Snapshot (Sanderson novella)

The Snapshot Project has been inherited by an independent city-state called New Clipperton, which enables it to recreate a day up to 10 days in the past and used to investigate the crimes on that date. Detectives Anthony Davis and his partner Chaz are the only real people in the city of 20 million. They are sent into snapshots whose badges enable them to uncover crimes based on the real city. On the 1st May they uncover hidden evidence of a grisly mass murder but the authorities have ordered them to ignore it...

• Sarah Deeming in the The British Fantasy Society explains that "This is a multi-layered story examining perception and reality. Throughout, Sanderson asks us to consider the difference between reality and perception. What is real and what is not. As they go through their day, Davis and his partner, Chaz, disagree on how to treat the people within the snapshot, dupes as they’re referred to...This novella has one of the best first lines for a story I’ve read in a long time... Instantly, I wanted to know more and was immediately fascinated."[1]
• In Medium.com in The Warbler, Elan Samuel writes "What’s especially cool about Sanderson’s execution of this story is that there’s the twist you expect, which occupies the bulk of your subconscious processing while you read, but makes the reveal of the twist you don’t expect a much more powerful experience. Snapshot is short, focused, and stably-paced. The characters are great, and the action is sporadic, playing a backseat to the general thrill of the story. I can’t recommend it enough"[2]

MGM have announced the film rights of the novella.[3]

• Official page
• Snapshot title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Coppermind Snapshot