As a newbie to author, I chose this anthology of short stories because I thought it would be a good taste to sample her works, which it was! I would say I really enjoyed 3-4 of the stories, and the rest I thumbed through with some interest.

I would say the only drawback is I did feel for some of the stories that are based or spun off of prior works, you might want to ingest those first before proceeding. I was lost and didn’t get as much out of those. But man, there were some really great fan-fictions of some great novels that were very enjoyable.

4.5⭐/5.0⭐

Overall this collection of short stories takes you places both new and familiar and has you hooked on the story and characters with ease.
I have only read the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik but fell in love with the well built world and interesting characters. I was not disappointed when reading her short stories that tie to the Temeraire series and Spinning Silver. It makes me want to read everything she has written and I can't wait for the future book teased in the last of these stories!

My thoughts on each short story are below:
-Araminta: I loved the pirate idea, reminded me a bit of The Princess Bride in the pirates and whimsy. I wish there was more to this story written

-After Hours: This is the story I picked up this book for, the (brief) continuation of the Scholomance universe. I love the inclusion of alternate magics
from people of different cultures and seeing the aftermath of the Trilogy.

-Vici: I haven't read the Temeraire series but this had me motivated to pick it up right away. Roman empire with dragons!

-Buried Deep: A Greek retelling of Ariadne and the Minotaur. I enjoyed the writing but the plot wasn't as engaging as the other stories.

-Spinning Silver: I enjoyed this wintery fairytale, it reminded me of russian folklore/The Bear and the Nightingale. I haven’t read Spinning Silver so this was new to read but may be repetitive if you’ve read the novel before.

-Commonplaces: Sherlock Holmes/Irene Adler short story. I wish there was more to this, but it was a fun extension to the events after Reichenbach Falls and to Irene Adler’s character.

-Seven: I LOVED this, spooky and eerie with a good message at the end. I would love visuals with this story.

-Blessings: Felt like a standard fairytale/mishap but fun and quick palette cleanser.

-Lord Dunsany's Teapot: Heartbreaking story set in WWI times. It was sad but I enjoyed it.

-Seven Years from Home: This was hardest world for me to understand and hardest story to get into. Confusing sci-fi world but interesting commentary on colonization and warfare explored in it. I liked the uniqueness though couldn’t fully appreciate it as I was confused for a lot of the story. It’s told as a retrospective so the reader is assumed to have certain “common knowledge” of events, people and places. I might understand better on a re-read.

-Dragons & Decorum: Pride and Prejudice…with dragons. Enjoyable just like the original story except with sassy dragons.

-Castle Coeurlieu: Very spooky, built tension and mystery. I felt like there was more symbolism or information to understand but I didn’t fully grasp the full meanings. I still enjoyed it for the vibes.

-The Long Way Round: EXCELLENT! I loved the characters and their diversity, the world comes together easily and the sea adventures are uplifting and mysterious. I am so excited this will be expanded to a full book as I’m hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik is an anthology of fantasy short stories. With a retelling of the Minotaur, an early version of Spinning Silver, and a short story set in the same world as A Deadly Education and another in the world of Temeraire, there's something for every fan of Naomi Novik.

The short story I liked the most was the title one, Buried Deep. A retelling of the Minotaur from the eyes of Ariadne, there's a dream-like quality to the prose that feels like it's blending myth and reality. We get deep into Ariadne's head and see her opinions on the world around her at the birth of her brother and as her father builds a labyrinth to contain him. The bond between Ariadne and the Minotaur gets to shine, which is something I really liked because I often feel that retellings of the Minotaur usually don't focus on before Theseus arrived, which is probably the most interesting part of the entire myth.

I also really liked Spinning Silver and how it depicts a young woman just trying to provide for her family but is distrusted. I haven't read the novel, so I can't comment on which I prefer, but I will absolutely be picking it up after reading the short story. I loved the use of the Rumpelstiltskin elements, I loved the independence shown, and I really liked how on the page it was that moneylenders were not really trusted during that time.

My favorite was Blessings, a sort of fairy tale reimagining. When the wife of a baron makes a Christening feast so extravagant that all the fairies now feel obligated to bless her child, things do not go as planned. Probably one of the shortest in the collection, Blessings really utilizes word economy and feels like a fairy tale I would read in a collection of the Brothers Grimm or Perrault.

