Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Spectrum Literary Agency, Inc
Published: 2016
Reviewer Rating: 
Book Review by SJ Higbee
Have you read this book?
Why not rate it! 
Loading...
After recently reading Penric’s Demon I decided to treat myself to more Penric goodness and so plunged straight back into this world.
In this novella set in The World of the Five Gods and four years after the events in Penric’s Demon, Penric is a divine of the Bastard’s Order as well as a sorcerer and scholar, living in the palace where the Princess-Archdivine holds court. His scholarly work is interrupted when the Archdivine agrees to send Penric, in his role as sorcerer, to accompany a “Locator” of the Father’s Order, assigned to capture Inglis, a runaway shaman charged with the murder of his best friend.
However, the situation they discover in the mountains is far more complex than expected. Penric’s roles as sorcerer, strategist, and counselor are all called upon before the end.
Penric is now a noted scholar and has learnt to live alongside his demon he calls Desdemona. It is enjoyable to see his growth in confidence and how he is still having to negotiate the personalities within him as he deals with this ongoing crisis.
Bujold’s deft characterization comes into its own as we also see slices of this adventure in the viewpoint of Inglis and the locator sent to track him down. Given this is a novella in multiple viewpoint, the story needs to get cracking — and yet at no time does the pace seem rushed or the characterization thin. As you’d expect with a story set in an established series, the world building is pin-sharp with weather, landscape and settlements pinging off the page.
While this story is about death and possible murder, there is a lot of humor. Penric copes with his demon by use of snark — or maybe it is the demon’s preferred choice… it’s not always easy to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Penric through the eyes of those interacting with him, as well as getting the benefit of seeing his own point of view — which had rather more internal dialogue than is usual.
As ever with Bujold, no one is shown to be perfectly good or all bad. Her characters are always a blend with their own agendas and foibles, which makes for an intelligent, nuanced story. As for the ending — it wasn’t a huge surprise, but then it wasn’t supposed to be. Although I did hold my breath several times — you can never completely relax with this author as she is quite capable of taking a story on an unexpected left turn, leaving you scrabbling to catch up.
Himself, who is a solid fan of all things Bujold, informs me that she is in the process of writing another slice of Penric’s adventures. I’m delighted and if you’d like a taster of what this talented, multi-award author has to offer, then look out this novella, preferably after reading Penric’s Demon although you won’t flounder overly if you don’t. It comes highly recommended.
Share
Follow
