I love a short story collection, and Novik knows just what fans of her work wanted. She's covered her Temeraire series and the gothic magical halls of the Scholomance series as well as her other magical and mythical realms. If her stories have ever left you wanting more, this short story collection can help. There's just a little more to help you fall in love with those worlds all over again. Buried Deep also gave us a glimpse into Noviks next world Abandon, which I am very excited about! I will be re-reading this collection just to get my fix until the next series. Amazing job!

I also enjoyed the notes for each story and how Naomi Novik basically cops to not always remembering what it was she wrote in the notes and to just enjoy them as part of the stories. She is one of us.

Buried Deep, a retelling of the Minotaur myth, felt forced and laborious. I often found myself struggling to push through the narrative, as it lacked the fluidity and engagement I hoped for. The characters felt one-dimensional, and the plot didn't capture my interest as effectively as I would have liked, making the reading experience more of a chore than a pleasure.

On the other hand, Seven Years from Home, which leans more into the Sci-Fi genre, also proved challenging for me. While the narrative was difficult to follow at times, I did find the technological and magical elements introduced to be intriguing and innovative. They added a unique twist to the story, even if the overall execution left something to be desired.

I was particularly fascinated by the short version of Spinning Silver. It was enlightening to see how the story evolved from its brief inception into a full-length novel. Personally, I think I prefer the more developed ending of the full-length version, as it offers greater depth and resolution to the characters and their journeys.

Additionally, I’m intrigued by Long Way Round, which features a set of sailing siblings. This premise has the potential to be a captivating backdrop for Novik's next full-length book. The characters themselves seem interesting, but I felt that the overall story was a bit lacking in excitement. I'm curious to see how the narrative will expand and develop in the upcoming novel, much like how Spinning Silver transitioned from a short story into a more complex and fulfilling tale. It will be interesting to observe how Novik deepens the themes and character arcs, bringing more life and energy to the story.

A collection of short stories by Naomi Novik, some taking place within the worlds of her established works, others not. There is also an early short story version of her novel Spinning Silver, which was interesting to compare to the full length novel. There were a few (the one with the teapot and the one with the fairy godmothers) where I got to the end and felt like I didn’t quite understand what had happened. My favorites were, of course, the ones with the dragons, set in the world of the Temeraire series. I was especially tickled by the Austen pastiche, in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing. That one was probably my favorite in the whole collection. Four stars overall.

Buried Deep and Other Stories was a great collection from Naomi Novik. I loved the fantastical elements but also the reflection on our own world.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for this arc.

I am not a great reader of short stories; my go-to reason being that I really like to get lost in a book and its characters. Short stories don’t really allow for that, in my mind. On the other hand, as I’ve gotten older I feel like my attention span has gotten shorter, so maybe I should revisit my prejudices. In any case, I wouldn’t miss a short story collection from Naomi Novik, especially one that touched on characters from her Scholomance series and other books that I’ve loved.

The thirteen stories revisit several of Novik’s previous books/series, including, as noted, the Scholomance series and the earlier dragon-themed Temeraire series. Also included are stories related to the stand-alone books “Uprooted” and “Spinning Silver.” I liked all of those books and series, though I did give up on Temeraire after the first five books. I’m not sure why; I thought my interest in the story had petered out, but checking my book log, I gave the fifth book an A, and none of the books were below a B+ for me. I’d love to think I might revisit the series at some point, but….so many books, so little time.

Anyway, onto this anthology:

Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake: Araminta is a typical (for historical romance) atypical lady (for actual Regency England; though the Regency England in this story is of the alternate history variety, and includes magic and other ahistorical elements). Araminta is always one step away from total disgrace, and so her family ships her abroad to marry a foreign noble. Unfortunately, the ship is attacked by pirates and Araminta has to use ingenuity (and magic) to protect herself. The story was a cute read, but didn’t leave much of a lasting impression. I’d give it a low B.

