Fabulous collection of fantasy short stories! Short stories are a good way to simply reset.

This was a great introduction to this author for me

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for allowing me to read this early! I’ve always been a huge fan of Novik’s writing, so this was a no brainer request for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the collection of short stories. From some familiar faces of characters from Novik’s own books to reimagining of classic characters like Elizabeth Bennet and Sherlock Holmes. This is a collection of stories you won’t want to miss!

3.5/5 stars
I found this collection to be similar to most collections: some stories I loved, some I just liked, and some I didn’t care for. I am glad that I have read many of Naomi Novik’s other works as I found I most enjoyed the stories that were set in worlds Novik had already established in her novels. Knowing the background of the world and having already immersed myself in it for at least one full-length novel prior allowed me to really get into the stories more quickly, which is crucial for a short story.

I also felt the collection ended on a particularly high note. I found myself wishing “The Long Way Round” didn’t end, hoping there was more to read. While I did not find myself gripped in this way about all of the stories, I thought that on the whole, Novik did a wonderful job compiling stories that each fall into the realm of fantasy, but vary immensely from one another, so going from one story to the next there are some common elements, but mostly the stories are vastly different.

Thank you to NetGalley, RandomHouse, and Ballantine Books for the ARC!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for an ARC in exchange for my review*

Naomi Novik is one of my favorite authors so I was delighted to get a chance to read this short story collection!

It's probably no surprise that my favorite stories were those that revisited the worlds of The Scholomance and Temeraire, (After Hours, Vici, and Dragons & Decorum) but I was also pleasantly surprised by how many of the other stories captivated me as well.

I particularly enjoyed *Seven*, about a female pottery maker throwing a male guild on its head, and *Commonplaces* which is about Irene Adler after the death of Sherlock Holmes.

While I think readers who are familiar with her previous works would probably enjoy this more than others, most of the stories are either wholly new worlds or have enough detail included that you don't need a familiarity with her previous works to enjoy this short story collection.

Novik has the ability to draw you in so quickly with her writing and descriptions that each individual story stands on its own two feet and doesn't need additional context to be appreciated!

A good chunk of the stories in this collection are for fans of Naomi Novik's novels. Lucky for me, I'm a huge fan. If you're not, you may end up a bit lost in some places.

Novik, in my opinion, is a master of world-building. While it was quite nice to revisit the worlds of Scholomance and Temeraire, it was also really interesting to see how she works outside of those broad worlds that she's already built, confined to a short format.

I will excidedly wait for her next series.

ARC provided by the and Ballantine Books.

An excellent collection of short stories! Many are connected to Novik's previously published books, set in or close to those worlds, and others are brand new. This will be most popular with existing Novik fans, but would also be a good introduction to her various series for new readers. Overall, the collection features strong women and explores their motivations and relationships with others and the worlds around them. A few stories in particular stood out to me. After Hours gives a look at the future of the Scholomance following the events of that trilogy and it was exciting to see El's impact on that world. Buried Deep is a labyrinth story that builds on Greek mythology and explores difficult choices. Seven is a story about artisans in a unique city state; it asks, is creating your masterpiece worth dying for? And the last story, The Long Way Round, is a teaser for Novik's next book setting, a world of magic and shipbuilding explorers. There were a couple stories in this that didn't hit the mark for me, in particular the short story version of Spinning Silver felt too much like a retread of the book, but overall anyone who enjoys Novik's work or wants a solid collection of creative and clever fantasy stories will be very happy with this.

A collection of stories -- including a Scholomance story, two Temeraire stories, as well as a different (shorter) way that Spinning Silver could've gone -- that show fantasy in the commonplace and on the move. Besides the familiar songs, there are stories about a transformed runaway taken by pirates, Greek mythology, Irene Adler, deadly pottery, fairy godmother blessings gone awry, finding peace during war times, imperialists facing alien cultures and wars, a dark, medieval folktale, and an adventure of sea-faring innovators. Protagonists range from brash to cautious, and are driven by curiosity, pride, friendship, and family. In every tale, Novik draws readers in inexorably.

I was so excited about this book because I wanted to return to Spinning Silver and Uprooted. I was not disappointed. This book has sparked an interest to visit her other books to see the worlds more in depth.

I received this from Net Galley for review.

I love Naomi Novak's writing and while I'm not familiar with all of her series, I've covered a few, so I was very excited when this came up.
This gives a good smattering of her different POV's worlds, some connected to previous works, some are completely independent stories. And while anthologies aren't usually my thing as I have a hard time stopping and starting and tend to like more narrative works. I did enjoy this.

My favorite was a rendition of Pride & Prejudice where Elizabeth Bennet is a Dragon Rider in the army. I'd read the entire book of this with no problem. It was also fun to see a snippet of Post Deadly Education where Orion the golden boy of the Scholomance is tromping the halls for Mal's happily at night.

If you have never picked up any of her works this might be a nice place to start, if you are familiar you may see a few characters you already know well and some you don't.

Buried Deep and Other Stories is one of those rare anthologies that works across the board!

Fans of Novik's work will quickly find footing within these short whimsical tales. The writing feels akin to sitting around a campfire being told tales from a past time. They are dark and thoughtful with ties to many of the authors previous works. I think if readers weren't familiar with the authors previous world these might feel a tad obscure but knowing the roots of many of these offerings made for a collection that felt bigger than the sums of it's parts.

A delightful collection of fantastical stories by a consummate writer. Novik writes a broad range of places and moods, from ancient Greek myths to her Scholomance world, but you needn't have read her other works to get invested in these short stories; instead, she uses these universes to explore themes of ethics and morals and self-determination.

Buried Deep and Other Stories is a collection of short stories, taking place in some of our beloved Novik lands. From familiar places in Temeraire to monster-hiding in school halls, we get fun little side stories to add to our favorite settings, along with some new and intriguing worlds. Spanning genres, Novik keeps us entranced as we skip through mythology and science fiction. Each story moves along quickly, keeping us waiting for the next one.

Final rating: 3 stars

Read if you like: fantasy, mythology, short stories

I loved this! Each short story was so immersive and full of life! I adored the Buried deep short story especially. Naomi Novik's signature fairytale-esque story telling style really shown with these stories. They were delightful, intriguing and meaningful, and I loved every one of them.

Thank publisher and net Galley for this advanced copy

I enjoy short stories....there is a puzzle of sorts ..working out where the magic is....I mean this literally and figuratively.
This book came across as a dip into the authors past and future works
It helped that I'd read her first dragon book...but nothing else.
This expanded my like of her writing
I enjoyed it immensely
I'll be getting more Miss Novik
R

I enjoyed this collection of short stories quite a bit. There is a large variety of different stories from short stories connected to past books/series Naomi Novik has written, reimaging stories from popular work by other authors, and unique stand alone stories. I really enjoyed the variety of different stories that were showcased in this book.

My favorite stories:
After Hours, which is about a girl who attends the school from the Scholomance trilogy, set after the events of the trilogy.
Buried Deep, which is about the sister of a minotaur.
Spinning Silver, which is a short story version of her novel with the same name.
Seven, which is about a woman who is good at pottery. This story was so good and I would love a full novel version that continues past the end of this short story. I would prefer a more conclusive ending to this story.
Seven Years from Home, which I found to be a bit more sci fi than fantasy, and I usually don't enjoy sci fi but I really enjoyed this story. I would also love it if this story became a whole novel or even series, I found the world and the characters to be very interesting.

My least favorite stories:
Commonplace, which is a short Sherlock Holmes story about Irene Adler
Dragons & Decorum, which is a Pride and Prejudice reimaging with dragons.
I think I just personally don't enjoy retellings or reimagings of existing work, but I didn't think these short stories were bad, just my least favorite stories in this book.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky enough to receive a digital copy of this book from NetGalley to read and review.
If you have been missing tales from the Scholomance or the world of Temeraire this collection of short stories can definitely scratch that itch.
Naomi Novik's captivating story telling resonates through this whole collection of short stories. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to revisit beloved series like Temeraire and the Scholomance but was equally invested in each new story.
I wasn't expecting to be brought on a journey with pirates or be able to read a Pride and Prejudice and dragon mashup (which I would gladly read an entire novel of) but Novik brings you along on these journeys!

There is something about Naomi Novik's writing that I find captivating. She has a way of bringing her stories to life. Buried Deep and Other Stories, is a group of thirteen short stories. They are all vastly different in theme and setting. Each revisits a piece of Novik's previous work with one exception. The final story is a glimpse at the world of the author's upcoming series. I found all of the stories, included in this compilation, to be entertaining, creative, and satisfyingly complete. While I haven't read all of Naomi Novik's previous works, that did not limit my ability to enjoy the stories based on those books.

Thank you NetGalley and DelRey for the advanced reader copy.

What a wonderful collection of short stories deeper delves and wandering stories in much loved worlds. This would be good for any fans of Naomi Novik who want to devour more of her work. I really enjoyed revisiting the scholomance world, getting to see Orion again. The opening story is absolutely captivating. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who enjoys any of her work or her wandering storylines and thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley, Naomi Novik, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

3.5/5

As someone who loved Novik's Scholomance series, I went into this book with high hopes. However, a lot of the short stories failed to hit that same sweet spot that I was expecting, and so the book at times fell flat, in my opinion. Now, this is not to say I didn't enjoy any of the short stories, some of them were incredibly good and I loved them, but some felt lacking in execution and felt like they needed more space to flesh out the ideas.

Overall, for anyone who is a fan of Novik would probably get enjoyment out of this collection

This was truly fun and had me wanting more from almost every story within. I enjoy Novik’s writing style and she was able to capture some language and prose that I would more likely think to see in an older piece. I especially loved the few that teetered more on the edge of thriller; maybe thriller fantasy needs to be a genre.