"Penric's Fox": a Penric & Desdemona novella in the World of the Five Gods. Book 3.

Some eight months after the events of “Penric and the Shaman”, Learned Penric, sorcerer and scholar, travels to Easthome, the capital of the Weald. There he again meets his friends Shaman Inglis and Locator Oswyl. When the body of a sorceress is found in the woods, Oswyl draws him into another investigation; they must all work together to uncover a mystery mixing magic, murder and the strange realities of Temple demons.

"Penric and the Shaman" was a 2017 Hugo Award nominee in the novella category.

Booklist:
“Bujold couldn't characterize badly if threatened with a firing squad, and what really keeps one turning the pages is the fascinating cast of characters.” (re PALADIN OF SOULS)

“Bujold is not just a master of plot, she is a master of emotion.”
- SF Site

Library Journal:
“Compelling characters and richly detailed world building.” (re THE CURSE OF CHALION)

Booklist:
“Bujold's reworking of a classic romantic situation is distinguished by its setting in a well-crafted world and masterly creation of characters whose fates will keep readers turning the pages.” (re THE HALLOWED HUNT)

Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children. She began writing with the aim of professional publication in 1982. She wrote three novels in three years; in October of 1985, all three sold to Baen Books, launching her career. Bujold went on to write many other books for Baen, mostly featuring her popular character Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, his family, friends, and enemies. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Her fantasy from Eos includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife series. In 2020, Bujold received the Damon Knight Grand Master Memorial Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. www.dendarii.com

Review

A satisfying blend of strong characters and wry humor.

-- "Publishers Weekly on Penric's Demon"

Supernatural sleuthing with finely drawn characters and a panoply of emotions...This is a wonderful expansion of her World of the Five Gods.

-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Penric and the Shaman"

From the Author

Author's Note :

A Bujold Reading-Order Guide

The Fantasy Novels

My fantasy novels are not hard to order. Easiest of all is The Spirit Ring , which is a stand-alone, or aquel, as some wag once dubbed books that for some obscure reason failed to spawn a subsequent series. Next easiest are the four volumes of The Sharing Knife-- in order, Beguilement , Legacy , Passage , and Horizon-- which I broke down and actually numbered, as this is one continuous tale. There is a sequel novella, "Knife Children".

What were called the Chalion books after the setting of its first two volumes, but which now that the geographic scope has widened I'm dubbing the World of the Five Gods, were written to be stand-alones as part of a larger whole. However, the second volume certainly contains spoilers for the first, so Curse-Paladin is the recommended reading order. The third is in effect an independent prequel, not sharing characters or setting with the other two, so readers of the prior volumes need to adjust their expectations going in. In any case, the publication order is:

The Curse of Chalion
Paladin of Souls
The Hallowed Hunt
In terms of internal world chronology, The Hallowed Hunt would fall first, the Penric novellas perhaps a hundred and fifty years later, and The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls would follow a century or so after that.

The internal chronological order of the Penric tales is presently:

"Penric's Demon"
"Penric and the Shaman"
"Penric's Fox"
"Masquerade in Lodi"
"Penric's Mission"
"Mira's Last Dance"
"The Prisoner of Limnos"
"The Orphans of Raspay""The Physicians of Vilnoc"The six first-published of these have been collected in two Baen Books paper editions, Penric's Progress , containing Demon, Shaman, and Fox, and Penric's Travels , containing Mission, Mira, and Limnos.
Other Original E-books

The short story collection ProtoZoa contains five very early tales--three (1980s) contemporary fantasy, two science fiction--all previously published but not in this handy format. The novelette "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" may be of interest to Vorkosigan completists, as it is the first story in which that proto-universe began, mentioning Beta Colony but before Barrayar was even thought of.

Sidelines:Talks and Essays is just what it says on the tin--a collection of three decades of my nonfiction writings, including convention speeches, essays, travelogues, introductions, and some less formal pieces. I hope it will prove an interesting companion piece to my fiction.

