Quyen is trying to cope even as she clings to the fantasy that her husband will return from going to quell the rebellion. Linh finds a station in the disorganized grip of Quyen, who is unable to summon the authority and drive necessary to keep things running smoothly. The Dai Viet Empire crumbles from a rebellion, and a disgraced magistrate, Linh, flees to her relatives on Prosper Station, running from the crime of pointing out that the emperor has no clothes. Whereas “Immersion” is set on Longevity Station, this novella takes place on Prosper Station, at an unspecified time. Of course, that kind of assimilation is exactly what the Rong who would reverse engineer the technology are trying to avoid. The Galactics’ immersers are so entrenched in the Galactic culture and way of thinking that one has to think like a Galactic before one can reverse engineer them. I really liked how de Bodard captures the viral nature of colonialism in “Immersion”. On a Red Station, Drifting is set in the same universe as de Bodard’s other Hugo nominee for 2013, the short story “Immersion”. But seriously, if you want to get the scoop on de Bodard’s other universes, you should check out Rob’s reviews. So far I’ve only managed those stories nominated for Hugo Awards-and hey, look, another one. I have quite a fair bit of her fiction knocking around in ebook form (thanks, Angry Robot), but I haven’t actually gotten around to reading much of it. I need to give a shout-out to fellow reviewer Rob here, because I feel like I know Aliette de Bodard’s work mostly through him.
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