*4.5 stars*

When I first bought this (the day it came out), for some reason (I don't even remember why) I wasn't grabbed enough to keep reading, even though I'd loved the first novella in this series. However, I still bought the new one when it came out this week (because I really love LMB's writing in general, and this fantasy world setting in particular), and when I went back to this one (starting where I'd left off originally, about 1/3 of the way through) to give it another try, I was immediately charmed and absorbed and read straight through, enjoying the whole thing. I guess I just wasn't in the mood for it before? Or maaaaybe (I haven't re-read the opening so I can't really tell) it could have had a slow opening? Either way, I am SO glad I went back to it, and I didn't have a single niggle when I was reading it this time.

I love the compassion in this novella for all these different wonderful characters all muddling their way through and making mistakes along the way but doing their best - and then being god-touched in their different ways too. The religious system in this fictional world (the Chalion/World of the Five Gods series) is just fascinating, and the way she builds that very detailed and different kind of religion into her stories is just astonishingly well-done and something I don't really see in many other fantasy authors. (I've read lots of fantasy novels with religious systems clearly based on real-world religions, and lots of fantasy novels without any religion at all, but nothing else quite like this - and it's fascinating.)

I loved the humor, and the thoughtfulness, and the sheer charm of reading it, like hanging out with an old friend.

Most of all, I just really appreciate the kindness in these stories. I'm so glad I've already bought the third novella (Penric's Mission). I really need this kind of story right now.

I enjoyed this novella, as I did the previous one, though in both cases I wished there was more. The plot is quite linear, without as many complications or as much protagonist agency as is often the case with Bujold's best work. Compensating somewhat, the characters are well developed; in fact, the development of the three viewpoint characters is what primarily happens in the book.

The three are also very different: a middle-aged man who is basically a policeman, a young sorcerer/divine, and a young shaman who has made a terrible mistake and doesn't see his way clear to fixing it until the other young man comes along.

Other reviewers have regretted the lesser role of Desdemona, the sorcerer's demon, in this book, and I understand why; she's amusing, especially when she's in conflict with her sorcerer. However, the first book set up that relationship, and now the second one is building on that as a given and taking the character of Penric, the sorcerer, forward.

Penric has a lot of wisdom for a young man, and it seems that part of the reason he has come to be so good-natured and accepting is his own unusual situation. He's admirable, and enjoyable to read. It's nice to see a wise, kind character in a genre where the characters are often given to stupid decisions and, sometimes, cruel and selfish ones.

I hope for some more in this series.

Summary: Four years after the events of Penric’s Demon, Penric, Temple Sorcerer of the Bastard, has grown from a somewhat directionless youth to a dedicated servant of the White God. With aid of his demon, Desdemona, he’s advanced in his studies and has settled into a comfortable existence serving the Princess-Archdevine of Martensbridge. This grows slightly less comfortable when he’s assigned to aid Senior Locator Oswyl, agent of the Father of Winter, who is on the hunt for a man who is both a suspected murderer, and a shaman, dedicated to the old ways of magic that existed in the world before the Five Gods became ascendant.

Review: It’s a measure of Bujold’s considerable talent at writing characters that a story so dedicated to people listening to each other can still be compelling. Penric appears amiable, but he’s got a mind sharp as a tack. Oswyl starts as a somewhat harried investigator, but he takes pains to point out that he’s searching for a <i>suspected</i> murderer. He’s on the hunt, but not blind to the truth.

Meanwhile, Inglis, the suspect in question, is less a desperate murderer than just plain desperate, appalled at his own actions and searching for solution. He’s a shaman, but as much a scholar as Penric, previously using his abilities to try and rediscover ancient shamanistic methods of healing, in order to record and reproduce them (a lovely nod to scientific investigation, typical of Bujold even in her fantasy series)

When they all finally come together, the solution to the conundrum presented relies not on violence but on listening to each other, something which Penric excels at, and on Inglis regaining his shaman’s balance.

Readers of the previous Penric novella might be disappointed that there isn’t more interaction between Pen and Des this time around, but on the other hand the narrative opens up to multiple viewpoints, allowing readers to get an “outside” view of Penric from Oswyl and Inglis, which I found more satisfying.

As always, Bujold delivers a lovely story with characters you’d like to spend an evening with. Here’s hoping this won’t be the last Pen and Des tale in the Five Gods universe.

Highly Recommended.

The second book picks up several years after the first. Penric is still young, but he has completed his training and is now officially a Sorcerer and a Divine. This series is so entertaining! The world and its five god structure of the Mother, father, Daughter, Son and Bastard is creative and well built. It has been refreshing to read multiple series set in the same fantasy world. They are set at different times and with different sets of characters, but the reader is not completely starting from scratch. The world, its politics, and its religious orders are very well-defined, but you will learn about it best if you begin with The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and The Hallowed Hunt. (You won’t be unhappy- it is a terrific series.) Although the Penric and Desdemona books are not a part of that series, you will understand more about the world and in particular the five gods and religious orders that play a significant role in the political and sacred powers that are also big factors in this story if you have read those books. This story begins when Penric and his soldier escorts are sent to find a “hedge-row shaman” and murderer who is on the run. There are moments of humor and a picture of village life and the country farmers which all exist with little interaction with the large temples and Court life. My only complaint is that the books in this series have been short (really a novella) so everything seems to begin and end quickly with no room for multiple threads of plot. Still, Penric and his demon Desdemona remain engaging and interesting. The writing is fluent and the pacing is good.

