More Chiang

When it comes to buying, some books are for true fans only and Ted Chiang's The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate qualifies. Now this is a great story, that I think most short story readers would like. So why can't I recommend it for purchase? Because it is 50 short pages at $25. You can read it in about 15 minutes. Of course, this puts it in graphic novel territory, so maybe that price is reasonable to some. The book is published by Subterranean Press which specializes in creating lavishly illustrated editions.

Chiang's short story is out of print, so if you can get it at the library, then by all means do do. It is a story about fate and attempting to manipulate time to get what you want. It is about as good as the stories found in Stories of Your Life And Others, but it doesn't exceed them. Given that Stories is one of the finest short story collections available, this isn't a bad thing.