A novella written about a pandemic. Fun! Timely! by a great author :) many are better by her, but a fun addition. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher.

This latest novella featuring temple sorcerer and sometimes healer, Penric, and his chaos demon, Desdemona, is a love letter to epidemiologists. In a time of plague, tracing the course of the outbreak is the key to gaining control. Is it contagious? What is the means of spread? How did it enter the community? Who dies, and who survives—and why? In this tale, Penric is summoned to an army fort town where a mysterious illness is rapidly spreading, threatening the ability of the soldiers there to defend the port capital. Through Desdemona, Penric can manipulate chaos, thereby allowing a patient’s body to heal itself, but the cost can be high and the limitations on what one sorcerer can do, are great. Through Desdemona, he can siphon off chaos from a patient’s body, in essence lowering the entropy and increasing the orderliness of the tissues. But the amount of chaos remains the same, and Desdemona can absorb only so much. The best way to discharge it is through the ultimate increase in entropy, the death of a living creature. This poses a moral dilemma for Penric, for although ridding the place of fleas and rats is not a problem, their tiny lives are not sufficient. He sets up an arrangement with the butcher to slaughter food animals quickly and painlessly, but even that cannot keep up with the increasing accumulation of chaos.

Over her long existence, Desdemona has passed through a series of hosts, not all of them human, and she carries their memories and wisdom. Her relationship with Penric is exceptional because he treats her as a partner and not as a dangerous, rebellious slave to be controlled at every step. As a consequence, or perhaps as a result of the variety of hosts she’s known, Desdemona has slowly acquired the ability to trust and be trusted. She’s still a demon, but she’s one that values her host and his concerns.

Besides his partnership with Desdemona, Penric also has an inquiring mind and keep analytic skills, with the ability to see through the easy, superficial explanations. He knows that knowledge of how the disease is spread and where it came from is crucial to containing it, but he’s being run ragged in trying to save lives. He’s in dire need of help, but in even more desperate need of information.

I loved all the previous “Penric” stories, but this one was particularly resonant, given that we are now entering our third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Physicians of Vilnoc is a poignant and compelling reminder of our vulnerability to contagious diseases, and the importance—the necessity—of meticulous epidemiology in combatting them.

This is the plague novella that was supposed to come out before The Orphans of Raspay (the pirate novella) but was delayed because of, well, the real world pandemic. I'm pretty sure I have that right. Regardless, one Learned Penric is happy and content with his life when his brother-in-law asks for Penric's help as a physician. Apparently there is a touch of plague at the military fort and perhaps Penric (and his demon Desdemona) can help.

The question, of course, isn't whether Penric will stop the plague it's how Penric will stop the plague. Which is good, it's always nice when someone is able to stop a potential pandemic. It's interesting reading Physicians of Vilnoc during an actual pandemic where we're not sure how far things will go - though reading Vilnoc in 2021 might have been a different experience than if I read it earlier in 2020.

Listen, this is the eighth published Penric and Desdemona novella. You can mostly jump in wherever and Bujold gives enough context to figure it all out but the richer context is from having read more of the series of very linked stand alone novellas. Lois McMaster Bujold doesn't miss and she doesn't miss here. Physicians of Vilnoc is excellent

this was a really well done scifi novel, the characte3rs were great and I loved the story that was going on. I had enjoyed the previous book. I look forward to reading more from the author.

I have read several of the Penric/Desdemona novellas written by Lois McMaster Bujold and have enjoyed them.

The Physicians of Vilnoc is well-written and engaging story but I have a few minor issues with the story. I would have preferred if Desdemona was featured a bit more in this story as well as Penric's wife. The biggest issue I have with the story which is about a disease that is highly contagious. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if there was not a pandemic.

I would like to thank Ms. McMaster Bujold, Subterranean Press, and Netgalley for the free ARC that I read for this honest review.

Love, love, love!!! This story is technically a novella but it sure doesn't read like one!! You don't absolutely have to have read the previous books in the series but it sure does help!

A deadly mystery!

Newly minted father Penric is not happy to be taken away from the wonder of his delightful baby daughter, Florina. When something unusual happens he’s resigned to the demand. A mystery illness spreading amongst the personnel at the army fort in Vilnoc has Temple sorcerer Penric with his demon Desdemona called to investigate at the request of his brother-in-law, General Arisaydia. Penric finds himself in the midst of a plague, working alongside the army doctor, needing all his medical skills to combat the deadly foe. His calls for help from the Temple for extra sorcerer physicians leads to an interesting result. The cause of the plague is hidden in mystery, although when revealed it’s no surprise. (The whole quickly transmitted disease, a story down through the ages, runs a bit close to the bone given the current situation !) Penric moves forward from the formidable and solid foundation that grounds him to face a different challenge. Another great addition to the Penric canon.

