“Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (2008)

Having just watched Black Mirror and Westworld, I was totally bummed about how much near-future sci-fi is so goddamned depressing. Yesterday I decided to reread a story I love, &quot;The Lifecycle of Software Objects,&quot; coincidentally also by Ted Chiang. It&#x27;s a nice AI story that you can get through in one sitting. Highly recommend.<p>Read it here: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;subterraneanpress.com&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;fall_2010&#x2F;fiction_the_lifecycle_of_software_objects_by_ted_chiang&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;subterraneanpress.com&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;fall_2010&#x2F;fiction_the_...</a>

First story by Chiang I read years ago, and loved it. Took me a while to remember who it was by when I looked for it again later.<p>I assume it&#x27;s coming up because the movie Arrival [1] is based on Chiang&#x27;s &quot;Story of you Life&quot; [2]?<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt2543164&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt2543164&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Story_of_Your_Life" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Story_of_Your_Life</a>

Futher discussion just over a week ago, where <i>Exhalation</i> was called &quot;one of the best SF stories ever written&quot;, and several other recommendations were made:<p>Ted Chiang on Seeing His Stories Adapted and the Ever-Expanding Popularity of SF<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=13053377" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=13053377</a>

A friend just gave me a book of TC stories and I&#x27;m really enjoying them!<p>Arrival was, well it was a Hollywood movie, but I was so glad to see linguists in a film I had to see it and enjoy it.

The site is down for me, here&#x27;s a mirror:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pastery.net&#x2F;skwyyr&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pastery.net&#x2F;skwyyr&#x2F;</a>

Another favorite Ted Chiang short story: &quot;The Merchant and the Alchemist&#x27;s Gate&quot;. To me, it&#x27;s one of the few stories that manage to incorporate time travel and still have it be meaningful while avoiding paradoxes.

This is one of my favorite short stories and such a fantastic metaphor for climate change.

Ted Chiang&#x27;s stories on Kindle (including &quot;Exhalation&quot;, &quot;The Merchant and the Alchemist&#x27;s Gate&quot; and &quot;The Lifecycle of Software Objects&quot;), if on-screen reading is tiresome: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dropbox.com&#x2F;s&#x2F;wbhdyer9qfpexcm&#x2F;Stories%20accessible%20online%20-%20Ted%20Chiang.mobi?dl=1" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dropbox.com&#x2F;s&#x2F;wbhdyer9qfpexcm&#x2F;Stories%20accessib...</a>