Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik

On November 10, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Short Stories1 Comment

Publisher: Del Rey (Trade Paperback – 17 September 2024)

Series: Standalone/Short Story Collection

Length: 433 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

A must-read for all fans of fantasy author Naomi Novik is the excellent and highly enjoyable short story collection, Buried Deep and Other Stories. Featuring an intriguing combination of stories from across Novik’s imagination and established fantasy universes, Buried Deep and Other Stories was a particularly awesome read that I had a lot of fun getting through.

Naomi Novik is a well-established and impressive fantasy author who has produced some amazing works over the years. Best known for her iconic Temeraire series, which envisioned the Napoleonic Wars with dragons, Novik has produced some great books and stories over the years, including some interesting standalone works. I best know Novik from her excellent Scholomance books, which showcased a dark and impressive take on the magic school genre. The Scholomance books, made up of A Deadly Education (one of my favourite books of 2020), The Last Graduate (one of my favourite books of 2021) and The Golden Enclaves (one of my favourite books of 2022), were all extremely awesome, and this remains one of my all-time favourite book trilogies. As such, I was very interested in reading more from Novik and Buried Deep and Other Stories offered an amazing opportunity to explore her varied writings.

Buried Deep and Other Stories contains an auspicious 13 short stories, which run the gambit from entertaining to moving and bring together both previously published short stories and new tales fresh from the author’s imagination. While some of the reads are standalone stories, there were also entries from Novik’s more familiar universes, all of which comes together to make quite an awesome overall volume. I was initially drawn to this book by the promise of a continuation of series I’ve previously read, but I ended up staying for the whole inventive array, especially as you are gifted a vision into Novik’s future works.

Novik starts the book off strong with the fast-paced story, Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake, a Regency-style adventure with fantasy elements that follows a young, adventurous woman who wants more than a planned marriage. A chance pirate attack and a gender-morphing amulet provide the opportunity she is looking for while also leading to various amorous adventures. This was a very fun, and slightly randy, swashbuckling adventure that successfully highlights the author’s flair for combining historical periods with her own fantasy ideas. This proved to be a great first entry to Buried Deep and Other Stories, and I appreciated that Novik started things off fun.

Novik kept the book going strong with the amazing Afterhours, which serves as a follow-up to her awesome Scholomance trilogy. I must admit that of all the stories in this book, Afterhours was the one that I was most excited for, primarily because I had such a great time with the Scholomance novels, and I really wanted to see how the universe continued. Novik did not disappoint with a captivating story set a couple of years after The Golden Enclaves, with a look at a new class studying at the Scholomance magical school. Despite the Scholomance evolving and becoming less exclusive, some things remain the same, with the unusual witch Beata, finding her school life made difficult by the rich and powerful enclave students, including her roommate. Desperate to survive, Beata and her friends break curfew to obtain rare supplies, only to encounter some of the remaining monsters roaming the school.

This proved to be an entertaining and wonderful return to the Scholomance series, and I for one was glad to get a look at the school and its unusual setup following the chaotic events of the original trilogy. Novik does an excellent job expanding on her existing universe, and fans of the series will love this continuation, as well as a major cameo at the end. However, this story is open to reader’s unfamiliar with the Scholomance books, especially as Novik focuses the plot on a protagonist unaware of the full details of the previous books, allowing for an excellent outsider’s perspective as you explore the setting’s unique features. It was great to return to this iconic setting, and Afterhours was a fun read that both stood on its own, while also providing some awesome moments to the author’s existing readers.

The third story in this book, Vici, is a quick but highly fun entry that ties into the dragon taming world of Novik’s Temeraire universe. Indeed, Vici shows the origin of the universe’s entire dragon riding premise with a Roman historical tale that sees a young Mark Antony hatch a dragon egg. Novik produces a particularly entertaining and hilarious story, as her irresponsible Mark Antony (inspired by James Purefoy from the Rome television series), finds himself in all manner of trouble, made worse by his impressionable talking dragon. I loved this simple but highly effective story, which not only expertly works dragons into Roman history, but which also keeps the reader extremely amused with some great humour and over-the-top moments. One of the funniest stories in Buried Deep and Other Stories, and a wonderful mood lightener between other heavier entries.