A Subterranean Press ARC via NetGalley

I need to go and find everything Bujold has written and add them to my physical library. An example of well written and plotted fantasy that grabs and holds the readers attention from the beginning.

Look, if you're this deep into the Penric series, I assume you like Penric and Desdemona enough to read about them doing pretty much anything. Is there any thrilling character development in this installment? No. Do you want to ride along while Penric and Desdemona solve another mystery? Buckle up. This is definitely fantasy plague lit, which folks may or may not be in the mood for at this moment in history, but if you like Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce or Owlsight by Mercedes Lackey, I think you'll enjoy The Physicians of Vilnoc.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

The Penric and Desdemona novellas take place in the World of the Five Gods from the trilogy of that name.  Book one of the trilogy, curse of the chalion, is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read and I really enjoyed the remaining two.  Penric, a sorcerer, and Desdemona, his chaos demon, are a fantastic duo that I ADORE.

In 2020, these novellas were republished in a two-book omnibus set.  The first omnibus contained novellas 1 - 3 in the internal chronological order not publishing order.  The second set had the novellas 4 - 6.  I normally read in publishing order but have to admit that I strongly feel this series should be an exception if ye be new to it.

This novella is number 8 and it contains slight spoilers for other books though it can be read as a standalone.  This story follows Penric and Desdemona as a local garrison falls ill with a mysterious illness.  Aye, it be a plague novel.  But don't let that get ye down.  As always, it is a joy to read about Penric.  Though this book has sad parts, ultimately it is a comforting type of fantasy.  Bad things happen, even magic can't solve everything, and yet working towards the greater good is always worthwhile. 

This book does not have an action filled plot like some of the others but was satisfying.  I loved the two newer characters and I loved the ending.  I am biased because I will read every book put out in this series.  But try some of them.  Ye might join me.  Arrrrr!

I was late to the Lois McMaster Bujold party and only discovered her when she was nominated for Best Series. I think it was the Baen book covers that turned me off. But I’m on board now! I love the Penric and Desdemona series and was thrilled to get a copy of this new novella! It took me a while to get caught up but I can’t wait for the next one. Thank you, Subterranean Press, for the eARC. I hope we keep getting more Penric book!

The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold is the eighth book in the Penric and Desdemona series. Bujold brings great characters and world-building to this suspenseful fantasy. Penric (Pen) is a temple sorcerer and shares his body with a 200-year-old chaos demon he has named Desdemona (Des). In return, Des gifts him with powers as a Temple Sorcerer and the knowledge she has gained over her lifetime. A mysterious illness breaks out at the army fort guarding Vilnoc and General Arisaydia (Pen’s brother-in-law) asks him to use his medical skills to aid the sick. Is it a contagion or contamination? Can magic even help?

Pen and Des are a somewhat odd duo, but the interactions between them sets a great tone. Pen’s family dynamics are also evolving and it will be exciting to see how that grows in future books in the series. The characters are complex and definitely people you can root for and their goals and motivations are well-drawn.

The plot is suspenseful and generally fast-paced. The prose is well-written and entertaining. Bujold does a great job of world-building and this book is no exception to that. Some readers may have a problem reading about a potential plague with everything that has happened and still is happening with Covid-19. However, I was immediately drawn into the situation and was trying to help Pen solve the cause of the illness. Can it even be cured? What is its source? Will Pen succumb to the illness?

While this short novel (or long novella) doesn’t have as much in the way of action as most of the author’s books have, it is suspenseful and gives Pen a different type of challenge. It also shows how stressful the situation can be for medical personnel as well as those that are sick and their families. Additional themes include religious dynamics, family, collegial respect, superstitious fears, magic, fatigue, stress, and suspicion of those that are different from oneself.

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable novel that reminded me once again why I enjoy reading books by Bujold, one of my favorite authors. I look forward to reading more of this series and recommend it to those that enjoy well-written fantasy. While the book worked for me as a standalone, it would likely be even better if the series is read in order. I recommend that readers start with book one of the series to get the most entertainment out of the novels.

