The Summer War is a standalone fairytale novella by Naomi Novik. Released 16th Sept 2025 by Penguin Random House on their Del Ray imprint, it's 144 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
A true fairy tale in the classical form, it's by turns clever, scary, wondrous, and elegantly, but simply, constructed, with an internal symmetry that is timeless and pleasing. The author is up to the (daunting) task, and it's a solid read start to finish. Due to the short form, there's not a lot of character development, but they're archetypes, so it doesn't detract from the story as a whole.
Four stars. Timeless and elegant in its symmetry.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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