This short story collection is a mixed bag, and your mileage will vary depending on whether you’re a fan of Naomi Novik's writing. I think this collection would be more relevant to readers who are familiar with her work.

All but 2 of these short stories included in this collection were published previously. It is a slow read, as many of the stories require some time to digest and comprehend the worldbuilding that occurs in those brief page counts.

Highlights for me include the original “After Hours,” which is set in the world of the Scholomance trilogy. It has a great cameo, and I still would love to read more about the Scholomance. I actually haven’t read the Temeraire series - I DNF’d the first book - but much to my surprise, I fell head overs heels for the 2 Temeraire offshoots, a humorous one set in ancient Roman times (“Vici”), and one that is my favorite retelling of Pride & Prejudice to date (“Dragons & Decorum”).

The original “The Long Way Round” closes the collection and sets the stage for Novik’s upcoming series, tentatively titled Folly. Now I’m very interested to see what she writes next.

This anthology collects thirteen stories — the majority of them previously published in other anthologies or collections — each introduced with a line or two by the author about the title, the inspiration, or just a comment on the story itself. Having only read Novik’s Temeraire books before, everything here was new to me. While most of the stories take place in a variety of settings, the writing style is very much Novik’s, and the characters talk … well, they all talk like they’re in the same story, and they all have a common voice. That said, it’s a very nice writing style that I very much enjoy and very easy to read. But it is clearly a collection of one author’s work.

Of the stories, a few stood out: After Hours, which takes place in the Scholomance series is about a young witch attending school. She’s from an old line of magic, able to curse and craft potions, but mostly … she grows mushrooms. It was a fun little fairy tale of a story, and makes me want go go pick up the first Scholomance book.

As a fan of the Temeraire books, Vici (about Marc Antony bonding to the first Roman dragon) and Dragons & Decorum (a Pride and Prejudice retelling with Elizabeth bonding to a Longwing) were very fun. Marc Antony and Vici were a charming pair, and I’d love to see an entire book around them and how their relationship shapes Rome.

Seven Years from Home is my hands-down favorite, for all that it’s brief, about a diplomat, Ruth, landing on a new world, tasked with infiltrating and information gathering as the powers that be want to destabilize the established political structure in order to conquer and colonize the planet … and Ruth having to make hard choices. It’s a colder story with no real ending, but I enjoyed reading it all the same.

And, of course, the final story, The Long Way Round, takes place in a world the author is still crafting. It’s interesting, and while it’s nice enough, it isn’t — on its own — enough to make me want to buy the book … which is just as well since the book isn’t out, yet!

However, this collection reminds me of just how much I enjoy Novik’s writing. I do recommend this anthology if you’re a fan of her work, or just enjoy fairy tales. She has a wonderful voice for that sort of retelling, with the focus on the story rather than the world, and her characters being clever, polite, and overall Good. But don’t go in expecting a great deal of character work. Still, I’m glad I got the chance to read it, for which I thank Net Galley and Del Rey for granting me an advanced reader copy.

Me and anthologies have never been 🤝 but I've adored several of Naomi Novik's novels so there was no way I was going to pass this up (especially the Scholomance story). While there were several duds in here, I think that she just has such a way with fairytales that any of those stories more than made up for it.

As I read this intentionally in short bursts over several days, I often found myself getting distracted by fixating on scenes and lines and settings from some of my favourite tales in this anthology.

And if I ever stop laughing about the drunk fairy godmothers one-upping each other, someone please get me to the doctor asap.
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Disclaimer: There are 13 stories and I will be doing a review for each individually. I have prior knowledge only of her Scholomance series, Uprooted, and Spinning Silver which may impact how I receive these stories.

