Deviation Actions
Summary: Penric, Sorcerer of the Bastard, though only tangentially of the Bastard’s Order, has been in possession of his demon, Desdemona, for eleven years since the events of this series’ first novella, “Penric’s Demon”. Older, wiser, and wanting to be well away from his old post at Martensbridge, his new duty as a courier turns out not to be all that it could, seeing as it lands him in an oubliette as soon as he arrives distant, sunny Cedonia.
Meanwhile, Nikys, twin to General Arisaydia of Cedonia, who was the goal of Penric’s delivery, isn’t in much better shape. Her beloved brother is arrested and soon maimed in an imperial plot, and she has to care for him only with the help of a blond haired, blue-eyed physician of the Mother of Summer. Who admittedly is both handsome and uncannily good at his profession, even if he does tend to talk to himself in an odd manner…
Review: Third in this series set between the eras of The Hallowed Hunt and the Curse of Chalion, Penric’s Mission is perhaps the darkest yet. It starts with Penric being beaten, arrested and imprisoned, in a “bottle dungeon” that offers no easy escape even for a sorcerer, and Arisa being horribly mutilated. Penric is thirty now, and while very skilled at working with Desdemona, he’s burned out from a bad experience in Martensbridge. Though Penric being Penric, he still feels obligation to help wherever he can, even if it means a lot “uphill” magic that leads to a dark running gag of Dedemona murdering up to rat sized vermin everywhere they go.
While the first novella was mostly about Pen and Des getting to know each other, the second a mystery, this third one is Bujold getting back to what she does best, an adventure with romantic trappings. Nikys is a widow, and a low key relationship builds between her and Pen throughout the story as they both care for Arisaydia, though the situation is too fraught for it to go much further than admiring looks.
As always, Bujold delivers a story with a tight plot, engaging, likable characters, and positive worldview even in fraught circumstances.
Recommended.
