Penric's Mission (Penric & Desdemona) Kindle Edition

Summary: Penric, Sorcerer of the Bastard, though only tangentially of the Bastard’s Order, has been in possession of his demon, Desdemona, for eleven years since the events of this series’ first novella, “Penric’s Demon”. Older, wiser, and wanting to be well away from his old post at Martensbridge, his new duty as a courier turns out not to be all that it could, seeing as it lands him in an oubliette as soon as he arrives distant, sunny Cedonia.Meanwhile, Nikys, twin to General Arisaydia of Cedonia, who was the goal of Penric’s delivery, isn’t in much better shape. Her beloved brother is arrested and soon maimed in an imperial plot, and she has to care for him only with the help of a blond haired, blue-eyed physician of the Mother of Summer. Who admittedly is both handsome and uncannily good at his profession, even if he does tend to talk to himself in an odd manner…Review: Third in this series set between the eras of The Hallowed Hunt and the Curse of Chalion, Penric’s Mission is perhaps the darkest yet. It starts with Penric being beaten, arrested and imprisoned, in a “bottle dungeon” that offers no easy escape even for a sorcerer, and Arisa being horribly mutilated. Penric is thirty now, and while very skilled at working with Desdemona, he’s burned out from a bad experience in Martensbridge. Though Penric being Penric, he still feels obligation to help wherever he can, even if it means a lot “uphill” magic that leads to a dark running gag of Dedemona murdering up to rat sized vermin everywhere they go.While the first novella was mostly about Pen and Des getting to know each other, the second a mystery, this third one is Bujold getting back to what she does best, an adventure with romantic trappings. Nikys is a widow, and a low key relationship builds between her and Pen throughout the story as they both care for Arisaydia, though the situation is too fraught for it to go much further than admiring looks.As always, Bujold delivers a story with a tight plot, engaging, likable characters, and positive worldview even in fraught circumstances.Recommended.

This novella abounds with observations on light and the lack of it. Clarity of vision is contrasted with the blinding of a central character; the thrilling quality of an illuminated sky is juxtaposed with absolute darkness in a dungeon in the same city. For travelling cleric Penric with his demon companion Desdemona, this contrast is thrust upon them when the two (who share a single body, Penric's, are siezed in the course of a diplomatic mission, and shoved unceremoniusly into a dungeon oubliette.Penric's captors meant to prevent him from using powers lent by his demon indweller. Instead, they force the two to expand those powers to create "action at a distance." Penric and Desdemona must visualize the flow of water through cracks in the rock surrounding them, and call on the Fifth God's love of chaos and dissolution to escape.Further chaos and destruction ensue when Penric meets a young widow focused on helping her brother, the popular general who was the focus of Penric's mission. General Arisaydia has been deliberately blinded to set a hideous example for his men. As a martyr, he might become a rallying point; as a maimed man dependent on his sister, he is an object of pity.Penric spends weeks hiding out with the two, determined to reverse the general's maiming. He hopes the cure will convince the general (and his sister) to come with him to the Duke of Adria, which will complete his mission. With the Bastard God and Desdemona involved, however, nothing could ever proceed as planned.I loved the astute way Bujold played with physical and mental vision, using philosophical and emotional light and darkness as characters in her novel. Like a previous Bujold star, Miles VorKosigan, Penric is an intelligent young man with a crippling disability, whose story is always woven with dark threads of the reaction of others to his impairment, and the bright threads of his overcoming it.Penric has far to go; I look forward to accompanying him on the next leg of his journey.

Hear Hear for Semi-Retired Authors! What does an author do when she already has 4 Hugo Awards, 2 Nebula Awards, a long-running acclaimed series (such as the Vorkosigan Saga), etc.? Why, she writes novellas "for herself". That is, no contracts, no deadlines, AND she writes them when she feels like it.Since the author in question is Lois McMaster Bujold and the fantasy novella series is Penric (set in the World Of The Five Gods), all I can say is "Hooray and Thank You!"There are three thus far in this series: Penric's Demon, Penric and the Shaman, and Penric's Mission.This is a kind of tale that I really enjoy. Penric has not had a moment of peace since at age 19 he accidentally acquired his chaos demon. Anything that happens, his demon has an opinion on it and, since his demon is 200 years old, sometimes it is very good advice indeed! I enjoy telepathy between characters (whether in their own bodies or sharing a body). Penric's demon Desdemona sometimes speaks internally but often uses Penric's own mouth (so it looks like he spends a lot of time talking to himself).Penric has also been a sorcerer since age 19 (in this world, sorcerers are defined as persons with chaos demons). So I enjoy the similarities & differences with the champion Bahzell (David Weber's War God's Own fantasy series). Both Penric and Bahzell have a relationship with their respective gods.There is no guarantee that Ms. Bujold will write another Penric novella nor when (if she does) but it is certainly something to be fervently wished for!!

