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.

Another Penric adventure! With pirates! Calloo callay!

Our stalwart cleric, host to the chaos demon Desdemona, is returning from a routine (read: tedious) mission when his ship is taken over by pirates. He and the rest of the passengers are to be sold as slaves at the nearest port, once free but now ruled by aforementioned evil-doers. While captive, he encounters two young girls destined for the same fate. While he is confident that he’ll either be ransomed or able to negotiate his freedom through his (and Des’s) penchant for persuasion, the girls have no such resources. Of course, he takes them under his protection, which complicates and lends special urgency to escape efforts.

I loved seeing new aspects of Penric, who is as resourceful and determined as evr, as well as watching his relationship with Desdemona evolve yet further. And really, Captured by Pirates is a great way to begin any story.

Another delectable addition to the Penric and Desdemona novellas, this one is set some time after the events of The Prisoner of Limnos. Penric is on a sea voyage for his masters, but his ship is attacked by pirates. He's taken captivity with two orphans and decides to save them in addition to himself. The climax is filled with delightful mayhem, and the denouement is satisfying.

This is more of a "Penric and Des go on an expected buddy adventure and get into a complicated situation" story than the prior two volumes, and I'm delighted with the return. While I also like to see Penric growing into his powers and moving to different stages in life, the banter between Penric and Des is so charming and there's so much to explore

After seven novellas, Lois McMaster Bujold is treading on familiar ground - Penric finds himself in something of a pickle and with a combination of smart thinking, luck, and Desdemona's help manages to make his way out of said pickle. This is all told with wit, warmth, and heart.

So it was and so it is with The Orphans of Raspay, where Bujold adds orphans and pirates (and not the fun pirates, at that - these pirates are fairly gross). It's not a romp, but on the other hand we never quite feel that Penric is in real danger. The question is how will he get out of it this time and can he protect the orphans at the same time? It's a Penric novella and it's written by Bujold, The Orphans of Raspay is a delight.

A fun read, but I feel like you have to actually COMMIT to kidfic for it to achieve greatness, and this novella does not. Penric is very upfront that these children are not and never will be HIS kids, and while I totally agree that non-parent adult figures are important in children's lives and you don't have to adopt a kid to care about them, etc., etc., it is really not very satisfying as a narrative trope.

If there’s one author I can depend on to write an absolutely delightful novella, it’s Lois McMaster Bujold. I look forward to her Pen and Des novellas every year, and this one lived up to and exceeded my expectations.

Just once, Pen thought glumly, he’d like to get an answer to prayers, instead of being delivered as one.


Penric is en route back home to Vilnoc (and his wife Nikys) when his ship is captured by pirates. Thrown into a brig with two young girls, he soon comes to the realization that it’s not chance that has him taking the young Lencia and Seuka under his protection – well, whatever protection he and Desdemona can provide without revealing to the superstitious sailors that he’s a Temple sorcerer. Stuck on a pirate island, can Pen and Des find a way to escape before he and the children are separated forever?

“However did you know where to find me?”
“I thought the columns of smoke were a good guide.”


I adore Pen and Des. Their banter is delightful as always, though it seems like the line between Pen and the demon are starting to blur a little more with every novella. While I had some initial reservations toward the pair of girls (I am not a fan of plot moppets) they were as well-drawn as any of Bujold’s characters, and I loved Pen’s interactions with them almost as much as his with Des. While you can always expect some degree of chaos whenever Pen and Des are around, this one in particular was an absolute “delightful outing” – as Des puts it – of an adventure. The gleeful chaos, and the mishaps it engenders, was an absolute high point of the novella. The pacing was fast and suspenseful, so much so that I read the whole thing in one giant blissful gulp. As for cons, perhaps it’s been too long since I read the previous novellas, but I had some difficulty making sense of the geography of the girls’ journey, even with the included map. It’s honestly a rather minor quibble – the important bits about the foursquare Roknari versus Quintarian everybody else were very clear.

“I thought I was the evil sorcerer.”
Lencia shot back, “Yes, but you’re our evil sorcerer.”


