Fiction Reviews
Buried Deep… and other stories
(2024) Naomi Novik, Del Rey, £18.99, hrdbk, 431pp, ISBN 978-1-529-91621-8
A collection of thirteen short stories, including two brand-new works. 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. 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 fulfil its promise…
Okay, true confession time, I’ve never read Naomi Novik before and reading a short story collection by her seemed a good place to start, but perhaps not, given that some of the stories draw on some of her previous works, namely the 'Temeraire' series Temeraire which (so far) consists of nine novels set in the Napoleonic wars, but with added dragons, Temeraire being the dragon of the hero, Captain William Laurence. We also get another story set in her 'Scholomance' trilogy. These worlds, settings, and characters are new to me, so perhaps my great plan wasn’t so great after all, especially when Novik revisits the worlds of some of her standalone series. Apart from revisiting her own works we get stories that involve encounters with Greek myths, Pride and Prejudice and the world of Sherlock Holmes. Novik also, quite cleverly, takes the opportunity to give us a taster set in the world of her new fantasy series.
Proceedings start with 'Araminta, or, the Wreck of the Amphidrake' concerning Araminta who is a bit of a problem for her family who live in a magic-filled Regency England, but their problems seem to be at an end as she is about to set sail to marry a foreign noblemen. Except her ship is attacked by pirates and Araminta must step up to the plate and use her smarts and magic powers, and a bit of cross-dressing to save the day, and herself.
Next is 'After Hours', set in the 'Scholomance' world, concerning a mushroom witch (whoever knew there was such a thing) who gets sent to Scholomance, ends up with a dreadful roommate and makes the brave, but foolish decision, to venture out after dark in search of some decent grub, thus getting in all sorts of adventures.
In 'Vici' we are in the world of 'Temeraire' again, but not as we know it, because we are way back in Roman times in a story involving Mark Anthony – yes, that one, who is a bit of waster, but given the chance to earn an honourable death by taking on a dragon, except he slays it, becomes something of a celebrity, so life is on the up, but then the dragon egg in his possession starts to hatch and his life is about to take a very interesting turn.
Story four – 'Buried Deep' – is a bit of tear jerker, telling the story of the Minotaur from the viewpoint of his human sister, Ariadne, in a haunting, tragic tale.
What follows in the collection is a mixture of tales ranging from: 'Spinning Silver' which is the original short story version of the novel of the same name; 'Commonplaces', a pretty slight story involving Irene Adler of Sherlock Holmes fame investigating his death at Reichenbach Falls; to 'Seven',a tale of seven singing statues that stand in a city and those who created them.
'Blessings' gives us a story about the fairies who are at a feast to celebrate the birth of a nobleman’s daughter but get drunk and try to out-do each other with their gifts.
In 'Lord Dunsany’s Teapot' a magical teapot ends up in a trench in World War One in a tale that is a bit of a downer.
'Seven Years from Home' is inspired by the work of T. E. Lawrence and is science fiction rather than fantasy.<.P>
'Dragons and Decorum' is a title with a familiar ring to it – Pride and Prejudice anyone? No surprise that this story involves a dragon rider called Elisabeth Bennett?
'Castle Coeurlieu' concerns a young bride who must defend the castle against a monster who is stalking the halls, but is the secret of the monster in the castle’s own haunted tower?
Finally, 'The Long Way Round' is about Tess who is an accomplished sailor, and her brother Aston, who is a renowned shipbuilder and their adventures with a wizard when they sail into unchartered waters. At 64 pages this is the longest story in the collection and is followed by a map of the first 'Long Journey'.
Being new to Novik and the worlds she had created in either series, or standalone form, many of the stories take place in lands new to me, and are a mixed bag. Some are sad, some are entertaining, some are odd, some are slight, but it is a bit of a masterstroke to end the collection with a taster for the new world she has created, and I am sure Novik devotees will love visiting old favourites again. Me? I might just have to go to square one and star reading His Majesty’s Dragon.
Ian Hunter
[Up: Fiction Reviews Index | SF Author: Website Links | Home Page: Concatenation]
[One Page Futures Short Stories | Recent Site Additions | Most Recent Seasonal Science Fiction News]