Relatively few people usually vote for the shorter works for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Nebula Awards, and we only had a month to evaluate all the works on the ballot with its many categories, so I started with the short stories, which was doable. This year, I wasn’t entirely impressed. I thought some of the stories were simple and shallow — but not all of them.
“Because I Held His Name Like a Key” by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25) — An immortal being seduces a human, and we all know what’s going to happen next. This is a low-energy retread of a familiar story.
“Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25) — A woman who uses a wheelchair discovers that superpowers will not overcome indifference to accessibility needs. The story works better as grievance catharsis than literature.
“The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead” by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25) — The ghosts left behind on Tawlish Island feel lonely as the descendants go on with their lives elsewhere. Nostalgia and sadness make for a sweet but oft-told story.
“Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed 5/25) — An actor’s image is used to make movies that he never participated in, and he feels bad about it. Although the storyline is timely, it is explored with little emotional nuance, and the telling struck me as simplistic.
“In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25) — In a strange country, people are permitted by law to speak plainly or not at all. This story is sort of a parable, and its telling is not plain, and that kind of story can make you feel.
My vote: “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny 1-2/25) – Liza is sure she needs to change to find peace because a corporation is persuasively selling its services for change to vulnerable, anxious people. But what to change and why? It’s hard to find good advice. The unflinching characterization told me early on that Liza was self-deluded. What could make her wise up?
Semiosis 