The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

Last updated

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"
by Ted Chiang
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate.jpg
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy
Published inThe Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
Publication type Novelette
Publisher Subterranean Press
Publication dateJuly 2007

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is a fantasy novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, originally published in 2007 by Subterranean Press and reprinted in the September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction . [1] In 2019, the novelette was included in the collection of short stories Exhalation: Stories . [2]

Contents

Plot

Fuwaad ibn Abbas, a fabric merchant in medieval Baghdad, discovers a new shop in the marketplace. The shop owner invites Fuwaad into the back workshop to see a mysterious black stone arch which serves as a gateway into the future, which the shop owner has made by the use of alchemy. The shop owner tells him three stories of people who have traveled through the gate to meet their future selves. In the first tale, the rope-maker Hassan learns where to find a buried treasure that will make him wealthy. In the second tale, a man named Ajib steals money from his future self, leading to misfortune. In the third tale, Hassan's wife Raniya travels forward and backward in time to protect her husband and teach him how to be a good lover. When Fuwaad learns that the shop keeper has another gate in Cairo that will allow people to travel into the past, he attempts to travel backward to see his deceased wife. Although he arrives too late, he does receive a message telling him that she loved him. [3]

Reception

Publishers Weekly wrote a positive review for the story, calling it "skillfully written". [4] In a review of Chiang's collection Exhalation, Kirkus Reviews commented specifically on The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, calling it "an instant classic". [5]

It won the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novelette [6] and the 2008 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Chiang</span> American science fiction writer (born 1967)

Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He was an artist in residence at the University of Notre Dame in 2020–2021. Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker Magazine, most recently on topics related to computer technology, such as artificial intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Story of Your Life</span> 1998 science fiction novella by Ted Chiang

"Story of Your Life" is a science fiction novella by American writer Ted Chiang, first published in Starlight 2 in 1998, and in 2002 in Chiang's collection of short stories, Stories of Your Life and Others. Its major themes are language and determinism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paolo Bacigalupi</span> American science fiction and fantasy writer

Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and has been nominated for the National Book Award. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, and the environmental journal High Country News. Nonfiction essays of his have appeared in Salon.com and High Country News, and have been syndicated in newspapers, including the Idaho Statesman, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Salt Lake Tribune.

<i>The Years Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection</i>

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection is a science fiction anthology edited by Gardner Dozois that was published on July 8, 2008. It is the 25th in The Year's Best Science Fiction series and won the Locus Award for best anthology. The UK edition is titled The Mammoth Book Of Best New SF 21, the "21st Annual Collection" (ISBN 978-1845298289) and contains the same stories listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower of Babylon (story)</span> 1990 science fantasy novelette by Ted Chiang

"Tower of Babylon" is a science fantasy novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, published in 1990. The story revisits the tower of Babel myth as a construction megaproject, in a setting where the principles of pre-scientific cosmology are literally true. It is Chiang's first published work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hell Is the Absence of God</span> 2001 novelette by Ted Chiang

"Hell Is the Absence of God" is a 2001 fantasy novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, first published in Starlight #3, and subsequently reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy 2, and in Fantasy: The Best of 2001, as well as in Chiang's 2002 anthology, Stories of Your Life and Others.

<i>Stories of Your Life and Others</i> 2002 short story collection by Ted Chiang

Stories of Your Life and Others is a collection of short stories by American writer Ted Chiang originally published in 2002 by Tor Books. It collects Chiang's first eight stories. All of the stories except "Liking What You See: A Documentary" were previously published individually elsewhere.

<i>The Lifecycle of Software Objects</i> 2010 novella by Ted Chiang

"The Lifecycle of Software Objects" is a novella by American writer Ted Chiang, originally published in 2010 by Subterranean Press. It focuses on the creation of digital entities and their growth as they are raised by human trainers over the course of many years. The novella received critical praise, winning the 2011 Locus Award for Best Novella and the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

Rachel Swirsky is an American literary, speculative fiction and fantasy writer, poet, and editor living in Oregon. She was the founding editor of the PodCastle podcast and served as editor from 2008 to 2010. She served as vice president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2013.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2001</i>

Nebula Awards Showcase 2001 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Robert Silverberg. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Harcourt in April 2001.

<i>Nebula Awards 26</i>

Nebula Awards 26 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by James Morrow, the first of three successive volumes published under his editorship. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in May 1992.

<i>The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011</i>

The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by American writer Kevin J. Anderson. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Tor Books in May 2011. The first British edition was published in trade paperback and ebook by Robinson in February 2012 under the alternate title The Mammoth Book of Nebula Awards SF.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2009</i>

Nebula Awards Showcase 2009 is an anthology of award winning science fiction short works edited by Ellen Datlow. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in April 2009.

<i>Six-Gun Snow White</i> 2013 fantasy novella by Catherynne M. Valente

Six-Gun Snow White is a 2013 fantasy novella by Catherynne M. Valente, retelling the story of Snow White in a mythical version of the Old West. It was published by Subterranean Press.

"The Fire When It Comes" is a fantasy short story by American writer Parke Godwin. It was first published in the January 1981 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

<i>Exhalation: Stories</i> 2019 collection of short stories by Ted Chiang

Exhalation: Stories is a collection of short stories by American writer Ted Chiang. The book was initially released on May 7, 2019, by Alfred A. Knopf. This is Ted Chiang's second collection of short works, after the 2002 book Stories of Your Life and Others. Exhalation: Stories contains nine stories exploring such issues as humankind's place in the universe, the nature of humanity, bioethics, virtual reality, free will and determinism, time travel, and the uses of robotic forms of A.I. Seven tales were initially published between 2005 and 2015; "Omphalos" and "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" are originals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamsyn Muir</span> New Zealand writer (born 1985)

Tamsyn Muir is a New Zealand author of fantasy, science fiction and horror. Muir won the 2020 Locus Award for her first novel, Gideon the Ninth, and has been nominated for several other awards as well.

"Omphalos" is a science fantasy short story by American author Ted Chiang. It is named after the Omphalos hypothesis and a 1857 book by English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse. It was first published in Chiang's 2019 collection, Exhalation: Stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom</span> Short story by Ted Chiang

"Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" is a science fiction novella by American writer Ted Chiang, initially published in 2019 collection Exhalation: Stories. The novella's name quotes a proverb by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in his work The Concept of Anxiety. An abridged version of the novella was also published under the title "Better Versions of You" in the literary supplement to The New York Times.

References

  1. "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang". Goodreads . goodreads.com. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  2. Di Filippo, Paul (3 May 2019). "Review | Ted Chiang's 'Exhalation,' like his story that inspired 'Arrival,' fuses intellect and emotion". Washington Post . Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  3. Silver, Steven H. (2007). "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate: Ted Chiang: Subterranean Press, 83 pages". SF Site . sfsite.com. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. "Fiction Book Review: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate". Publishers Weekly. 2 April 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  5. "Exhalation". Kirkus Reviews. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  6. "2008 Hugo Awards" . Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  7. "Nebula Awards 2008". sfadb. Retrieved 13 May 2022.