This leads us to the book’s titular short story, Buried Deep, which serves as a powerful retelling of the Minotaur myth. Told from the perspective of King Minos’s daughter, Ariadne, Buried Deep follows her journey to becoming a priestess of the shrine that holds her brother, Minotaur, as he stalks the labyrinth under the island. Novik seeks to cast both Ariadne and Minotaur in a more sympathetic light, showing them as victims of their father’s schemes, with Ariadne seeking to undermine Minos by using the labyrinth to enhance her reputation. Thanks to its deep emotional edge and near gothic style, Buried Deep proved to be a particularly unique and memorable take on the Minotaur myth, and I loved seeing Ariadne’s perspective of events. You really appreciate her bond with Minotaur and the pain that his imprisonment has on her, and this was one of the more moving entries in Buried Deep and Other Stories. This story effectively showcased Novik’s ability to transform well-established stories and myths, and I’m glad Buried Deep was featured here.

The next story is the fantastic entry, Spinning Silver. A clever take on the classic Rumpelstiltskin fairytale, this story follows Miryem, the daughter of a village moneylender, who takes over her weak father’s business and becomes a successful businesswoman. A boast about her ability to make money brings her to the attention of a malicious faerie who demands that she prove her ill-timed words three times by turning his silver coins into gold. What follows is a fantastic and clever series of events as Miryem uses her business sense and quick thinking to technically fulfill the terms of the magical contract while also trying to get out of the unfavourable marriage promised as a reward.

I really loved Spinning Silver for a multitude of reasons, especially as it has a compelling narrative that brilliantly retells a famous fairytale in a darker and more modern manner, while also featuring a great historical Russian setting. This proved to be a particularly enthralling tale of fortitude and tough decisions that also subtly examines the historical hardship of the Jewish population of Eastern Europe. Spinning Silver is also an interesting inclusion as it bears the same name as one of the author’s novels. This short story, which was published a few years before the Spinning Silver novel, was the inspiration for Novik’s later book, with the author reusing elements from it. While readers who have already enjoyed the Spinning Silver novel will see some similarities between it and this short story, the entry in Buried Deep and Other Stories is very much worth checking out as Novik takes this short story in a different direction to give it quicker and more definitive conclusion. I think that the Spinning Silver short story works a little better than the overall novel, mainly because the concept was more focused and reached its key points sooner, but both prove to be excellent reads. This honestly proved to be one of the strongest entries in Buried Deep and Other Stories, and I see why Novik chose to expand it into a novel.

The fun continues with the fantastic story Commonplaces, which serves as the author’s unique entry in the Sherlock Holmes mythos. Set after the events of the classic Sherlock Holmes short story, The Final Problem, Commonplaces focuses on the character of Irene Adler after she hears about the events at Reichenbach Falls. This was a short but sweet story that provides an interesting modern look at the impact Holmes has on the characters he encounters. Novik’s take on Adler, which only utilises details from A Scandal in Bohemia, is particularly authentic, and doesn’t fall into the exaggeration that many of her current popular culture portrayals are known for. Shown solely from Adler’s perspective, you get some great interpretations into her personality, as well as her observations of the enigmatic Holmes. I felt the story went in some very interesting and memorable directions, and I liked how it both cleverly referenced A Scandal in Bohemia but also covered a potential romance between Holmes and Adler in its own way. Novik adds in a few subtle implications about Holmes’ romantic interests and inclinations, which I thought was a nice touch, and the resulting story effectively ties up the entire storyline between these two iconic figures. An overall fantastic story, Commonplaces is a fun and quick short that will appeal to a lot of readers.

