Arrival was coming out as a movie and I picked this book up because I was really excited about this story that combined linguistics and aliens arriving on earth (!!!). The trailer looked to me like a creative way to tackle the question: What would happen if aliens visited Earth? What other sci-fi novels gloss over is the inherent problem with communicating with these foreign beings, but Chiang addresses this head on which I appreciated. I find language fascinating and throw in deciphering an alien language and you got me hooked. Reading this novella was (like most) better than watching the movie, although I will give credit to the movie which was also really cool. You just get all of the juicy details as Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) has to figure out what the hell these alien symbols mean while also trying to build a future for her unborn daughter. Told in alternating past and future it is really a great read and very short, less than one hundred pages short. Tower of Babylon is also a trippy read about miners that must ascend the tallest tower in all of the land to break through the Vault of Heaven to reveal Yahweh’s creation. When the mission reaches its peak, we learn we are right back to where we started. Is man supposed to reach heaven? Lots of goodness in this collection of short stories.