Penric's Fox

PENRIC'S FOX was an entertaining mystery set in the World of the Five Gods. Penric is a scholar and sorcerer who is getting used to being the carrier of a demon - Desdemona. When a temple sorcerer is murdered, Penric is called in to see if he can discover what happened to her demon. His friend Locator Oswyl is in charge of finding out who murdered the sorcerer but Penric gets involved in that part of the case too.

This novella is filled with wonderful world building as it creates a world with demons and animal spirits in a vaguely medieval setting. Penric is a great character. He is interested in learning everything and is madly inquisitive. I love his growing relationship with his demon which is not really the usual sort of relationship show more between sorcerers and their demons. Since Desdemona came to him in something of an accident, Penric is left to forge his own relationship. He didn't have any preconceived notions about "proper" relationships.

This novella, while the most recently published, is actually the third in what is currently a five story series. It made me want to go back and read the rest of the stories because I very much enjoy Penric, Desdemona and their adventures. show less

I received this book through the publisher via Netgalley.

The Penric and Desdemona series is such a cozy delight, and the fifth novella continues that experience without missing a beat. The plot follows like a fantasy melded with a murder mystery: a woman found dead in the woods, with Penric and friends called to solve not only the riddle of her murder but to find where the woman's demon-ally went after her body expired. There are false leads and suspect interviews and, of course, the titular fox. I'm always a bit sad when these novellas end because I feel like I relate to Penric as a friend, and I like to spend time with him.

I continue to enjoy this series. It's a compelling elaboration of the world, and this world is expertly and beautifully built. I very much like the characters, too, especially Penric and the wonderful Desdemona.

However. This book, for me, was marred by two things. Well, two things that are fair and one that isn't. So, the fair things: the serial novella format is a problem, because Bujold feels the need to explain everything at the beginning of each story, requiring inevitably clumsy infodumps. (Seriously, maybe just assume that anyone who picks up the fifth book in a series is already resigned to confusion?) It's so clunky. And, honestly, at this point it's clear that she's writing a novel, and I'd much rather she just ... actually show more write it. (But, yes, I do understand that there are sound financial reasons for the serialized novel format.)

My other, absolutely unfair complaint is that -- well. I thought this story was setting up for a sweet f/f background pairing, and instead it went in the direction of two, uh, parallel m/f background pairings. Relentless, unnecessary heterosexuality sometimes grates on me. Alas.

But, overall, this series continues to be great fun, and I'd give this entry four stars were it not for the infodumps. (PLEASE let her collect them all into the actual novel, with the infodumps edited out, at the end of this. Please please please.) show less

Another fine novella, or should I say, long story, in the saga of Penric's education. If I could wait for someone to issue a book with all of the Penric stories collected together, I would, but I can't. I'm weak, and Bujold is too much fun.

Characters overlap from the previous, Oswyl and Idris and there are a few fine new characters, mainly shamans-in-training. Penric has traveled to their turf with his Princess boss for a princely christening and gets entangled in a sorceress-murder-with-awol-demo-in-a-vixen situation. ****

Excellent as always. This one is tucked in after Penric's Shaman, before Pen goes to work with the physicians. Another investigation, of a murdered sorceress (which means, a demon on the loose...probably). A lot of strange threads drawn together - honestly, the chance of Pen's meeting Wegae is the most unlikely (based on his spectacles!). A really nasty villain, too. Pen learns a bit more about shamans, and starts to expand his horizons in terms of studying. Very enjoyable...and now I want to reread all of them, in internal-chronology order.

This takes place soon after Penric and the Shaman, but because Bujold doesn’t always write her series in chronological order, it was released after a couple of later Penric books. While it makes more sense now to read Penric’s Fox straight after Penric and the Shaman, it’s such a self-contained story that jumping from the later books back to this one works just fine.

Penric and his friends from Penric and the Shaman investigate the murder of a temple sorceress. Oswyl is tasked with finding the murderer, but Pen and Des are more concerned with finding the sorceress’ demon; Inglis gets some shaman-friends to help.

I enjoyed this a lot, especially seeing Pen interact with another sorcerer and with the princess-archdivine - some of show more their conversations hit some unexpectedly serious and emotional notes.

Before I read this, I was hoping that further instalments in this series would be set after the later books. But now I don’t mind either way, so long as there is more of Pen and Des - I’m confident that whatever stories Bujold chooses to tell next will be interesting. show less

Further story-telling strides have been made since the first two installments of Pendric and his demon, Desmonda. This is a straight-up mystery that brings the gang of the second book--Idris, Oswyl and Penric--all back together for some investigation and demonic problem-solving. I rather liked it, although it still really, really feels like when I was fifteen and into reading Mercedes Lackey. As I mentioned to a friend, this is the grilled-cheese/tomato soup combination of the fantasy world.

"Oswyl huffed the sigh of a man perpetually unsurprised that his luck was not in. 'Worth checking.'"

Three and a half stars, but likely mood-based ones.