08-11-2025, 08:35 AM
Penric's Progress by Lois McMaster Bujold
This book collects three Novellas in Bujold's Penric and Desdemona series. Penric was made a wizard when the demon Desdemona jumped mistakenly into his body. There is more to it but that is where it gets started. These are all fantasy mystery stories where Penric with the help of Desdemona solves crimes or gets into trouble. The first novella covers how he got the Demon and what people will do to get it out of him. In the second, he has to help local law enforcement track down a fugitive who may or may not be a murder. In the third, Penric needs to find a missing demon and the person who killed the Demon's previous host.
They are all fun quick reads. I read some of the novellas later in the series but it was good to see how it all started, but this is why Bujold is such a frustrating author. She doesn't write novels and she doesn't write in a linear fashion. The later stories in the Penric timeline were written first. Then she wrote these earlier stories. She writes whenever in the timeline the mood strikers her fancy. Since they are novellas, they are hard to distribute. I read the first ones on the Kindle. Bujold has always done this. She did the same with her Vorkosigan saga. You never knew where in the timeline the next story would be told.
Supposedly, these Penric novellas make up part of her Five Gods Universe. The world building is good. The characters are engaging. The stories should be longer.
This book collects three Novellas in Bujold's Penric and Desdemona series. Penric was made a wizard when the demon Desdemona jumped mistakenly into his body. There is more to it but that is where it gets started. These are all fantasy mystery stories where Penric with the help of Desdemona solves crimes or gets into trouble. The first novella covers how he got the Demon and what people will do to get it out of him. In the second, he has to help local law enforcement track down a fugitive who may or may not be a murder. In the third, Penric needs to find a missing demon and the person who killed the Demon's previous host.
They are all fun quick reads. I read some of the novellas later in the series but it was good to see how it all started, but this is why Bujold is such a frustrating author. She doesn't write novels and she doesn't write in a linear fashion. The later stories in the Penric timeline were written first. Then she wrote these earlier stories. She writes whenever in the timeline the mood strikers her fancy. Since they are novellas, they are hard to distribute. I read the first ones on the Kindle. Bujold has always done this. She did the same with her Vorkosigan saga. You never knew where in the timeline the next story would be told.
Supposedly, these Penric novellas make up part of her Five Gods Universe. The world building is good. The characters are engaging. The stories should be longer.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm