Exhalation
Exhalation by Ted Chiangby Ted Chiang
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 13 short story collections
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.
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.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Thought-provoking ideas and speculative concepts
“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”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Surprisingly complex waves reveal the brain's inner workings” “In terms of ideas, Chiang and qntm are a tie for absolute favorite for me.”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” “I love short speculative fiction. And the above are among my favorites.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” - Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Are we offloading too much of our thinking to AI?”
- Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
- Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Isaac Asimov: The Last Question”
Strong, memorable stories throughout
“"Exhalation" was very good. Not every story was great, but as a whole is was lovely”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “that story in particular but also the whole collection”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” “every single story is blowing my mind”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 on Hacker News - Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Isaac Asimov: The Last Question”
- Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “No, Artificial Intelligence is not Conscious - Ted Chiang”
Lovely as a whole collection
“"Exhalation" was very good. Not every story was great, but as a whole is was lovely”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “that story in particular but also the whole collection”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” “which is also a very good short story collection”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Sci-Fi Short Film "There Is No Antimemetics Division" [video]” - Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025”
Fresh perspective on being human
“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”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Surprisingly complex waves reveal the brain's inner workings” “Exhalation for some reason really resonates with me.”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Isaac Asimov: The Last Question”
Other short story collections people recommend
The four most recommended other short story collections, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhalationby Ted ChiangThis page | 21 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Stories of Your Life and Othersby Ted Chiang | 15 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Valuable Humans in Transitby qntm | 10 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Ficcionesby Jorge Luis Borges | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| The Decameronby Giovanni Boccaccio | 6 | 1 | 86% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
15 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“every single story is blowing my mind”
“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”
“I think about it all the time and I highly recommend it.”
“"Exhalation" was very good. Not every story was great, but as a whole is was lovely”
“I love short speculative fiction. And the above are among my favorites.”
“I want to recommend one about technology and progress in general”
“masterpieces like Exhalation”
“Exhalation is really excellent.”
“Exhalation for some reason really resonates with me.”
“In terms of ideas, Chiang and qntm are a tie for absolute favorite for me.”
“that story in particular but also the whole collection”
“which is also a very good short story collection”
“I liked one of them in particular, the others were okay.”
“there's really good stuff that I've loved”
“just skip it and get more great value”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.