This is a short story collection that includes some stories from the Scholomance and the Temenarie series. While you dont have to have read the Temenarie series to read its short stories (no spoilers there) the scolomance shorties do essentially spoil the huge ending of book two and the ending of book three (which I haven’t read yet but could have guessed). Either way, it’s full of so many stories that even if you skip the scolomance ones then you’ll still have a lot of Naomi Novik to luxuriate in.

Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake
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This one was first and honestly not my favourite of the collection. It’s a fun short story set in the regency period with a female main lead who has a talisman that helps her survive when her ship is attacked by pirates because it turns her into a man. I enjoyed it at the time, but it wasn’t very memorable for me however its a good start to the collection because its a familiar premise with Noviks sharp wit and prose before she truely shows what she can do with some of the later ones which are some of the most original fantasy I’ve read in a long time!

After Hours
I did skip this one once I realised there were spoilers for the third book in it but I’m planning on returning after I’ve read the golden enclaves book.

Vici
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Lots of people dont like this one from reviews but i loved it! It was mark Antony with dragons and the founding of the dragon corps. It was short sweet and had literally everything I like in it. My only complaint is that it was too short for me to really give it those full five stars because we only saw a few pages of this but it was so good!

Dragons & Decorum
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This is a pride and prejudice retelling with dragons set in the Temenarie world and I loved it! The wit of the dragons, the connection between Elizabeth and Darcy and the fact that Naomi Novik can so closely mirror the chemistry and cleverness of the first in a short story is amazing.

Commonplaces
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This was essentially fan fiction of a character from Sherlock and while it was interesting and engaging enough because i had not read the book that this one was based on I think i missed some of the callbacks that people who have read the book may have enjoyed.

Buried Deep
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This story was so sad. It was the retelling of Ariadne and the Minotaur but focusing on their brother sister relationship and the pain of having someone you love torn away from you. The pain of the characters truely came through and i could feel every time Ariadne stomped the pattern across her brothers labyrinth to remind him she was still here for him in my heart. It’s almost making me cry even now it was so beautiful and i wish that Naomi Novik would write more Greek myths.

Seven Years from Home
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This was the one that for me felt like a novel. It was beautiful and complex featuring a soldier sent to colonise a nation but grows to learn that she in fact respects their way of life but she is still loyal to her Confederacy. The magic system in this book is so so strong I’m taken aback by it, the exploration of how you can seperate morality and reason and the way that such a short time somewhere can leave a lasting impression on you was so beautifully explored. Another one that almost made me cry by the end, it’s rare i read something as perfect as this.

The Long Way Around
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I hope she does like she hinted make this into a novel this is a sea journey that explores strange lands through the perspective of some of the best shipbuilders in the land. Tress was capable and logical and i loved her pragmatism against her brothers romantic and optimistic ways. We have a doomed romance between secondary characters in this, strange buildings and a possibility to change the course of their world’s shipping lanes. I cant wait to see if we are going to get more in this world!

Spinning Silver
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I’ve read the book of this and i enjoyed it so the shorter version that was the original was fun to read! I loved the way that it delved into her economic sense. It’s so rare for a heroine to be smart and actually have some business sense in a YA book that i was in love from the beginning. I love cruel practical heroines and this one was perfection.

Lord Dunsany’s Teapot
⭐️⭐️⭐️
So so short but fun to read – despite being about a magical artifact in the world wars! Definitely worth a read it has some gorgeous imagery and hope and humanity to it!

I cant remember much about the rest of them, i think there were a few more but they weren’t long enough that I found them memorable personally. Still there were none that i disliked and would have rated lower than three stars which is super impressive considering some of them were literally only about twenty pages.

Romance and Violence Ratings are both very low for all, Seven years from home is the only one that had some described death and pain. Romance wise all the kisses are G rated and no description.