In a story that touches on everything from the roots of slavery to theology (because it’s Pen, of course) to motherhood to responsibility, I was surprised and moved to tears by the epilogue. What really moved this into five star territory for me was the deeply thoughtful – and timely – reflection on human kindness, and how the quiet and unnoticed actions of one person can change the world “soul by soul.”

Overall, absolutely excellent, and I’ll be looking forward as always to the next outing for Pen and Des!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold 4 stars (Penric and Desdemona #7)

We are happy to enter the world of Penric and Desemona again. While this was epublished in 2019, I reviewed the version published by Subterranean Press. I love Penric and Desdemona and it is always a joy to visit the World of the Five Gods. This is not the strongest entry in this series because it slowed in sections, but the action and dialogue from Desdemona made up for it. I hope that Ms. Bujold will continue to regale us with tales from this world on a regular basis.

Thank you Netgalley and Subterranean Press for this ARC.

While traveling on temple business, temple sorcerer Penric's ship is captured by pirates and he is taken prisoner for ransom. In his cell on the pirate ship, he meets two young half-orphaned girls who were captured while trying to be reunited with their merchant father after their mother's death. As he plots his escape, Penric is determined to rescue the girls from certain slavery, and he'll use every trick his demon Desdemona has given him to keep himself and the girls safe and wreak havoc on the slaver-pirates.

For those new to the Penric and Desdemona series, it's set in Bujold's World of the Five Gods, in a different part of the world and following different characters than the World of the Five Gods series. Penric is a sorcerer, which means that he possesses a demon, whom he acquired when her previous sorcerer died and, being the only person around in time, was her only option for survival. Desdemona has the memories of her previous "riders," all of whom happened to have been female. Thus, Penric has a lot of feminine perspectives and experiences on which to draw, despite being a man. In the hands of another author, this could be cringey, but Bujold writes it beautifully.

While this can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the series in order (the first three books of which have recently been released in an omnibus edition titled Penric's Progress) so that you understand the full context surrounding the characters and the world in which they live. Over the course of the series, Penric's character development is truly delightful to behold, as he matures and grows self-confident, and he and Desdemona develop a deep friendship. Bujold's skill at writing healthy relationships that are compelling to read is among the best.

This isn't my favorite of the Penric and Desdemona novellas, but it's still good. As usual, Penric has to use his and Desdemona's wits and abilities to get himself out of a scrape. Much chaos ensues (more than usual, in fact), caused by Desdemona the chaos demon. If you're looking for a fantasy series that's delightfully sweet and warm, I recommend this highly, and I can't wait to read the next book, The Physicians of Vilnoc.

Always love reading the stories from this series! The are always entertaining and engaging, and the writer did not disappoint this time!!! A great quick story!!!!

I just love Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric series --and while this book is not my favorite in the series, it certainly fits right in. Penric finds himself afloat and yet again manages to find a way out of his predicament, while helping others, even when sometimes pushed a bit into it. Subterranean Press has done beautiful copies of all the previous books in the series, and I expect this one will be the same.

THE ORPHANS OF RASPAY by Lois McMaster Bujold is the seventh book in the Penric and Desdemona series and takes place in the same setting as her World of the Five Gods series. While this fantasy book worked for me as a standalone, it would likely be even better if the series had been read in order. Penric is a temple sorcerer and has a resident demon named Desdemona. When the ship they are traveling in is captured by pirates, they are tossed into the hold of the pirate ship that already holds two children; Lencia and Seuka Corva. Will they be ransomed or will something else happen? Who are the Corva children?

Pen and Des are a somewhat odd duo, but the interactions between them sets a great tone. The characters are definitely someone you can root for and their goals and motivations are well-drawn. Bujold does a great job of world-building and this book is no exception to that. The prose is well-written and entertaining. The plot is suspenseful and generally fast-paced. The ending was action-packed and surprising, but I thought one aspect of it was a little too coincidental. In the epilogue, I expected something completely different would occur so I was surprised at how the book ended.

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable book that reminded me once again why I enjoy reading books by one of my favorite authors. I look forward to reading more of this series and recommend it to those that enjoy well-written fantasy.

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.

Another fun Penric episode. These novellas are short, so that's sad, but they're very satisfying, so that's happy. This time Penric has to save himself and two sisters from pirates and slavers. He has really bad luck. I mean it's bad, but he and his resident demon do finally get to have some fun destroying things. That was very enjoyable.

