Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

 An excellent collection of wonderful stories. 

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate • (2007) • Novelette by Ted Chiang

The story happens in Bagdad at the heyday of the Islamic caliphate. A trader encounters a market man who has exquisite items at his booth. He shows a portal he has designed which takes you to another time and tells two stories of who people have used the portal. He warns the merchant that the past is set, there is nothing you can do to change the present. But there is something the merchant really wants to explore at his past. An excellent story is written in poetic, wonderful “Arabian nights” style of language. *****-

Exhalation • (2008) • Short story by Ted Chiang

A species of apparently mechanical creatures live in a cave, where the ceiling is so high it cannot be seen. Everything is powered by pressurized argon, which is produced by vents at the cave. The pressurized gas is stored on aluminum “lungs” which are changed when needed. *****

The Lifecycle of Software Objects • (2010) • Novella by Ted Chiang

A story about AI pets which must be trained carefully (at least as carefully as “normal pets”). At first, they were a popular fad, but when the amount of training needed becomes obvious, most people gave up on them. But a few were so fond of their pets that they kept training them for years. Slowly, the pets got better and better - to at least some degree, but even the software environment on which they run has become so obsolete that it only exists on a private server. Updating the engine modern standards would cost too much for those few who still have “pets.” They get an offer from a company that could pay for the transfer, but that would compromise the principles of those who still spend most of their time with their virtual at least semi-intelligent pets. A well-written story, but then the ending is a lot worse than the beginning, a little sharper and faster ending might have worked better. ****+

Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny • [Thackery T. Lambshead] • (2011) • Short story by Ted Chiang

An eccentric scientist creates a robotic nanny which could be trusted not to steal anything and take care of infants tirelessly. After an initial boom, they soon became unpopular. Later, his son tries to return his father’s reputation and raises his own son using only the device. The results are predictable though. A nice story which is written in the style of a historical article. ****-

The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling • (2013) • Novelette by Ted Chiang

People have been using life recording devices for a long time. It has been very hard to access them though. Now, a new program, which enables pretty comprehensive search faculties, is being introduced. A man is testing the software and examines his own memories - do they correspond with reality? A story of how technology shapes self-perception. Which is true - what really did happen or your conception and memory of the event? Interspaced with the modern (or future) story is a tale of how writing changed or almost changed tribal life in Africa. A good story, but at places, especially at the end, feels more like a pamphlet than a "real" story. ****-

The Great Silence • (2015) • Short story by Allora and Calzadilla and Ted Chiang [as by Ted Chiang]

How can we find extraterrestrial intelligences when we can’t find or recognize non-human intelligences at the Earth? A story (or pamphlet) about an intelligent parrot species. A very short story that could be considered to be more of an opinion piece than a story.  ***½

Omphalos • Novelette by Ted Chiang

The story happens in a world where there is irrefutable proof of creation: If you go back enough, you can find ancient trees where there are no growth rings, seashells have smooth contours until they start to show seasonal variation, and the oldest mummies, which can be found, have no navels and their skeletons show no sign of growth zones. All stars there are have been cataloged, no new ones have been found in centuries, even with better telescopes, and they are all alike. The existence of God is something no one doubts, and everyone knows that the world and humans are something God has planned. But then there is new research, which shows that everything everyone has always "known" isn’t exactly what it has been believed, and it might be that there is no such thing as a God's plan after all - at least not for the Earth and humans. The story is told by letters written by a young female archeologist. The writing was extremely good. There were no explanations offered: Apparently, did the world really function that way and it was created by a god? Or was it a computer simulation? *****

Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom • Novella by Ted Chiang

It is possible to buy a ”prismn,” which is a device that splits realities when it is activated. It enables you to change information, and even communicate through videos with your alternate self. As time goes on, the probabilities diverge, and changes cumulate. There is a limit to how much information can pass through before the prismn becomes useless. A con artist uses prismns for nefarious purposes with the help of a woman who has a troubled past. There is a prismn which they want, as it is a possibility for a great profit. The concept of the story is very interesting, and the story takes its time to evolve - it is done very well. The conclusion is moving and very well done. An excellent story, but I don't really see why you would want to discuss with your alternate self - what good would come from that? If you do worse than your ”alternate,” you feel bad, if you do better, you feel bad for your alternate version... So, whatever happens, you don’t feel good. *****-

352 pp.