Science Fiction Aficionados discussion

This next one wrestles with questions of faith, and free will, and grief. It wan both the hugo and nebula awards, plus some others

Chiang has written that he always felt unsatisfied about the Job of the bible getting his reward in the end...this must be Chiangs version of Job

http://www.e-reading.org.ua/bookreade...

The edition I have has a chapter of author notes, with 1-1.5 pages per story. I think the notes add quite a bit to my understanding of the stories, especially this one.

I agree Jim. I was going to point that out, but you beat mr to it. :)

I found this story extremely thought provoking. His point from the book of Job is one that I had not considered before.

I agree-I liked thinking about it that way, as a test of faith with faith never being a sure thing, but the acceptance of that notion is important

This was a winner for me and the author's explanation of the story made it even better. That Old Testament God is brutal.

Chiang's version of Job doesn't have the same happy ending the Bible had, but it's a lot more realistic. I thought this one was good but not really my favorite of his. Interesting ideas though, like all of Chiang's stories.