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A review by nclcaitlin
Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik
2.25
You cannot ignore the range of Novik and she still remains an author I will always read from!
The main negative of this short sorry collection is that I think you would have to be familiar with all of Novik’s other works to have a full understanding and enjoy most of the stories. This seems to be a splattering of short fiction Novik wrote in tandem with her main works but couldn’t fit in.
As a short story collection, I believe it should be accessible to anyone who wants to dip their toes into an author’s work whereas this is not the case for this.
There’s some standalone stories, but there’s also some from the Schoolmance universe set after the Calling.
One from Temeraire where Antonius of Rome becomes the first dragon rider.
My personal favourite which is a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in the world of Temeraire with a gothic literature-loving dragon.
One which is verbatim a shorter story version of her novel Spinning Silver which Novik admits to in the introduction. However, I do think I enjoyed this shorter version! Despite foregoing the atmospheric descriptions, the writing was crisper and more engaging.
Here it was the dark of being a thing in the wrong place, soft and vulnerable and fallen between the turning wheels of a machine, like one of the poor little hedgehogs that tried to cross the road and were flattened by cars into useless pulp.
Novik ventures into science fiction which I thought was fascinating and would love to see her attempt a full length novel!
Children of virtually any society are an excellent resource for the diplomatic servant or the anthropologist, if contact with them can be made without giving offense. They enjoy the unfamiliar experience of answering real questions, particularly the stupidly obvious ones that allow them to feel a sense of superiority over the inquiring adult, and they are easily impressed with the unusual.
It is undeniable Novik is a master of words and delving into different niches. I thought this would make her short story collection outstanding. Sadly, for the aforementioned reasons, it did not.
Thank you to Cornerstone for providing an arc in exchange for a review!
The main negative of this short sorry collection is that I think you would have to be familiar with all of Novik’s other works to have a full understanding and enjoy most of the stories. This seems to be a splattering of short fiction Novik wrote in tandem with her main works but couldn’t fit in.
As a short story collection, I believe it should be accessible to anyone who wants to dip their toes into an author’s work whereas this is not the case for this.
There’s some standalone stories, but there’s also some from the Schoolmance universe set after the Calling.
One from Temeraire where Antonius of Rome becomes the first dragon rider.
My personal favourite which is a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in the world of Temeraire with a gothic literature-loving dragon.
One which is verbatim a shorter story version of her novel Spinning Silver which Novik admits to in the introduction. However, I do think I enjoyed this shorter version! Despite foregoing the atmospheric descriptions, the writing was crisper and more engaging.
Here it was the dark of being a thing in the wrong place, soft and vulnerable and fallen between the turning wheels of a machine, like one of the poor little hedgehogs that tried to cross the road and were flattened by cars into useless pulp.
Novik ventures into science fiction which I thought was fascinating and would love to see her attempt a full length novel!
Children of virtually any society are an excellent resource for the diplomatic servant or the anthropologist, if contact with them can be made without giving offense. They enjoy the unfamiliar experience of answering real questions, particularly the stupidly obvious ones that allow them to feel a sense of superiority over the inquiring adult, and they are easily impressed with the unusual.
It is undeniable Novik is a master of words and delving into different niches. I thought this would make her short story collection outstanding. Sadly, for the aforementioned reasons, it did not.
Thank you to Cornerstone for providing an arc in exchange for a review!