Penric and the Shaman: Penric & Desdemona Book 2

Lois always does and excellent job, and she has again with this novella. My only real disappointment with the book is that it isn't longer! I really like the world that started with 'Curse of Chalion' and the attitudes of the people in it. Penric is fun, maybe not so deep and dire as Cazaril or the lady Ista. Highly recommended. But you really should read Penric's Demon first.

Better yet, read Curse of Chalion then Paladin of Souls then the Penric books. I think Penric could stand on his own, but those two full length novels are such a treat, you should not miss them.

I liked Penric's Demon, but I love Penric and the Shaman. As someone who does not like electronic books, I was surprised to have that "can't put it down" feeling. It has the best of Bujold's stories: fast pace, enough character development for you to develop some sympathy for the characters, new insights on this universe, and a bit of a twist. A bit predictable by the end, but I'm old enough to appreciate happy resolutions. Enough endings in death and horror happen in real life.

It's delightful to see that Penric landed on his feet. Somehow, he has gained self-assurance but is still humble. The chain of sundered deaths and their causes took a bit of concentration. Not a lot of Desdemona, but it's a shaman's story, not a demon's.

The Five Gods Universe is a strange and interesting place. Penric is an wonderful anti-hero who gets tossed into interesting situations that could never occur in the real world. This is a great fun read.

Penric and Desdemona are both interesting characters who learn from and support each other, even when they disagree.
Seeing how Bujold is expanding on the world building in the Chalion series is very fascinating. And it seems she can produce these tight, complete novellas on a much quicker time scale, which is an extra bonus for me!

WHOA. Kind of expensive for a 200 page book in big print on a page which is not quite full sized! I should have looked more closely before I ordered.

I am half way through and not much has happened. It is slow going and nothing to unusual. The idea of a person with a demon inside that cracks jokes and makes comments that sometimes pop out of the mouth of the host is a bit of a tired cliche, but ok. Penrick seems ok, but so far nothing unusual or interesting about him.

It is ok but I can not recommend people rush out and buy it. Wait for paperback if you like this author.

She's a master writer- with a few deft strokes she creates whole worlds. delightful and believable characters in a magical world of the 5 gods. I enjoyed it so much I have read this and its previous book many times.

It's delightful to see that Penric landed on his feet. Somehow, he has gained self-assurance but is still humble. The chain of sundered deaths and their causes took a bit of concentration. Not a lot of Desdemona, but it's a shaman's story, not a demon's.

The Five Gods Universe is a strange and interesting place. Penric is an wonderful anti-hero who gets tossed into interesting situations that could never occur in the real world. This is a great fun read.

Penric and Desdemona are both interesting characters who learn from and support each other, even when they disagree.
Seeing how Bujold is expanding on the world building in the Chalion series is very fascinating. And it seems she can produce these tight, complete novellas on a much quicker time scale, which is an extra bonus for me!

WHOA. Kind of expensive for a 200 page book in big print on a page which is not quite full sized! I should have looked more closely before I ordered.

I am half way through and not much has happened. It is slow going and nothing to unusual. The idea of a person with a demon inside that cracks jokes and makes comments that sometimes pop out of the mouth of the host is a bit of a tired cliche, but ok. Penrick seems ok, but so far nothing unusual or interesting about him.

It is ok but I can not recommend people rush out and buy it. Wait for paperback if you like this author.

She's a master writer- with a few deft strokes she creates whole worlds. delightful and believable characters in a magical world of the 5 gods. I enjoyed it so much I have read this and its previous book many times.

An interesting character, and the supporting cast have possibilities. I hope Ms. Bujold continues with them, but with more of her wonderful plotting and masterful development of characters, tensions and unexpected possibilities.

Although I love Bujold, this short story is predictable and seems less than previous writings from her. I'll always buy whatever she writes, but some is substantially better than others. This one would have been "Good" if someone else had written it, but is substandard for Bujold. Sorry.

Loved the first story of Penric. This one was a bit of a disappointment. The characters were good but the ideas were less than they could have been.
I thought for most of the book that Bujold was setting up a story of how atheists could exist in her world of universal belief in the five gods. it was such a surprise, such an intellectual conceit, I was very impressed.
Then, at the very end, she backed off and turned it into a story of the "father" god in the pantheon.
This was a failure of intellectual courage, I believe. Did she worry we readers couldn't follow her on this journey? I wish she had finished as she started.

