Lois McMaster Bujold is one of my favorite authors and with Penric’s Demon she begins a series of fantasy novellas that introduce us to Penric, a young lord who accidentally invites a group of female demons to use his body as a host. He gives them the collective name of Desdemona and the two embark on a friendship and relationship of trust as they learn to rely on one another.

This is a simple story that is meant to introduce the characters and setting, which if you have read her World of the Five Gods trilogy will be a familiar one. At this point Penric is young and prefers to stay in the background but I suspect he will mature and develop as the series goes on. By the end of this story of friendship, faith and devotion, Penric and his demons have bonded.

I enjoyed this story and look forward to continuing on learning about this heart-warming alliance of human and demon and the magic that is sure to come. ( )

Though brief, this story is a great introduction to Penric and how he came to be possessed by Desdemona. I can't wait to read the next story and see where they go together. ( )

Enjoyable little story. It's cosy. A friendly relationship between a man and his demon. ( )

Entertaining young adult fantasy adventure about Penric, a young man who becomes a host to a group of female demons. He names the group “Desdemona.” We follow his life as he gets used to demons residing within, leading to several humorous scenes. It is an enjoyable escapist-type book. It is obviously the initial set up for a series of adventures to come. There is a lot of expository and interrogatory writing to establish the relationship between the demon and the host. This is my first of Bujold’s books. I recommend gaining familiarity with the world Bujold has created. This probably was not the best place to start. The story itself is fine, but I felt like I was missing the context. ( )

I love the World of the Five Gods. It is my favorite fantasy series and I was very happy to see her release this novella in the world. It's not her best work but even Lois at her worst is better than many authors at their best.

Penric's Demon is, by necessity of its length, much less complicated than its predecessors. There aren't any great convoluted machinations of the gods going on here, just one guy who happened to accidentally acquire a demon and have his life turned upside down. There was some great additional worldbuilding to the universe, and I'm greatly heartened that is the start of a series. ( )