Winner of both Nebula (2012) and Locus (2013) awards for Best Short Story, Aliette de Bodard’s Immersion is a powerful, thought-provoking story that belongs to her Xuya series – science fiction stories set in a world of Vietnamese culture-inspired alternate history. On Longevity Station, Quy spends her free time watching the spaceships arrive bringing Galactic tourists to the station, feeling caught between happy memories of her student days and the realities of her life now. When she’s called in to her family’s restaurant to help with negotiations for a Galactic couple’s wedding anniversary plans, she finds herself faced with the shocking sight of a woman who’s so lost in her attempts to fit in that she’s forgotten who she truly is.
It’s told from two viewpoints, alternating between Quy’s third person perspective and a slightly unsettling second person for Agnes, the woman who hides behind her digital avatar and struggles to understand the world around her. Initially a little dense (albeit beautifully written, full of attention to detail), making no attempt to spoon-feed the reader with context for this world and its peoples, history and technology, it rewards patience with a powerful story that belies its short length. On the surface it offers a warning on the perils of relying too heavily on technology, specifically the ‘immersers’ – Galactic tech – that are part augmented reality guidebook, part user interface with the world, but beyond that it’s a sharply-observed tale of cultural subversion and domination. Between Quy’s frustration and Agnes’ confusion we’re offered a glimpse of the uneven dynamic between two cultures, the price paid for the convenience of immerser tech and the simplified, unnuanced outlook it encourages.
Despite its brevity, and the fact that there’s only time here to quickly dip beneath the surface of the characters, the core themes still come across with almost startling power and clarity, everything coming together into a short but fascinating, powerful story. It offers a tantalising glimpse of this intriguing setting and what it offers, and the tremendous amount of thought put into it; the world building goes way beyond just the cool technology, offering up an immersive sense of two fascinating cultures – Rong and Galactic – and the idiosyncrasies of their languages, with hints of a vibrant wider setting to be explored further. This was my first experience with de Bodard’s writing, and it’s safe to say it won’t be my last – there’s a lot to think about in here, and I fully expect to enjoy revisiting it, perhaps after exploring a little more of the Xuya series.
Immersion was first published in Clarkesworld in 2012, but I read it as part of The Best of World SF Volume 1, edited by Lavie Tidhar and published by Head of Zeus 2021.
Many thanks to Head of Zeus for sending me a review copy of The Best of World SF Volume 1, in exchange for my honest reviews – keep an eye out for more short reviews of some of the other stories featured in this anthology.
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Many thanks for this review! I just discovered this story in the anthology Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 (ed.Kij Johnson), and found it fascinating. I had to read it a second time to fully understand the story. It was certainly worth the second read.
Thanks Carl, glad you enjoyed the review. It’s a brilliant story, isn’t it? If you haven’t already, I’d recommend checking out Aliette’s new novel The Red Scholar’s Wake for a full-length story set in the same universe (different characters, though)!
Many thanks, Michael!