I was completely charmed by this new collection of stories, some old and some new themselves, from an author whose work I've loved ever since it was fanfiction on LiveJournal. There were a few stories I've read before (and enjoyed returning to for a reread), but several I haven't. I loved getting another glimpse into the Scholomance, and I was especially enchanted by the final story, part of a new world Novik is working on and one which feels especially pertinent to my interests (hello seafaring stories). A strong collection all in all, and a delight to read!

Thank you to Del Rey for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

Ugh, I hate to say this. I thought I was a Naomi Novik fan, but this collection of short stories made me reconsider that. I loved the Scholomance series, but *what if* I just really loved El? What if it's that I loved this specific world that Novik created rather than her writing itself?

I was so excited to pick this up, and I just kept putting it back down again. The only story I read through in once sitting was, of course, the one that took place in the world of the Scholomance. And now I'm just feeling so guilty.

Maybe I need to come back to this collection in the future; maybe I just wasn't in the right place for it.

Novik collates a lot of her short stories into this anthology of short stories. They're all of different length and the standout ones for me were her retelling of Pride and Prejudice with dragons, an alternate ending to Spinning Silver, and a sweet story about forgiveness set in the Scholomance.

Personally, I am not a big fan or short stories as they feel like a lot of investment for only a little return.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I am not one for reading a compilation of short stories as I am a reader who prefers to immerse myself in the worlds and characters through multiple books in a series, short stories just don’t give this experience.

So, read this review with this in mind and I’ll do my best to review without my personal preferences getting in the way…

When I saw Naomi Novik had released a series of short stories I wasn’t sure what to expect. I absolutely loved The Scholomance Trilogy, I really enjoyed Spinning Silver and Uprooted but couldn’t get into the Temeraire Series. I’ve come to realise that I really enjoy the way that Novik writes but the theme of the story plays a big part in whether I can get into the story.

These stories were the same, there were some that were absolutely amazing and I didn’t even realise I was reading a short story, After Hours (scholomance side story) and Spinning Silver (a short version of the main book) were two I loved a lot, but it was easy to jump into with the background knowledge of the books that they matched with. I also really enjoyed Blessings which was quirky and funny.

I decided on a healthy four stars for this book, I still would always choose a series or longer book over this compilation but as a series of short stories it was definitely a great reading experience.

With complete bias, I knew I would love Naomi Novik's short story collection from how much I loved Uprooted as a story, journey, and wholly unique universe.

Each story in this collection brings you to another world, similar only in how special each of them are. Araminta is a magical, sea faring epic. Buried Deep is a mythological retelling of the Labyrinth. Actually, quite a few of them are reimaginings of familiar stories with very familiar characters with a twist.

I won't give anything away, but each of them was a treat. She packs fully developed settings and characters in every story, whether in a few pages or many, and I'm in awe.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine, and the author for the opportunity to preview this collection!

This book was GREAT! I loved the variety of stories brought forth! They're was no shortage of indicating and creativity used in putting this together. The wiring will draw you in and keep you there! Much thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
4/5 starts

I have only read Novik’s Scholomance series, but I adored this collection of short stories regardless. I got to revisit the Scholomance, which was really cool to see how things ended up after the series ended, but I enjoyed the unfamiliar tales just as much. Novik’s writing is lyrical and gorgeous, and I love a folk tale with a dark atmosphere.

This short story collection has something for everyone. If you've ever read a book by Naomi Novik and enjoyed it, there's at least one short story in here for you. If you haven't read anything by Naomi Novik before, this is a great place to start, and a great introduction to the worlds of her other books. I went into this collection thinking that my favorite story would be the one set in the world of the Scholomance, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed a lot of the other stories. I've found that there are always a few stories in any collection that aren't quite for me, but I loved almost all of the stories in this collection. Some of my favorites were "After Hours," "Seven," "Blessings," and "Buried Deep."
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.
Rating: 4.5/5

Buried Deep by Naomi Novik is a delightful collection of magical stories set in her previously explored worlds.
Novik visits the Scholomance, now devoid of most mals, Captain Elizabeth Bennett in the Royal Aerial Corps wooing her Darcy, and a new seafaring world where a whole forgotten continent is rediscovered. Each story thrusts you into the life of a fully formed character, immerses you in their story, and spits you out at a satisfying end. Each of these stories is vivid and fun. I also enjoyed the insight into some of her writing process. As a fan of Naomi Novik, this was a fun read to expand the worlds I already love. 3/5 stars just because I found it a little hard to read these quickly.

