Thin Gruel

Oct 2017
Penric's Demon - Lois McMaster Bujold – Tor, 2015
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Let it never be said that mature authors are not up to trying new things. Bujold has been experimenting of late with stories told in ebook-friendly novella form. This one, set in her fantasy world of Challion, concerns a mild-mannered younger son who is saved from a loveless betrothal by an encounter with a dying temple sorceress who passes on to him a demon called Desdemona. She has been homed in a variety of previous bodies which were all female, which causes a certain amount of confusion, not least for Penric who gets a forceful lesson in what women really want as they try to set up their shared consciousness. Other stuff happens after that including some mild peril, but to be honest I've forgotten the details. The setup is fun and the characters are engaging; however the short length means that they lack depth and memorability. This is only the first of a sequence of Penric and Desdemona novellas, so I suspect that the later ones will add the emotional complexity missing here. But on its own this was a slightly disappointing reading experience.