eARC Review: Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik
Release date: 17 September 2024
Rating: 3.5/5
Synopsis: A thrilling collection of thirteen short stories that span the worlds of the New York Times bestselling author of the Scholomance trilogy, including a sneak peek at the land where her next novel will be set.
From the dragon-filled Temeraire series and the gothic magical halls of the Scholomance trilogy, through the realms next door to Spinning Silver and Uprooted, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories. Here, among many others, we encounter:
• A mushroom witch who learns that sometimes the worst thing in the Scholomance can be your roommate.
• The start of the Dragon Corps in ancient Rome, after Mark Antony hatches a dragon’s egg and bonds with the hatchling.
• A young bride in the Middle Ages who finds herself gambling with Death for the highest of stakes.
• A delightful reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing dragon.
• The first glimpse of the world of Abandon, the setting of Novik’s upcoming epic fantasy series—a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.
Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: wrestling with destiny, and the lengths some will go to find their own and fulfill its promise.
Review
I cut my Novik teeth on Spinning Silver when it released in 2018, absolutely entranced with the world building and beautiful prose. It was the first book I ever got in a book box, and I still have my signed 1st/1st on my Novik shelf today. Though I read it first, I quickly followed with Uprooted, which I liked even more, and I knew I may have a new favorite author on my hands. Cue the release of A Deadly Education, which had me so excited I absolutely made an infant of myself whenever I talked about it. But the Scholomance series for me was not Novik; it felt disconnected somehow from the writing that transported me before. Buried Deep, though I hate short stories, gave me back the Novik I first read and fell in literary love with. I read past my bedtime, pushing myself with lies of “just one more story” until I couldn’t keep them open anymore.
To start, I’ll give a brief overview of the contents:
“Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake”
previously published in Fast Ships, Black Sails (2008). Ed. by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.
“After Hours”
New story from Novik’s Scholomance universe
“Vici”
previously published in The Dragon Book: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy (2010). Ed. by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois.
“Buried Deep”
previously published in The Mythic Dream (2019). Ed. by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe.
“Spinning Silver”
previously published in The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales (2016). Ed. by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe.
“Commonplaces”
previously published in The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2009). Ed. by John Joseph Adams.
“Seven”
previously published in Unfettered III: New Tales by Masters of Fantasy (2019). Ed. by Shawn Speakman.
“Blessings”
previously published in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 22, May/June 2018.
“Lord Dunsany’s Teapot”
previously published in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities (2011). Ed. by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.
“Seven Years from Home”
previously published in Warriors (2010). Ed by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin.
“Dragons & Decorum”
previously published in Golden Age and Other Stories (2017), a novella-length anthology of Temeraire short stories.
“Castle Coeurlieu”
previously published in Unfettered II: New Tales by Masters of Fantasy (2016). Ed. by Shawn Speakman.
“The Long Way Round”
New story from Novik’s upcoming book universe
Many of these stories are reprints from previously published anthologies. We get only 2 new stories. As I don’t own the preview anthologies and/or haven’t read any of them before (because I hate short stories), I don’t feel so miffed about the recycled/repackaged content. Other readers may not like old wine in new skins, so be advised before purchasing that most of these stories have been out for years.
“Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake”
If I hate any kind of story more than a short story, it’s a pirate story. I think because Novik makes up worlds that are interesting and then puts what I would consider boring things in them (pirates), they could possibly be not so bad for me. Overall, if this one were fleshed out into a novel, I’d pick it up. I loved the magical realism and time period melded together to make a story about a woman who doesn’t really want to live a typical female life in a time when ladies had no options to do so. Also, I love the small details on the ships for avoiding certain catastrophes while sailing the Atlantic. Not my favorite story of the bunch but not the worst.
“After Hours”
One of our new stories in this anthology comes from the Scholomance universe, and I was incredibly surprised that I didn’t hate this one, considering I did not like the original trilogy at all. Actually, I’d love to see a more fleshed out story with the main character in “After Hours.” I really loved the connections here among the new students, and the end might have warmed my heart just a bit.
“Vici”
If all of Novak’s Temeraire series is written like this, I am going to need to start reading it stat. This was brilliant. Mark Antony doesn’t take himself seriously until he becomes a dragon daddy, and even then only slightly more than before? One of my favorites in the anthology.
“Buried Deep”
The titular short story in this collection unquestionably takes the status of my favorite, and I don’t care for Greek myth imaginings so much nowadays. If the massive flooding of the current offering of Greek mythological retellings/reimaginings possessed the je nais se quoi present in Novik’s story, I’d devour them all.
