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)

amazing

Really cool collection of short stories. Recommended by a friend and I would recommend it on to more myself. Great.

stories that make you think

Picked it up after seeing Arrival. That story did not disappoint although a lot was added for the movie.

Makes you think. Perfect Book Club selection.

This collection is a treasure trove of mind bending ideas that practically beg to be deconstructed and discussed. If religious subjects weren't so radioactive I could see this collection becoming a high school or college lit classic.

thoughtful

these stories require active attention Angus thought. some are kinda sci-fi, some theologcal fiction. they explore gender assumptions, thought,. really interesting intelligent writing.

some better than others

It's a book of several short stories, and some were a lot better than others. I preferred the woman's narration to the man's.
The best was "Story of Your Life" which is the basis for the movie "Arrival". If you like the movie, you'd like the story.

amazing

Contains a variety of fascinating, thought-provoking stories. I learned about this book in connection to the movie Arrival, which is based on the title tale. Chiang's writing deserves to be read, considered, discussed, and read again.

Some of the Best Sci-Fi I Have Read in a While

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! The stories were short and concise but also full of detail. Reflecting on each story after hearing it was a joy. The stories promoted discussion and reflection.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Each story had at least one compelling character with some having more than one. "Story of Your Life" was my favorite story but my favorite character was in the story "Hell is the Absence of God." These character are complex and have multiple layers to them.

Which character – as performed by Abby Craden and Todd McLaren – was your favorite?

The narration was great and they each did various voices very well. My one gripe was with the master volume. This audiobook was much lower in volume than others and at time I had to crank the volume up just to hear the stories as I was driving to work.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Each story was fun to reflect on and I immediately found myself going to online boards to discuss the meanings and interpretations of the stories.

Any additional comments?

These stories were some of the best science fiction stories that I have read in a long time. They avoided the usual cliches and instead focused on intellect to engage the reader. If you read this you will want others to discuss them with.

The Arrival brought me here

Where does Stories of Your Life and Others rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Yes the movie led me on a nice little journey to Ted Chiang.

This is full of excellent work, all of which should have there own feature films.

If you like stories involving math, science, psychology, theology, OR myth then this is your book of shorts!

Great collection!

Warning, only one short story in this collection is the basis of the movie "Arrival"!

I enjoyed listening to these stories. The author created an entirely unique physical world for each, with completely different laws of physics, biology, theology, and time itself. He bad lots of fun playing with those concepts, and I had lots of fun submerging in these works.

The narration is great too!

Deeply originally inventive science fiction

This is a difficult read that requires dedicated thought and the stretching of open values and possibilities. Most original and well written science fiction requires the suspension of accepted limitations on reality and an openness to ideas that may go against one's beliefs and values. This book and its ideas are worth that suspension and the time needed to wash through them.