It’s always nice when you forget the exact date a book is out, so that it shows up as a surprise in your Kindle library. Naomi Novik’s BURIED DEEP AND OTHER STORIES has just dropped, and I am enjoying it greatly. There’s been a Scholomance and a Temeraire story so far, and the anthology isn’t even half finished. Hooray!
#commissionearned
I had this entire post ready to explain that it’s been a weird week and I didn’t get a chance to finish any of the three, four, five? books that I have open — but then I checked, and it turns out Naomi Novik’s Buried Deep anthology is coming out in September. So, you know, never mind*.
Pre-ordered. I know I shouldn’t reward them for that, but what can you do? Naomi Novik.
*Includes this tidbit: “The first glimpse of the world of Abandon, the setting of Novik’s upcoming epic fantasy series—a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.“
#commissionearned
I think I’ve done Spinning Silver before, but that’s fine. Naomi Novik’s Russian/Jewish fantasy retelling of Rumpelstiltskin is absolutely worth repeating. …And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
#commissionearned
Somebody asked me today what my favorite book was. And since I amended my answer to say, “Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series was the best fantasy fiction written in the last five years,” well. Here you go.
Moe Lane
Sure I had Naomi Novik’s THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES downloaded to my phone within an hour of it being released, but I wanted the hardcover. You know, in case the power ever goes out and doesn’t come back on again. Or, more prosaically, if Kindle ever goes out of business.
Also, I wanted the maps. Kindle doesn’t really handle maps well.
#commissionearned
To wit: Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series is not evocative of “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas.” It is a rejection (whether intended or not) of Le Guin’s malignant thesis that the only options when confronting evil is to either just live with it, or else flee from its power*. There’s always the choice to fight back.
Okay, I’ll get off this soapbox now.
Continue reading A point of order on Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series.Like this was a surprise, really. I’ve already read Naomi Novik’s THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES two and a half times and it came out five days ago. Now I’m going to read the whole series over again, and see how the clues in the first two books led to the three. What else really needs to be said, here.
Further commentary – none of it directed at Ms. Novik – has been deleted as being perhaps a bit… inflammatory.
Moe Lane
Seeing as I am anxiously watching the clock until Amazon auto-delivers Naomi Novik’s THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES* to my phone. It’s not that I’ve been waiting for this damn book for an entire year. Oh, no. I’ve been waiting for this damn book for two years, because I knew going in that I’d be buying the whole damn Scholomance series as soon as it came out.
So, there’s that.
Continue reading Posting may be weird tomorrow on account of THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES.Yeah, I know: I already had the digital version of THE LAST GRADUATE. That’s how it works: I buy the Kindle book in this series because then I can read it at 12:00:01 AM, the night it comes out. And then, at some point, I go and get the hardcover version so that I can have it in the family library for the rest of time. The Scholomance series is just that good. I begrudge sleep when it comes to wolfing those books down for the first time.
Moe Lane
#commissionearned
PS: Magical school where the survival rate is 25%, but teenaged mages sign up anyway because all the other options are all so, so much worse. Our heroine is El; and oh, but does she hate being called that. Not that anyone would dare. I would not let her join my adventuring party; I would, instead, humbly ask to join hers.
I suspect that my choice of Naomi Novik’s THE LAST GRADUATE for Book of the Week is unsurprising. Honestly, it may end up being my favorite book this year. It and A DEADLY EDUCATION are just, you know, neat.
