Continuing my reading of the Nebula short story nominees for 2012. Immersion is a straight-up story, focused effectively on an extension of smartphone dependency. What if our devices could steer and cue us through our lives so effectively that we didn't have to think about it? We would always know just what to say or do, even in foreign places. De Bodard speculates dependency, and tells a moving story of a woman trapped by her device, and another who recognizes it. It's pretty easy to see where else this could go--could it prop up the demented past sanity, and would it still be them responding? Fun. 3 stars from me for a solid read.
Reading the author bios for this year, I am struck by the fact that most have day jobs. I think that to live as an author must be to really scramble, take a vow of poverty or be a best-seller. Awards don't help much. Probably has always been that way.
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