An interesting collection of stories - from folktales to other worlds to high seas piracy. A quick read and some great insights into a fascinating author's brain (she provides headnotes to each story).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Novik never disappoints. While I know her primarily from the Scholomance series, I enjoyed this sampler of her varied and expertly wielded writing style

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this Advanced Reader's Copy.

I have always been a fan of Naomi Novik, and this anthology was another success. Only once did it falter, and this misstep occured in one particular aspect: Novik committed the "literary sin" of modern themes and tones within a old-fashioned or early-era-inspired storylines. While some authors can commit this 'sin' and make it work in their favor, Novik wasn't reliably able to do that in this anthology. The result was the occasional feeling of dissonance in which I wasn't fully 'buying' what Novik was 'selling.' That said, Naomi succeeded in bringing her typical world-building finesse and intricate storylines to this collection despite the varying length of each piece. The fantasy elements felt both original and nostalgic. She brought in the key features we fantasy fanatics love (i.e., dragons, witches, etc.) while bringing them new life that felt refreshing. Novik also wove together a cast of characters who were all equally unique yet relatable. The reasons why any book can inspire that five-star feeling are as ineffable as the feeling is illusive, and this book regrettably just didn't give me that five-star feeling. That said, in my humble opinion, Novik created a beautiful work worthy of wide audience. Four stars for Buried Deep and Other Stories!

Fantastic author! Great pacing and great development for the characters. I was heavily invested in the plot and descriptive settings.

A fun collection, with several long stories -- no explicit theme, but like a lot of Novik's work there's thoughts about value and what human beings owe to each other humming along in the background. Most of the stories are reprints, but I hadn't read them all before. If you haven't read the Temeraire Pride & Prejudice story before (it was in a collection from Subterranean Press, so not super wide circulation) it's definitely worth seeking out! It was really sad, but I think my favorite story in the collection might have been Seven.

Noami Novim can do no wrong and this book of stories is further proof. I loved this so much that once I finished it I immediately began rereading it. Every story is amazing, there's no possible way to pick a favorite!

Fans of Naomi Novik's work will thoroughly enjoy this anthology. The short stories varied in genre giving just the right length of story for an enjoyable read each time. A highlight was getting to see how the Scholomance was doing after Orion and El's grand escape. Glad to see it's safer but by no means Hogwarts! Getting a glimpse into the new world Novik is building has me excited for her next book!

Uprooted remains one of my favorite books, and I very much enjoyed the full length version of Spinning Silver, so I was excited to see this collection of short stories from Novik. Overall though, I felt a little disappointed in the stories, and felt like I had to push myself to finish each one, even though they were (by definition, short).

I haven't read either the Scholomance series or the Temeraire series, so I think this hindered my both my understanding and possibly appreciation for the short stories that were based in this world (the exception maybe being the Vici about dragons in Rome, but only because I loved how snarky the dragon was). I also enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice riff with dragons, which almost makes me want to try the Temeraire series (though I'm generally not a fan of military heavy stories).

Buried Deep, which is a retelling of the Minotaur myth, felt forced and labored, and I had to force myself to finish reading through it. Seven Years from Home (a more SciFi story) was also hard to read and follow for me, though I found the tech/magic introduced to be interesting and novel. It was interested to see the short version of Spinning Silver and how the story evolved into the full length novel (I think I prefer the full length ending though!). I am also intrigued by the Long Way Round, which is a set of sailing siblings that may be the setting for Novik's next full length book. I like the premise and I think the characters were interesting, though the overall story felt a little boring. It will be interesting to see how things change or grow into the full length story, similar to the way Spinning Silver started.

The rest of the collection felt - blah. I have to refer back to the contents to even remember what the other stories were.

Overall, I think its a good reflection of Novik's work, best enjoyed by readers who have read (and enjoyed) her longer series (Temeraire and Scholomance).

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC. All thoughts and opinons are my own.

I started this after devouring the entire Scholomance series in a week. I wanted to know if it was just that series or if, as I suspected, Naomi Novak is just one of my new favorite authors. At this point, I would read her grocery list.

This book is a collection of 13 short(ish) stories, some previously published and some new. I thought it was a diverse collection, with everything from dragons and fairies to Greek retellings and Sherlock Holmes. Stand-out stories for me were "Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake," the namesake story "Buried Deep," and "Blessings," which were all easy five stars. Because this was a collection of unrelated short stories, I read it gradually over a more extended period, and that helped me appreciate some of the stories more.

