Buried Deep collects almost 20 years of award-winning Naomi Novik’s acclaimed short stories. It is a treasure trove for fans who no longer need to hunt through a dozen anthologies to find them individually. Some stories have already achieved legendary status, such as her retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice—with dragons! Novik’s fans from her nine-book Temeraire series will delight in the abundance of dragons in this collection, including in the tale of “Vici”, which traces the militarization of dragons back to Rome and Antony.
For fans of her three-book Scholomance series, Buried Deep includes a foray into that world and features an appearance by a beloved character. The speculative mix continues with enchanted castle towers, magic teapots, drunken fairies, and an assortment of witches, each story inviting readers into fantastical realms rich with imagination and adventure.
Perhaps most exciting is the glimpse into the new world Naomi Novik is building for her forthcoming book series, tentatively titled Folly. This sneak peek is extensive and alone justifies Buried Deep‘s price, even if some readers have encountered other included stories. This foray into Folly is one of several pirate ship stories, so to judge from “The Long Way Around” much of her future writing might shift focus from land and sky to the sea, offering fresh and thrilling perspectives on her storytelling canvas.
The premise of Folly so far is that a brother and sister will attempt to circumnavigate the world by ship, going further into the horizon than anyone has ever managed before. By the time “The Long Way Around” concludes, these two amusing characters have discovered many uncharted lands. However, the essential mystique of the symbolic objects they find scattered across these lands is preserved for the full-length tale the author will eventually publish. It’s a great start to an intriguing mystery set on the high seas.
Naomi Novik’s mastery in creating fantasy and mythical worlds is prominently displayed throughout this collection. Her skill in retelling classic tales shines in her revised Rumpelstiltskin story, “Spinning Silver,” and the titular “Buried Deep,” which offers a fresh take on the labyrinth and the Minotaur. Her adeptness with various types of language and syntax is evident, effortlessly transitioning from the stately passive voices of ancient civilizations to the politeness of the Victorians and the hilarious vulgarities of timeless sailors.
The order of these 13 stories is equally well done, giving readers an inspiring breadth of treasures without the disjointed feeling of whiplash that sometimes goes with plunging from one fantastic world too quickly into another wholly different type of environment. The range of story lengths, some lasting only a few pages and some approaching the fuller length of a novella, showcases Novik’s command of pacing, drawing in the reader as she trickles out the clues to each story’s resolution. Her ability to engage readers with diverse narrative styles and story structures speaks to her versatility and deep understanding of speculative genres.
A notable feature of Naomi Novik’s work is her fairly consistent use of female protagonists. Often, these characters temporarily shape-shift into men for safety or are accused of being mannish by unsavory characters throughout their lives. Novik’s dedication to crafting strong, kickass heroines is a testament to her feminist mission. Rather than evangelizing, her characters’ approaches to challenges and their narrative strategies effectively convey her themes.
For example, in one story, a woman held hostage on a pirate ship contemplates how easily the men are deceived into believing she’s a man by slight changes in her appearance, thinking, “In reality, the line between lady and lord was distressingly thin.” In another, a pragmatic moneylender’s daughter reacts to a mythical creature threatening her with marriage by dismissing both the creature and the threat simultaneously, “I didn’t believe in stories, even though we lived in the middle of one.”
A human cosmonaut in yet another story explains Earth’s customs to an alien anchored by an ecology-first mindset from a more civilized planet, wryly noting, “I told her about Terce, and about the seclusion of women, which she found extremely funny, as we can only laugh at the follies of those far from us which threaten us not at all.” Novik seamlessly weaves feminist themes into her narratives through her characters’ experiences and perspectives, and it’s not only female readers who will find these role models’ lives suitably action-packed.
She offers an extension of the foundational Sherlock Holmes tale “A Scandal in Bohemia” that gives readers a glimpse of his other foil and iconic lover, Irene Adler. The story is set after Holmes has allegedly been defeated by his eternal nemesis, Moriarty. We see Adler driven almost mad with grief, reined in only by her sneaking suspicion that Holmes may not be deceased after all, ultimately sparking some fabulous globe-trotting to a complicated meeting.
Indeed, Naomi Novik lays bare her intention to critique Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s approach to Adler’s character, prefacing it by saying, “There’s a shape of a woman there I want to know and see, but I can’t, quite, because her own author isn’t seeing her truly.” Novik turns in a profile of Adler that shows the character is every bit a match and equal for Holmes, whereas Doyle only manages to assert she is without properly demonstrating it.
This revisionist storytelling underscores Naomi Novik’s commitment to exploring and redefining classic narratives through a modern, feminist lens. As a result, Buried Deep is a delight for young adults and seasoned readers of fantasy or mythology. Novik’s stories are accessible to a wide audience, offering both depth and whimsy that appeal to readers across generations. The blend of adventure, romance, and recasting of what is familiar ensures something for everyone. Young readers will find inspiration in Novik’s strong heroines and fantastical worlds, while older readers can appreciate the intricate storytelling, attention to redeploying details found in the foundational tales, and sophisticated themes woven throughout her fiction.
Each of Buried Deep‘s stories is preceded by a short introduction from the author, who is careful to say in the opening note how useless it is to try to give any context for how these stories came to be: “If I tell you anything about these stories, the chances are extremely good that I made it up when an editor or interviewer asked me, months or years after I wrote the actual story.” As for how she does it, this beautiful bit of insight for writers developing ambitious fiction comes at the front of “The Long Way Around”:
“Every story and every novel starts for me with a first line that makes me want to know more myself, about the characters revealed in that line and the world taking shape around them. I find out more about them one line at a time, making small decisions as I go that gradually accumulate until I know the rules of the world, until I know the people I’m talking about. Then I go back to the beginning and clean up all the places where I’ve gotten something wrong.” This glimpse into her creative process offers valuable advice for aspiring writers, emphasizing the importance of discovery and iterative refinement in storytelling.
Buried Deep is an excellent way to familiarize oneself with Naomi Novik’s work if her award-winning contributions to American speculative fiction have somehow been missed over the past two decades. She stands as one of the finest writers in the genre today, and the full-length worldview of Folly can’t come soon enough. Novik’s ability to blend rich, imaginative worlds with profound character development and thematic depth ensures that Buried Deep will captivate long-time fans and new readers, solidifying her status as a master storyteller.