After Hours: Ooh, the Scholomance story! It’s hard not to have a preference for Scholomance content – not only is there recency bias, but I do believe it’s Novik’s best work. This is a brief story about Beata, a young Eastern European mushroom witch, sent to the Scholomance and having difficulty getting her bearings (dealing with a hostile roommate from Chicago, Jayne, doesn’t help). Beata ventures out after dark (something that was extremely dangerous in the original Scholomance, and is still a bit iffy in the current iteration) to get much-needed supplies, and encounters some unlikely allies, and in the end, a face familiar to readers of the trilogy. The story itself was slight, but I loved being back in that world, so this will get an A-.

Vici: a charming story set in the Temeraire world, but in ancient Roman times. Mark Antony (apparently THE Mark Antony) is living a dissolute life when finally runs afoul of the law enough to be offered “an honorable death” – he is sent to go slay a dragon. Miraculously, he actually manages to do so, and walks away with a dragon egg and enough fame to give him a cushy, and ultimately boring life. When the egg hatches, though, things start to get interesting for him. I gave this a B.

Buried Deep is a retelling of the Greek myth of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, as told by the Minotaur’s human sister, Ariadne. This was beautifully told but somehow very sad to me; it was a B/B- for me.

Spinning Silver is the original short story version of the novel published in 2018; I participated in an epic four-person review when the novel came out and gave it an A-/A. I might have given this version an A- if I’d never read the book, but it feels so much less substantial (which, yeah, duh) it’s probably a B for me. Still a very good story.

Commonplaces is one of the shorter stories in the collection; it’s told from the perspective of Irene Adler, a character from the Sherlock Holmes story “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Irene is breakfasting with her (apparently dull) husband Godfrey when he informs her of Sherlock Holmes’ death per the newspaper he’s reading. Irene is first unsettled by the news, then after some time decides that it’s not true and goes to Paris to hunt Holmes. The story is so brief that as a Sherlock Holmes neophyte I didn’t get too much out of it; it may be different for fans of the Doyle books. My grade was a B-.

Seven is another stand-alone story – in the titular city, seven “great singing statues” grace the gates of the city. The statues are created by the clay-shapers who work the city’s white clay, but clay-shaping is a deadly vocation – something in the clay seems to kill the men who work it. Kath is a clay-shaper’s widow; her husband taught her something of the craft. When it is clear that Kath is fulfilling his orders after he has died, contrary to the rules of the clay-shapers guild, a battle emerges within the guild about admitting her. She has first an enemy, then an ally, in Grovin, a senior member of the guild. This was a strangely quiet story, and didn’t make a huge impression on me the first time I read it. But I reread (most of it) for this review and it has a sneaky power – it has something to say about the nature of art and the sacrifices of artists; it’s a message I don’t entirely understand but it moved me. I’ll give this a B+.

Blessings is one of a couple of stories here with the feel of a proper fairy tale – a number of fairies are invited to an elaborate feast in honor of the birth of a daughter for a minor baron. When the fairies get drunk on fairy wine, a competition to bestow the infant with gifts from the fairy realm has unexpected consequences. This was beautifully told but lack some of the emotional punch of the longer stories. A straight B.

Lord Dunsany’s Teapot – I swear I’ve heard the title of this one before, but I don’t think I’ve ever read it? During WWI (ugh, get ready for tragedy, right?) a teapot makes its way into the trenches and builds bridges (and perhaps a bit more) between and officer and one of the men he commands. The teapot’s alleged magical properties don’t deliver as promised. It’s a pretty sad story. Maybe a B- for me?

Seven Years from Home: this one was long or felt long and honestly I ended up skimming it. It’s based on T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom or maybe Lawrence of Arabia? Not having read the book or seen the movie I was a bit at sea. Anyway it’s set in space and features a female protagonist who, I think, gets too chummy with the locals. It felt like the basic message was colonizers bad, colonized good? But that is far too glib and again, I skimmed it. It just didn’t connect for me so I think I’ll skip a grade.