Novik continues to delight with the seventh entry, ironically named Seven, which was one of my favourite stories in Buried Deep and Other Stories. Set in a unique fantasy city called Seven, the story is set around the city’s famous ceramics trade, which constantly ensures that the city is surrounded by seven giant singing statues. Whenever one of the statues breaks, a replacement is made from a beautiful yet deadly special clay by the city’s then master clay-shaper. Seven primarily follows Kath, a clay-shaper’s widow, who takes over her husband’s business with the help of grouchy kiln master and ceramic devotee Grovin, and eventually forms a reputation as a radical artist due to the simplicity of her pots and ceramics. Chosen to build the next singing statue, Kath is initially reluctant due to the life-shortening nature of the special clay, until the machinations of Grovin forces her hand.

I really loved Seven, and I think it is the story that best showcases how imaginative and skilled Novik is as an author. I was deeply impressed with how effectively Novik was able to build up a new fantasy city and then set up a complex and character-driven tale that debated art versus practicality in only 25 pages. You easily get drawn into the struggle of Kath as she becomes a famous artist and creator with all the trouble that entails, while simply trying to provide for her family. Novik works this initial premise extremely well, and then cleverly twists the entirety of Seven into a tale the examines the dark side of art appreciation. This darkness is conveyed by the complex and gruff character of Grovin, a man who only loves the beauty of ceramics, and whose desire to see more of Kath’s art forces him to some dark places. I loved the ironic twist that forces Grovin to live a life less devoted to the arts to get what he wants, and I really appreciated how Novik explored his obsession, and the differing views of what ceramics represent between the two main characters. If I had one complaint, it would be that the story wasn’t long enough; I would love to have seen a more concrete conclusion than the philosophical end Novik came up with, but this was still an exceptional story that really hooked me in with its creativity and unique focus.

Continuing onwards, Novik throws in two great short stories that break up the book in preparation for the longer stories towards the end, with Blessings and Lord Dunsany’s Teapot. Lord Dunsany’s Teapot is a tale of magic and imagination in the depths of horrifying war, while Blessings is a fun story about a young baby who gets over-blessed by six drunk and competitive fairy godmothers. Both these stories have their own unique flavour, and I liked how well they played off each other in short order. Lord Dunsany’s Teapot was a quick magical story with descriptive dark war elements to it that highlight the need for an escape from horror, while Blessings was an excellent comedic take on the fairy godmother trope from popular fairytales. I enjoyed both these stories, although Blessings was probably my favourite due to its hilarious, quick-fire content.

Next up we have the tenth entry in Buried Deep and Other Stories, with the book’s only science fiction contribution. Seven Years From Home is a striking story about futuristic colonialism in which a young diplomat from an ever-increasing galactic federation visits a prospective new member planet where a war is brewing between new, technological reliant colonists and the original settlers of the planet who have genetically modified themselves and are now in tune with nature. This was an interesting take on the classic story of technologically advanced colonists warring with nature-loving natives with an outsider amid the natives learning their ways. However, Novik takes her story in some different directions, with the natives proving to be far more adaptable than you would expect, and I loved this brilliant and intriguing tale. While it features a great story, Novik ensures that Seven Years From Home really stands out thanks to the protagonist, who finds herself caught between her loyalties to her home empire and the new friends she makes on her adventures. There were some great scenes as the protagonist becomes even more conflicted with her choices, especially as the information she sends home keeps the war going, and her attempts to find the same mindset of her hosts. This story ends with some touching tragedy and a great twist, and I felt that Novik’s foray into science fiction was a fantastic success.

Continuing, we have the book’s second foray into the Temeraire universe with the fabulous entry Dragons & Decorum. Set to the backdrop of the Napoleonic War that the main Temeraire books are based on, Dragons & Decorum is a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice with dragons. The primary story sees Elizabeth Bennett becoming a Longwing captain in the Aerial Corps, flying her dragon as professional soldier, much to the horror of her mother. However, despite her new role, Elizabeth still finds herself drawing the attention of Mr Darcy, and the two engage in a tumultuous courtship, with even more complexity thanks to Elizabeth’s romance-obsessed dragon and the ongoing war. Novik clearly had fun working elements of her dragon-focused world into this literary classic, and I loved her fantastic take on the classic book, especially as dragons add new entertaining angles to the romance. I felt that the author perfectly blended the more outrageous elements of her universe with the Pride and Prejudice plot, while also cleverly imitating Jane Austen’s writing style. The result is a particularly amusing entry that will appeal to both fantasy fans and Jane Austen fans, and I just love the hilarious impacts any book’s relationship to the Temeraire universe can have.

