Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold is a well written, interesting story that will delight all Penric and Desdemona fans as well as those new to the series. As usual there is humor along with deep thinking, great world building, characters and action. Recommended.

I would like to thank Subterranean Press, Lois McMaster Bujold, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Penric and the Shaman.

Lord Penric, the protagonist, is on his way to his own wedding when he stumbles upon a halted party on the road. A geriatric woman had fallen ill, so Penric decides to lend a hand because he is a good citizen. It turns out that the geriatric woman is a Temple divine who is pledged to The Bastard (one of the five gods in the Quintarian theology). The other gods are the Mother of Summer, Father of Winter, Son of Autumn, and the Daughter of Spring. The Bastard is considered the odd god out because he is the domain of all disasters out of season. His presence is accepted as a requirement for balance, and in some religions he is believed to be a demon.

The old woman ends up being a Learned Sorceress (a rare individual who carries within them a sentient spirit with the ability to grant their hosts special powers. The sentient spirits are considered “demons” despite them being inherently evil. Sentient spirits can sometimes be hard to control and mischievous. The geriatric woman dies in Penric’s arms. Before she dies, she bequeaths her demon to Penric, which changes Lord Penric’s life forever.

Lois McMaster Bujold is a good writer! Novellas can be good or bad due to the shorter format, but Bujold does a good job. Bujold is great when it comes to world building and characterization, which made the book good. This novella offers a closer look at the lore of The World of Five Gods. I like the interplay between Penric and Desdemona (the name he decides to give his new demon). Penric is a really good protagonist who always tries to do the right thing. It’s a quick read, and I couldn’t put it down! The ending was good, making me want to read more of Lois McMaster Bujold’s work.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Science Fiction and Fantasy!

4/5 stars!

Another in Bujold's series of novellas about Penric, a young man possessed by an ancient, female, mischievous demon named Desdemona. Hey, in this fantasy world, that's not so unusual – demon possession is more or less the only way to have magical powers – but most sorcerers, as they're called, are the result of careful choice and training, while Penric acquired Desdemona by accident and treats her with much more respect and affection than is generally recommended.

In this novella, a police detective (well, the fantasy equivalent) requires Penric's help to hunt down a man named Inglis, who not only murdered a young lord but stole his soul as well. How and why he did so is as much an open question as where he's fled to. The real fun of this story isn't so much the mystery but the world-building of the rules of magic; Inglis, it turns out, is a shaman, and his powers share a tantalizing similarity to Penric's own.

This is a charming, enjoyable novella, but one I wouldn't recommend if you haven't read a story with Penric before. It's a bit forgettable, but it's certainly a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2185335761

After reading a few rather slow-moving and occasionally laborious long novels, jetting through this novella was tangibly refreshing!

As always, Bujold's writing is a delight, and the story here is light, fun and wholly entertaining. Of course, this is a sequel to 'Penric's Demon' and although this is a wholly self-contained episode, I'd recommend starting with the first one to get to know the characters.

Here, Penric is assigned, in his position as a Divine sorcerer, to accompany a lawman who's trying to track down a dangerous murderer on the run. The lawman is skeptical due to Penric's youth, and nervous about his demon, Desdemona - who's much more full of personality than he thinks she ought to be. Can Penric prove himself - while coming up with the best possible solution regarding the crime at hand?

Many thanks to Subterranean and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. I'll be sure to seek out Penric & Desdemona's next adventure!

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.

'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.

Not a huge fan of novellas, but as always Bujold is a good author who gets you into the minds and motivations of the characters.

Five Gods World novella--a winner!

