Penric’s Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These Penric novels are getting very good. Bastard be praised. :)

We've seen Penric grow as a person and a cleric/sorcerer and now he has eleven years of Desdemona inside his flesh. I love how he's struck off on his own (for very persuasive reasons) doing spywork for a Duke.

So of course, it perfectly follows that this should be a tight and fun novella about magically healing a soldier's wounds and beginning a romance with the soldier's sister. I can see it! :) Plus it gets rather exciting but not for the whole romance thing. There's still some other kinds of action going on here. :)

For everyone not in the know, this takes place in the universe of Chalion by the wonderful Bujold, focusing delightfully on the life and inner life of a disciple of the Bastard God. He was unwilling at first, but it is really fascinating to read how a boy learns to make friends with twelve demons who've been skinwalking for over two hundred years in other disciples.

Flash forward a bit and Penric is fine in his own skin. He has a great working relationship with his demons (collectively called Desdemona) and dare I say it, a good friendship. Penric is also insanely powerful, but he generally keeps that to himself. He's rather a quirky and nerdy delight. His idiotic fumbling with women can only get better when the demon starts talking to her. :) I loved it.

No spoilers, but I had a great time! :) It doesn't necessarily need to be read with all the other Penric novellas, but I like a sense of progression. :)

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC!

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