On the home streak we have the intriguing and dark story, Castle Coeurlieu, which saw the very young bride of a castle lord grow close to her similarly aged stepson and learn the unusual history of the castle in which they live, including several stories about people visiting a mysterious tower within its bounds. When plague strikes the region and her new friend flees to the tower, the protagonist follows, only to discover unusual occurrences, including three women playing with cards inscribed with the fate of the castle’s inhabitants. While Castle Coeurlieu wasn’t my favourite entry in Buried Deep and Other Stories, it proved to be a compelling darker story that added in some grimmer elements towards the end of the book. I enjoyed the different layers of lore surrounding the setting, and the curious young protagonist was well written and provided a great view to the plot. An overall interesting addition to the volume, that serves as a great buffer between two of its biggest stories.

The final story contained within Buried Deep and Other Stories is the captivating adventure tale, The Long Way Round. The longest entry in the collection, The Long Way Round was probably the story I was most looking forward to reading outside of After Hours, mainly because it provides readers with the first glimpse at Novik’s next upcoming book, currently titled Folly, following two siblings, canny sailor Tess and brilliant boat-builder Aston, who embark on a journey to cross the seemingly empty seas surrounding their known world and try to discover new lands. Forcibly accompanied by their High Lord, a young wizard looking to prove himself, Tess, Aston and their crew set out on their adventure, only to make some unexpected discoveries with major implications for their entire world.

Featuring a great combination of likeable characters, well-written nautical elements, and a compelling new world filled with unique elements, The Long Way Round was a particularly addictive entry in Buried Deep and Other Stories. Novik once again does a remarkable job effectively building up the scenario and the new fantasy realm in a short run time, and readers quickly find themselves getting invested in the protagonist’s journey, especially as the author does an excellent job exploring their motivations and desires. The set-up and apprehension of the first part of The Long Way Round is well balanced by the subsequent mystery contained in the second half of the story, as the protagonists find what they seek, even if they are uncertain what it is. Novik provides the reader with a series of stimulating and intriguing visuals and curious elements, and you really get into the spirit of the adventurous narrative elements. This honestly proved to be an addictive read, and I found the clever, character-driven nautical adventure to be moving and fascinating at the same time. I also found myself coming away from The Long Way Round extremely curious about Novik’s next book, and I will be interested to see whether it will be a direct sequel to this or something set further in the future. Either way, the mystery of the titular follies is something I hope to explore in the future, and I am now even more excited for Novik’s next book whenever it comes out.

Overall, Buried Deep and Other Stories turned out to be an awesome short story volume from Naomi Novik that showed me her true range and skill as a fantasy author. This book provides a fantastic collection of works, that hit you on every part of the emotional spectrum, including fun comedic reads and darker, tragedy charged narratives. I was also particularly impressed by the inclusion of unique standalone stories whose elaborate fantasy concepts were well established and the expertly utilised to tell compelling stories. The blend of original stories and windows into the author’s current and upcoming fantasy universes also ensured that readers of Buried Deep and Other Stories are in for a brilliant time. It proved very easy to jump between these different fantasy worlds, and I felt that all readers can appreciate and follow the stories contained within, even if they were tied into the author’s other series. As a fan of Novik’s writings, it was great to get some additional stories from her various universes, and the final story, The Long Way Round, has really gotten me excited to check out her next book. Folly (or whatever its name may change to) is now very high on my to-read list, and I hope we see it soon. As for Buried Deep and Other Stories, this was an incredible and fantastic short story collection that comes highly recommended for fans of Naomi Novik, as well as general fantasy fans looking for some compelling, shorter reads.

