The Orphans of Raspay (Penric and Desdemona Novella in the World of the Five Gods)

by Lois McMaster Bujold, Grover Gardner (Read by)

Overview

When the ship in which they are traveling is captured by Carpagamon island raiders, Temple sorcerer Penric and his resident demon Desdemona find their life complicated by two young orphans, Lencia and Seuka Corva, far from home and searching for their missing father. Pen and Des will need all their combined talents of mind and magic to unravel the mysteries of the sisters and escape from the pirate stronghold.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094193670
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Series:	Penric and Desdemona Series , #7
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 5.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most honored writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy. In 2019 she was named a Damon Knight Grand Master by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, one of science fiction’s highest honors. She has won seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award for her significant contribution to science fiction. Hugo awards for Best Series were received by the Vorkosigan Saga in 2017, and the World of the Five Gods in 2018.

Alexander Adams is an award-winning audiobook narrator. He is best known for his reading of the novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He has also narrated numerous books by Jonathan Kellerman and John Grisham.

Editorial Reviews

05/18/2020

Bujold’s seventh addition to her fantasy World of the Five Gods series (after The Prisoner of Limnos) offers a pleasant little side quest for Penric, a Temple sorcerer, and Desdemona, the chaos demon living inside him. Sent overseas on a problem-solving mission by the archdivine of Orbas, Pen is captured by pirates and hurled into their noxious brig, where he finds two young sisters from Raspay, Lencia and Seuka Corva. The girls were kidnapped while searching for their absentee father and are to be ransomed or sold at the pirates’ port. Their mother’s dead and their father’s in the wind, so Pen and Desdemona take responsibility for their safety. Bujold creates a series of amusing misadventures as Pen, Desdemona, and the girls try to escape the pirates and the slave brokers with the girls, interspersed with reflections on his marital situation, and inherited memories from Des’s previous human hosts. Pen’s knack for “borrowing trouble” (as Desdemona puts it) and the respect he has for those less fortunate are both as endearing as ever. Series fans will be gratified by this gentle but diverting episode.(July)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2020

As he's heading back home to his wife Nikys, Temple sorcerer Penric's ship is overtaken by pirates, and he is taken hostage after hiding his true work and disguising himself as a scribe. In the hold of a Carpagamon raider ship, Penric also discovers two young sisters, Lencia and Seuka Corva, who were searching for their merchant father. Now the three—along with Penric's resident demon Desdemona—are at port hoping for ransom. When a trader bids for them and their future as slaves seems certain, Penric uses his skills, along with his knowledge from one of Desdemona's previous hosts, to try to escape. When Penric is discovered to be a sorcerer, he will also need to escape those who consider him an abomination. VERDICT Bujold's seventh "Penric and Desdemona" story (after The Prisoner of Limnos) is just as engaging as her previous works, highlighting a unique duo and their exciting travails. The expansive worldbuilding is detailed and filled with intriguing characters.—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst.,Northampton

Library Journal