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pineconek 's review for:
Exhalation
by Ted Chiang
I liked this a lot more than I expected to. This collection deserves the high praise it's been getting. To very loosely quote Ray Bradbury, good science fiction asks a simple "what if?" question but fundamentally remains a human story with human solutions. The stories in this collection achieved just that.
5 Stars- The highlights of the collection:
The Lifecycle of Software Objects - I didn't want this one end! The creatures in this were so endearing, and the exploration of AI ethics (and really, ethics in general of how we treat non-human "sentient" entities) including attachment to creatures was charming and provocative in all the right ways.
The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling - the parallel stories really carried this one for me. Both were highly memorable and had interesting turns. Excellent reflections on the natures of trust and memory.
Omphalos - I didn't like the style of this one all that much, mostly because I'm cautious of things that are overly religious. But by the end, I'd been won over, simply because this is not something I'd read before (or at least not in a memorable way).
4 stars - Some other good ones:
Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom - The best parts of this were explorations of how opportunists would exploit this technology for financial gain. The main character's emotional journey was a tad heavy-handed (is she actually a bad person?! let's find out!!) but overall this was quite enjoyable.
The Merchant at The Alchemist's Gate - I love good time travel stories with bootstrap paradoxes. This one was... softer? Nothing mindblowing, but left s gentle impression.
The Great Silence - I enjoyed the reminder of "why look for aliens when there are so many incredible creatures here on earth"?
3 Stars - good, but not memorable/didn't hit the right notes for me
Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny - this was... fine? I've been watching the Umbrella Academy which explored this concept a little bit as well, so this didn't stick out for me much (due to that bias).
Exhalation - it wasn't bad, per se, but a bit heavy-handed in terms of "this is a metaphor for climate change!!".
What's Expected of Us - I'm not big on explorations of free will, so this one didn't stick with me. I'm surprised it was published in Nature, of all places.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/mWv_X7hblGk
5 Stars- The highlights of the collection:
The Lifecycle of Software Objects - I didn't want this one end! The creatures in this were so endearing, and the exploration of AI ethics (and really, ethics in general of how we treat non-human "sentient" entities) including attachment to creatures was charming and provocative in all the right ways.
The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling - the parallel stories really carried this one for me. Both were highly memorable and had interesting turns. Excellent reflections on the natures of trust and memory.
Omphalos - I didn't like the style of this one all that much, mostly because I'm cautious of things that are overly religious. But by the end, I'd been won over, simply because this is not something I'd read before (or at least not in a memorable way).
4 stars - Some other good ones:
Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom - The best parts of this were explorations of how opportunists would exploit this technology for financial gain. The main character's emotional journey was a tad heavy-handed (is she actually a bad person?! let's find out!!) but overall this was quite enjoyable.
The Merchant at The Alchemist's Gate - I love good time travel stories with bootstrap paradoxes. This one was... softer? Nothing mindblowing, but left s gentle impression.
The Great Silence - I enjoyed the reminder of "why look for aliens when there are so many incredible creatures here on earth"?
3 Stars - good, but not memorable/didn't hit the right notes for me
Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny - this was... fine? I've been watching the Umbrella Academy which explored this concept a little bit as well, so this didn't stick out for me much (due to that bias).
Exhalation - it wasn't bad, per se, but a bit heavy-handed in terms of "this is a metaphor for climate change!!".
What's Expected of Us - I'm not big on explorations of free will, so this one didn't stick with me. I'm surprised it was published in Nature, of all places.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/mWv_X7hblGk