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The Red Ribbon by H. B. Lyle

On October 18, 2018August 20, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Murder Mystery, Thriller1 Comment

The Red Ribbon Cover.jpg

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date – 23 August 2018

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Return to pre-World War I London for another compelling spy adventure in H. B. Lyle’s second book, The Red Ribbon, which is set in the same universe as Sherlock Holmes and features three exciting characters with an intriguing look at early 20^th century British history and espionage.

In London, in 1910, Captain Vernon Kell is still attempting create a secret intelligence service capable of protecting England from foreign spies and infiltrators. Despite the early success of the Secret Service Bureau, Kell’s organisation is constantly under pressure from the country’s politicians and is in danger of being absorbed into Special Branch of London’s police.

Unfortunately, Kell’s only agent, Wiggins, is distracted with his own cases and unwilling to play the political games needed to help the service survive. Wiggins is the former leader of Sherlock Holmes’s street urchin surveillance organisation, the Baker Street Irregulars, and has picked up a few of his old master’s deductive tricks while retaining his lower-class charm and street smarts. Wiggins is obsessed with finding the infamous anarchist, Peter the Painter, the man responsible for the death of one of Wiggins’s oldest friends, and is scouring the streets for him.

Looking for a missing girl on behalf of one of his contacts, Wiggins begins to investigate a mysterious embassy located in the affluent neighbourhood of Belgravia. The embassy is actually a high-class brothel frequented by the rich and powerful of London. When another girl associated with the embassy is found murdered, Wiggins attempts to find justice; however, the embassy is under the protection of someone Wiggins knows well: Tommy, a fellow former member of the Irregulars.

However, Wiggins’s personal investigations intersect with his work for Kell, as the two of them hunt for the source of a series of leaks at the highest level of government. With the help of Kell’s wife, the suffragist Constance, Wiggins and Kell must find the connection between the events occurring around London in order to keep the country safe from sinister foreign influences.

The Red Ribbon is the follow-up to Lyle’s debut novel, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy, and is the second book in the Irregular Spy Thriller series. This is a great series that will appeal to a huge range of readers, as Lyle combines compelling historical fiction elements with a thrilling espionage story that has fictional links with one of the most iconic book series of all time, Sherlock Holmes.

The story within The Red Ribbon is split between the book’s three main protagonists and takes a look at each character’s different and exciting adventures. Wiggins and Kell continue their missions from the first book, and while their investigations are ostensibly separate from each other, they eventually intersect in several clever ways. The relationship between Wiggins and Kell is an important part of these two storylines, as Kell despairs of Wiggins’s personal investigations and wants Wiggins to solely work missions for the service. The third focal character is Kell’s wife, Constance, who was a supporting character in the first book. Constance becomes a much more significant character in The Red Ribbon, as the book focuses on her involvement with the suffragist and suffragette movements. Both Wiggins and Kell become involved with Constance’s storyline in different capacities, while Constance provides significant assistance with her husband’s espionage work. With three semi-connected stories, it does at times feel like there is too much going on for one cohesive narrative. However, each of the stories comes together quite well in the end and provides the reader with an extremely captivating overarching narrative.

Having three separate storylines allows Lyle to highlight the differences in social classes during this historical period and highlights how different groups of people were treated. Kell, as the influential gentleman, is forced to constantly deal with the upper-class politics and attitudes during his attempts to keep the service going. Wiggins, who was raised on the street, deals more with the average Londoner and experiences the poverty and desperation many of them encounter. He must also deal with the distain of the upper classes in the course of his espionage work. While he is clearly the most competent agent in the entire British service, he is constantly looked down upon and ignored by his government superiors. There are also several instances where Wiggins is assigned to infiltrate labour movements, something he is very reluctant to do due to his world views and background. This divide often serves to create some significant tension with Kell, who, despite fully understanding Wiggins’s value, skills and point of view, is often exasperated by him. The beefed-up storyline around Constance allows the reader a significant look at the suffragist movement and the early battles these women fought for equality. In The Red Ribbon, Constance joins the much more militant suffragettes, and is constantly infuriated by the reactions of the male politicians and their oppressive policies. The oppression of women also becomes a major point of conflict between Kell and Constance which results in a decline in their relationship, although the final payoff of this storyline is quite sweet. I really enjoyed the way that Constance and Wiggins developed a fun comradery in this book, as their poor treatment by the upper-class men allow them to bond, with Wiggins even teaching Constance some anti-surveillance techniques.

