Exhalation is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang is an American speculative fiction writer. His Chinese name is Chiang Feng-nan.He was born in Port Jefferson, New York and graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in Bellevue, near...

. It was first published in 2008, in the anthology

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

, "Eclipse 2: New Science Fiction and Fantasy", edited by Jonathan Strahan

Jonathan Strahan

Jonathan Strahan is an editor and publisher of science fiction. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986....

. It won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story

Hugo Award for Best Short Story

The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...

.

Plot summary

The story is epistolary

Epistolary novel

An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...

 in nature, taking the form of a scientist's journal entry. The scientist is a member of a race of air-driven mechanical beings. When it is realised that a number of clocks simultaneously appear to be running fast but they do not appear to be malfunctioning, the narrator decides to explore alternate explanations. The scientist carries out an experiment which confirms his worst fears.

External links

• Full text of story - PDF document at Night Shade Books.
• Audio podcast of the story published by Escape Pod
  Escape Pod (podcast)
  Escape Pod is a magazine-style podcast launched on 12 May 2005 which presents stories in the genre of science fiction. It has been called "the world's leading science fiction podcast". Until his retirement in May 2010, the podcast was hosted by founder Steve Eley and edited by Jeremiah Tolbert...
  
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• Exhalation by Ted Chiang at BestScienceFictionStories.com - A review of the story with resources for finding it.