Dragons and Decorum: a Pride and Prejudice retelling with dragons (based in the Temeraire world). I always like the talking dragons – they are like articulate, bloodthirsty children and somehow that mashup works. But the basic retelling of P&P – eh. I feel like it could have been a similar-ish story without the P&P framework; there wasn’t really a slavish adherence to the plot of the original anyway. This was a cute story but I almost felt like the P&P connection held it back. Maybe a B-.

Castle Coeurlieu – the second fairytale(ish) story – Isabeau is a young bride with an older husband who immediately rides off to battle and leaves her in his castle with his son Jerome, who has been weakened by a previous battle with the plague, a disease which eventually threatens the area again. There are stories within the story and eventually Isabeau has to face an unseen monster (whether it’s metaphorical or real is unclear). This wasn’t one of the deeper stories for me but I liked Isabeau and her relationship with her stepson. I’ll give it a B.

The Long Way Round – the last and longest story, and per Novik’s note, possibly the basis for her new book or series. Tess is a sailor who sails with her brother Aston, who defers to her when they are on the water but who is an accomplished shipbuilder. Aston always comes up with outrageous ideas, and when Tess tries to shut him down he counters with, “why not?” The two are on their own, living in a region ruled by wizards. When one of the wizards noses his way into Aston’s suggestion that they venture into uncharted waters, the trio end up setting sail into a mysterious world. The mysteries are not remotely resolved, I guess because this is the beginning of a larger story. This one was frustrating at times – it took me a bit to get into it, and then when I did I was sort of resentful that there wasn’t more resolution. But I’d still give it a B.

All in all this was a fairly successful collection for me, and a solid B overall.

Unfortunately not the short story collection for me. I did not read two of the stories because they were related to other books from Novak that I have not yet read.

I believe my lack of enjoyment for this collection is a me problem. Everything about the work seems to be right up my alley, but there is something about Novak’s writing that feels detached to me. It takes me forever to get into her stories, which does not lend itself to short story format. I honestly don’t wanted to DNF this, but felt I should give Novak a good shot, as I DNFed Uprooted last year. I had plans to finish Uprooted at some point in the future, but now I’m questioning if I should give up on Novak all together.

I do believe this is a solid collection, and if you know you like Novak and are pretty familiar with her work, you will enjoy it. But it sadly just did not work for me :/

Wonderful collection of stories from Naomi Novik, both stand-alone and related to existing (and future!) works. Definitely a must for all Novik fans!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC Copy!

I was so excited to get an ARC Copy of this book, I had just finished the Scholomance series and wanted more from the author, but was not ready to commit to a big series. These short stories were perfect for me at the time. The stories in the Scholomance world were exactly what I was looking for. I have not read any of the other series from this author so I do not think that I got as much out of the other stories as if I had read about the worlds they were set in, but it just makes me want to pick up more series soon.

Offering my perspective as someone new to Novik's work - I've had her titles on my TBR for a long time, and her fairytales especially pop up again and again in recommendations, but this is the first title of hers that I've read.

As others have mentioned, many of the stories are additions to her existing works and set in the context of those larger stories. I found I still enjoyed these stories - they felt like a little sampler, a taste of the worldbuilding and character cast that I might encounter - and crucially, they show off Novik's narrative voice and style.

I found the entire collection immensely readable (and I did really enjoy her fairytale stories, so much so that my next read is Uprooted). I recommend for those new to Novik's writing, as well as avid readers eager to read any extra tidbits of her work.

My only critique is an agreement that I prefer a common theme or uniting factor in a collection of stories, and in this case it really is just a compendium of bits and pieces that have been tied together.

I am a huge fan of Naomi Novik's writing. She has this incredible talent for really bringing a story to life. I have yet to read a book by her that I did not enjoy.

I am the type of person who wants the the story to be fully wrapped up by the end. No loose threads and everything tied with a bow. Because of this I have a hard time with short stories. I always want more. And these were no exception. So many of these I would turn the last page and sigh, it was over before I wanted to let the characters go.

