Stories of Your Life and Others (2002) by Ted Chiang

 Book Review

Stories of Your Life and Others (2002)

by Ted Chiang

    I am a big fan of the movie Arrival about the efforts by humanity to decode the language of aliens who arrive on Earth (in the story they are on ships in orbit, in the film they hover above the ground in giant ships).  Arrival was based on the title story of this collection of short-stories by American author Ted Chiang.   After finishing the book- the audiobook- I was surprised to learn that this collection was published way back in 2002.  Science fiction sometimes ages poorly, particularly short-stories which may become outdated with rapid changes in technology.  That was not the case here- all of these stories hold up, particularly Tower of Babylon, his first story, which is a take on the Biblical tale and Seventy-Two Letters, which draws on Victorian technology and Kabbalah.  Like many authors working in this genre, Chiang is strong on ideas and less strong on the mechanics of fiction, with stories that feature lengthy exposition, inner monologues and extremely limited casts of characters, but the ideas are so strong that they overcome any weaknesses.  Sad I didn't read this collection decades ago.