Lyle cleverly incorporates several important historical events into this book, such as the funeral of Edward VII, the Black Friday suffragettes and suffragists protest outside Parliament and the Siege of Sidney Street. These events are quite significant in their own right, and Lyle spends substantial time filling in their background and ensuring the reader is aware of why they are happening and why they are important. However, they also serve as very compelling background events for the plot of The Red Ribbon and work well to enhance this already fascinating story. In addition to these intriguing and important historical events, Lyle has also packed a number of historical figures into this story. Quite a few prominent politicians and British civil servants have significant roles in the plot, including a young Winston Churchill, which makes the story feel a lot more authentic. The author’s continued use of the enigmatic Peter the Painter as one of the book’s principal antagonists is another brilliant stroke, and the reader is provided with some intriguing theories about who he actually was and what his eventual fate was. Lyle does slightly go overboard by adding in some other famous historical figures in small cameo roles, and the shoehorning in of people such as Charlie Chaplin and members of the 1910 British Antarctic Expedition seems a bit unnecessary. That being said, it was amusing to watch Chaplin use his drunken tramp routine to help Wiggins escape a conflict in a theatre.

One of my favourite components of this book was the author’s detailed and unique look at British espionage and counter espionage in the early 20^th century. One of the book’s protagonists, Captain Kell, is an actual historical figure who is credited for creating Britain’s domestic spy service, which morphed into the modern MI5. This fictionalised account of the early days of this organisation are quite fascinating, especially when the author looks at some of its early challenges, the political battles Kell might have had to face, and the sort of work this organisation was originally looking at. In addition to the domestic espionage work, the protagonists of The Red Ribbon find themselves drawn into one of the most infamous espionage incidents of the era: the capture of British agents Captain Trench and Lieutenant Brandon in Germany in 1910. This is a highly fictionalised account of the incident, as Lyle has inserted Kell and Mansfield Cummings, one of the founders of MI6, as being there. It plays marvellously in Kell’s overall storyline, while also featuring some great scenes as the three protagonists’ attempt to evade arrest by the Germans. Trench and Brandon are not portrayed in the best light, as Lyle has used them to further the class prejudices in Britain, portraying the two soldiers as quite incompetent spies who are captured as a result of wilfully ignoring Wiggins’s advice due to him not being a gentleman.

Another fun part of The Red Ribbon is the connection the book shares with the Sherlock Holmes novels. The Irregular Spy Thriller series is set in the same universe as the Sherlock Holmes books. Wiggins was mentioned several times in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original works as the leader of the Baker Street Irregulars. As a result, Wiggins comes across as a rougher Sherlock Holmes, who uses the classic deductive method while also fighting, drinking and speaking in a lower-class manner. As in the first book of this series, the great detective himself makes a brief appearance, providing Wiggins with a case-breaking suggestion, while casually enjoying his retirement. The use of the Sherlock Holmes elements is definitely a defining element of the book, and while it is mostly used to draw interested readers into this historical spy thriller, Lyle successfully uses it to create a unique and enjoyable main protagonist.

B. Lyle has followed up his superb 2017 debut with another fun and exhilarating read. Continuing to use his Sherlock Holmes inspired character to great effect, Lyle weaves a full and captivating narrative that presents several unique stories chock full of adventure, mystery and interesting historical content. The Red Ribbon is an amazing second outing from Lyle which also sets up an exciting concept for a third book in the series.