Buried Deep and Other Stories

by Naomi Novik

So I have written introductions for these stories, but I invite you to ignore them, or to think of them as just that, introductions, as if we were at a party together and I had to leave but before I went I wanted to haphazardly introduce you to a good friend of mine that I thought you might get on with, by telling you something sort of vaguely interesting about them, and then disappearing, and after I’ve gone the friend might lean over and say, “Actually, that was all wrong, let me tell you the truth,” and you should believe them and not me. And after you have read them, your opinion will be at least as good as mine.

Kath’s work seemed like a joke when one of her squat cups was put next to one of the grandmaster’s triumphant fragile pieces, but if you looked at it too long, you began to feel the terrible sneaking suspicion that you liked the cup better.

I was in much demand, consulted not only for my information but my opinion.

She didn’t say anything, and Aremus and Jowly, who were solid navigators themselves, if still officially journeyman-rank, didn’t say anything either. There was no sense tempting fate by talking about it out loud.