Bujold is one of my favorite authors and this is pretty good. However, if you haven't read everything else she has written, you shouldn't waste your time with the two Penric novellas. They really aren't up to her normal standards.

Awful. SOOOO much more could be done with this setup, for example, dark mysteries out of Des' past being bubbling to the current and being slowly revealed to Penric. NO development of the relationship between the two. Des is reduced to a squawking mother-hen type voice sitting on Penric's shoulder. What a waste of a true wordsmith's talents.

Who wrote this, and what have they done with the real Lois Bujold?

I've been a huge fan of Bujold's Vorkosigan Series and most of her fantasy novels. I thought Penric's Demon was somewhat over-long and shallow, but it did pack an emotional punch at the end. Penric and the Shaman, on the other hand, is DEFINITELY over-long and shallow -- but has no emotional effect at all. Unless you count boredom and disappointment as emotions.

Penric and the Shaman is a long-winded murder semi-mystery with all sorts of supernatural confusion about ghosts and gods and souls piled on top of one another. Evidently Bujold thought that unraveling this confusion would substitute for actual character development. It didn't work. The characters never become vivid or sympathetic, just dull puppets jerking around doing weird things. The relationship between Penric and Desdemona, his personal demon, does not develop at all -- and actually does not play a huge role in the story. That was a major disappointment -- Penric's "courting" of the demon in the previous story was its redeeming grace. Add colorless supporting characters and a marked absence of Ms. Bujold's normal wit and humor, and you end up with a piece of dreck. Her worst book ever.

The release of Penric and the Demon was an unexpected delight last year, when it suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, so I was beyond excited to see that there would be a follow up so soon. Add in the fact that the title suggests a return to the strange magic of the Weald, as first experienced in The Hallowed Hunt, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

Luckily, on the whole, this book didn’t let me down. Pen is a bit older and rather a lot wiser, his relationship with Des having settled down a lot in the intervening four years, but this book is not really about them. While he is a definite main character, this story is more about young Inglis’ personal struggles and the determination of Oswyl, the Locator, not to be late or miss his chance for justice.

I loved the mix of humor and how it balances against the preoccupation this book frequently has with death, or after-death issues. It’s not dark or even maudlin, more thoughtful and quiet, but the humor also helps to alleviate some of Inglis’ whiny behavior. Death and Justice are themes that crop up a lot in LMB’s work, particularly in the Five Gods world, and the idea that the living have certain responsibilities towards the dead is thoughtfully explored and skillfully handled.

However, I didn’t enjoy this as much as the last novella, for a few reasons. One, I would have liked more Des. She’s the heart of this novella’s humor, and obviously the source of much of Penric’s wisdom, but she felt a little sidelined here. Two, while the shaman magic is described, it doesn’t go into much depth. I’ve read The Hallowed Hunt, so I already know a lot more about it, but for new readers or those who need a refresh, this might be a touch confusing. Especially the talk of Great Beasts, because that doesn’t get explained until quite late. Three, I found Inglis kind of irritating towards the end – he has a lot of growing up to do. Finally, four, I’m kind of sad that all the main and important characters here are male. (Well, and five, sad lack of the Bastard God, but I can’t expect Him to turn up every time, it would spoil the surprise.)

Even with all that, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, not least because of poor Oswyl’s utter bafflement over Penric. I also loved the two dogs and the part they played. This isn’t a flashy or action-packed book, it’s part road-trip, part investigation and all careful consideration. It might not keep you gripped and frantically turning the pages, but it will likely make you think a bit and smile a lot. I love this world, I love these characters and the setting and the gods, and I’m delighted to have had a chance to read more about Penric and Des. I hope this isn’t the last we see of them, and I have no doubt I’ll be rereading this one again soon.

Penric's Demon was one of my favourite reads last year and so I was delighted to get my hands on a review copy of Penric and the Shaman. As expected, it proved to be a fantastic continuation of the series by one of SFF's masters.

