Ted Chiang’s second collection of short stories, “Exhalation” (Knopf, 350 pages, $25.95), delves into themes as diverse as memory, free will and child-rearing, with settings ranging from medieval Baghdad, Victorian England and not-quite-right-now in America. The title story slowly reveals details of a humanoid race whose anatomical workings diverge ever further from ours. They breathe “air” (their term for the gas argon), have two lungs (that they swap out each day) and are sustained by currents of gas circulating under...

Source: Wall Street Journal May 24, 2019 13:09 UTC