This is one of those rare sci-fi books that managed to bore me. So much so that I left the last short story halfway through, out of exasperation. I was really looking forward to the book because of Arrival. The story that inspired Arrival, Story of Your Life, is indeed quite good but the rest of the short stories I found to be too dry. (It is certainly possible that I’ve just outgrown short stories).

There is a mix of fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, and religion in Ted Chiang’s work, which needs a bit of getting used to. I found the ideas extremely fascinating, original, and thought-provoking. There were moments when I could not help but compare him to Arthur C. Clarke. There is the same reverence to the unknown and the mysterious and the audacity to really think outside the box, to construct grand visions about humanity’s future. But the execution is tragically poor. Pages after pages of just monologues where nothing happens, it’s like listening to a high-school debate on a topic you don’t care much about. Whereas Arthur C. Clarke commits to his visions and creates grand dioramas that mystify and pull you in, Ted Chiang’s stories are more like informational pamphlets and instruction manuals. I hope he writes a bigger story/novel in the future and fully brings out his ideas to their natural completion.