# Exhalation by Ted Chiang

21 Hacker News commenters recommended Exhalation by Ted Chiang and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A short story collection that people recommend for its thought-provoking ideas and strong stories, with several readers calling it a favorite; no recurring criticism appears in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Thought-provoking ideas and speculative concepts (6 comments): "a deep explanation of these alien brains and at the same time made me appreciate that we also still know so little about our own" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49916252)) "In terms of ideas, Chiang and qntm are a tie for absolute favorite for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47675249)) "I love short speculative fiction. And the above are among my favorites." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899887))
- Strong, memorable stories throughout (5 comments): ""Exhalation" was very good. Not every story was great, but as a whole is was lovely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899920)) "that story in particular but also the whole collection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47668159)) "every single story is blowing my mind" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49960965))
- Lovely as a whole collection (4 comments): ""Exhalation" was very good. Not every story was great, but as a whole is was lovely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899920)) "that story in particular but also the whole collection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47668159)) "which is also a very good short story collection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47413148))
- Fresh perspective on being human (2 comments): "a deep explanation of these alien brains and at the same time made me appreciate that we also still know so little about our own" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49916252)) "Exhalation for some reason really resonates with me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806208))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang](https://hackerapproved.com/p/stories-of-your-life-and-others.md): 15 recommend
- [Valuable Humans in Transit by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/valuable-humans-in-transit.md): 10 recommend
- [Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ficciones.md): 6 recommend
- [The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/decameron.md): 6 recommend
- [Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmicomics.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101972084?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781101972083) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Exhalation by Ted Chiang", https://hackerapproved.com/p/exhalation/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).