Customer Reviews

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Time travel is not a subject to be undertaken lightly. It has been handled badly by many, but Chiang is more than up to the task. The paradoxes and moral dilemmas involved in this kind of story are explored with sensitivity and depth, and Chiang's characteristic rigor about the science and logic of his stories is in evidence all the way through. This in fact is what sets Chiang's writing apart -- depth of character combined with carefully considered and constructed hard science.

As a book, I think it's quite attractive. Those familiar with book art will recognize and appreciate the quality of the paper and the binding; check out the embossed sun motif on the front cover (under the dust jacket). And the illustrations are nothing short of stunning. Largely atmospheric -- a good thing, in my mind -- they nevertheless manage on occasion to refer to specific details in a subtle way that opens up the story for me and reverberates with it in pleasant and unexpected ways.

It's regrettable that some have mistaken this book for more than it is -- a single, very good story in a limited print run book from a small press interested in books as objects of art.

Finally, I am somewhat mystified by those who criticize Chiang for his output. Given how carefully crafted and well thought out his work is, I am quite content to accept the gift of his writing in a quantity and at a pace that works for him. As if I had any other choice!

Ted Chiang has done it again. His novelette, The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate is another spark of brilliance from a writer whose name is becoming synonymous with "year's best."

This story is time travel meets Arabian Nights. It's a story with a moral imperative about changing the past or affecting the future. The narrator, Fuwaad ibn Abbas, tells the Caliph of Baghdad the story of his own involvement with the Alchemist's Gate by telling him the stories of other people who have gone through that same gate. Each story contributes to the overall narrative, each adds to the beautiful Arabian scenery, from Baghdad to Cairo, and each reveals more capabilities of the gate itself.

In my experience with Chiang's writing, he explores the idea of fatalism from two perspectives: Can one change his fate? and Can one accept his fate? Some of the nested story's protaganists can accept, some cannot, yet the narrator realizes the most important thing about time travel is knowledge not deed. It is that essential truth that is the theme of the story.

I can't recommend it enough.

- CV Rick, April 2008

This is a short story, not a novel. But the depth of this story will leave you thinking about it for months afterward, and probably bring you to tears. I have never read an author that uses language this beautifully.

The topic of this story piqued my interest so I went and bought the Nebula Awards Showcase for the Kindle so I could read it. I would have to say that this is the best thing I have read in such a long long long time. This is a very promising writer. It was a perfect mix of story telling, time travel, ancient tech, and history. I only wish it was longer, and was sad to come to the end.

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, by Ted Chiang, illustrations by Jacob McMurray (64 pgs., 2007). The artwork is brilliant. They seem to be woodcut reproductions and are quite intricate & evocative of the chapters they illustrate. This very short novella or long short story is a modern fable meant to teach us lessons of faith & humility. The story takes place in Cairo & Baghdad. An Alchemist has devoted his talents to creating a gateway through which one can walk either 20 years into the future or 20 years into the past. Through various tales we learn certain truths. Such as; "Four things do not come back: the spoken words, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity."
The author adds, "Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough."

This story woven within stories within an over-arching story is perhaps the most beautiful and moving that I have ever encountered. The tales are both entertaining and profound. It gave me a different perspective on the past and our relationship to it. With a book such as this, we do not pay for words by the pound, but purchase a gateway into a magical world - the world that is our own, but seen through the lens of wisdom. This is especially suited for reading aloud, in the voice of a medieval storyteller.

I saw the many complaints and I had to put my piece in about Chiang. I read the story in the Magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction (September 2007) issue and I loved it. I had my Wife read it and she loved it also. Because of this I am now a FAN and have purchased Mr. Chaing's Stories of your life. Mr. Chaing is a very complex writer that I have never, one heard of before and two experienced writing such as his. His stories deserve every award he has received to date. The depth of this story and the "Story of your life" are incredible. Give this author a chance and you will not be sorry.

Ted Chiang is becoming an author to watch out for now, and looking back on this novella from earlier days I only wish I'd got it when it was published. It's a gem of a story and will be worth re-reading every so often. This edition,from Subterranean Press, is beautifully illustrated, both bookcover and interior designs. Highly recommended.

This is a mesmerizing short story, and a worthy successor for Chiang's previous collection: Stories of Your Life and Others.

My beef with this book is that it is far, far too short. The plot and characters set up in this short story could so easily (and more satisfyingly) been drawn out at least into a short novel. When one subtracts the space for the illustrations (lovely though they are) and considers the page breaks, this book is tiny indeed.

Like a diamond though, it is small but wonderful. The intricately woven tale make it a real page turner, the sprinkles of wisdom and paradox alike will keep you thinking and make it worth a re-read. I can't honestly say whether or not it is worth the price for the length of the story, but it isn't lacking at all for quality, and for fans of Ted Chiang this is a must have.

The story was good, probably worth 4 stars on its own. Not suspenseful, not groundbreaking, but certainly an interesting read.

My main gripe is that i paid a smidge over $13, discounted from a $20 sticker price, for a story that took me about 35 minutes to read. There's nothing in the product description that indicates the tiny size of this book, and i even suspect the product dimensions of being misleading when they suggest the book is 0.7 inches thick. By my visual inspection it seems less than half an inch, including the hardcover.

There seems to be a plague lately of publishing hardcover novellas and charging nearly novel prices for them, and it's frustrating. I'm a staunch advocate of people buying a book instead of just reading it over coffee at the bookstore, but with instances like this, buying it just doesn't make sense for most people.