Originally published November 1990 | Publication date November 1990 | |
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Genre(s) Science fiction novelette Similar Ted Chiang books, Nebula Award for Best Novelette winners, Other books | ||
"Tower of Babylon" is a science fantasy novelette published in 1990 by Ted Chiang. The story revisits the tower of Babel myth as a construction megaproject, in a setting where the principles of pre-scientific cosmology (the geocentric model, celestial spheres, etc.) are literally true. It is Chiang's first published work.
Contents
Synopsis
Hillalum is a miner from Elam who has been summoned to the Tower of Babylon, an enormous brick tower that has been in continuous construction for centuries. He and his colleagues have been hired to dig through the Vault of Heaven to discover Yahweh's creation. Hillalum alone passes through the Vault, and finds himself under the ground below rather than in Heaven, as expected.
Reception
"Tower" won the 1991 Nebula Award for Best Novelette, and was nominated for the 1991 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.