I found this a bit of a mix - some stories were very gripping and some dragged a little. My favourite was the story about a talking dragon - would love to see this adapted into a novel or series!

As with every short story collection, this has stories I loved and some I didn't as much. I liked the overall mix of stories and how varied they were but I think the retellings were easily my favourites. I've included a breakdown of each story review below:

Araminta or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake - I liked the strong pirate adventure theme, interlaced with the story of Araminta and her struggles with female oppression and an overarching desire to be free. 4 stars.

After Hours - I haven't read the Scholomance series so this story was a little lost on me. I liked the dark magical school vibes, and air of menace between two rivals but it lost me a little in the middle. 3 stars.

Vici - I loved this one, and I've never read the Temeraire series (which needs to change). It's about the first person a tame a dragon, set in Rome during the time of Ceaser, by a layabout with a lot of luck. It was fun and adventurous and pretty much a perfect short story. 5 stars.

Buried Deep - Greek mythology, and Ariadne in particular, is my jam. And I loved the exploration of sibling love in this, and the idea that the monster might not be the one that looks the most hideous. It looses it's way a little bit towards the end, but overall very good. 4 stars.

Spinning Silver - The short story version of the full novel. It was interesting to see where the two stories diverge, and I still really like the interpretation of turning silver into gold. 4 stars.

Commonplaces - A very short story about Irene Adler. This is more of an added flavour of Adler, a hint of the woman described by Arthur Conan Doyle. It was OK, but not mind blowing. 3 stars.

Seven - Wasn't really a fan of this one. The city itself was well described, and feels like a character all on its own, however the plot left a lot to be desired. 2 stars.

Blessings - Think Sleeping Beauty but with more drunken fairy Godmothers. I loved this one, but thought the ending too abrupt. 4 stars.

Lord Dunsany's Teapot - War and guardians of teapots. I, for some reason, got Five Children and It vibes but without the kids and more trench warfare. It was OK, but didn't leave a lasting impression. 2.5 stars.

Seven Years from Home - Not a fan of this one, mainly because I don't like Sci fi or war and this was both. I liked some of the planet scenes, with an anthropological spin. I would have liked a bit more of that and less of the warfare espionage. 2 stars.

Dragons & Decorum - Pride & Prejudice with dragons. I really liked this love letter to Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, set in the world of Temeraire. I actually thought the inclusion of the dragons didn't take away from the love story, but I'm quite obviously biased as I love both dragons and Pride & Prejudice. I did find the timeline jumped around a bit too much, to the point where at one point 3 years had gone passed and I hadn't realised. 4 stars.

Castle Courlieu - Probably my favourite story. It was incredibly atmospheric and full of tension, with the added joy of a card amongst queens of fate that decided the outcome of the Black Death. The ending was very abrupt, and left a few questions, but overall this was great. 5 stars.

The Long Way Round - The final book, and this one is written in the world that Naomi Novik is currently working on. And.... I found it fine. It's quite similar in vibes to the first story, with high seas and trading spices. I liked the sibling relationship (and wizard/brother relations) but I found the pacing to be very off. There's a lot of talk about lands and charters we know nothing about and too much backstory without action. I'm unsure if I'd be interested enough to read a full novel set in this world. 3 stars.

While I am aware of Naomi Novik I've not read her published work so I went into this collection entirely blind, and I must say I'm impressed enough to start picking up her books.

While I get the distinct impression with some of them that I'm missing a lot by not knowing the books from which they stem, or that stem from these original short stories, I still greatly enjoyed them. Novik is a strong storyteller, sets a scene well and with clear characterisation to get you rooting for, or at least intrigued by, characters quickly. That is harder than it sounds with short stories and can often be a falling down point.

I'd say 12 of 13 here worked for me, which is a pretty strong percentage. I really liked the dragon stories, so I think I need go investigate the Temeraire series. The only one I struggled with unfortunately fell at the end which is the only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me, I found the sailing dragged with no strong action, and it ended so abruptly I genuinely checked twice to be sure I didn't have a page missing. Amending the story order would solve that particular issue.

All in all I think this is a really solid collection and a great intro to Novik's work, or addition to a collection if you're already a fan.

*Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

An interesting mix of short stories from Naomi Novik - including previously published work from other collections, stories that ended up becoming full length novels, additional tales from her published works, and a story that she’s used to help establish an upcoming novel.

Like with most short story collections, some were hits and some were misses. I absolutely adored ‘Seven’, a story about a land with competitive potters, impressive statues, and a poisonous clay, and I throughly enjoyed ‘Spinning Silver’ (I hope to get to the full book she wrote based off of this story soon) but I struggled with ‘Buried Deep’, ‘Castle Coeurlieu’, and I ended up skipping over ‘Dragons and Decorum’, a Pride and Prejudice retelling (but with talking dragons), as it was simply just a bit too silly for my tastes.