Time has passed since the last book. In the intervening four years, Penric has earned his braids as a full-ranking priest and has settled into a scholarly life. The narrative begins with a little taste of Penric's current life. It's quiet but Penric, being a huge nerd, loves it. Desdemona, having been through it all before (more than once), is bored by it. I really enjoyed this look into how their relationship has developed. It is part odd-couple and part parent-and-child, though this latter dynamic shifts over the course of the novella. One of my few quibbles with this book is that while we do get a few more glimpses of their relationship, we don't get to see all that more of Desdemona.

What we get instead is an illustration of what their relationship looks like to outsiders. The story is told in close third-person from three points of view: Penric; Locator Oswyl, who has come to hunt down a shaman; and Inglis, the shaman himself. This enables us to witness what it's like to be in Penric's presence, to see the slips in phrasing and intonation when Desdemona takes over. It also shows us how frequently Penric is underestimated, his relative youth and cheery disposition often causing others to think him a fool, even dismiss him.

One of the things I loved most about Penric's Demon was Penric's kindness and I was pleased to see this remained present. The character is definitely less naive and there were glimpses of the burden he's under. However, he never treats Desdemona as a burden and is unfailingly respectful to those around him. And even though he is less naive than he was, he still has lessons to learn--lessons that come as a surprise to him.

The gods continue to interfere in this world (and in Penric's life) in ways both direct and indirect, which I very much enjoyed. I also liked the expansion of the world's magic system and felt it interacted with the dominant religious system in interesting and plausible ways.

I found the opening oddly bumpy and the style jarred, but quickly settled down with Penric's appearance. There was also a bit of info-dumping during Oswyl's briefing of Penric and the Princess-Archdivine. It made sense in context, but I was on the verge of being lost before it was done.
However, on the whole Penric and the Shaman was an absolute delight to read. I'm very much looking forward to the next in the series.

It's four years after the events of Penric's Demon, and Penric is fully trained and invested as a divine; he's now Learned Penric. And of course, a sorcerer. He's serving at the court of the Princess-Archdivine. He is continuing his mostly scholarly work, as he and Desdemona become better acquainted and better at working together, when a Locator of the Father's Order arrives seeking assistance. He's been assigned to seek and bring back to Easthome a shaman accused of murder.

A killer shaman is dangerous; he can't pursue one without a sorcerer and at least a small armed troop. Unfortunately, Oswyl has had a difference of opinion with the sorcerer and troop originally assigned to assist him. They've gone off in pursuit in a direction he thinks unlikely on the evidence, and he's asking the Princess-Archdivine to supply the sorcerer and troop he needs.

She does, and the sorcerer, of course, is Penric.

The rather dour Oswyl is not initially impressed by Penric's youth and seeming inexperience, or by his cheerful, sunny manner. Despite this, they work fairly well together, tracking the shaman, Inglis kin Wolfcliff, accused of the murder of his best friend.

When they find him, of course, the situation is more complicated than official reports have suggested, and Inglis needs Penric's help, while the Acolyte serving the village where he's found needs Inglish's help.

Penric, Oswyl, and Inglis all have a lot to learn, and very little time to learn it in.

The story is told alternately from the viewpoints of Penric, Oswyl, and Inglis. The World of the Five Gods remains a fascinating and enjoyable one, and I look forward to more stories set there.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

This short novella takes Penric on a manhunt, having been sent on this mission with a lawman chasing after a presumed murderer. The path leads to a remote mountain area and, as usual in these type of stories, things are not as simple as they originally appeared.

Typical of Bujold novels the story by itself is not super interesting and the enjoyment comes from the way it is carried out and how the characters interact. Even having not read the earlier story about Penric, I found both him and his "pet" demon Desdemona fascinating. The story starts without preamble and there is not much exposition for new readers but this did not bother me at all.

Writing is, as typical to Bujold's books, excellent. If you enjoy a well-written, perhaps a bit slower pace story then this one is definitely worth checking out, even if you have not familiar with Bujold's other works. If you are a fan already, then this should be a no brainer (in fact, this novella reminded me a lot of the “Mountains of Mourning” novella from the Vorkosigan saga.

