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Exhalation

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Exhalation

Written by: Ted Chiang
Narrated by: Ted Chiang, Edoardo Ballerini, Amy Landon, Dominic Hoffman
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About this listen

This much-anticipated second collection of stories is signature Ted Chiang, full of revelatory ideas and deeply sympathetic characters. In ‘The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate’, a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and the temptation of second chances. In the epistolary ‘Exhalation’, an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications not just for his own people but for all of reality. And in ‘The Lifecycle of Software Objects’, a woman cares for an artificial intelligence over 20 years, elevating a faddish digital pet into what might be a true living being. Also included are two brand-new stories: ‘Omphalos’ and ‘Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom’.

In Exhalation, Ted Chiang wrestles with the oldest questions on earth - what is the nature of the universe? What does it mean to be human? - and ones that no one else has even imagined. And, each in its own way, the stories prove that complex and thoughtful science fiction can rise to new heights of beauty, meaning and compassion.

©2019 Ted Chiang (P)2019 Macmillan Digital Audio
Anthologies & Short Stories First Contact Time Travel

What listeners say about Exhalation

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The larger than life ideas in believable characters

The stories are not just about the characters or just about fancy ideas. Ted Chiang explores the social implications of the premises in such an intriguing way that you can not stop feeling full of awe for the ideas at same time as you are invested in what happens to the characters.

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Phenomenal

Such a fantastic collection of unique thought provoking stories. Ted's writing is simple, beautiful and without fluff. Some of these stories will remain with you forever.

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Classic Stories

The book entails stories which use some sort of sci-fi idea but takes it to new level as most of the stories are about futuristic technology which alter the peoples thinking but as 21st century guy, I would this helps us get some perspective on past and future to some level

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    5 out of 5 stars
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one of the best story tellers in the genre

loved the collection so much!! must for all the sci-fi, speculative sci-fi lovers of all age!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Very nice start!

Interesting concepts overall, but only a couple of stories really got me hooked. The first one was my favourite.

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Deeply thought provoking, and so well told!!

The stories themselves are godlike. The author's notes serve as the perfect icing on the cake too. The narrators might seem a little dull / bland - but maybe that's just me being used to more emotive narration... All in all, it's a great set of stories to listen to and enjoy thinking about after :)

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Provoking but let down by narration in places

I would have loved Exhalation even more, if I had read it before listening to it. The narration and voices associated with the characters often sound mocking and take one away from the story. This might be especially pronounced if the voices of the digients stay with you, and then you hear the same intonation/inflection in subsequent stories, like with Kevin in Anxiety.

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Utterly fascinating!

The book stretches one's imagination in a manner that is utterly fascinating and scarily believable at the same time. The unique lens of imagining the psycho-social impact of technology makes for a gripping read (or listen - I heard this on Audible). And very importantly, the book leaves us with a lot of important questions to consider as we live our tech-enabled lives. A must-read for the times we live in.

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Thought provoking

Every chapter felt so brilliantly different from the next. Each story correlated to something relevant in the modern world. And I had a lot of favourite quotes that I've marked to revisit later.

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