Stories of Your Life and Others

By: Ted Chiang

Narrated by: Abby Craden, Todd McLaren

This new edition of Ted Chiang's masterful first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, includes his first eight published stories. Combining the precision and scientific curiosity of Kim Stanley Robinson with Lorrie Moore's cool, clear love of language and narrative intricacy, this award-winning collection offers listeners the dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar.

Stories of Your Life and Others presents characters who must confront sudden change-the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens-while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. In the amazing and much-lauded title story (the basis for the 2016 movie Arrival), a grieving mother copes with divorce and the death of her daughter by drawing on her knowledge of alien languages and non-linear memory recollection. A clever pastiche of news reports and interviews chronicles a college's initiative to "turn off" the human ability to recognize beauty in "Liking What You See: A Documentary." With sharp intelligence and humor, Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty and constant change, and also by beauty and wonder.

©2002 Ted Chiang (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Chiang writes seldom, but his almost unfathomably wonderful stories tick away with the precision of a Swiss watch-and explode in your awareness with shocking, devastating force." ( Kirkus, Starred Review)

Masterpiece of short fiction

I got interested in Ted Chiang's work after watching the recent Amy Adams movie, The Arrival. I was thoroughly engrossed in that movie and wanted to read the work that inspired it. That's how I came across this collection of short stories.

I can only say, thank god I did. I have not been this engrossed in a story or stories in years. Not since the first time I read Titans and the Lions of Al Rassan by Gavriel Kay. What's so amazing about Chiang is that his way of writing just hooks you right from the beginning, essential for short story form. He drops you into a new world. It doesn't bother explaining everything immediately. He lets the reader figure out the rules of the world and that discovery is half the magic.

In addition the characters feel real and are all engrossing. Even Stratford and the other characters from 72 Letters, the only story I didn't really like, were engaging and wanting to know what happens kept me going right to the end. The other stories were all fantastic, with my two favorite probably Understand and Hell is the Absence of God. I was most engrossed in these stories, but most moved by Stories of Your Life.

Finally the narration by Abby Cardenas and Todd Mclaren was phenomenal. As much as the stories engrossed me listening to these two kept me completely riveted. I hope to listen to more narrations by them in the future.

All of these should be movies.

Fantastic and refreshing approach to science fiction. I would love to see these done as feature films, or perhaps episodes of black mirror. One story has already made it to the silver screen. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book.

AMAZING!

These stories we're evocative, profound, and extraordinarily delicious! 11 out of 10 would recommend! You'll love it!

idea porn, you say?

Maybe. But the calliagnosia treatment seemed right on target for today's issues. four words remaining

Not what I expected.

What did you like best about Stories of Your Life and Others? What did you like least?

I got this book because of the current movie out about aliens. I thought the stories were all good, but not what I expected.

Would you recommend Stories of Your Life and Others to your friends? Why or why not?

Depends on whether they like short stories.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Just not my cup of tea.

Did Stories of Your Life and Others inspire you to do anything?

Stop and listen to another book. :-)

This is an SF classic.

This is classic SF with great writing and ideas. The performance of the readers is also excellent. The Story of Your Life short is just superb. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Thought provoking.

I enjoyed these stories. I enjoyed thinking about the concepts they presented more though. At least for me, some of the stories dragged on beyond the point that they were making. All told, I enjoyed listening to the book and really enjoyed the narration.

Hit and miss

There are a few excellent stories in here such as the title story which was wonderful and worth the purchase for that alone. There’s also a few that are quite dull and the rest somewhere in the middle.

black mirror - ish

if you like black mirror or twilight zone, then you'll like these short stories.

Great stories, well told.

Two narrators make for a much wider array of possible voices, which is excellent for a novel, but essential for a book of short stories like this one. The stories are excellent in every way I value, and I advise that you listen to them yourself to see if you feel the same.