1000年の昔に300年続く大帝国を築いたCedonia、遙かなCedonia。その港に若い事務員を装ったPenが、今まさに上陸するところから始まります。初めて見た国の驚くほど青く深い空にPenricは魅了されます。何やらわくわくと明るい出だしです。　が、入国した途端、spyとして捕われ、硬膜外血腫で死にかけ、不都合な者を秘かに処分するためのbottle　dungeonに押し込められます。沈黙と暗闇の、誰一人として抜け出せた者のないdungeonです。更には溺死させるべく水が流し込まれます。　（何がどうなっちゃったの～？なんでいきなり2回も殺されかかるの？ちょっと～！。）　　↗（ここまで自分が肩入れしてリアクションするのは驚きでした。）　Pen＆Desは、敵に囲まれ緊迫する中、Cedniaの若い将軍と異母妹Nikysを守りながらbestを尽くします。Nikysの視野からの見方もあり、深みが増します。　　短編なのでスピード感があり、しかも描写が丁寧でかつ冗長でなく、視野化が出来て楽しめます。　　いろいろ驚かされる本編です。が、何よりの驚きは、どうやらWealdもDarthacaも南半球にあるらしい事でした。（読み返すと、その目で見れば「影の王国」でも「Penric’Demon」でも南半球だと、読み取れました・・・）　となると、イブラ半島も南半球にあるって事？？まぁ、なんてこと・・・

Everything you'd want and expect from Lois McMaster Bujold. Beautiful writing, engaging characters, plausible plots, a charming romance, characters who embody decency.. the only reason Penric's Mission doesn't get 5 stars is that it's far too short. The story is more suited to a full-length novel rather than a novella, unlike the two previous installments. Please, Ms. Bujold, won't you give us a Penric & Desdemona book?

Penric and Desdemona are back - Penric is thirty now, and has been dispatched on a secret mission by the Duke of Adria. If everything went right, it wouldn't be much of a story - and things go wrong almost immediately. But how? And why?In this story, we get more information about how demon magic works, the advantages, the perils and the pitfalls, and a few tantalising hints about what Penric and Desdemona have been doing in the years since  Penric and the Shaman (Penric & Desdemona Book 2) . But really, as with all of Bujold's work, the characters make the story - they leap off the page (not literally: even Amazon hasn't managed that yet) and present themselves, three-dimensional and real.The feeling I get from the Penric books is always a rather gentle amusement - I think this is greatly due to the relationship between Penric and Desdemona: somewhere between best friends, older sister/younger brother, and conjoined twins. The strong bond between them is the foundation for all of the novellas, and one has the feeling that if that endures - and it will - then they will get through anything. Together. Until finally, Desdemona has to go on alone - but only when she must.These novellas don't put you through the emotional wringer, but they do provide an escape into an ever-more-detailed world with fascinating, complex characters.The ending is rather sudden - however, I rather liked it. But I hope we will have another novella; although I'm perfectly capable of making up my own after I would prefer to read Bujold's.And, reading this one, I realised that Desdemona sounds a lot like Lois McMaster Bujold herself. :-) Penric and the Shaman (Penric & Desdemona Book 2)

Firstly, avoid reading the blurb – it gives away far too much of the story and given this is a novella, there simply isn’t time for the narrative arc to recover from such a reveal. All you really need to know is that fairly rapidly, Penric’s mission is in trouble and from then on, he is forced to think on his feet.I really like the way Bujold sets this up as one kind of story – and then suddenly changes everything around. I had intended to begin this book this morning and break off to complete it later tonight – except that once I started it, I couldn’t put it down until I’d reached the end. Once more, Penric’s wry humour, his self-effacing manner and the real danger he and his companions find themselves in hooked me in and wouldn’t let go.A significant amount of time has elapsed between Penric and the Shaman and this offering – and we learn of what has befallen Penric during that interim as the adventure unfolds. Bujold manages to unpack the plot, throwing out small extras for those who have read the previous books, yet keeping the story sufficiently accessible so that newcomers to her world can also enjoy it. Nobody does it better – but then not many writers have had more practice at garnering new converts to a long-running series than Bujold, who is best known for her hugely successful Miles Vorkosigan series.Once again, she wraps up the story leaving me a tad wrung out and completely satisfied with the outcome. And hoping that we will get another slice of Penric in due course…10/10

It's been more than a decade since Penric and Desdemona came together and they now make a formidable team. I loved the amount of work the pair of them do together in this tale. Their partnership has really grown and developed over the years, but they are still two very distinct personalities, for all that they share a body - and a voice. Their adventures in Cedonia provide them with ample opportunity to show this and it's definitely my favourite part of the story.Poor Pen still bumbles about from time to time, talking to himself and appearing totally mad (as three boots, no less) to outside observers. But he and Des make a lot of sense amongst the babble, and I love how comfortable he's become with is role and his duty to the Gods. He remains rather trusting at times, but he's also determined and intelligent and I loved his attempts to sermonise, even if he isn't always listened to as closely as he deserves.But this story is about more than just Penric and Desdemona. We also meet a popular and potentially dangerous general, whom Pen is travelling incognito to bargain with, and the general's widowed sister, Nikys. I loved Nikys, she's a proper LMB heroine - practical, competent, smart. She brings with her more than a hint of romance, but mostly understanding and fascination for both Pen and Des. She's a very good match for them. Her brother is more of a challenge, for various reasons, but he certainly provides much fodder for Pen and Des to get their skillful teeth into.The ending of this novella is much more open than the previous two, leaving a lot of things still to be decided. It worked for me as far as it went, but it's less of a standalone than the previous adventures. I also felt a little lost at times with all the place names and struggled to orientate myself in the world. It wasn't enough to ruin my enjoyment, but it did leave me wishing for a map.Overall, though, this is another fine addition to this series within the series. There is peril, romance, humour, tragedy and triumphs, and ample Desdemona moments. All of which made me very happy indeed. I hope there will be more soon.