“Spinning Silver”
I’ll admit, I was disappointed with this one for several reasons. First, I had no idea one of my favorite Novik novels was first a short story. I’m still not sure how I feel about that, and I’ll need time to reflect in order to come to terms with this recyclage. Second, it’s a pretty long short story and it’s in this anthology, which goes back to my first feelings about this new book with old stories. Still, I enjoyed reading the story in its infancy, and I’m happy with the changes that made it into my first favorite Novik novel.
“Commonplaces”
Not necessarily fantasy, but I’ll take it anyway, “Commonplaces” takes a look at a beloved Victorian character in depth and imagines an after for a series that’s been read, made in to TV series, and adapted for the big screen ad nauseam. I quite like this one in terms of its catharsis, but it’s bit short and the character may be off from Novik’s interpretation in my own mind. Nevertheless, Novik can make a person performing daily commonplace tasks the most fascinating in the world for me, so I don’t care if it’s how I imagined it or not.
“Seven”
Novik really drew me in with this one but left me hanging, so I have mixed feelings. The worlds she comes up with in just offhand short stories amazes me. Because it’s a short story, however, the world building is incomplete and I don’t understand how many things work, what’s going on, what happens after the end, etc. I realize this may be the point of short stories—which is another reason I hate them. I loved this one, though, against my own will.
“Blessings”
Possibly the shortest of the stories, I quite enjoyed the fairies in this one and the brief glimpse of a dynamic between a reimagined Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent. As with other stories, I’d love to see this one fleshed out into a whole novel or series. I feel the world building would be amazing.
“Lord Dunsany’s Teapot”
I’m not sure what to make of this one except Dunsany fraternizes and falls in love with one of his men while in the trenches of WWI. He subsequently dies in battle, leaving the man his teapot to grieve over. The telling, as always with Novik’s writing, was mesmerizing, but it was quite short and not really fantasy. The teapot in the trenches felt out of place in the collection.
“Seven Years from Home”
Meant to be a bit of a sci-fi rendition of, what Novik called in the introduction of the story unbelievable events of T. H. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom, I can’t testify to the credibility of Lawrence’s account of his experiences; but I can say I really liked this world Novik created for the sake of the commentary. Fantastic places and space travel meet colonized planets with stark dichotomies of environmental practices. I found myself fascinated with the possibilities of living at one with nature while being a technologically advanced warrior with advanced biological warfare skills. Another one I’d love to see fleshed out into a whole series.
“Dragons & Decorum”
Pride & Prejudice iterations are a dime a dozen nowadays, and I tend to not like them very much. It’s hard to beat Austen’s genius on social commentary served with subtle and very insulting wit, but many try. I feel Novik’s “Dragons & Decorum” falls into the better category, with her inclusion of the Napoleonic wars and dragons, but the characters were a bit anachronistic for my taste. I do quite like the steampunk vibes, but I could have done without the wimping down of Darcy. Add to that the fact that this story was previously published in another anthology from Novik already, and I believe this may be one of my least favorite stories.
“Castle Coeurlieu”
This medieval story stole my heart—pun intended—completely. The tale of this connection between the new, young wife of a warrior lord and the young son she becomes the mother of shows excellently the skill Novik uses when creating characters. I grew to love Isabeau and Jerome because of their attachment to one another, and by the end of this short glimpse of the magical world the author weaves around the Heart Place, I had invested much of my emotion into the fates of the characters. As per usual, if I love a short story because it draws me in and grips me, it’s over much too soon; and I’m left with more questions than satisfaction. Once again, my disdain for short stories receives vindication.
“The Long Way Round”
I left the last story last in all respects: I did not wander through the book and skip around to read some stories before others, and I left all of the details about the new world for what Novik appears to tease as the setting for upcoming books until I came to it and began reading it. The story framing disappointed immediately, as I don’t really ever enjoy the type of story it is (I won’t spoil for those who want to read it surprised). While my curiosity is piqued and I’d like to know what the weird structures the characters encounter are, I’m just not so excited about this upcoming series based on this particular sampling.
My overall rating stands at 3.5/5. A few of the stories kept me truly engrossed, but I would like to have seen more than two new stories in a whole new book for a whole book price. I’m also more thrilled with some of the old stories than the new offering proposed to be from Novik’s new book universe soon to come. I would like some more Spinning Silver and Uprooted Novik, please.
My thanks to Del Rey via NetGalley for the eARC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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