I love a short story collection, and Novik knows just what fans of her work wanted. She's covered her Temeraire series and the gothic magical halls of the Scholomance series as well as her other magical and mythical realms. If her stories have ever left you wanting more, this short story collection can help. There's just a little more to help you fall in love with those worlds all over again. Buried Deep also gave us a glimpse into Novik's next world Abandon, which I am very excited about! I will be re-reading this collection just to get my fix until the next series. Amazing job!

I also enjoyed the notes for each story and how Naomi Novik basically cops to not always remembering what it was she wrote in the notes and to just enjoy them as part of the stories. She is one of us.

An extremely fun anthology of short stories featuring a bunch of your favorites from various Naomi Novik 'verses, her signature voice, and a new world that I am dying to see more of. My favorites from the anthology were: "after Hours," "Vici," "Buried Deep," "Dragons & Decorum," and "The Long Way Round."

“Buried Deep and Other Stories” is a short story collection from fantasy author Naomi Novik. This collection has 13 short stories with settings that exist in Novik’s previous novels. As a fan of Novik’s novels, returning to these worlds felt like visiting old friends.

Novik’s stories are detailed and atmospheric. Her gift for world-building is on display in each installment. And yet despite the common thread that runs through Novik’s writing, she finds a way to make each story stand out on its own.

Her characters are memorable and each story sparkles with its own vibrance. Novik’s dialogue stands out. It moves the plots along at a steady pace and lets the readers learn more about each character, so each story feels well rounded. Novik can weave intricate plots with character-driven narratives in a seamless fashion.

The anthology has influences of history, literature, magic, folklore, and fairy tales. My favorite stories were the ones that harkened back to Novik’s fairytale retellings. While short story collections can often feel rushed, Novik imbues each story with enough details to keep the readers satisfied.

Novik also includes a story that teases the setting of an upcoming, unreleased fantasy series to whet her readers appetite.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Having read Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy (and loved it), the first Temeraire book (His Majesty’s Dragon: enjoyed it but didn’t love), and Spinning Silver and Uprooted, I was, I felt, a good candidate to read this collection of short stories that have mostly been published in other collections previously. Having finished this set, I feel if you’re like me and are familiar with (and really enjoyed) those books, you’re the best prepared to enjoy this. If you’re not familiar with the worlds of Temeraire and the Scholomance, you already won’t get much out of three stories.

Interestingly, the “Spinning Silver” story here is the basis for the novel. I did enjoy the fleshed-out book; it gave the proper attention to the elements that started in the story.

The short stories here set in the Temeraire world, of an alternate history where dragons are part of the armies in the Napoleonic Wars, are fun. I most liked Temeraire and the other curious, intelligent dragons who grow up from hatchlings with human trainers/partners/fliers. In this collection, I must admit I was most entertained by “Dragons and Decorum,” in which Elizabeth Bennet gets to become a captain in the Aerial Corps as the partner of dragon Wollstonecraft.

Novik also enters the world of Sherlock Holmes via her story “Commonplaces,” exploring the character of Irene Adler. I’ll admit I’ve never actually read any of the classic Conan Doyle books, so I didn’t get a lot out of this one.

I loved getting to pop back into the Scholomance world, in a story that takes place after the end of the series. It wasn’t earth-shaking, but it was just fun to revisit.

“Buried Deep” was a fascinating story, but one that definitely deserves the novel treatment. It felt like a study of a larger work to come, but I don’t know if Novik has plans to do that. She is, however, working on a novel set in the world of the last story, “The Long Way Round.” The taste the story gave me of that world she is just starting to explore in her imagination was fine but didn’t necessarily leave me eager for the novel.

So… I’d say this collection is kind of a mixed bag. Some of the stories didn’t really spark my fancy, and I most enjoyed the ones that simply revisited existing worlds. Again, best for those who have read most of Novik’s previous works.

