“Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (collected in “Exhalation: Stories”)

When an acclaimed SF writer aims to tackle the nature of consciousness, the frailty of memory, and climate change all in one short story, they usually don’t land on comedy. Chiang, however, mines humor out of unveiling what’s going on in this tale and still manages to land its Big Message at the end. (I don’t want to spoil what sort of surreal imagery is presented here, but let’s just say the process of breathing in “Exhalation”’s world is darkly comedic.) No question why this won a Hugo a decade ago and why it is the title of this collection.

9