[gcanyon]

I'll take this as my chance to recommend Ted Chiang -- he is among the very best short story writers working in science fiction (I say confidently, not having done an extensive survey...). His works are remarkably clever, from Understand, which does a credible job of portraying human superintelligence, to Exhalation, which explores the concept of entropy in a fascinating way. And of course Story of Your Life, on which Arrival was based.

Almost all of his stories are gems, carefully crafted and thoughtful. I just can't recommend him enough.

[3abiton]

I second Exhalation, it was a great experience, and I couldn't share that excitement after reading as no one in my (offline) circle had read it at the time. Reddit was one of those places where it was brought up at least.

[gcanyon]

It's a great metaphor, and such a ridiculous path to get there (when the researcher is (mild spoilers) experimenting on himself. So good!

[7thaccount]

Understand really was my favorite super intelligence story. Isn't the new show severance based off one of his short stories as well? I can't remember. I wasn't a big fan of the pacing of the digients story with the little digital life forms. It was certainly thought provoking though.

[gcanyon]

It's sooo easy to blow it when illustrating super intelligence. Interestingly, I thought Phenomenon with John Travolta did a pretty reasonable job -- when they asked him to name as many animals as he could in a minute, and he was bored and made it harder (by giving them for each letter of the alphabet?) and when he says to a friend that he should redesign/paint the parking lot outside his store because he could add an extra space and at the same time make the traffic flow smoother.

[jrussino]

I'll preface this by saying I've only watched season 1 of Severance so far.

I have never heard anyone involved with the show suggest this, but I feel pretty strongly that it's based off or at least inspired by Greg Egan's "Learning To Be Me".

[I-M-S]

Severence is an original work written by Dan Erickson.

[OisinMoran]

Yeah I’m a massive Chiang fan but I’ve told everyone to skip “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” when recommending the Exhalation collection, though I feel it’s only getting more relevant.

[mkoubaa]

Why? I found that story fantastic

[7thaccount]

My wife and I both thought the pacing was glacial. The subject matter was also pretty depressing (not unusual with his stories) and I didn't think the payoff was that great tbh.

Overall, it's a fantastic book though.

[mkoubaa]

That could be the case. I read it on vacation so I was more willing to indulge in a slower story

[owlninja]

I first heard of him at some point on HN. Tower of Babylon absolutely blew me away. I read all his other story collections and can't recommend them enough.

[mkoubaa]

I read the Exhalation collection last year and plan to read it once every two or three years for the rest of my life

[gcanyon]

I have stories on permanent rotation like this.

[textlapse]

I recommend reading George Saunders - probably the best living short story writer. His way of writing is both out there and grounded at the same time. Not much sci-fi (if anything it’s whimsical) though.

His collection Tenth of December is probably my favorite.