Paperback, 281 pages
English language
Published Jan. 21, 2005 by Tor.
Stories of Your Life and Others is a collection of short stories by American writer Ted Chiang originally published in 2002 by Tor Books. It collects Chiang's first eight stories. All of the stories except "Liking What You See: A Documentary" were previously published individually elsewhere. It was reprinted in 2016 as Arrival to coincide with the adaptation of "Story of Your Life" as the film Arrival. Chiang's second collection, Exhalation: Stories was released in 2019.
Ted Chiang is the best, and I think he needs no explanation. The best-known story in here is "Story of Your Life" (better know as the film Arrival). But, I think the best story in here is "Hell is the Absence of God." All of the stories left me thinking a bit after, and I'm continuing to do so now. The last set of stories in my version were also in Exhalation, so I skipped over them.
This is my favorite format of science fiction : short but thought provoking stories. Surprisingly, the story that gave the name to this book is far from being the best in my opinion. If you want mind-bending novels that are both fun and at the same time disturbing, this book is a must-read.
