A review by pages_with_panda
Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 Great collection of a variety of stories by Novik. 

There’s a total of 13, and before each story we get a little snippet of Novik’s thoughts about the tale (which she tells us to take with a grain of salt). The majority of these stories had been previous published or built upon, so keep that in mind if you're a big follower of Novik's.

I also really enjoyed how the audiobook had a different narrator for each story that really brought the stories to life.

Here's some quick thoughts on each story:

Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake
  • Amazing tale with a fun main character. Adventurous pirate story. 5/5 

After Hours
  • New story not previously published anywhere. A return to the Scholomance after the events of the trilogy. Great characters, they really felt fleshed out despite the shortness of the story. Cool Easter Egg if you've read the trilogy. Not sure if it'll have the same weight if not. 5/5
  • TW: Slight body horror

Vici
  • Dragon slaying tale with a twist. Fans of ancient Rome might enjoy this, although I didn't get a lot of the references. 4/5
  • TW:  Blood, war, violence, murder 

Buried Deep 
  • Retelling of the Greek Labyrinth myth. 5/5. 
  • TW: Body horror, 

Spinning Silver
  • Basically the first draft of the novel by the same name. I loved the novel and really liked revisiting the world in this story story as well. Wraps up nicely but different than the novel. 5/5

Commonplaces
  • Story about Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes's books. The way she manages to take Irene and make her a full character is amazing. I really liked the characterization between Holmes and Watson here, and Novik manages to write their deep history in such a simple way that could be overlooked. She says so much by just having Irene hinting at it. 5/5

 Seven
  • Couldn't really pull me in. Seemed too dense for a short story. 2/5

Blessing
  • Sleeping Beauty retelling but focused on the fairies giving their blessings. I loved seeing the way this was setup. The shortest story, maybe because the world is the most known to readers. 4/5

Lord Dunsany's Teapot
  • Felt a little out of place in this anthology. War story where soldiers are connected by a teapot. 1/5
  • TW: War, 

Seven Years from Home
  • Dystopian sci-fi story. Couldn't really get into it either. 1/5
  • TW:  Colonisation, Body horror, Terminal illness, 

Dragons & Decorum
  • Pride & Prejudice retelling but Elizabeth is a dragon-riding soldier. I don't see the point of making it a P&P story when it could've just been something unique. Don't feel like the dragons really added anything but I'm a big P&P fan anyways... 3/5
  • TW: War

Castle Coeurlieu
  • Loved this story. A young bride tries to survive a night inside her haunted castle. Gothic vibes and incredible imaginative writing. The game at the end was so cool as well.  5/5

The Long Way Round
  • New story, as well as Novik's "current project." Another pirate/sailing story. I got really into it but felt like the first few chapters rather a stand-alone short story. I loved Tess and her brother, can't wait to meet them again in their own story. 5/5
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