Stories of Your Life and Others
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiangby Ted Chiang
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 13 short story collections by recommenders
A short story collection praised for weaving advanced mathematics, philosophy and computer science into human narratives; the title story inspired the film Arrival.
A short story collection praised for weaving advanced mathematics, philosophy and computer science into human narratives; the title story inspired the film Arrival.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 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
Ideas woven into captivating narratives
“he introduces advanced concepts from mathematics, philosophy, and computer science in a way that’s subtly woven into captivating narratives”
Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?” “all it made me want to do is learn Heptapod B and their senagram style of written communication”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Always Bet on Text” “there's really good stuff that I've loved”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025” Sci-fi premise frames human questions
“same thing asimov does where the sci fi premise is really just a frame for a very human question”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Isaac Asimov: The Last Question” “I think "Arrival" as a story is better than the movie.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “A Man Who Reads Books for a Living (One Every Two Days)” Consistently high quality stories
“I read the "Stories of your life" collection recently and it was quite stunning.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “Anyway, Stories of Your Life and Others is a wonderful collection.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “Everything I've read by him ranges from very good to sublime.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” - Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
- Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
- Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
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 Chiang | 21 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Stories of Your Life and Othersby Ted ChiangThis page | 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
14 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Many of them are very relevant to modern AI actually”
“Chiang's stuff is fantastic.”
“Anyway, Stories of Your Life and Others is a wonderful collection.”
“Everything I've read by him ranges from very good to sublime.”
“I read the "Stories of your life" collection recently and it was quite stunning.”
“it was one of the most beautiful ones I've ever read”
“Other stories in the book have been brilliant too.”
“I think "Arrival" as a story is better than the movie.”
“Story of your life is one of my favorite short stories.”
“same thing asimov does where the sci fi premise is really just a frame for a very human question”
“I also liked a couple stories from Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others.”
“all it made me want to do is learn Heptapod B and their senagram style of written communication”
“there's really good stuff that I've loved”
“he introduces advanced concepts from mathematics, philosophy, and computer science in a way that’s subtly woven into captivating narratives”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.