Naomi Novik has written some stunning fantasy novels, so I was keen to see what happened when she turned her hand to shorter fiction, and can confirm that the result is a great little collection of thirteen stories, all very different.

My personal favourites were ‘After Hours’ – a Scholomance story set after the great ‘Calling’ but before the finale, with an engaging new witchy main character; ‘Buried Deep’ – an emotional retelling of the Minotaur and Ariadne mythology; ‘Seven’ – about a master potter and the bone clay she is expected to work with at great personal cost; and ‘Dragons and Decorum’ – a Temeraire-style retelling of Pride and Prejudice with Lizzie as a dragon-flying captain, which deftly fixes some of the issues I had with Bingley and Darcy’s attitude problems in the original.

Then there are pirates, dragons, Irene Adler, drunk fairies, war teapots, creepy castles and exploring the unknown because, “Why not?”. Every story is well-written and entertaining, with a mixture of styles and content to allow something for every fantasy fan.

This collection functions as a great sampler of the author’s characters, voice, worldbuilding and story-spinning for newcomers, and a selection box of goodies for established fans.

Unfortunately this did not click for me. I love Novik’s writing but it is hard to get into some of these stories without being familiar with all the influences from her writing. I have read several of her series but not all and I can’t help but feel that this was a struggle at times because of that.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great collection of stories. Makes me want to reread the authors other works!

Buried Deep by Naomi Novik is a remarkable collection of short stories that showcases her talent for blending history, myth, and magic. Each tale is a carefully crafted gem, offering a glimpse into diverse worlds filled with ancient secrets, mysterious forces, and human struggles. Novik’s writing is elegant and immersive, effortlessly drawing readers into rich, vividly imagined settings that feel both fantastical and familiar.

The strength of this collection lies in the depth of her characters. In every story, they grapple with personal challenges that are intricately tied to the larger, mystical elements of their world. Despite the brevity of the format, Novik delivers fully realized narratives with layers of tension, emotion, and surprise.

Whether you’re a long-time fan of her work or new to her storytelling, Buried Deep offers an enchanting, thoughtful experience. Each story stands on its own, yet collectively, they leave a lasting impression on the reader.

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a lovely collection of short stories some previously published elsewhere and a peek at something new. Most of the stories are tied to to her other novels. I haven't read all of Novik's works previously but I didn't find it necessary to follow along with any of these stories. I found each one captivating. They vary in length and a perfect for when you don't want to tackle something 300+ pages and only want to sit with something for a short amount of time. The subject matter varies widely from the Scholomance, the world of Spinning Silver, and a few stories set in the world of Temeraire, the magic and fantasy is delightful. I can't wait to read more from the new world of Abandon, while one of the longer stories and it sets the stage for the Novik's upcoming novel. I am hooked and can't wait for more, it was one of my favorite stories from the collection.

All of the stories had wonderful, rich settings and great characters. Novik is quickly becoming a favorite author as I'm slowly catching up on her backlog. I highly recommend this for fans of her work or those wanting to see what her work is all about. This is a great introduction and a great companion for new and old fans alike.

Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik

I had heard the name Naomi Novik for years, and had picked up Spinning Silver and Uprooted when they were on sale on audible, but I had never read any of her books until the Scholomance trilogy was nominated for the best series Hugo. I gave it a try and immediately got sucked in and read them all in a rush one after another after another. I loved her writing style and her characterization, and I was thrilled when I got to meet her at New York Comic-Con last year and tell her how much I enjoyed the series. I also really enjoyed Uprooted and Spinning Silver, so I was delighted to get an eARC of her short story collection Buried Deep and Other Stories in exchange for an honest review.

I usually love single author short story collections, and this was no exception! This book is a wonderful place to see the depth and breath of Ms. Novick’s talent. I especially enjoyed the story set in the Scholomance that took place after the end of the trilogy, the story about the pirates, and the stories set in her Napoleonic dragons universe - I will have to check out that series next! This was an excellent book, well worth your time.