomination for this story because he didn't feel that it was his best writing. This story was published in 2002 but I feel it's relevancy has only increased.
Can't wait to hear what you think of Exhalation. I like it just a bit more than this one.
Wild he turned down a Hugo nom!
I'll have to check this one out soon, it's been a while since I've heard such high praise of a short fiction collection!
It's a blast!
Yes this is one of the best SF short story collections of all time. I can also recommend the collections Axiomatic by Greg Egan and The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith.
Egan has been recommended multiple times now to me. Looks like I need to dive in
I'm glad to see that you really liked Ted Chiang! I have another collection by him called Exhalation and I really want to read it sometime. I've also been getting more into science fiction recently. I'm on the last 50 pages of The Expanse and have absolutely loved it. I'm excited to get to some more science fiction
Chiang will scratch the itch!
Sold!! I need this book in my life. Now to figure out how to it in! I agree with Steven Erikson that science fiction is about exploring ideas probably more any other type of fiction, and these particular stories sound like the type that challenge worldviews and arouse discomfort. For some reason that appeals to me. 😅
This would be a major hit with you!!
I can’t imagine how in the world you read so many books so quickly, either you read one book a day or you are superhuman, ‘cause it takes me at least a week to read one book and that’s only if I like it as much as to binge it the whole day
I have no life 😭
I'm sold! Been wanting to get into short stories. I just picked up Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu because of all the praises, and definitely picking this one up when I have the chance as well
I need to get to that one
This one is still on my TBR. It shouldn't be there anymore. It needs to be red and added to my list of favorites.
Let's go!
This collection and his other one Exhalation have been on my wish list for a long time. (Especially after I saw Arrival, what a great movie) Time to move it up the TBR order!
It's short and Excellent!
Oh man I love this collection and am thrilled to find a booktuber talking about it (even if I'm a couple months late haha)
Liking What You See: A Documentary is absolutely my favourite story here as well - just crazy relevant in our social-media crazed times.
Hell is the Absence of God was a miss for me personally but I am a Christian guy and just couldn't quite get past how God was represented in this story vs. what I believe to be true about Him. That's a personal gripe though and I get why others enjoyed that entry.
Loved Understand. Really liked Story of Your Life but felt like it was a de-evolution of Arrival (one of my top 5 favourite films) which made it a little harder to really get into since it almost felt like an early draft of the movie that was improved upon to create something truly exceptional.
I also felt like 72 Letters would be the most adaptable out of the bunch (after Story of Your Life). Would be really interested in seeing that concept of the world come to life.
Thanks for reviewing this - I just came across your channel and was pumped to find Stories of Your Life getting some press!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the stories and the review!
I absolutely LOVED this collection!
I think my favorite story is probably Seventy-Two Letters. Such wacky, wild worldbuilding-it felt like Chiang dug into the history of academia, picked one branching point, and explored it to such incredible depths. It’s absolutely amazing.
Others I enjoyed:
- meta human story (can’t remember what it’s called)
- Hell is the Absence of God. Such incredible philosophy. And it’s not afraid to NOT give you a satisfactory conclusion. Not in a bad way, in a compelling way.
- Tower of Babylon. The ending is so cool.
- Division by Zero. The core idea, of discovering something that disproves your very axiomatic thinking, was so compelling to me.
I’m realizing as I write this that for me, my ‘favorites’ list is just this book’s list of contents. So I’ll stop there. I do think Seventy-Two Letters is my favorite, though.
I'm so glad you also loved it!
Will def check this short story collection out :) I know you loved the dandelion dynasty by Ken Liu, I am currently reading his short story collection. There is a good change you will like that one too, it is also a mix of exploring ideas and humanity. I especially like the Chinese cultural influence in these stories.
I do too!
Do you publicly share your reading schedule somewhere?
Or do you read whatever you’re interested in at the moment?
Im just curious what you’re currently reading and what you plan on reading next month
Personally I’m rereading the dandelion dynasty and will finish veiled throne the week speaking bones releases
And also reading a game of thrones for the first time (I watched the show)
Im also rereading one piece because I want to analyze the themes of the each arc- plus it’s just fun to reread it because one piece is one my favorite stories ever
I also plan on reading jade setter of Janloon, bad blood, invisible women, and the winter king in the near future
My wrap up videos I give a vague idea of what I'll read in the coming month
Somehow I have not heard of this collection! Definitely adding it to my TBR. Your videos are dangerous for my reading pile :)!
Will
Glad to help 🤪
My reading for the past year or so has started to skew towards science fiction and I think you made some interesting points of soft vs hard scifi. I've found the difference between the two a lot harder to pinpoint than I was led to believe and that a blend of the two works best for me.
Also, I loved this collection and ranking the stories is a fun idea! I loved his second collection, Exhalation, even more.
I gotta read the next one 😎
"Hell is the Absence of God" has such a tragic ending that completely took me by surprise, I actually gasped out loud when I was reading.
It’s such a great story
Oh man, Arrival is up there with my favorite movies! Gonna have to read this!