I also think that Novik's grown considerably in her craft over time, so it makes sense that many of my favourite stories in this collection are much more recent. I've included the dates here as I feel it better contextualizes my reviews.
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Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake (2008):
I am determined that good pirate stories exist, but I've yet to find one apart from Amina. It's just a category that, for whatever reason, is dreadfully hard to get right. Likewise Regency is really not my era (nor Victorian nor World Wars, but that's unrelated), so this story wasn't really for me. Short, fine, hard for me to pay attention all the way through. 2/5

After Hours (Scholomance):
Part of the magic of the Scholomance series is El's particular voice. I'm happy to say that even though she wasn't a part of this story, I still loved it (and the glowing ghost mushrooms omg!). I love the old world, cottage, curses and nature magic type of witch that Beata is. And I think the story maintained the spirit and themes of the original trilogy. 5/5

"She didn’t know many incantations or recipes, she didn’t have a bag of artifice, but she’d been taught in stories, and she recognized the lesson of the one she was standing in right now."

Vici (Temeraire, 2010):
This is my first interaction with the Temeraire series. I imagine this short story would be a lot more satisfying if I was more familiar with the universe (or often thought about the Roman Empire), but the glimpse did at least make me intrigued-- this series appears to be dragons done right: talking, flying, fire-breathing, at the forefront of the story, and brimming with personality. 3/5

Buried Deep (2019):
Oh, I'd kinda forgotten this was the titular story. 2.5/5
But I gotta say-- my fav retelling of this myth is actually an oglaf comic
man keeps trying to solve every problem by building a labyrinth, smiles widely as it's announced the queen gave birth to a monster

Spinning Silver (2016):
"A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true."

The short story that later was turned into a full length novel, though it diverges from the story we've all read into an alternate ending. 4.5/5

"The real story isn’t half as pretty as the one you’ve heard."

Commonplaces (2009):
A short story regarding Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes. I admittedly am most familiar with the BBC adaptations and have never been super into the IP. Her initial actions in this short story did interest me, but ultimately it's just too short and about characters I don't really have feelings for so it didn't impact me. 2/5

Seven (2019):
This one was excellent and just a little bit eerie. There were so many delicious world-building details just in the first 3 paragraphs alone. 5/5

"Kath’s work seemed like a joke when one of her squat cups was put next to one of the grandmaster’s triumphant fragile pieces, but if you looked at it too long, you began to feel the terrible sneaking suspicion that you liked the cup better."

Blessings (2019):
My only complaint with this one is that it's too short and I want more! This was hilarious and had me laughing and repeating bits aloud to my partner.

What happens when a family of middling regard invites a half dozen fairies to their baby's party (hoping to reap at least one blessing for her) and gets them all absolutely sauced? 5/5

Lord Dunsany's Teapot (2011):
Oh no. I feel like I tempted Fate earlier when I mentioned how I don't care for stories set during the World Wars. Two soldiers find solace with tea and stories between bouts of trench warfare. 1.5/5

Seven Years From Home (2010):
This is a me thing, but I struggle with an old-timey writing style (at least when it's not constantly infused with humor/witticisms). Like I can literally feel my eyes glazing over when I read sentences like "A few moments’ conversation was sufficient to disabuse him of this hope."

Is there a term for retrofuturism where the origin point of technological advancements is not 1950's America, but a more Victorian sensibility? Cause that's what this felt like. And while I enjoyed the evolution/bioengineering/plant life of the alien planet (very "Avatar" if the alien species had advanced science that they controlled and directed), the writing style was a real barrier for me. 2/5

Dragons & Decorum (~Temeraire?, 2017):
A sweet retelling of Pride and Prejudice in which Elizabeth has become an officer in the Corps and flies her own dragon. Once more I was utterly charmed by the dragon in the story. 3.5/5

Castle Coeurlieu (2016):
“Strange things happen at night, or when the doors are shut... And not all who go within come out again.”

Not only is this a fairytale, but it also has several shorter tales within it. Tale-ception! Hubris and greed and -in the end- Death. Equal parts cozy and haunted. 4.5/5

The Long Way Round:
"Why not?"

