Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a collection of nine profoundly original, provocative, and poignant stories. Some of these tales, including two published for the first time, offer a stunning exploration of humanity's oldest questions and new quandaries that could only be examined by Chiang's imaginative mind.
In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", we encounter a time-traveling portal that confronts a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad with his past mistakes and the possibility of second chances. The titular story, "Exhalation", presents an alien scientist faced with a universe-altering discovery. "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" challenges our understanding of choice and free will through the lens of alternate universes.
These stories navigate the essence of the universe and what it means to be human, each in its own unique and beautifully crafted manner. Chiang's second collection of short fiction is a testament to the power of science fiction to investigate the beauty, meaning, and compassion of the human condition.
At forty-three Jeff Winston is tired of his low-paid, unrewarding job, tired of the long silences at the breakfast table with his wife, saddened by the thought of no children to comfort his old age. But he hopes for better things, for happiness, maybe tomorrow ... But a sudden, fatal heart attack puts paid to that. Until Jeff wakes up in his eighteen-year-old body, all his memories of the next twenty-five years intact.
If he applies those memories, he can be rich in this new chance at life and can become one of the most powerful men in America. Until he dies at forty-three and wakes up in his eighteen-year-old body again ... and again in a continuous twenty-five year cycle each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, make a fortune - or remedy past mistakes.
A novel of gripping adventure, romance, and fascinating speculation on the nature of time, Replay asks the question: "What if you could live your life over again?"
In The Power, the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect.
Teenage girls now have immense physical power: they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets. From award-winning author Naomi Alderman, The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways.