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.

naomi novik can do no wrong, its true! i throughly missed her writing and being enthralled by her worlds- this was no different. i def recommend if you’re looking to get that fix after missing her full length books lately!

While I haven’t yet read Naomi’s other books, the Scholomance trilogy remains one of my favorite trilogies that I have read. With this in mind, this short collection of stories featuring what happens after, I couldn’t help but be excited to read!

Each short is prefaced with notes and anecdotes from Naomi along with inspiration of other stories and myths.

Obviously the one I enjoyed the most were those of the Scholomance universe, but the glimpse of her other works and her upcoming works was refreshing and fantastical. Novik does not hold back in creating new perspectives and building/enhancing universes we know and don’t know. Her writing is so insane but in a good way and really is just the perfect form of escapism

Thank you Netgalley for this eArC!!

This was a thorough delight, and I recommend it to other Novik fans. Most of the stories were previously published in anthologies, but they were brand new to me. I’m reminded of collections of short stories from Ted Chiang or Kelly Link in which every tale is a perfect little gem. I enjoyed them all, but here are my favorites:

Scholomance:
After Hours

Temeraire:
Vici
Dragons & Decorum

Eastern fairy tales:
Spinning Silver

Unconnected to existing books:
Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake
Seven

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

3.75 stars

There were several stories that I really enjoyed reading. I thought this was a fun concept and a great way to get a feel for the author's writing style. This made me want to pick up one of the author's series. But there were some that I just didn’t love as much. They were just hard to get into. Overall, I did enjoy it! I would recommend this to anyone wanting to give this a try.

Interesting collection of stories that have their own personality and showcase her different styles. Some play off series she has already written and some are new stories she wrote for anthologies over the years. If you enjoy Novik's writing and want more about her many universes this is the book for you. I went into this not having read all her works and able to follow the stories!
Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read this collection!

I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t love this one. I have loved all of the Scholomance series and Spinning Silver, but just couldn’t get into this. Naomi is so exceptional at world building and without that these lacked some substance. They were just glimpses and didn’t have enough build to seem like full stories.

An incredible short story collection that adds more dimension to Novik’s scholmance series without feeling boring or needlessly derivative. I think that can be hard to do with these kinds of collections so giving credit here

Naomi Novik is a master storyteller. This book contains all types of tales, some including familiar characters from her own books or others, and some completely unique. I love that her written voice can vary so much, ranging from more contemporary like the Scholomance series to more fantastical like Spinning Silver. A common theme in almost all of them is that even though each story is completely contained, they all left me wanting to read more. To delve even more deeply into each world. To fly with the dragons, to explore the cities, to learn more about each society.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication!

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what this author releases in the future.

Wonderful story, excellent world building, lovable characters - I enjoyed this very much!! Wonderful story, excellent world building, lovable characters - I enjoyed this very much!!

Summary: "A thrilling collection of thirteen short stories that span the worlds of the New York Times bestselling author of the Scholomance trilogy, including a sneak peek at the land where her next novel will be set. This stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories. Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: wrestling with destiny, and the lengths some will go to find their own and fulfill its promise."

Review: I felt the stories are heavily based on world building, while barely having time for it. So maybe it would be best advertised as a "companion guide" for her works, adding a little note before stories. Also found the "short stories", quite long for the promised format.

#BuriedDeepandOtherStories #NetGalley.

This was such a great collection of fantasy short stories! It was a good mix- some fun ones where we got to follow drunk fairy godmothers and Lizzie Bennet on a dragon. And then some that made me emotional about a tea pot and the Minotaur. There’s also the beginning idea for her next book, which I need to read immediately! This collection really reminded me that I need to finish picking up Novik’s backlist

A short story collection from Naomi Novik, with stories published in various anthologies published throughout her career and a new short story as well. Some of her stories take place in universes of her novels, such as the Scholomance and Temeraire series, as well as the short story that was later expanded in the Spinning Silver novel.

Her stories have her usual writing style, so if you’re a fan of Novik I’m sure you’ll like this, though if you are a fan of Novik and have already read a lot of her short stories, I’m not sure you’ll get much new here. I’m not a huge reader of short stories, and there definitely were some I just was not as interested in as others, but the worlds she creates in such brief stories are fascinating.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!

4 stars exactly

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

So I originally went into this because I wanted an Uprooted short story. There wasn't one. However, the stories that are included encompass a wide variety of interesting settings and themes. Naomi Novik is one of my favorite authors, and while some stories may have fallen a little flat, (as they are wont to do in any anthology) the ones that hit, hit--especially the ones with dragons lol. My favorite stories were Vici, Spinning Silver, and Seven, with an honorable mention to Dragons and Decorum solely due to Wollstonecraft.

Araminta:
- 2/5 stars- Some descriptions were so intentionally vague that they hindered comprehension of events. In all, I wish it had tied together a bit more because it felt rather aimless in terms of theme.

After Hours:
- 4/5 stars- omg cameo! The story was good. The world of the Scholomance is so well-built-- there was just so much thought put into every little aspect and I adore complex world-building. And this story was a nice look at how the world has changed after El and Orion.

Vici:
- 4.5/5 stars- This was so much fun! Vici is such a vibe. That last part felt like the end of Oppenheimer when they namedrop JFK. Antony and Vici were such a platonic power couple lol

Buried Deep:
- 3/5 stars- (I've read this one before in the short story anthology Mythic Dream-- a book I only picked up because I saw Naomi Novik was gonna be in it 😅.) It was an interesting take on the original myth but kind of unclear in its resolution which may be the point.

Spinning Silver:
- 5/5 stars- it's been a while since I've read Spinning Silver but I love the way this short story goes. Miryem is so clever and I think this story works well in both its iterations. Also the grandfather seemed like such a solid dude good for him.

Commonplaces:
- 3/5 stars- It is here that I must admit I haven't read Sherlock Holmes 😞. The first half of the story was really good when Irene was being clever, but the second half just goes completely off the rails. Overall decent though and the best so far in terms of pacing.

Seven:
- 4.5/5 stars- The setting for this one one reminds me of those worldbuilding challenges on tumblr (alligator-fighting sewer nuns iykyk). This was so good and the themes and symbolism was so masterfully done. I could not look away from it. The subtext of Grovin and Kath's relationship is so delightfully complex.

Blessings:
- 4.5/5 stars- Simple and fun, it was just the right length with just the right amount of plot. I love that the lady invited the shadowed fairy because you know everyone that read Sleeping Beauty was so frustrated that the Queen invited literally everyone except Maleficent.

Lord Dunsany's Teapot:
- 2.5/5 stars- I mean, I get the point of the story, but it was just not very interesting.

Seven Years From Home:
- 3.5/5 stars- This one was so long and there were definitely parts where I felt I lost the story a bit. I also didn't fully understand the motivations of the main character. That being said, when it made sense, it was really good, and the concept was great. I could see this being a larger novel

Dragons and Decorum:
- 4/5 stars- WE WANT MORE WOLLSTONECRAFT

Castle Coeurlieu:
- 4/5 stars- I didn't get it at first but then I did and it was really good. I had no idea tarot could be played like a regular card game so that was cool.

The Long Way Round:
- 4/5 stars- Ferantis and Aston are gay disasters and I love that for them.

4.5 rounded up.

I enjoy Naomi Novik's work a lot and was thrilled to see a collection of short stories was going to be published.

There are quite a few I would love to be full length novels and it was interesting to read a full length novel (Spinning Silver) in it's form as a short story.

Many of these stories are not like the books she's written but in a good way. I definitely recommend it for fans of hers or even someone new to her work.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I enjoy Novik’s stories. I find that it can be hard to get into a story she writes but once it hooks me, I’m hooked. I found that to be true of these short stories. Some really got me while others were fine. Each story has its own world building, characters, and unique spin. This was a fun read.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

A collection of short stories that is a treasure trove. My favorite definitely remains the re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, but also this short version of spinning silver and of course dragons in ancient Rome. In short there is something for newcomers (the Schoolmance series and the one yet to be published) and old friends , or rather for "old friends and new fancies" as Jane Austen would say and surely Novik would approve.

Una raccolta di racconti che é un tesoro. La mia preferita resta sicuramente la "riscrittura " di Orgoglio e Pregiudizio, ma anche questa versione breve di spinning silver e ovviamente i draghi nell'antica Roma. Insomma ce n'é per tutti i gusti, sia per i nuovi arrivati (la serie Schoolmance e quella ancora da pubblicare) e per i vecchi amici , anzi "old friends and new fancies" come direbbe Jane Austen e sicuramente la Novik approverebbe.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.