Many thanks to Subterranean Press and Lois McMaster Bujold for a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently expected to be July 31, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

I've read and greatly enjoyed Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan stories, but this is the first of her Penric and Desdemona fantasy books I've gotten to, and it's quite good. While having read the earlier stories might deepen one's appreciation of the book, I can attest that it works just fine as a stand-alone or entry point to the series.

Penric's world is complex, well-woven, and believable. The characters are sympathetic and complicated human beings (and demons). Bujold's writing is crisp, and her dialogue is lifelike. While no swashes get buckled, the story is engrossing and moves quickly. Apparently Bujold wrote this before the pandemic, but Penric's plague still hits pretty close to home.

Penric and Desdmona are called out to treat soldiers at the fort who are dying from an unknown illness. When they arrive they find that the senior medical officer has died. The Junior is well qualified though, and eager to learn from a Sorcerer Physician. The situation at the fort is grave. Soldiers are dying and now people in the nearby villages are also ill as are people in the camp of the prisoners of war, a nomadic tribe of wanderers. Penric has only so much healing energy to give so he sends work to other healing centers in the region, but no one comes. The cause of the disease remains elusive and the situation gets worse and worse. Penric is destroying his own body with the strain.

Then another healer shows up. Learned Dubro, an older man who has only recently joined with a wild daemon. Penric begins teaching Dubro and his fresh daemon how to do the work, and the relief is immediate. Shortly thereafter Penric's god manifests a miracle that reveals the disease vector and the epidemic is over.

This is one of the better episodes in this series and I think you will like it too.

This review contains spoilers for earlier World of the Five Gods novels

“The Gods have no hands but ours. If we fail them, where then can they turn.” Ingrey kin Wolfcliff (The Hallowed Hunt)

This quote opens the book as we rejoin Penric. He’s snatched from his domestic bliss by his brother-in-law, General Arisaydia. A mysterious plague has invaded the local fort and Penric and his 200 year old demon Desdemona are conscripted in the battle against it. Fearful of the disastrous results of Penric’s last foray into medicine, the two’s struggle to maintain balance between “uphill” and “downhill” magic are constant in the background of the novel. At the same time, Penric, Des, and Rede (the fort physician) seek the source of the deadly contagion in hopes of stopping its spread.

It was lovely to watch Penric and Des grow with each other. Des nags Penric to eat and sleep, and Penric complains about the treatment while acknowledging she’s right. Yet Penric constantly surprises her with inventive twists of logic and magic. It also delves more deeply into issues just touched on in Penric’s Mission.

The novella feels like a pressure cooker. With each patient healed, four more appear and no one knows why or how. Penric is so focussed on the deathly ill person right in front of him, he loses all sense of who that person is. It’s a beautiful and horrifying touch. The sheer terror, the haunting horror, lurks in every corner of the story. And yet, always, there is hope holding out a hand.

Bujold explores the depths of human despair with her usual dark humor and skeptical hope. The Gods help not those who help themselves but those who work tirelessly to help others and remain open to hear the quiet moment of inspiration. For Penric fans, or for those who just

The Physicians of Vilnoc is the 8th novella (by publication order, not chronologically) in Lois McMaster Bujold's "Penric & Desdemona" fantasy series, which is set in her "World of the Five Gods" (which first showed up with The Curse of Chalion). I have enjoyed this series, but have kind of found myself souring on it over time - not because in any way it's gotten bad, but because the installments just felt like they were becoming more of the same. Nowhere was that more apparent than with the seventh story, The Orphans of Raspay, which didn't really add anything - no character developments of note, no fun moments, nothing we hadn't seen before. It was....fine, just completely inessential, without the fun touches I'm used to in Bujold's works.

But to my pleasant surprise, The Physicians of Vilnoc is a return to form for Bujold in this series, featuring really well done character development and a plot that sets our protagonists - Learned Penric of the Bastard's order and his demon Desdemona - against a newish foe, a plague in both their city and Penric's brother in law's army camp. It's not a story featuring much of the witty fun dialogue of past Bujold works, but the character development of Penric shown here, and how far things have come, is really heartwarming even in a novella focused upon plague, and really enjoyable. If you've read the past seven novellas in this series (or if you've skipped around and read a few), you'll enjoy this.



Quick Plot Summary: When Pernic's brother-in-law General Arisaydia brings news of an unknown contagion that has come down upon his Army Camp and is killing the soldiers, Penric reluctantly leaves his wife and newborn child to see if he can help. Years ago, Penric's first stint in the medical profession almost drove him to suicide, for he could not handle the burden of being unable to save everyone...and this plague is both unknown in origins and as bad as anything he saw then. But this time Penric, while still overly driven, has people to live for, and finds allies at the Camp who can help him take on the contagion, find its source, and save as many people as possible....