The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold



The Orphans of Raspay is the 7th novella in Lois McMaster Bujold's "Penric & Desdemona" series, which is set in the same "World of the Five Gods" as some of her novels. The series has always been one of the more fun but less essential parts of Bujold's oeuvre - with the series' appeal coming from the witty (internal) banter between main protagonist Penric and his demon Desdemona which the series combines with interesting interactions with Bujold's Five Gods. At its best, the novellas can be really fun and creative (Penric's Mission, Mira's Last Dance), at their worst they're forgettable (The Prisoner of Limnos).



So I'd wanted to check out the latest novella eventually when it came out last year (preferably in audiobook as I'd enjoyed most of this series) but didn't have the chance till it showed up on NetGalley. And well, it's easily in the more forgettable of entries, alas, not really doing enough to justify its own existence - it's fine and never in bad taste, but it never adds anything we've never seen before or has any of the wittier moments that are in some of Bujold's best works - including this series.





Quick Plot Summary: Penric and Desdemona are undercover on a ship coming home from a task from the Archdivine of Orbas, when Penric's ship is boarded by pirates. Unfortunately, since sailors regularly think having a sorcerer on board is bad luck (and throw them overboard), he can't simply reveal his presence to try to escape. Instead he finds himself taken prisoner alongside two orphan girls, with no one else to turn to for help. Soon Penric finds himself determined to free not just himself, but the two orphan girls, who seem to have been placed in his path by the Bastard. But to pull it off, he'll have to deal with not only pirates, but the fact that the only people who can help get him home are just as likely to throw him overboard if he reveals who he is......



Thoughts: The best Penric & Desdemona novels feature us learning something new about Penric's powers, or Desdemona's past lives and generally feature witty banter between them as they try and use these to get out whatever situation Penric finds himself in. The 2nd trilogy of novellas (Beginning with Penric's Mission and ending with The Prisoner of Limnos) also adds in a second main character in Nikys, whose interactions with Penric only improve upon these aspects of the story (and who is a fine character in her own right, though I didn't love what Bujold did with her in Prisoner). And in a few of these stories we get direct interactions with the gods, which add more to this world.



The Orphans of Raspay has basically none of that whatsoever. There's no funny dialogue between Penric and Desdemona, no real secondary characters (the eponymous orphans are basically mcguffins) nothing particularly interesting revealed about Penric's powers or Des' past, or even any direct new interactions with the gods. It's....fine, and all of it makes sense - although the ending is very much a deus ex machina, even if it works - but there's nothing new here to make you go "oh, that's cool" and there's nothing funny here to make you laugh, and the attempt to pull at your heartstrings doesn't work too well because the orphans are so generic and without personality (their dead mother has more characterization, and again, she's never alive as part of the story). The story feels like one of the adventures Penric has undoubtedly had off-page between prior novellas which weren't notable enough to write about.....so I'm not sure why this one was written.

4.5 stars for this gentle, clever story. It's always a pleasure to spend time with Penric and Desdomona. Their inner life together continues to develop as they honor their god and leave their world a better place.

I thank Subterranean Press and the author for the chance to read and enjoy this advance copy. I am happy to follow Ms. Bujold into any story or universe she chooses to create. I am so grateful for the entertainment she has provided for many years.

This novella is the latest in the series and is set after the previous one. Penric is captured while sailing and is put in a hold with 2 other potentially high value slaves. The two young girls were traveling to their father’s household after the death of their mother, his mistress. He never discloses that he is a sorcerer since it may get him killed but does state he is a highly talented scribe that will be ransomed and claims the two girls as his nieces to try and keep them together. Penric’s bastard god is working in the background as he plots his escape with the girls. An entertaining story and can’t wait to see more of him in action.

Thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Bujold never fails to entertain, and this book is no exception. Penric's seventh book sees him captured by pirates, set up to either be ransomed or sold into slavery, befriends two little girls and attempts to overcome obstacles in the way of their shared freedom. All done with his usual flair and style, sowing chaos along the way.

This book would work fairly well as a standalone, as Bujold gives enough backstory to allay any great confusion. However, I still recommend starting this series from the beginning, and enjoy every minute along the way.