Ok, I'm officially in love with Penric! He exhibits that combination of humour, compassion, thoughtfulness and gentleness wrapped up in a wryness that's wonderfully humane.
In this world of the Five Gods, Lord Penric, is now a divine and sorcerer of the Bastard's Order, a depository for the demon combinations he's named Desdemona, a conglomerate of twelve.
In this second novella, Penric is called on to seek out an escaped murderer, but what he finds is so much more! Along with the Senior Locator, Penric is sent to track down a renegade shaman Inglis, accused of murder.
As usual Penric confounds all as he investigates this case. Oswyl, the Locator (of the Father's Order) is frequently confounded by Penric. That Penric by his very youth and laid back appearance is frequently underrated by all he meets--is a strength, as Oswyl discovers.
Inglis, the shaman, confronted by the God of xx is nicely wrought.
I do like Penric's reflections about the gods and humour and the further small insights about the gods and demons he gives us.
Penric advising Oswyl is priceless: ' “A bit of free theological advice. Do not deny the gods. And they will not deny you.”... "Dangerous habit, mind you. Once you start to let Them in through that first crack, They’re worse than mice.”'
As always with anything Lois McMaster Bujold writes, very very satisfying.

A NetGalley ARC
(February 2017)

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.

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.

In the midst of all the chaos of recent events, Penric and the Shaman was a gloriously gentle read. We jump back into Penric's life about four years after the events of Penric's Demon, after he has become comfortable with his place in the world. But when Senior Locator Oswyl asks for the support of a sorcerer in chasing down a dangerous shaman, Penric finds himself setting off on a quest led by the rather disapproving Oswyl into the rural mountains in search of a stolen ghost.

I thought Penric and the Shaman did a nice job unifying the world of The Hallowed Hunt with the rest of the Five Gods stories: we get to see the uneasy interactions between the church of the Five Gods and the nature-worshipping shaman, and the interplay between their two magics. The story itself is told from three perspectives: that of Penric, Oswyl, and also Inglis, the shaman himself. It's a bit slow-paced, and I had a hard time seeing how things could be brought to a conclusion that would fit the mood of the rest of the book, but I found myself satisfied throughout, always able to enjoy the gentle banter and measured pace. I especially loved how it explored the humanity of all the players in the story-- there are no true villains in the book, which makes it a wonderful read if you're feeling stressed and depressed. Last, I love the way this whole series respectfully explores religion. For instance, take one of my favourite quotes:
"For all that we trust the gods, I think we can trust them to know the difference between humor and blasphemy."

I love that the author is revisiting this world, the story is riveting and entertaining, a GREAT read!!

The short review: A new Bujold novella set in the world of The Curse of Chalion! (Everyone jumps up and down for joy and runs out to buy it!) The longer review: Readers often give the novella short shrift as a literary form. It’s too long to read easily in one sitting and not long enough to make a satisfying novel-variety reading experience. It’s also hard to write. You need a single plot line that’s rich enough to sustain the length but doesn’t meander off into the subplots and so forth that give a novel its complexity.
All that is prelude to the deliciousness of a Bujold novella. To say she’s a master of her craft is an understatement, also that she has the ability to take what seems to be a simple enough proposition (in this case, tracking down a murder suspect) and imbuing it with emotional resonance. Her work rarely leaves me unmoved, and this one is no different. She manages to bring the reader into her world of five gods, shamans and sorcerers and spirit animals (as a dog lover, I adored what she did with more-dog and Great Beast dog) and ordinary folk without ever inflicting massive backstory or infodump. The richness of this world and its potential for powerful human stories never fails to amaze me. The alternative viewpoint characters (Penric, a sorcerer-divine who is host to demon Desdemona, who carries the memories of all her previous partners; Locator Oswyl, beset by his own rigid sense of honor and his limited abilities; and Inglis, a shaman now bereft of his powers, struggling to keep the ghost of his best friend from being eternally sundered from grace, at the cost of his own blood) provide both close-up emotional intimacy and a wider perspective of events. Did I say I loved the dogs. And the ghosts. And the demon. And the dogs.

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.

The second novella in this setting is set several years after the previous one. Penric is working with someone of the Father’s order to track down a possible murder suspect that seems to be a shaman. He is comfortable in his role as a divine and has a good working relationship with his demon. This book you learn about shaman that don’t correspond to the Five Gods religion but seems to also be just fine with them.
The actual murder isn’t a mystery but the real mystery is what happens when they catch up with the missing shaman. Overall a great story and it can be read without having read the previous story since the reader is easily caught up with what has happened before.