Thoughts: The Penric & Desdemona novellas, at their best have been about Penric using various new aspects of his demon, especially regarding her past lives, in really interesting ways (and getting fun reactions thereof), along with some typically fun internal banter between Penric and Des. The 7th novella however, had seemed to exhaust that well, as Des's past "lives" didn't have really anything new to bring to the story, and just seeing competent Penric use his skills wasn't particularly special. There was no character development seemingly left in that direction (and there were no other characters of interest in that story).

But here, we do have character development in an interesting direction, that of Penric himself, being thrown back into a full medical situation years after the first one almost ended in disaster. We get to see him knowing that he can't be trusted not to push too far, and that he has to manipulate things and other people to enable him to do what he can with his downhill and uphill magic.

More gratifyingly, we get to see Penric in the mold of the experienced and veteran sorcerer, which is really cool to see! He's been active for years now, written/translated treatises of knowledge, and isn't some young kid grasping for what to do anymore out of emotion! And so, with Penric playing off two others - a young doctor who needs Pen's help and later a second sorcerer of much older age but much less experience wielding a demon, we get to see how that experience has changed him, made him capable, and made him respected by those who know what to look for. It's a very fun development of a character who we've come to know from his origins as a naive and inexperienced young man thrown into the mess of chaos magic, and it makes this one a very welcome addition to the series.

Another one of the Penric books which Bujold has been concentrating on recently. Less madcap and more depressing, with an emphasis on fighting a plague which may hit a little too close to home in these COVID times. No interaction with Nikys at all - very much a "Penric on a mission/work" book with not a lot of personal involved. Not my favorite of these books.

I first read The Physicians of Vilnoc in May of 2020, a very different time than June 2021 to read a book about a mysterious disease. Despite the chaos of 2020, Bujold's magnificent characters and writing provided a welcome distraction and a much needed happy ending (if there's such a thing as cozy fantasy, that is how I would characterize this series).

Rereading the novella more than a year later, I can appreciate it (as well as Bujold's prescience and research) even more. We have contact tracing, we have medical personnel overextending themselves, the agony of being good at something that's wretched for one's mental health… One of my favorite parts, upon a second read, is how magic is so helpful not nearly as helpful as you might wish in such a situation.

In sum, a surprisingly weighty but welcome addition to the growing Pen & Des collection.

I would like to thank the author, Lois McMaster Bujold, and publisher, Subterranean Press, for kindly providing an electronic review copy of this work.

"The Physicians of Vilnoc" by the multiple award winning Lois McMaster Bujold is a very readable addition to Bujold's "World of the Five Gods" series. It has been a couple of years since I have read one of the "World of the Five Gods" novels, and I feel like I may have missed a couple of previous stories. Yet, a few pages into "The Physicians of Vilnoc" everything came back and I really enjoyed the tale. It is possible that a book about an outbreak of a contagion might be a bit too close for comfort during a global pandemic, but this is a story of hard work, discovery, and teamwork. If anything the message and the plot becomes more relevant as we personally strive avoid infection and stay healthy.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes the "World of the Five Gods" series or other stories by Bujold. For someone new to the series, I would suggest starting with the first couple of books in the series. They are also quite good. Though, for someone in a hurry to read this book, it is sufficiently independent that it is completely enjoyable as a stand-alone.

I look forward to reading more stories in this series, perhaps starting with any I may have missed before this one.

Lois McMaster Bujold is a master of her craft. The Physicians of Vilnoc is another entry in her Penric & Desdemona series. In this installment, Pen's brother-in-law calls upon him and Des to assist with an unknown illness sweeping the military barracks.

Reading this book a year in to the COVID-19 pandemic (hopefully the tail end!) brought home the issues faced by our hero. He leaves home, expecting to be back within a day or two, but is immediately separated from his family for an extended period of time. He is exhausted by treating increasing numbers of patients, and at the same time feels that he isn't providing enough care. Since he and his fellow practitioners (a medical officer in the army and, later, a novice sorcerer) are not only treating the disease but attempting to discover its origins, the pressure they face is intense. Although written before our real-life pandemic, the novella addresses many of the same difficulties we are facing now, making this an incredibly prescient and poignant book.

As always, the banter between Pen and Des is a highlight. It's also great to read about characters for whom compassion and intelligence are some of the most highly-valued traits.