Book Review: Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Short Story Collection

Publisher: Del Rey (September 17, 2024)

Length: 448 pages

Author Information: Website

Naomi Novik’s Buried Deep and Other Stories is a new collection bringing together thirteen short stories that explore not only a wide range of genres and themes, but also showcase the versatility of the author’s writing. Many of the tales compiled here have been previously published, most inspired by the various worlds she has built over the years, but it does contain two brand-new stories, including one set in the Scholomance universe. I think this book will appeal to longtime fans of Novik’s work, but like many short fiction collections, it comes with its fair share of ups and downs.

As such, while there were stories in here that I truly enjoyed, there were also others that felt so blah that they hardly seemed worth mentioning. That why instead of my usual approach to reviewing short story collections where I try to break down each tale with a summary of the plot and my thoughts, I’m just going to offer my overall assessment of the book, only highlighting those stories that stood out—for better or worse.

First, I consider myself a fan of Naomi Novik. Whether it’s mythological or historical fantasy, fairy tale and folklore-inspired retellings or even far-flung future sci-fi, she’s demonstrated her storytelling and world-building abilities. Perhaps it’s not surprising then, that a couple of my favorite stories in Buried Deep featured some of the more familiar themes or distinctive narrative styles from her previous works. For example, I loved “Dragons & Decorum”, a retelling of Pride & Prejudice in which Elizabeth joins the Corps and gets her own dragon—obviously because it reminded me of Temeraire. Likewise, I enjoyed “Amarita, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake,” which I believe is set in an original world but nonetheless gave me the same sense of adventure I first found in His Majesty’s Dragon. Finally, rounding out my top three is “Spinning Silver,” the precursor to the full-length novel of the same name but has a very different ending.

But therein lies the problem to this collection. A lot of the stories, particularly those set in the author’s established universes, require prior knowledge to fully understand and appreciate them (I’m look at you, “After Hours” and “Vici.”) And if you’re reader like me who doesn’t have the best memory and often forgets details from books you’ve read, you might have trouble getting into them too. These are stories that just don’t stand well on their own in that they can be confusing or feel like throwaway tales even when you’re familiar with their settings and characters.

Uneven pacing, lackluster endings, and lack of story depth were also issues in a few cases. No doubt I’ve been spoiled by the richness and complexity of Novik’s novels, but still. I get that the short fiction format naturally provides limited space for world-building and character development, but some of the ones in Buried Deep felt unpolished, even a bit rough around the edges when compared to what I’ve come to expect from the author. These are the stories like “Blessings,” “Seven,” or “Lord Dunsany’s Teapot” which were based on interesting ideas but barely scratched the surface. And in the case of “Commonplaces,” a short story featuring Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes, I really wish Novik had taken a little more time to flesh out the character and plot.

Ultimately, there were a few gems in Buried Deep and Other Stories that captured the magic of Naomi Novik’s signature world-building and character-focused storytelling, but there were others that felt less impactful or left little to no impression on me. Because newcomers to the author’s work won’t find themselves as interested or invested in a lot of the offerings in this collection, I believe its appeal will also be limited. That said, her fans will not want to miss this one, for her creativity remains as strong as ever. However, if you’re new to her writing, I would recommend just starting with one of her novels.