Ted Chiang is one of those authors who writes rarely, but aptly. This collection is all that Chan has accumulated over twelve years. It would seem incredibly few: 7 stories and one sketch, but if you consider that of them, “The Tower of Babel” (debut!), “The Story of Your Life” and “Hell is the Absence of God” received a Nebula each, and the last was also awarded the Hugo Award; finally, “72 Letters” was awarded the “Sidewise Award” (for the best work in the alternative historical genre)... - you must agree, such a number of awards says something. Chan works in the now rare genre of “hard” science fiction. The main thing in his stories is the idea, and the plot, the history of a particular life, are secondary. But his ideas are truly original. In Chang's worlds, anything can happen: the art of creating golems is studied in schools, the golems themselves are used in industrial enterprises; the inhabitants of the earth are watching Hell literally under their feet, and also - which is dangerous for health! — angels and Heavenly Light above your head; the aliens teach earthlings not just their language, but a fundamentally different way of thinking; the builders of the Tower of Babel reach the vault of heaven and break through it... Alas, sometimes the presentation of one or another idea obscures the plot, turning the story into something like an essay or a summary of a novel. But it’s worth reading this book; almost no one writes anything like this today - which is a pity... Result: an interesting collection of smart, original stories that fans of hard science fiction will surely enjoy. Alas, it was not translated very carefully.