Exhalation

May 20, 2019 11:44 AM - by Ted Chiang

In these nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories, Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine.
posted by komara (3 comments total)

Oh, awesome! I had no idea he had a second book out. Picking this up ASAP!
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:56 PM on May 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

I think I've read all but two of the stories in it already, but I've pre-ordered it anyhow. I've got to wait 3 more weeks for the UK release. Glancing through the list of titles, I prefer the stories in this book to those in the last one, especially 'Lifecycle of Software Objects' and 'Exhalation'.
posted by Ned G at 4:49 AM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

I just finished the Lifecycle of Software Objects, which was heartrending in unexpected ways. I do wonder what Marco and Polo will be like 20 years vs Jax. And I thought juxtaposing that story against the automatic nanny was really intriguing. You have two people struggling to be good parents and then one man who completely destroys his child in pursuit of the perfect childrearing machine. The phrase in Lifecycle "industrial childrearing" really struck me when I started reading Nanny because that's essentially what is being sought.
posted by miss-lapin at 6:22 AM on June 5, 2019 [1 favorite]