Buried deep and other stories by Naomi Novik

Buried Deep and Other Stories is a wonderful collection of 13 stories by Novik, the author the Temeraire series, the Scholomance series, Uprooted and Spinning silver.  Many of the stories are set in the worlds of her longer novels, and readers will enjoy visiting the halls of the Scholomance series once again, enter the fairytale worlds of Uprooted and Spinning silver and find new worlds set in history and mythology.

The complexity of her narratives compelled me to keep reading, moving onto the next story in the collection, even though I had initially thought I would only read the ones in the worlds that I had enjoyed. Even though I had not read the Temeraire series I found myself flying on a dragon with Antony in ancient Roman times and then became engrossed by Captain Elizabeth Bennett and her dragon in 'Dragons and Decorum'. I was deeply engaged in the fairy tale settings of 'Spinning silver' and 'Blessings' and had my heart strings wrung by the soldiers in the World War 1 trenches in 'Lord Dunsany’s teapot'. However three stories stood out for me. I loved 'After hours' set in the Scholomance, following the footsteps of Beata and Maceo as they crept out after the curfew to get supplies, danger stalking them all the way. 'Buried deep', the story of Adriadne and the labyrinth left me feeling unsettled, knowing that I would have to revisit the legend and the story again. 'The long way round', with its wonderful sea captain Tessa, sailing an unknown route in a boat made by her brother and finding an unoccupied land with strange architecture, gave me a taste for Novik’s next series, which I am now eagerly awaiting.

The thirteen stories in this collection will be a feast for fans of Novik’s work and a must read for lovers of fantasy.

Themes: Short stories, Fantasy.

Pat Pledger