What I didn't love about this book: while there was a decent amount of variety, I wished this had been split into two collections of short stories. Thirteen was a lot to read through when they aren't interrelated, and several of them felt forgettable or just as though they didn't quite belong in the collection. In particular, I did not like the Sherlock Holmes based story and was a bit sad that "After Hours," a novel set in the scholomance world, didn't work for me as it was missing the dark humor aspect of the original series, several of the stories I didn't enjoy were two - three stars, which brought down my average for the collection quite a bit.

Who is this for? Ultimately, any fan of Naomi Novak's other works should enjoy this. I would not plan on reading this straight through as a novel. I don't recommend it as an introduction to the author's work. The stories feel complete, but some were so good at world-building that they left me asking, "But then what happened?"

Naomi Novik is one of my favorite fantasy authors, so I couldn't miss the opportunity to read her first anthology.

Buried Deep and Other Stories is a compendium of 11 short stories previously published in a variety of anthologies, plus 2 new stories - one set in the Scholomance world, and another in Naomi's upcoming series. Like any other anthology, some stories are better than others, but overall I had a nice time reading most of them.

Araminta, or the Wreck of the Amphidrake - 4,5 stars. I could easily read a whole novel about Araminta, she's amazing. Plus, I love pirates, magical objects and crossdressing characters, so of course I'd love it.

After Hours - 4,5 stars. OMG I MISS THE SCHOLOMANCE WORLD SOOOOO MUCH! I'd DIE for Naomi Novik to write a spin-off with short stories for us to follow El and Orion on their future adventures together. My only complaint is that Orion only shows up for a brief moment, and El doesn't even show up at all, but I like the new characters, their powers and the take on friendship, privilege and parents with dubious morals.

Vici - 5 stars. Another short story I'd give my liver for Naomi Novik to turn into a full novel (please, Naomi, I'M BEGGING YOU!). Antonius is the kind of character I always love: he's morally grey, smart-mouthed, full of shit and is always creating chaos wherever he goes. His dragon, Vici, is as chaotic as him, and together they make the perfect duo. I loved following their adventures together.

Buried Deep - 5 stars. A beautiful retelling of greek myth of Minotaur and Ariadne. The sadness of losing a loved one, the pressures of being the king's daughter, the pain of loss and separation, two souls looking for each other - brother and sister. There is nothing in this story I didn't love, but specially the melancholy of it (I'm a sad bitch, guys).

Spinning Silver - 5 stars. This is basically a short story version of Novik's novel Spinning Silver. The only difference is the ending, and since I enjoyed waaaay more THIS ending than the novel's one, I'm giving it 5 stars.

Commonplaces - 2 stars. A story inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and most specifically, Irene Adler's character. Boring plot.

Seven - 3 stars. Even though the plot is interesting, the story could have half of its size. It came to a moment where it started to drag and get boring, and since it already has a slow pacing to begin with, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.

Blessings - 4,5 stars. FAIRY STORIES! I LOVE IT! I'm a huge fan of fairytales and retellings, so obviously I'd love this one. My only complaint is that it's too short, I could've had 20 more pages (or maybe this is my biased opinion, since I'm never tired of reading more stories with fairies in them).

Lord Dunsany's Teapot - 2 stars. I didn't like this one very much.

Seven Years From Home - 2 stars. I didn't connect with the characters and the plot didn't hold my attention enough.

Dragons and Decorum - 1 star. I don't like Pride and Prejudice, so it's no news I wouldn't like a retelling of it as well. Truth be said, this short story lacked creativity, it seems like a copy + paste version of P & P, but with a dragon on it (and the dragons barely show up).

Castle Coerlieu - 5 stars. I don't know if I fully understood the ending, but I loved this story. It's so creative, magical, dark, sad, intriguing, dream-like, everything at the same time. Do you know when you love a story so much you want to jump inside of it to know all its mysteries, all its hidden corners? That's how I felt reading this one. Also, it'd be an amazing full length novel (please, Naomi, just write it to me).

The Long Way Around - 5 stars. All the stars to this one! Long Way has everything I love in a story: a good plot, pirates, sibling relationships, gay romance, adventure, plus the mysterious islands with even more mysterious architectural behemoths. The good part it: this one WILL be a full length novel, and I can't wait to read it and unravel all of its mysteries.

I really enjoy Naomi Novik’s writing and I think this is a great way to see little peaks into her work. At times, I found some of the stories confusing as I had not read a particular series, but overall I enjoyed this collection.