But Chang, who never published a full-length novel, gives us something else. These stories can be good, and I actually enjoy Dozois/GRRM’s anthologies a lot. This is not like a short story from GRRM’s thematic anthology – a way for, arguably good, authors to sell you on their multi-novel bookverses with 30-page trailers. Every story is a gem, maybe even one I didn’t like that I will enjoy bitching about near the end of this text. The anthology contains eight stories and notes from the author. With just fourteen short stories and a novella, the author behind the recent film “Arrival” has gained a rapturous following within the genre and beyond.ĭo read this excellent profile from New Yorker, by Joshua Rothman … and keep that in mind – not every genre writer gets a solid article about him in New Yorker, even in 2017. The science of language is done with great care for details, and while the movie – and at this point I know it only from reviews and trailers – adds many entertaining details, to build a feature film from 64-page short story – it’s still a piece of hard s/f.īut enough about the movie, short story collection is what this post is about. Their language (languages in fact, as their writing is a language in its own right) reflects that. It’s not a line for them and so they understand the world in a way far removed from our experience. The problem is, this alien culture is build upon fundamentally different understanding of time. Well, the goal of our protagonist, government would prefer to gain some useful technology. Without any threat of invasion, this is no Ender’s Game, the goal is just to understand a fundamentally different culture. Heh, new Dune… I’m not ashamed to admit I love Lynch’s version, but I’m ready for a new one.īack to Arrival…a science fiction with Amy Adams playing a linguist trying to decipher alien language. From the guy behind new Blade Runner, and, (even more important!) new Dune. Arrival might be the most interesting movie I missed in 2016.

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