I admit it - I am a Naomi Novik fan. Since I first read Uprooted, I have appreciated her characters, her world-building, and her amazing plots. This collection of short fiction includes pieces set within worlds or accompanying stories that we already know from her other books. It also has a story set within the world of her next planned series. Some have previously been published in other anthologies or magazines, but together they make a precious little bundle.
What will you find inside?
- a tale of pirates and a promised bride who is easily the match for the spirited Elizabeth Swann
- a trip back to the Scholomance after it is reopened (yes, more Orion Lake!)
- a condemned man in Roman times sent off to kill a dragon and he winds up meeting Julius Caesar
- Ariadne and the minotaur
- an early, shorter version of Spinning Silver
- an encounter with Irene Adler (yes, "the woman")
- a group of fairies handing out blessings at the birth of a baby girl
- a teapot in the trenches of WWI that may be something more than just cookware
- a junior bureaucrat on a foreign planet
- Elizabeth Bennett and her dragon
- a young bride and her stepson trying to survive the Black Death
- and that last story, a taste of things to come with wizards and sea krakes and oceans to explore.
Whether you sit down and read the book through from start to finish, or pick and choose which story suits your mood on a particular day, you will have a delightful time. You will laugh at silly young fools. You will groan with frustration at unfair situations that the characters must overcome. And you will cheer for determined young women who manage to make their own way in the world despite all the odds stacked against them. If you are a Novik fan already, you know what sort of treat to expect. If this is your first encounter, prepare to hunt down the rest of her books as soon as you finish this one.
I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes.
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