You'd love the short story
I read this a couple years ago and I thought all the stories were pretty good. Story of Your Life was probably my favorite. Most of the time I end up wishing there was just a little more with short stories. I’m also excited about Exhalation which I expect to read in the next 2-3 months.
There were times I wanted them to become novels 😜
I haven't read him yet, but I sure love Arrival. My mom read "Story of Your Life" since she also loves the film, and she didn't get into it so much, as if he was more interested describing the language translations then the emotional moments the film excelled at - so I'm a little worried his Sci-Fi could be overly hard for me, but I'm still mostly an initiate to the genre, so I must keep an open mind. I did read a short story by Frank Herbert called "Try to Remember" that was a remarkably similar plot to arrival (not that it feels like a rip-off), and I thought it was really, really great and poignant - It made me wonder if Chiang was inspired by it.
Definitely could be!
The top two especially sound fascinating! Awesome video as always, sounds well worth the read
Appreciate you mate!
Well this makes me happy with my decision to buy Exhalation last time I was in the bookstore
Oh you're gonna love his stuff
Oh yes! I read this yrs ago! Very good stories! I may have to re-read it.
It's one I'll come back to time and time again
I agree with you totally especially your # 1 pick as best story.
Glad to hear it!
I was particular impressed by Ted's ability to write in the very different styles of speakers in each section of your number one choice 'Liking What You See'. For example, the young woman and the professor. This also think this story would make a fascinating movie/series.
Understand feels a lot like Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys. Have you read it ? Its really good and I really recommend you reading it coz its awesome. Its just 250 pages and a classic for a reason
I haven't but it's now going on my tbr!
I'm reading Paper menagerie right now, but I want to read this soon! 😉
I'll get to that one soon too!
Based on how close our rankings are for this collection I bet you will also really like Exhalation!!
I'm so ready
Tower of Babylon is my favourite Ted Chiang story.
Nice, it's so good!
Great review. I haven't read this collection yet but his other one ranks with Paper Menagerie as one of my two favorite collections. Idk if I agree you need to like every story in a collection to give a collection five stars, but everyone's ratings are personal. There are Stephen King collections I've given five stars to because the stories that are great have stuck with me very clearly for ~15 years, which is a better indicator to me than whether every story is good haha. Besides we all know how stingy Bookborn is on five star ratings 🤣 I'll probably read this collection soon, I'm sure I'll love it.
NO KYLE THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO RATE THINGS
@@thefantasynuttwork RATINGS ARE OBJECTIVE JIMMY
I need this!!
It's too good!
Ok, I already have this book, it will be my next read!
I hope you enjoy
It's not hyperbole to call Ted Chiang a genius lol This collection is insane. I haven't read any of these stories in almost a decade lol and I still find myself thinking about the ideas in ALL them from time to time. I've never read any other collection of stories where the ideas have stuck with me from literally every piece in the collection and for so long :3
So much quality in these stories
I read the short story collection last year with my friend and this was my immediate tier list of the short stories after finishing the collection.
Story of your life collection short story rankings:
Goat: Liking What You See
S Tier) Story of Your Life, Understand
A Tier) none of them
B Tier) none of them
C Tier) Division by Zero, Hell is the absence of God
D Tier) Tower of Babylon
Forgettable Tier) 72 Letters, Evolution of Human Science
C-tier is good and D-tier is decent. B-tier is really good with flaws; A-tier is just really good
S-tier is exceptional, perhaps perfect (five stars) and GOAT is not just my favorite story of the collection but one of my favorite stories EVER
The Exhalation short story collection is also really good, especially the specific short story “Anxiety is the Dizzyness of Freedom” (goat tier)
Nice!
There's no other way to put it. Ted Chiang is a genius and he writes like very few others. Sci Fi all the way baby.
Agree!
Read Exhalation it's much better imo, and I loved Stories of Your Life. Great video! ☺️
Thanks!
Like ur review video, not heard of this book?? I will definitely check it out. Happy reading to you!! 🦋📖🎬🎥
Thanks!!
I had the same top2
😎
funny I was listening to a talk from Chiang right when this popped up in my recommendations
It's a sign haha
@@thefantasynuttwork yep...also cheers from a current physics major 😄
@@vanshasthana7113 best of luck!
Oh this is interesting...
so fun!
:D
😬
We both agree that Liking What You See: A Documentary is the best, but I disagree on some too. Evolution of Human Science was the least compelling to me too, but I'd place Seventy-Two Letters and Tower of Babylon higher and bring Hell is The Absence of God way down. It's from Ted Chiang so it's still good, but I found the others way more enjoyable to read. Story of Your Life is second, Division by Zero is third, Understand is fourth, Tower of Babylon is fifth, and Seventy-Two Letters is sixth. Between Stories of Your Life and Exhalation, I don't think one is better than the other, they both have strengths and weaknesses that keep them on equal footing. Stories of Your Life has the best story of the two, but it also has the worst one. I found Exhalation to be more consistently enjoyable, but Stories of Your Life had some of the better stories. Really glad Ted's work introduced me to your channel, just subbed!
Great rankings! I love me some Ted Chiang! Appreciate you checking out the channel 😁