This is book 12 in the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m a fan of this series, needless to say based upon the fact that I’m reading book 12 in this series.
This Penric book is very character focused, on many layers. When Penric becomes the caretaker of a six-year-old girl, Penric and Desdemona are drawn into conflict. The girl is in possession of a young elemental, and as a six-year-old, she’s too young for the responsibility that entails. Penric wants to exorcise the elemental from the girl, but Desdemona wants to not exorcise the elemental because the elemental is the demon-equivalent of a baby.
At the same time, Penric’s wife Nikys is recovering from a miscarriage. She happily adds the 6-year-old to their family, as something of a replacement. Pen and Niky already have a son and daughter, so the whole family gets involved in making the new child fit in.
I really enjoyed this book, the sense of tension between Pen and Desdemona felt palpable. This book had something most Bujold books lack: interpersonal conflict between the protagonists for justified reasons. Desdemona, being a demon, sees the innocence in the baby elemental, wants to protect her. Penric, being a father, wants to protect the young girl. Their desires are in conflict. This was GREAT reading. Bujold doesn’t often write scenarios where two heroes are forced to have mutually exclusive goals. Most authors don’t write scenarios like this.
If I were to critique the direction this series is going, it feels repetitive. I’m fine with low stakes books, but many of the books in this series feel low-tension. A lot of this series pulls it’s punches. This is a 12-book long series where all the books strike the same soft tone. I often complain about series where the author use the ‘end of the world as we know it’ stakes with every book, perennially upping the stakes with every volume. This series is the reverse. The Pen & Des series is so committed to being low stakes that I’m getting a bit bored.
Favorite to least favorite:
- Mira’s Last Dance (5 Stars)
- Demon Daughter (5 Stars)
- The Physicians of Vilnoc (4 Stars)
- Masquerade at Lodi (4 Stars)
- Orphans of Raspay (4 Stars)
- Penric’s Mission (4 Stars)
- The Knot of Shadows (4 Stars)
- The Assassins of Thasalon (3 Stars)
- Prisoner of Limnos (3 Stars)
- Penric’s Demon (3 Stars)
- Penric and the Shaman (3 Stars)
- Penric’s Fox (3 Stars)
(For reference, 3 stars is what I default to for a good book.)
John Mendez- Book Reviews and More 