It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for a Reading Roundup! This week I am writing about two works by one of my favourite authors, Lois McMaster Bujold…

The first was a short story: Penric’s Demon the first book in the Penric and Desdemona series. Bujold has written a whole lot of novellas in her Penric and Desdemona series which are a spin off from the wonderful World of the Five Gods series, which I have written about on here before. This is the blurb…

“On his way to his betrothal, young Lord Penric comes upon a riding accident with an elderly lady on the ground, her maidservant and guardsmen distraught. As he approaches to help, he discovers that the lady is a Temple divine, servant to the five gods of this world. Her avowed god is The Bastard, “master of all disasters out of season”, and with her dying breath she bequeaths her mysterious powers to Penric. From that moment on, Penric’s life is irreversibly changed, and his life is in danger from those who envy or fear him.”

I really enjoyed this novella as a break from much longer reads and will probably dip into more books in this series from time to time. There was an absorbing plot and the reveal of the character of Desdemona made my laugh!

The second book of the week was one of Bujold’s earliest publications, I believe…

The Sprit Ring is a stand alone fantasy novel, published in the 1990s. Here is the very short blurb…

“Set in an alternate Renaissance Italy where the church regulates magic and licenses magicians, young Fiametta must learn and control the powers of magic to rescue her murdered father’s soul and combat evil sorcerers.”

This is my response on Goodreads…

The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an enjoyable stand alone fantasy set in medieval Italy with added magic. There were some interesting shocks and surprises in the plot which kept me engaged. The two main characters were well written and the whole story was nicely rounded off at the end. Not one of Bujold’s best books, but still well worth reading.

View all my reviews

---

I am so glad that I am enjoying my reading again!

Happy Reading everyone!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

📚📕📚📕📚