By Dennis Philip

sci·ence fic·tion
ˈsīəns ˈˌfikSHən/
noun: science fiction; noun: SF; modifier noun: science-fiction; noun: Sci Fi; plural noun: Sci Fis

fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets.

I love reading science fiction and fantasy and in fact as a youth, its what drew me into reading.  It may have been the fact that I was amazed that I could get four books mailed to me for only $1 but in any case I joined a book club and suddenly found myself with a commitment to buy another five or six at full price and to read these large books I had ordered.   I still remember how anxious I was to dive into the next SciFi or Fantasy novel reading Asimov, Burroughs and many other authors along the way.

Countless Sci Fi and Fantasy novels later I shifted into reading action novels by Ludlum and other authors and had lost my interest in Sci Fi until a recent trip where I needed to find a new book to read.   I had seen advertisements for the movie Arrival and since I had not yet seen the movie thought this might be a good book to dive into.  After reading three chapters of the book and not seeing how they linked together I realized this book:  Arrival(Originally Published as Stores of Your Life and Others) was actually a collection of short stories written by Ted Chiang one of which on was adapted for the movie Arrival.  I found each of the stories to be intriguing and the book renewed my excitement for reading Sci Fi.   I don’t know if I would go as far as Cory Doctorrow from BoingBoing who said “Ted is a national treasure….” But I did have a good time with this collection of jewels.

“Hell is the absence of God” – The author is an atheist and this is a viewpoint on divine intervention that he puts forward.  An article with Ted Chiang in the New Yorker Magazine states – “readers have argued about the meaning of Chiang’s vision of a world without faith, in which the certain and proven existence of God is troubling, rather than reassuring.”  This story should be the subject of some interesting discussion.  It involves several   characters whose lives are changed by events associated with visitations of angels to the earth that commonly occur and typically provide miracle cures to some and at the same time inflict casualties on others.  In my view Ted falls short in his understanding of God with the last few pages of the story “God is not just, God is not kind, God is not merciful.   While it would be great to get help from God to be able to love him the way he deserves, God wants our love for Him to be a choice and something that can continue to grow.

“Understand” – This is a story about an individual who recovers from brain trauma through the use of hormone therapy.  I am a Robert Ludlum fan and this is somewhat similar to the Jason Bourne character but all the action is mental.   A story about the costs and uses of knowledge.

“The Story of your life” – This one is about aliens landing on earth and how we approach communication with them as well as the result of this interaction.  As stated in the New Yorker, “It’s about accepting the arrival of the inevitable”.  Once again the book is better than the movie.

“Tower of Babylon” – “they gave thanks that they were permitted to see so much, and begged forgiveness for their desire to see more.”  Winner of the Nebula award in 1990 is a short story about a person involved in the final portion of building the tower of babel and what happens when they reach the top.

“Division by Zero” – About a mathematician who disproves mathematics and its effect on her.

“Seventy Two letters” –  About automation, production, population control, class warfare, a cabbalist an assassin and an artist (of “True Names”).

“The Evolution of Human Science” – 3 pages – I think it was over my head. I needed a DNT to read it.

“Liking what you see: A documentary” –  This one was a story I did not finish.    Society has a way to change the circuitry of the brain to change ones visual perception.  Personal appearance is no longer an issue.  Some people decide to remove this device or block called Calliagnosia.  The story just did not hold my interest.