The Vorkosigan Stories

Many pixels have been expended debating the 'best' order in which to read what have come to be known as the Vorkosigan Books (or Saga), the Vorkosiverse, the Miles books, and other names. The debate mainly revolves around publication order versus internal-chronological order. I favor internal chronological, with a few adjustments.

Shards of Honor and Barrayar. The first two books in the series proper, they detail the adventures of Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony and Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar. Shards was my very first novel ever; Barrayar was actually my eighth, but continues the tale the next day after the end of Shards. For readers who want to be sure of beginning at the beginning, or who are very spoiler-sensitive, start with these two.

The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game (with, perhaps, the novella "The Mountains of Mourning" tucked in between.) The Warrior's Apprentice introduces the character who became the series' linchpin, Miles Vorkosigan; the first book tells how he created a space mercenary fleet by accident; the second how he fixed his mistakes from the first round. Space opera and military-esque adventure (and a number of other things one can best discover for oneself), The Warrior's Apprentice makes another good place to jump into the series for readers who prefer a young male protagonist.

After that: Brothers in Arms should be read before Mirror Dance , and both, ideally, before Memory.

Komarr makes another alternate entry point for the series, picking up Miles's second career at its start. It should be read before A Civil Campaign.

Borders of Infinity , a collection of three of the five currently extant novellas, makes a good Miles Vorkosigan early-adventure sampler platter, I always thought, for readers who don't want to commit themselves to length. (But it may make more sense if read after The Warrior's Apprentice.) Take care not to confuse the collection-as-a-whole with its title story, "The Borders of Infinity".

Falling Free takes place 200 years earlier in the timeline and does not share settings or characters with the main body of the series. Most readers recommend picking up this story later. It should likely be read before Diplomatic Immunity , however,which revisits the "quaddies", a bioengineered race of free-fall dwellers, in Miles's time.

The novels in the internal-chronological list below appear in italics; the novellas (officially defined as a story between 17,500 words and 40,000 words) in quote marks.

Falling Free
Shards of Honor
Barrayar
The Warrior's Apprentice
"The Mountains of Mourning"
"Weatherman"
The Vor Game
Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos
Borders of Infinity
"Labyrinth"
"The Borders of Infinity"
Brothers in Arms
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
"Winterfair Gifts"
Diplomatic Immunity
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance "The Flowers of Vashnoi" CryoBurn Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen

Caveats:

The novella "Weatherman" is an out-take from the beginning of the novel The Vor Game. If you already have The Vor Game , you likely don't need this.

The original 'novel' Borders of Infinity was a fix-up collection containing the three novellas "The Mountains of Mourning", "Labyrinth", and "The Borders of Infinity", together with a frame to tie the pieces together. Again, beware duplication. The frame story does not stand alone.

Happy reading!

-- Lois McMaster Bujold

From the Inside Flap

With "Penric's Fox", multiple-award-winner and bestselling author Lois McMaster Bujold returns to her World of the Five Gods, the setting of her acclaimed novels "The Curse of Chalion", "Paladin of Souls", and "The Hallowed Hunt". Continuing the tale begun in the novellas Penric s Demon, Penric and the Shaman, and "Penric's Mission," Bujold s newest installment of Penric and Desdemona s tale is another must-read novella for her legion of fans.Some eight months after the events of "Penric and the Shaman", Learned Penric, sorcerer and scholar, travels to Easthome, the capital of the Weald. There he again meets his friends Shaman Inglis and Locator Oswyl. When the body of a sorceress is found in the woods, Oswyl draws him into another investigation; they must all work together to uncover a mystery mixing magic, murder and the strange realities of Temple demons.

About the Author

Grover Gardner is an award-winning narrator with over eight hundred titles to his credit. Named one of the Best Voices of the Century and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly , and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most honored writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, having won six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Her second novel, T he Warrior's Apprentice , introduced young Miles Vorkosigan, one of the most popular characters in science fiction. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award for her significant contribution to science fiction. And in 2017 the Vorkosigan Saga received the Hugo Award for Best Series.