I can’t deny her world building though, and this collection is a very interesting blend of fantasy, myths, legends, and history. Sadly, I did find myself glazing over while reading quite a few of them, and I’m unsure why I couldn’t connect with them. I’m a lover of short stories, so the length doesn’t bother me, but some just felt like a struggle to get through.

However, ‘The Long Way Around’, the story that teases at her upcoming release, was highly enjoyable, and has whet my appetite for that next tale.

Overall, a mixed bag for me, but still quite entertaining nonetheless.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

Wonderful collection of short stories. I particularly enjoyed Buried Deep, as I’m a fan of Greek mythology, and Spinning Silver which is set in the Spinning Silver novel universe but they were all engaging short tales.

Naomi is a master a spinning worlds and drawing you into them. I love the worlds created by Naomi Novik and she’s an excellent writer so I was really looking forward to reading this book, which didn’t disappoint.

I do agree, however, with another reviewer, who described finding some stories, where they were spin offs of other novels, a bit more difficult to get into. I’m working my way through Naomi’s back catalogue but there’s some I’ve not read any of so I feel I was missing some context around the story.

It was easy to just sit and read the odd story when I had less time to read without having to remember what I’d read previously. Thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray for this advance reading copy. This is my honest review.

Naomi Novik has written some stunning fantasy novels, so I was keen to see what happened when she turned her hand to shorter fiction, and can confirm that the result is a great little collection of thirteen stories, all very different.

My personal favourites were ‘After Hours’ – a Scholomance story set after the great ‘Calling’ but before the finale, with an engaging new witchy main character; ‘Buried Deep’ – an emotional retelling of the Minotaur and Ariadne mythology; ‘Seven’ – about a master potter and the bone clay she is expected to work with at great personal cost; and ‘Dragons and Decorum’ – a Temeraire-style retelling of Pride and Prejudice with Lizzie as a dragon-flying captain, which deftly fixes some of the issues I had with Bingley and Darcy’s attitude problems in the original.

Then there are pirates, dragons, Irene Adler, drunk fairies, war teapots, creepy castles and exploring the unknown because, “Why not?”. Every story is well-written and entertaining, with a mixture of styles and content to allow something for every fantasy fan.

This collection functions as a great sampler of the author’s characters, voice, worldbuilding and story-spinning for newcomers, and a selection box of goodies for established fans.

Naomi Novik is a must read author, her work is so renowned and thrilling. This collection of short stories is a truly enjoyable read.

Naomi Novik's writing is next level in so many ways and in this new short story collection, it has never more apparent. Spellbinding, enchanting and captivating, whether you have read her other works or not, this is the one for you.

I absolutely adored this collection. I loved revisiting the worlds Naomi Novik has crafted. My favourite stories included the one from the Scholomance, and the Pride & Prejudice retelling. I need Novik to write more in the Temeraire universe.

This was really great and I loved learning about all these worlds.
The writing it amazing and I was able to feel easily immersed in the stories and characters.
A let down for me was that I hadn't read the Novik's other work before reading this! Completely my own fault!
However, I will definitely be reading more 😊

I just love a anthology of short stories with great snippets of characters, world building, magic and fantasy!! This book was all of those things and more. A great anthology and I would recommend you read this book. Thank you for my advanced kindle copy.

Naomi Novik is one of my favourite authors and this collection of 13 short stories is excellent. I enjoyed every story, which is not something I can usually say of a short story collection - if you are new to the author then this is a springboard to her other works, including Temeraire and Scholomance series.
There were several standouts for me with my favourite being Dragons & Decorum - a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the Temeraire universe. We have Elizabeth Bennet as a captain in the airborne dragon division paired with an opinionated Longwing dragon who is ready to put Mr. Darcy in his place!
Commonplaces - follows Irene Adler and how she intersects with Sherlock Holmes after the Reichenbach Falls - a perfect short story for me.
The Long Way Round - following adventures of brother and sister who are intrepid sailors. They are engaged by one of the ruling class mages to look for a new passage to a prominent trading post that avoids tolls. In their travels they encounter mysterious empty constructs and at the end I really wanted to know what happened next.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC and all views are my own.

This is a collection of short stories from Naomi Novik, from the worlds of the Scholomance, Spinning Silver and Uprooted, as well as a sneak peak of where her upcoming novel will be set.

The Scholomance Trilogy is one of my all-time favourite book series, and I am a huge fan of Naomi Novik as a result, so I was excited to see that some of these stories would be sent in the world of the Scholomance. Overall, Buried Deep and Other Stories is probably one of the best short-story collections I’ve read. Each and every story is engrossing and complete (I often find that short stories feel unfinished or underdeveloped – that it not the case here), and cover a whole range of genres, from fantasy to mythology, to folklore, to mystery, to historical, to sci-fi.

My favourites were Araminta – a fun adventure with excellent characters; After Hours – a story relating to the Scholomance with a special appearance from Orion Lake; Seven – a fable-style story of skill and perseverance; and Dragons & Decorum – a fantasy re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet is a dragon rider captain.

