When tickets become available to the outlandish Sanderson worlds I’ve come to love, I’m often the first to get my ticket punched. I’m a known worldhopper, partial to his Cosmere work, but I’ll pick up pretty much anything Sanderson writes. He’s among the best in the business today, so his works are typically an easy win. His non-Cosmere work always faces an uphill battle, but it usually comes out victorious. I can’t say that for Tailored Realities.
Tailored Realities is a collection of short fiction by Sanderson. It’s all strictly non-Cosmere stuff, and it ranges from novellas to short stories to microfiction. The collection is anchored by the novella Moment Zero, which follows two police officers as they investigate a scientific experiment threatening to unravel reality. Other spotlighted stories include Firstborn, Mitosis (from the Reckoners universe), Defending Elysium (which I previously reviewed), Perfect State, and Snapshot. The super-short fiction and microfiction round out the collection, and Sanderson writes a short piece about every inclusion once it’s over.
I lean toward calling Tailored Realities a mixed bag because that feels right. I know some Sando-fandos out there will eat this up with nary a second thought and move on with their day. If that’s you, go for it and don’t let me slow you down. I think a swathe of his fans will feel more akin to me in liking a few of the stories but largely bouncing off the collection on a narrative and vibes level.
The best stories for me, bar none, were Perfect State and Firstborn. In the former, a character whose world is a simulation built to allow him to be the hero, the chosen one, starts to discover that there are many worlds like his, and he isn’t all that special in the “real” world. In Firstborn, the younger brother of a famed commander is trained to lead but falls short in almost every way, then must contend with the consequences. Both stories start as “fish happily enjoying its water” narratives, the exact opposite of a fish out of water story. Then both flip a switch to undo a major element of the character’s perspective and use that as a driver of the remaining story. This device works well in short formats, and both stories stand out as quick, character-driven explorations in line with what I expect of Sanderson.
On the other hand, we have Snapshot (which opens the collection) and Moment Zero (which closes it). Both hinge on ideas that have been done before in one way or another, then add cops into the mix. Snapshot plops two cops into a reconstructed vision of a single day and tasks them with investigating details about crimes that occurred on that day. They do exactly that while revealing more details about their partnership and family lives. It gets complicated, and it starts to feel a lot like Inception but with cop-y tropes galore.
Moment Zero adds a sci-fi element into our “normal” world and features two cops—one by-the-book and in line for a big promotion and one who “does things his own way”—who contend with a reality-breaking scientific discovery and its fallout. It read to me like a Blake Crouch story (think Dark Matter) but shorter and with inherently less interesting characters.
These two stories raised a couple of questions for me. When do I most enjoy Sanderson? Do I want cop stories? The answers are fairly simple. First, I enjoy Sanderson most when he’s whimsical and magical. His fantasy works (especially the Cosmere ones) light up the centers of my brain that seek whimsy and grand storytelling. Second, no, I don’t want cop stories, especially if they feel like an episode of Law and Order with a dash of sci-fi flair.
When Sanderson plays in his own sandbox, the results are immaculate. When he visits someone else’s playground, he can’t quite fit in. Fitting in isn’t exactly important, but it’s a shame to see him trying so hard. I can’t blame him for playing around with other story formats, but I can and will express my disappointment with the end products. I know what he’s capable of, and it’s a lot more than this.
To end on a bright note, Brain Dump is a short story that shows a couple shopping for a brain for their yet-to-be-born child. It’s a fun idea that gets in, gets out, and has a Sandersonian glint to it.
Rating: Tailored Realities — 5.5/10
