A short life of the author
Ted Chiang (b. 20 October 1967) was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, and raised in Port Jefferson Station, New York. He studied computer science at Brown University and works as a technical writer.
Life and Career
Chiang publishes infrequently — he has produced fewer than twenty stories in over thirty years — but every story is a major event. “Tower of Babylon” (1990) — about workers building the Tower of Babel who discover what lies at the top — won the Nebula Award. “Story of Your Life” (1998) — about a linguist learning an alien language that alters her perception of time — won the Nebula and was adapted into the film Arrival.
Stories of Your Life and Others (2002) collects his first decade of work. Exhalation: Stories (2019) — including “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” (about raising artificial intelligences as pets) and “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” (about parallel universes) — confirmed his status as the finest short-fiction writer in science fiction.
Major Works and Themes
Chiang writes about language, time, free will, religion, and what it means to be human. His fiction uses rigorous scientific and philosophical premises — not as gimmicks but as ways to illuminate fundamental questions about human experience.
Key Works
- Stories of Your Life and Others (2002)
- Exhalation (2019)
Collecting Chiang
Stories of Your Life and Others first edition (Tor, 2002) in fine condition brings $100–$300. Subterranean Press limited editions bring $200–$500. Chiang continues to publish — rarely.