Snapshot

I'm a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson, and this short story is exactly why I love his work. Beautifully conceived places, immersive story and intriguing relationships between people. The technology is fascinating, well thought out and has limitations that makes sense. This is what I expect from a Sanderson novel, and it's exactly what was delivered.

A snapshot is taken of day inside a city. Everything about that day is replicated into a virtual image and detectives are placed on "snapshot" duty to investigate crimes that took place the day that was snapshotted. People outside the snapshot know about it and it's implementation is highly controversial because if anything is changed from how things were originally done that day, people and events deviate. Davis and Chaz are two detectives following a lead when they discover building that has a pool in the basement. This pool is filled with dead bodies. Having not been given clearance to investigate this crime, their interests are peaked and take it upon themselves to investigate who murdered all of these people in the pool.This is a multilevel, science fiction, crime thriller in traditional Brandon Sanderson fashion. For a story that is just under 100 pages, it is rich in detail and character development. Davis conveys his humanity intermittently throughout this story that only adds to his character. We also get some back story on both Davis and Chaz and how each ended up on "snapshot duty". There are so many twists and turns, things that threw me through a loop. Brandon Sanderson layers everything so perfectly and it really makes the story come together. This story was well framed and left very few questions unanswered.While I am not a huge fan of short stories overall, Brandon Sanderson never fails to bring something unique and interesting to the table and I will forever read anything and everything he writes. This story is just one more example of how talented he is.

Sanderson is his usual convoluted self in this near-future detective story. There are multiple twists, layers of meaning, some plot devices you see coming and some that you don't. I can't say I enjoyed this as much as The Emperor's Soul or other shorter works by Sanderson, but it is interesting and thought-provoking. If you're a fan or a completionist, it's definitely worth getting.If you're not a Sanderson fan already, frankly, I'd start out with the Mistborn novels or The Emperor's Soul, though, and not Snapshot. This story is much different from Sanderson's usual fare. While this has a Bladerunner/Minority Report aftertaste for me, it's not quite up to his usual standards. Or maybe it was just too short. 4.5 stars.

Detectives Davis and Chaz work Snapshots. Snapshots are re-creations of entire days that look and feel real. The general public was so concerned about privacy and security due to the accuracy and level of detail in the Snapshots, so they are locked down and only used when a judge rules it necessary for solving a court case. Davis and Chaz have been sent in on a homicide case to establish an eyewitness for the event and maybe find where the perpetrator stashed the weapon. But they stumble onto another case while in there, a huge case that they’ve for some reason been locked out of.Brandon Sanderson at his mystery best. Throw in a little futuristic tech, play with peoples’ minds a little bit, and write a twisty mystery that sucks you right in. I didn’t see all the twists coming, which I enjoy, and I liked the future tech Sanderson dreamed up. I had a little bit of trouble keeping Davis and Chaz straight, but I think that’s partly because I read this on my phone whenever I had little bits of time to kill so it was quite broken up until I got so hooked I devoured the end. It’s best to go into this not knowing much about it. Recommended to those who like near future scifi tech with a murder mystery thrown in that’s not quite like anything you’ve ever read before (except for maybe a teensy bit like Inception).Notes on content: A few swear words. No sex scenes. A few murders, but they are of constructs of people rather than real people…still, some are a bit twisted.

The main strength of this novella is the inventive and original premise that creates the setting for what is essentially a crime/detective thriller. The eponymous ‘snapshot’ refers to a copy of a particular day that is somehow realised organically. Entering this duplicate day in the past allows for the story’s two protagonists to investigate crimes that have already taken place before they have happened; their objective to discover evidence that might not be gained retrospectively, such as becoming eye witnesses to the crime themselves. There is, of course, the added complexity that anything their interaction alters in the ‘snapshot’ creates deviations from what actually happens in the real world.In this way the novella manages to utilise aspects of traveling back in time, alternate dimensions and virtual worlds. And, as you might expect, there are also echoes of such things as ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Inception’.As to how and why this ‘snapshot’ functions isn’t really covered in the story. Nor is the situation of the actual world outside the ‘snapshot’, which is clearly not the same as the present day real world. All this is not really necessary for the style and scope of the story though, especially with a relatively short length.Despite the premise and its science fiction elements, at its core the story is a detective duo investigating crimes. This allows for some typical television/movie cop banter which helps to carry the story through its complexities and provide an edge of humour. Davis, from whose perspective the story comes from, quickly becomes a well realised character who arouses the sympathies of the reader. However, Chaz and Davis are a somewhat unfortunate choice of names for the two lead protagonists giving them distracting connotations (at least if you’re British; I’m not sure if Chas and Dave are known in the US).Overall, it is an enjoyable story with some decent twists and an imaginative concept that makes you think. And, like several of Sanderson’s short stories or novellas, it offers an example of secondary creation that has a lot more scope than can be provided for in the space allowed.

The concept of Snapshot is very cool, and I really loved the way Davis and Chaz can navigate through the reconstructed cities. As someone who enjoys crime fiction, I loved this twist on the classic detective story. Although I found it a little slow to start, the way the story twists and turns is excellent and the pages fly past the closer you get to the ending.I liked Snapshot a lot -- it’s not my favourite of his shorter works but it is well plotted and well written. Any new Sanderson book is a treat and Snapshot is no exception. If you’re a long-time fan of his or you’re new to his work, I’d recommend picking this one up.

This standalone novella from Brandon Sanderson has a similar feel to his Reckoners series, despite the content being very different. It’s an incredibly complex short tale, focussing on two police officers who investigate crimes in Snapshot - a way of seeing back in time, enabling them to investigate crimes before or as they are happening - with some caveats.It’s a great idea, with some reminiscences of Philip K Dick, and the story is told well with intriguing main characters and a compelling set of twists, turns and reveals. Somewhat outside my preferred reading from Sanderson, which is his epic fantasies, but totally worth reading.

** spoiler alert ** It's a neat premise, and it's fun to see Sanderson write a detective story. There's a twist near the end which I didn't see coming, though it all makes sense in hindsight. In the end though, I felt like my short time with the characters meant it didn't have much impact.I'm also not sure I liked Davis bring the centerpiece. We see so much of his mind, it doesn't make sense that we wouldn't know what's coming. I'd have preferred to have the story set in his mission debrief or something, where he has a motivation to be an unreliable narrator.

In this book Sanderson proves why he is up there was some of the best genre authors of all time. It's 114 pages and we get a sense of the world really quickly (he is a master world builder) and the two men whose job it is to go into a replication of each day (a snapshot) and discovery information about whatever crime they are following. It's a really clever story and I would love to read more set in this world. Also the idea of an officer showing me a warrant card that says that they are real and I'm not is terrifying. In just over 100 pages this book has more twists and turns than should be possible