I have loved Naomi Novik’s writing since her Temeraire novels and nothing she has written has ever disappointed., so I was excited to read this book of short stories.

Including tales from the worlds of her novels, this was just an absolute delight. A peek at The Scholomance now that it is being used as a school again, an early version of Spinning Silver and the tale of the first dragon bonding in Roman times were highlights, but ever story had something special about it. The discovery of a new continent filled with strange abandoned objects was an exciting introduction to the world of Novik’s upcoming new series.

I had a great time reading all of the stories and I highly recommend if you are a fan of any of Novik’s work.

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed some of these short stories but I felt others didn't really go anywhere and I found them quite boring.

My personal favourites were After Hours (set in the Scholomance world) and Spinning Silver - I need to go off and read the book to see how the story evolved and changed now.

I wasn't expecting a retelling of Pride & Prejudice with dragons, and I'm not sure it's something the world needs. As someone who usually likes mythological retellings, I'm also sorry to say that Buried Deep didn't strike a chord with me.

Normally short stories would standalone and they are, but many of the stories are set in Novik's other universes. While I don't think I missed out by having not read Novik's back catalogue other people might find it frustrating.

I think a good short story collection from an author you already love should make you feel nostalgic for the books of theirs you have read and simultaneously make you question why on earth you haven’t read more. And this collection does exactly that.

These are all quite different stories embracing history, myths and fairytales but all sit squarely in fantasy and in the realms of embracing your fate or destiny. In the main. but there’s something about Naomi Novaks writing that is so distinctive and so inventive and she loves to subvert stories and contexts we think you already know. . These stories are nicely Chucky for short stories. This contains a follow on short story from the a Scholomance trilogy - possibly skip this if you haven’t read those! A novella that inspired Spinnign silver which has made me question why on earth I haven’t read that yet, a retelling of pride and prejudice with Elizabeth Bennet as a dragon captain which I enjoyed about a hundred times more than the original. There’s retellings of Greek myths, introducing dragons to Ancient Rome and a story from a future book from the author which was one of my favourite. The only story that worked les well for me was scifi adventure in space but by the end it completely won my over. So I really loved this collection. And I need to go back and read Spinning Silver.

I thought this was a fantastic insight into Naomi Novik's writing. I really enjoyed seeing the stories as kernels for her novels, and learning more about her worldbuilding and process. I think this is a collection for writers!

The first thing to say is that I am not generally a fan of short stories. However I love the 'Scholomance' series, and I love 'Uprooted' (I'm a big fan of Russian/Polish history). So I was happy with 'After Hours' (Orion Lake!) There didn't seem to be an 'Uprooted' themed story (I'll just have to reread it). As I'm a Jane Austen fan, I enjoyed 'Dragons and Decorum', and I thought that 'Buried Deep' was an interesting take on the minotaur myth.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't much enjoy the other stories. This won't stop me reading Naomi Novik, but perhaps I'll stick to full length novels.
I realise this is very personal, and it won't stop me talking about the book. The rating is more like 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the proof.

Firstly, thank you to Naomi Novik, Del Rey and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This book was such a lovely collection of novellas. But to fully appreciate them you really need to dive into all of Naomi Novik’s works. My personal favourites were the chapters that delved back into the world of the scholomance. The Deadly education series is an absolute love of mine so I will always cherish any more insight into that world.

Each story in this book was really diverse. I also loved the insight you go before each story into Noviks thought process and how they came about. I thought it was a really interesting take. The stories by themselves without the context of Noviks other books leave you with the impression that they had wonderful writing but I don’t think you’d fully appreciate them.

Overall if you’re obsessed with Naomi Novik like me then you’re sure to love this collection of stories as well.

This eclectic mixture of stories from Naomi Novik was engaging. We got some familiar worlds, some novel settings and some absolutel favourites in this collection. Did I live for the Scholomance story? Yes, I did; I could read stories set inside that school for ever. Here's a little round up of my favourites but all the stories are worth your time.

After Hours was a bunch of new students in the Scholomance, making enemies, alliances and meeting the maleficaria. We got a quick flash of a main character from the original trilogy also. I loved every minute of this one.

Buried Deep was an Ariadne and the minotaur retelling that had sufficient length and depth to do this myth justice and more. I enjoyed how Novik envisaged their childhood into adulthood. This one left me wanting more.

Spinning Silver I'm a big fan of the full story we've already had, but this earlier, shorter version with a different tale and outcome was equally great. It's made me want to re-read the full book again. It's such a wonderful, chilly and magical world.

Commonplaces
This was such an interesting tale about Sherlock Holmes in Paris and a woman who seeks him out. This wasn't about sleuthing as such but it had an air of mystery that had me following the trail avidly.

Seven
This story was a world unknown to me but it caught me in its net. A world of clay, sculpture, widows and women trying to survive. It was a strange and rather compelling tale.

I hope you see some things in my review that catch your interest. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these short stories.

Thank you Del Rey for the review copy.