What draws me to Fantasy more than any other genre is the world-building: I love imagining the possibilities, being presented with the eerie and mysterious unknowns, and slowly building a mental sandbox -growing more and more detailed over time- to play in.

A brother and sister, unmatched in their time (she a sailor, he a shipbuilder), set off on a foolhardy adventure with a beautiful sorcerer in tow. 4.5/5

ARC note: I can see that they've set aside room for 5 maps to be added at a later date, but cannot comment on how the text is impacted by their absence nor inclusion.

A exquisite way of storytelling. I loved all the stories and their fantastic world. Really good prose and novel overall.

I saw this on April 5. 2024; some books I wait a little before requesting - others I don’t, this was definitely one of the latter. The powers that be over at Random House Del Rey smiled upon me and gifted me this ❤️

Naomi Novik is one of those authors whose writing really really works for me. Growing up I loved The Chronicles of Narnia, and then Stephen King’s The Eyes of the Dragon - I’ve loved other fantasy novels and series but those were the original two for me. I still love them (even though I have some issues with TCoN) and Naomi Novik’s work hits me the same way. Discovering her books (the first I read was Spinning Silver) was just like how I felt when I first read the Lewis and King stories - like I had discovered something I would love forever. Reading these short stories I felt all that magic once again.

Excellent to read through (you might not want to go quickly - these are long enough to really take your time to savor each one individually) - these ranged from fun to funny to heartrendingly beautiful.

This was a stellar short story collection - Ms Novik’s powerful storytelling talent truly shines in these brightest of gems. This has my strongest recommendations.

Will be preordering the audiobook.



Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the DRC

Naomi novik really owns the ethereal put you in a chokehold and make you bed for mercy vibe. You pick up one of her books and you're just in the world and feel the magic. I like books like this where it's just a quick intro into a world without major commitment sometimes

I am always a sucker for short stories, especially good ones. I loved that this contained unique stories as well as stories that were a twist on familiar ones. Thank you netgalley for the arc

It was nice to revisit some familiar settings like those of the scholomance and spinning silver. I especially loved being back in the scholomance and seeing the aftermath of the series. The mushroom witch was probably my favorite character in the entire anthology. I have yet to read Naomi Novik’s dragon series but, the short story in this was so good I might just have to look into it more. Who doesn’t love dragons, especially one that talks? I have never read Sherlock Holmes, but the short story involving Irene was very engaging and easy to follow. This collection of short stories demonstrates Novik’s knack for fairytale writing. Her impactful writing is showcased best when she is able to create a heart wrenching story about something as simple as a teapot. The stories I disliked were merely due to personal preference, not the writing or execution. In my opinion, the best story in this anthology is the one that combines Pride & Prejudice and dragons. What more could I ask for? I appreciated how Novik introduced each short story, giving the reader some context as to the origin of the story. The inclusion of a sneak peak to her current work in progress has me eager for more of her writing and world building.
Overall, felt like a mixed bag of good and just okay. But the good most definitely left me wanting more, even if it was from stories I had yet to read.

Naomi Novik never disappoints! It was mesmerising. This anthology offer immersive fantasy worlds, complex characters, and amazing word building and exquisite story telling. I absolutely cannot put it down.

I really like it when authors who usually write book (novel) series will release an anthology or contribute to one because it gives readers who want to sample their work a shorter format to try it out or, as in this case for me, someone who has enjoyed the author's work before, another taste of something they appreciate. This anthology is a true sampler as it touches several of the author's well known series/novels, (though you can easily understand the stories without prior reading of the longer works); there are a few stories based on writings of others, taking a different spin on a familiar work; and there is even a glimpse into an upcoming series. All of the stories were interesting, and as a collection gave a good breadth of storytelling. I really appreciated the anthology and recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Naomi Novik's work in the past, anyone who has heard about one of her series or novels but hasn't quite gotten around to committing to something longer, or anyone looking for a fantasy story (or dozen) to read in between their longer reads.
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.