You know, it's just a tease that Ms. Bujold has only given us novellas about Penric. I certainly hope that these two books have been so well received that she's considering a full length series, not just a novel, a series. I tend to think that her Penric might be to the Five Gods World what Miles Vorkosigan has been to Barrayar. It might be sign in that direction, seeing as Penric was only two years older (in Penric's Demon) than Miles when Miles first burst on the scene in his story arcs. If Ms. Bujold reads these reviews: If that's where you're going with this I am right there with you! Enthusiastically!!

I'm not going to write about the tale, it's too short, too well crafted (shall I say "dense"?) and too pleasurable to have the story unfold for the reader at the reader's pace to talk here about specifics and spoil it for you out there who haven't yet grabbed it off the shelf or pulled it off the ether. But, I will say that it is rare to be pulled into the story, and I mean you can see, smell, feel and hear, the story, from the first sentence of seven or eight words. I wish I could write like that when I grow up.

So, dear reader, buy it. I actually read it in one sitting the evening I got it off Amazon on my Kindle, and then liked it so much I read it all again the next night. Electronic cover to electronic cover. Finding some things I missed my first greedy gulp of it. I just might read it again, or because I enjoyed the first book just as much, I might read that first and then read this one, and happily trick myself into thinking I'm reading a full length novel, or almost one, to get the full flavor of what is, and what might come.

4.5 stars. I gave "Penric's Demon" a full 5, which I rarely do, particularly for shorter works. This was another quick treat. And treat it was: I'm rather miserly, and couldn't justify $4 for a novella until it was my birthday -- happy birthday to me! Still, I'm sure I'll eventually get plenty of money's worth, since I'm a big re-reader of works I enjoy, maybe especially the shorter stuff.

Penric is one of my favorite fictional characters, and Des is still a hoot who could have had even more of a presence for my tastes. This time, the 3rd-person-limited narration intersperses Penric's POV with scenes from the PoV of Ingris, a suspected shamanic murderer, and occasionally Oswyl, a Senior Locator, i.e., investigator-at-large. (Would a U.S. comparison be more like a federal marshal, or FBI?) Ingris's scenes are deliberately cryptic at first, as we gradually figure out what did and didn't happen. Thoroughly mundane, Oswyl is often torn between impatience, exasperation, and nervousness at Penric and his demon rider, as he tries to keep a somewhat open mind about the dangerous fugitive yet not be "too late" again.

The world of the five gods is a wonderful creation from a wonderful writer, and here we get to see more possible permutations of old religion versus/meeting new. There are a variety of characters, from city to hamlet, plus a couple of Great-Dogs-in-progress ("more" than mere dogs, but still very doggy).

My only complaint is, why did she choose to name Inglis, Inglis? It's too similar to Ingrey (especially if you say it with a Sino-French accent), lead of The Hallowed Hunt, with whom he shares another important characteristic. Penric's stories take place about 150 years after THH, according to LMB's own chronology -- which is given in an appendix, BTW.

I like the way the writer, Lois McMaster Bujold , invites you into the story . There is action , but nothing extra ordinary, no people getting slaughtered or heads cut off every five pages . Yes , there is a shaman who can talk to animals and can ' convince ' people if he puts some power behind his words . But he's an ordinary guy at heart with issues of himself to deal with and laws to obey . Penric , with his demon Desdemona goes both to help apprehend the shaman and to help him deal with what went wrong , for Penric is young , enthusiastic , intelligent and friendly . It is all very human , even the moment one of the five Gods appeared is so down to earth , it is heart warming . The demon has a dry sense of humor that will appeal . And the tale flows , you are immersed in the story from the first page ( at least I was ) and it's hard to put it down again . Then when it's over , you want to buy the next installment to know what happens next with Penric and the others . Try the book , or start with the first one in the series : Penric and his demon . The first book of the world of the five gods .

A good 2nd book in the series. I liked it better than the 1st book. An interesting and different story like the first book. It is a short story that I wish was longer.

These books are really well written and great fun. I love books that take magic as a given and are humourous without being silly. Penric is a great character, looking forward to the rest of the series.

Die Handlung dieses Bandes setzt einige Jahre nach dem ersten Band ein. Penric und sein von ihm Desdemona getaufter Dämon hat zwischenzeitlich zügig eine Hochschulausbildung abgeschlossen und wurde in den Orden des Bastard aufgenommen. Wobei er gern gefragt wird, wie er das in seinen jungen Jahren denn so geschafft hat.

Die Handlung dreht sich um schamanische Magie und einen möglichen Mord. In einem winzigen Dorf im Gebirge versucht Penric zu klären, was genau passiert ist und arbeitet dabei mit einem Ermittler des Vater-Ordens zusammen. Auch hier begegnen uns wieder glaubwürdige Charaktere in einer ernsthaften und spannenden Handlung. Penric ist merklich etwas erwachsener geworden und seine Neugier kommt immer mehr zum tragen. Schöne, wenn auch hier wieder etwas kurze Geschichte und klare Empfehlung.

Légère parce que contrairement au cycle de Chalion il n'y a pas de réel approfondissement de l'intrigue. Cela reste un livre bien agréable à lire

Another fantastic novella set in the Author's five gods setting. If you're familiar with the series, this is a worthy addition and a great read. If you're new to the series, this isn't as great as Penric's Demon or The Curse of Chalion as an introduction to the five gods setting but it is still an enjoyable novella to read even to those who are not as familiar with Penric or the five gods.

L'ho letto tutto d'un fiato, come tutti i suoi libri. Spero che scriva altri racconti nella serie, non vedo l'ora.