I would recommend this to fans of Naomi Novik and readers of short story anthologies that prefer grounded fantasy settings.

I loved getting a glance into worlds that Naomi Novik has brought to life. Some I had been to before, and some were new to me. Very good collection of stories.

This is my first time reading something from Naomi Novik and I'm glad I did. The short stories showcased the versatility of the author and now I'm even more excited to enter the worlds the different stories were set in.

BURIED DEEP is a varied and interesting collection of tales from some familiar and some new worlds by Naomi Novik!
The stories I liked best:
After Hours, a story that gives us a new look into the Scholomance world from a different perspective.
Spinning Silver, which was the much shorter genesis of the novel of the same name. It was quite interesting to see an idea that I had seen long form come across in short form and see what the author had done to expand and build upon it. (And it made me want to reread the novel).
Dragons and Decorum, at once part of the Temeraire world and also a Pride and Prejudice AU riff. Extremely fun to see Captain Bennett and her dragon Wollstonecraft, who is high key interested in that ten thousand a year from Mr Darcy. A great time.
Honorable mention goes to SEVEN, a story I am not sure if I like but one that definitely made me go ??!?!?!?!???!!!! Several times and made me sit and think about themes the most.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC.

*Full review to be added closer to publication!*

Naomi Novik is an author who always has some more to give and seems to be able to write in so many different styles and types of books while still retaining a prose quality that is very unique to her style, and this collection of stories really highlights that talent. I loved getting to both revisit some places while also reading so many more and really getting a chance to explore more of Novik's writing and imagination. This is a stunning collection that any Naomi Novik fan will absolutely love, and any reader new to Naomi Novik will also find themselves loving as they get a taste of what Novik offers. She has such a great talent for world-building that is apparent in all of these, no matter the length, and I truly enjoyed all of these, even ones from series I haven't gotten to, such as the Scholomance series. Highly recommended to any fantasy fan, and especially anyone who has ever enjoyed anything by Naomi Novik!

Beautiful collection of short stories that are all different from the last. Beautifully written and interesting all throughout! Highly recommend :)

I will start this by saying that short stories are not usually my preferred reading, but each one of these stories is quickly engrossing. Novik gibes us stories from across her own worlds as well as others that we are familiar with and sime wholely new. Any fantasy reader would enjoy the spectrum of creativity in this collection, whether you are familiar with Novik's work or as an introd to it.

I loved this book! I'm a huge Naomi Novik fan and appreciated her take on short stories. I was able to move through it quickly and still enjoy it. She does a great job of building a world quickly, something not all fantasy authors can do.

This book features several short stories by fantasy author Naomi Novak. Each story is wildly different! Dragon training meets ‘Pride and Prejudice’, a return to the Scholomance, a sea voyage to an uninhabited island full of inexplicable architecture, the story of the Minotaur’s sister, and many more.

Novik’s creativity is unmatched, whether she’s putting her own twist on familiar tales or forming worlds from scratch, delving into the past or soaring forward to the future. A great read for anyone who is a fan of this author’s other works as well as anyone looking to escape this world.

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I gave this five stars, because I didn't want to short change Novik's work, though I debated it, because I like Spinning Silver and the Scholomance series so much. This collection of short stories is an excellent entry point into Novik, who has written in worlds that might not naturally have a lot of crossover tonally. Someone who knows her from Temeraire may never have tried scholomance, but now can sample that and other worlds all in one book. The stories visiting worlds I have already read of Novik were great though I personally wasn't that interested in the earlier version of spinning silver included here, even though I loved that book. But the great thing about a story collection-you can skip around. The new world of Abandon has a story sketched out here. One can definitely tell Novik's love of naval settings, which I recall from Temeraire in how this book is set. I look forward to seeing and reading that series as well. I think this of course is a must read for anyone who likes any of Novik's series. I am not as clear on whether this should be the first Novik book one should read though-I still might go Scholomance for that, as a 'gateway drug' and then this as the next dose. All in all, well done.

I find anthologies to be a collective art in which we can see what an author can do with a short story. Naomi gives us a collection of 13 stories that are not only interesting but unique. Some of these have been in other works but some are entirely new.

With a vast array of characters in each story along with an eccentric yet astounding world building, I think there’s something in here for everyone to appreciate. From worlds some may be familiar with in her other books to Pirates, dragons and Minotaurs, this was a fun, laid back book to pick up sporadically and read.

Naomi Novik is one of my favorite authors, and I continue to think she's a very good writer, but my response to this collection was middling. Part of this is that I don't get along with short story collections in general, but part of it is that I'd say she and I have very different views about some famous fictional women that appear in these stories. The worst is that she brings Irene Adler into a story only to have her sleep with Sherlock Holmes, which just makes me want to stare listlessly into the distance for a while, exhausted. She also has a Pride and Prejudice retelling that removes Elizabeth's major flaw of prejudice. I can still like the story, but find it less enjoyable than I would if she were a character that I could really sink my teeth into. Ultimately, I think the disconnect I'm getting with these stories is that a lot of her female protagonists feel like Strong Female Characters. I want them to have more internal flaws, instead of their issues all being external that they're all already clever enough to overcome. I appreciate an unkind woman as much as the next person, just like, pick another thing sometimes, basically. And the last story felt like a real cop out without a proper ending.

I thought this was a fun short story collection with fantastical elements. This didn't blow me away, but Naomi is obviously a great writer.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

I loved every single one of the stories in here! Each one draws you in quickly, and I believe would be enjoyable to read even if you aren't already a Naomi Novik fan.

Buried Deep and Other Stories is a solid collection from author Naomi Novik, spanning a multitude of fantasy and science fiction worlds. Most striking is her style which adapts to each story. I greatly enjoyed revisiting the Scholomance in “After Hours” and reading the original version of “Spinning Silver.” Another standout is the title story, “Buried Deep,” which revisits the myth of Ariadne, the Minotaur, and the labyrinth, but not as you’ve seen them before. “Seven” was an engaging meditation on the purpose of art and the artist’s life while “Dragons and Decorum” was a fanciful take on Pride and Prejudice. Highly recommended. Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

I have been a fan of Naomi Novik since I read Uprooted and Spinning Silver, but I haven't had a chance to pick up any of her other works until now and after reading this anthology, let me tell you... my TBR is neverending!! This anthology contains thirteen fun-filled short stories written at various points of Novik's career, ranging from the worlds of Spinning Silver, Scholomance, and Temeraire, to a fabulous Pride and Prejudice re-telling WITH DRAGONS (my personal favorite), some delightfully paranormal stories, plus a sneak peek into the world of "Abandon," her newest series and an immediate "want to read" for me. A couple of the stories were a little hit or miss for me, but overall the collection was engaging, wide-ranging in themes, and yet somehow still cohesive in tone and enjoyment level. I read this all in one sitting, but I think this would also be a great book to use as a palate cleanser between other novels - read a couple stories, put it down, pick it back up later, repeat. I recommend!

These are the first short stories I've read by Naomi Novik, and as a fan of her other work, they didn't disappoint. All collections tend to be a bit uneven, but there weren't any that stood out as particularly weak. I loved revisiting dragons in Vici, a humorous origin story of a kind, and in Dragons & Decorum, a send-up of Pride & Prejudice. Novik always shines in her fairy and folk tales. Buried Deep (a take on the minotaur and the Labyrith), Spinning Silver (an alternate version of what eventually became the novel), Seven, and Castle Coeurlieu were beautifully written and painfully poignant. The Long Way Round is a taste of her next series. It feels much more down to earth than most of the other stories in this volume, in spite of some magical elements, and while a bit slow has definitely whetted my appetite (my apologies for putting two water puns in a sentence about a tale of sea voyages). All in all, this was a delight to savor, and I'm looking forward to where Novik journeys next.

Thirteen stories! Some are set in universes Naomi Novik has already written in (Scholomance, Temeraire, or Spinning Silver) while others are tales written for various anthologies or to scratch a particular itch Novik had. The stories range from alternate world historical fiction with a retelling of Pride and Prejudice but this time with dragons to a fairy tale spun awry. There is an ecological sci-fi tale and a Sherlock Holme vignette. Then there is a retelling of sorts of the Age of Exploration but in a fantasy setting. Each tale has a bit of an introduction that helps to provide context. In all a very satisfying read.

Thanks Netgalley and DelRey for the chance to enjoy this title!