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The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate | 
 enlarge | Author: Ted Chiang
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Category: Book
Buy Used: $59.95
New (3) Used (3) from $59.95
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 958995
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 62
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 1596061006
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781596061002
ASIN: 1596061006
Publication Date: July 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Publisher: Subterranean PressDate of Publication: 2007Binding: Hard CoverEdition: First EditionCondition: Very Good/Very GoodDescription: 8vo - over 7?" - 9?" tall 1596061002 Used Very Good/Very Good in White Boards; 60 pages; Minor shelfwear; Text clean and unmarked; DJ in archival mylar jacket; All orders tracked.
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Product Description
In medieval Baghdad, a penniless man is brought before the most powerful man in the world, the caliph himself, to tell his story. It begins with a walk in the bazaar, but soon grows into a tale unlike any other told in the caliph's empire. It's a story that includes not just buried treasure and a band of thieves, but also men haunted by their past and others trapped by their future; it includes not just a beloved wife and a veiled seductress, but also long journeys taken by caravan and even longer ones taken with a single step. Above all, it's a story about recognizing the will of Allah and accepting it, no matter what form it takes.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Arabian Nights Meets Time Travel April 20, 2008
CV Rick (Minneapolis, MN, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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
 Small portions, delicious meal. September 23, 2007
Chantry Gilbert (Pensacola, FL USA)
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.
Attractive small-presss chapbook, great story September 6, 2007
J. P. Kelley (The Pacific Northwest, USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
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!
Awesome August 26, 2007
K. J. Falls (Belford, NJ United States)
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.
 Poor quality of the product August 7, 2007
Anastasia (Staten Island, NY)
3 out of 11 found this review helpful
This review is for the published product, not for the story itself, which I haven't read yet. The book is tiny, and the quality is poor. The pages are made of thin, rough paper. The spine is painted on the dust-jacket off-center. That was very disappointed. Unfortunately, this isn't a product you can put on your shelf with pride.
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