Teaser

A collection of science fiction novellas and short stories written by one of the biggest names in modern epic fantasy . . .

Review

Over the past twenty years, Brandon Sanderson has made a name for himself in the world of epic fantasy literature. His books are full of highly-detailed fanatsy worlds, often invented from scratch, and his rules-driven approach to magic has already left its legacy on the genre. Given this detail-oriented approach to something as arcane as literal magic, it’s no surprise that he’s also dabbled in science fiction from time to time. His Reckoners trilogy tackles that timeless question ‘What if superheroes were all evil?’ while the recently concluded Skyward series hands young adult readers an exciting slice of space opera complete with aliens, telepaths, and weird new planes of existence. Tailored Realities gather together almost all of his science fiction short stories from his career to date, with the only notable absence being any Stephen Leeds stories.

The collection begins and ends with a novella. The opener, Snapshot, is one I’ve read before, and ranks among my favourite Sanderson SF stories. Imagine if you could recreate an entire city in a holodeck-style situation, and use it to investigate the crimes of the previous day? That’s the premise here, as we follow two agents who stumble across a serial killer in a simulation, but find there is more going on than either one of them is aware of. The twists all pay off nicely, the writing is clean, and it’s just a brilliant idea.

The closing novella takes an equally interesting idea, but fails to make the most of it. Moment Zero is set across two parallel stories, one on each side of an apocalyptic event. It’s got a fascinating central concept, and makes the split timeline work in its favour, but the action soon grows repetitive, and nothing is ever really fleshed out, with the post-apocalypse quickly falling into supernatural tropes and a mess of paradoxes.

Some of these stories come right from the start of Sanderson’s career, and lack the polish of his more recent works. ‘I Hate Dragons’ is a writing exercise told entirely through dialogue, and while it may have been valuable as an experiment, as a story it’s fairly terrible. ‘Firstborn’ is a little rough around the edges, but is a genuinely engaging piece of space opera, and succeeds in telling a complete story in very few pages. ‘Defending Elysium’ is a precursor to Skyward, and while the writing is less confident, the setting is a more interesting version of what we saw in the later novels.

The two non-novella new stories are polar opposites, though both incredibly short. ‘Brain Dump’ takes the simple premise of designer brains and gives a tour of what such a business might look like, but it never really goes anywhere. ‘Probability Approaching Zero’ is only two pages long, but is second only to Snapshot in its execution. To talk about such a short story would give the game away, but it’s exactly the sort of thought experiment that flash fiction is for, and would be comfortably at home in any science fiction magazine. If any story stays with me, it’s this one.

Accompanying each story is an afterword by Sanderson explaining the genesis of each story, and some reflection on their place in his career. One aspect that stood out to me is that, even when discussing science fiction, he uses phrases such as ‘magic system.’ Clearly, he has no plans to abandon his primary genre any time soon, and it offers a different perspective on SF to see the genre used as a holiday or getaway spot for someone who writes millions of words elsewhere.

Overall, this is as mixed a bag as any short story collection. There’s only the odd stinker, and a few genuinely brilliant highlights, with the rest coming in between enjoyable and fun. You can buy a lot of these stories individually, but I’d recommend Tailored Realities if you want to have everything gathered together in one volume, or if you just want a look at Sanderson’s SF works.

• Contains 10 Stories
• Published 2025
• 425 Pages