A warm, empathetic story. While it starts off as one character seeking to track down another one on the run, Penric’s compassion and spiritual duty means that he approaches the situation looking to help instead of to prevail, and the climax of the story is a reconciliation rather than a victory for one character and a defeat for another. Both that overall arc and the theme of interdependence between humans and nature put me in mind of some of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies as I read. The dialogue and narration, on the other hand, is pure Bujold; she writes with the same gentle yet piercing wit that I loved in her Vorkosigan books.

This was a joy to read, and while it was the first one of her fantasy stories that I’d read, it certainly won’t be the last.

'Penric and the Shaman' by Lois McMaster Bujold is the second Penric novella in the same universe as The World of the Five Gods.

When we last left Penric, he was inhabited by a demon which was actually multiple women living in his body. This time around that seems to be well in hand, and Penric is in the role of a court sorceror for the Princess-Archdivine. He is sent out to find a shaman named Inglis who is on the run.

I enjoyed the character of Desdemona so much that I was hoping for more of her in this book. She is present, but just not as present. Still, the writing is as solid as it ever is with Lois McMaster Bujold. She can write characters that the reader can really care about, and that is true here as well.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Subterranean Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

First, let me help you avoid a blunder I made that kept me confused throughout this novella: Inglis kin Wolfcliff, one of several POV characters here, is not the Ingrey kin Wolfcliff in Bujold's novel The Hallowed Hunt, though they have several important similarities.

Aside from that mix-up, I had other difficulties keeping people and places straight at times, but still enjoyed this story quite a lot and was sorry to finish it so quickly. It has a somewhat more somber tone than the first book in the Penric and Desdemona series, but is not a depressing read. We see a more mature, but still quite engaging, Penric here. The worldbuilding continues to be original and evocative. I'll be (so to speak) hunting down the rest of the Penric and Desdemona series.

I love the new cover, it suits the book perfectly, much better than the old one and it's more eye-catching.
After finishing this novella I feel like going to back to the other books from the "World of five Gods" and reread them all. But you don't have to, as these 2 novellas can be read on their own. Of course I do recommend the whole series.
This is an interesting world, a world that has 5 Gods and they are very close to day to day life of their people.
I really enjoyed the first novella Penric's Demon and was looking forward to read more from him and his Demon. It was fun to see him a little bit grown up and having an official role and trying to solve a mystery.
This was beautifully written in 3 POVs and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

From Netgalley

Penric and the Shaman (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #3.6) by Lois McMaster Bujold is in a series but I have not read the earlier books and feel I might have missed something. Although the author tried to catch the reader up I still felt I was behind. I may not have read this series but have read many books from this author so I knew I would enjoy it. I was not disappointed. Full of great fantasy, the supernatural, mystery, and adventure. Because the dialogue was made for another time/world it was at times difficult to read and I had to reread a couple of times. Even the story line itself as it was keeping with the ancient dialect. Enjoyable read overall. Thanks NetGalley for providing me this wonderful read.

Confession time: while Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi Vorkosigan series are among my favourite books of all time, I've never read any of her fantasy novels. I don't read that much fantasy these days... I think the multi-year waits between Robert Jordan's and George R.R. Martin's books kind of killed my enjoyment of the genre.

Knowing how good a writer she is, though, when her name popped up on a book in my NetGalley page, I had no compunctions about immediately clicking to request it for review.

And boy, am I ever glad I did. This is a wonderful story in a richly detailed world; while it's a novella about an existing character's adventures in a world that's already been introduced in previous books, I had absolutely no trouble following along. Enough detail was given on the mythos and magic (without info-dumping) that I was never confused as to what was going on.

I'm off to go and buy the rest of the World Of The Five Gods series now. I never had a clue what I was missing out on before, but if this short novella is a taste, then it looks as though I have a rich feast of reading to come.

Five stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.

A novella set in the fantasy world developed by Bujold in The Curse of Chalion series. Essentially an expanded short story with a a fairly predictable plot, this is a clearly a LPU (least publishable unit) aimed at trading on Bujold's reputation.

Had some trouble figuring out who Desdemona was. Once it was explained, I just sat back and enjoyed the story. It is same story I read under the title Pendric and the Demon. I don’t understand
why two books have the same. story but different titles.

A breezy chapter in the life of our favorite arch-divine! Thoroughly enjoyable. My advice is to start with the intention of finishing it quickly. Don't put it down and come back to it in pieces. Bujold often works best with a brisk pace!