“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (collected in “Exhalation: Stories”)

I don’t know how to sing this story’s merits in a way that hasn’t been expressed in the more than ten years since its initial publication. Suffice to say Chiang has a proven record for engaging with fantastical but typical storytelling elements in a way that makes them feel brand new, with his version of a time travel tale spinning out to so many individual stories and yet remaining centered to its chief protagonist, a man that seeks redemption where others seek fortune. I could do with a whole film based on this story, but Chiang’s just getting warmed up.

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