In “Divide by Zero” all mathematics turns out to be vain. The mother does nothing, and can do nothing, to prevent the accident, since only those things that are fated to be will be. She knows her daughter is going to die in a pointless accident even before the night the daughter is conceived.
In “Story of your Life” a mother, through the study of an alien language, learns how to see the universe from a timeless point of view. For no apparent reason, and without any plot-purpose, these two “superior intelligences” both mutually agree that there is no possible way they both can exist, they duel, and one murders the other. Neither one is threatening or interfering with the goals of the other. One man wants nothing but to be left alone while he pursues his research, while the other wishes to use his powers to benefit mankind peacefully. The super-mind discovers a second super intelligent man. The depiction of a mind smarter than any mind of man is wonderfully well-done, and the story is worth reading just for this alone. In “Understand” the super intelligent man is obsessed with finding a perfect expression of linguistic philosophy that will express the universe. But the ending is weak, and the immense tower turns out to have been built in vain. It is filled with amusing and authentic touches, like the Egyptian stone-masons brought in to chip through the hard surface of the sky-dome, or the description of how mid-levels of the tower rendered inhospitable by the too-near approach of the fiery sun.
Each story ends with tepid pessimism.įirst, the “Tower of Babylon” tale engages the reader with solid characterization and a thought-provoking description of what the mighty engineering feat of “building a tower to heaven” would have been like, had the world been flat.
All my gripes must be taken with a grain of salt.)Įight well-crafted stories with engaging and interesting ideas are marred by weak endings. (WARNING! I am a science-fiction writer in economic competition with Mr. It was written a few years ago, back when I was an atheist: This is a reprint of my review, which I posted to, of Ted Chiang’s STORY OF YOUR LIFE AND OTHERS.