Review: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I didn't just like this one, I loved it too.

"On the morning of my departure, Najya and I argued. I spoke harshly to her, using words that it shames me to recall, and I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness if I do not repeat them here."

A little bit of alchemy (an odd narrative choice I thought) is used to turn stones into time jumping gateways. The alchemist is at first demonstrating a short-jump stone to the merchant, but he goes on to tell three cautionary (micro)tales for time traveling enthusiasts.

"My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything, and I understood that it could not have been otherwise."

I liked all of these quick thought experiments. The second (micro)story was my favourite, about greed and value and honour. The third was quite unexpected and at least a little quirky.

"Grief owes no debt."

The framing story is quite pedestrian to begin with but eventually provides a fourth cautionary tale which has a great ending.

"For a moment I was unsure if I were dreaming or awake, because I felt as if I had stepped into a tale, and the thought that I might talk to its players and partake of its events was dizzying. I was tempted to speak, and see if I might play a hidden role in that tale, but then I remembered that my goal was to play a hidden role in my own tale."

The whole thing is actually kind of doubly framed, with the merchant telling the story of how he had met the alchemist to his "Majesty," and with the alchemist telling the merchant the cautionary tales.

'The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate' is a light read but also a somewhat thoughtful and very entertaining read.

"I left in anger, and never saw her again. [ ... ] she died soon after. I did not learn of her death until I returned a week later, and I felt as if I had killed her with my own hand."

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