The Navigating Fox by Christopher Rowe is a wonderfully weird fable that whisks you away to a world reminiscent of the Roman Empire but studded with alchemy, talking animals, extinct beasts, and an ancient magic that would make Studio Ghibli proud.  The world Rowe creates is achingly rich and subtly bizarre, a still pond that runs deep.  Quintus, the sole navigating fox and our narrator, is assigned a redemptive mission after the disastrous failure of his last expedition.  He is a quick mind, a gracious soul, and a skilled navigator as he guides his latest crew and the reader through his tale.  I loved that the plot moved at a quick pace but didn’t lose any quality.  People who find themselves too busy to keep up with a multi-book series or daunted by the size of a large novel will find the Navigating Fox fully satisfying despite its petite size.  A sort of tapas of storytelling with succulent bites of characters, world building, language, and plot twists. Rowe deftly touches on themes of identity, purpose, and colonization with a delicate yet powerful brush.  Thank you to Netgalley and Tor publishing for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.  I feel as if I’ve been welcomed to a warm camp fire tale that has left me full of wonder.