Ted Chiang has the incredible ability to paint extraordinarily compelling speculative fictional worlds in such a condensed package, and in a way that ties in a philosophical component while still hewing towards the "concludes in a way that is surprising yet always inevitable."
While my favorite is probably Story of Your Life, Understand is damn near my second favorite, or rather probably was before I got to Exhalation and realized just what he had done there. (To pull at the thin threads of what constitutes consciousness so deftly...)
But there are so many great examples of building these compelling, rich tapestries, with enough world building and exploration to draw you all the way in. Tower of Babylon, Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate... just phenomenal pieces that stick with you long after you've read them, and are something to savor.
Separately, I was so pleased with how Denis Villeneuve (and specifically, Eric Heisserer) adapted the screenplay for Story of Your Life, to create such a phenomenal transition to film in Arrival... it seemed such a complex concept that could easily collapse for want of oversimplification or trying too hard, and instead it was such a faithful reproduction... ended up being one of my favorite science fiction films of all time.
What to me stands out about Chiang is that at the core of his stories he is always deeply humanistic. I think that actually shows in Arrival, which unlike a lot of Villeneuve's adaptions is not emotionally cold and I think that's largely due to the source material.
While my favorite is probably Story of Your Life, Understand is damn near my second favorite, or rather probably was before I got to Exhalation and realized just what he had done there. (To pull at the thin threads of what constitutes consciousness so deftly...)
But there are so many great examples of building these compelling, rich tapestries, with enough world building and exploration to draw you all the way in. Tower of Babylon, Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate... just phenomenal pieces that stick with you long after you've read them, and are something to savor.
Separately, I was so pleased with how Denis Villeneuve (and specifically, Eric Heisserer) adapted the screenplay for Story of Your Life, to create such a phenomenal transition to film in Arrival... it seemed such a complex concept that could easily collapse for want of oversimplification or trying too hard, and instead it was such a faithful reproduction... ended up being one of my favorite science fiction films of all time.
Damn, I love Ted Chiang.