I read this as part of my summer Hugo Nominee reading list. This novella is a fun, sassy twist on fairy-tale tropes, in the vein of "Cinder House" and "The River Has Roots." Celia isn't a princess in any traditional sense — daughter of a military leader who earned his power through competence rather than birthright — and when she's tricked into marriage with "the enemy," she has to work her way out through collaborative, culturally-grounded diplomacy rather than rescue. Under 150 pages, tightly plotted, genuinely surprising in places, and it earns its happily-ever-after. My first Novik and it won't be my last — I'm looking forward to more.
REVIEW: The Summer War by Naomi Novik
RATING: 4-stars
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