J. Blake Myersmann’s Reviews > Stories of Your Life and Others > Status Update

I really enjoyed Liking What You See! Such a thought-provoking piece.

Hell Is the Absence of God was quite a trip. I love reading stories about active divinities, especially in the modern world, and the way Chiang played around with various versions of Pascal’s Wager was especially compelling. The ending, though, left a lot to be desired.

Seventy-two letters (what a coincidence!) was quite the surprise. It was a little dense and much longer than the others, but I appreciated the classic way in which it was written. A compelling little story all around! The best part was the way this alternate history was much different than the history we know. So many alt hist don’t do this leg work.

The Story of Your Life is a masterpiece. I’m biased by my love of Arrival, but reading the source, seeing the bones, and analyzing the differences was an amazing experience. I found myself contentedly lost in Louise’s unique perspective, often seeing her without the context of her big screen depiction.

Finally in the titular story. Loving it so far, even with the differences to Arrival

Next was a different take on Flowers for Algernon. Had an interesting climax but was overall tough to read (which may have been the point!)

“Flat-earthers, globe-believers, they’re all wrong, brah. Earth is a cylinder…”

What a weird opener.