2012 Nebula Awards--Short Stories

I wasn't impressed by the nominees for the 2012 Nebula novel award, but the short stories were all great!  They can be found here.  I'd be happy if any of them won, but I think my favorites were “Immersion“ by Aliette de Bodard (cultural imperialism in a galactic setting) and “Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes“ by Tom Crosshill (a man comes to terms with his mother's declining health, and realizes that one's conception of oneself never matches how other people read one).  Leah Cypess's “Nanny’s Day“ feels very emotionally true, although it has more to do with shifting social mores than sf.  Helena Ball's “Robot“ is the super creepy (but also somehow comforting and inspiring) tale of an explorer dealing with old age, being both slowly eaten and sustained by an alien robot.  Cat Rambo's “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain“ presents a world whose inhabitants are made of porcelain; trouble ensues when a member of the tourist bureau falls in love with a human tourist.  “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species“ by Ken Liu is a list of imaginative and fantastical alien methods of conveying information and stories.  The only story I wasn't enthused by was “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream“ by Maria Dahvana Headley, I think simply because it felt experimental in a dated sort of way.

Overall, a great bunch!