Reviews

The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold

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kbhenrickson's review

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I especially enjoyed this one. It's very exciting, and the orphans are endearing. I am continually impressed at how Bujold can fill in all of the details for readers new to the series without boring those of us who are binge-reading these one after another. I love how each story also includes a little more detail about the World of the Five Gods (and its religion - which I find endlessly interesting). At the end of this one, I literally laughed out loud when

the island pirates paid a prince's ransom to Adelis to keep Penric from returning to their island.

ladyethyme's review against another edition

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1.0

Unfortunately it reads more like fanfic than anything else, although there are a few humorous points of narration, there is again seems to be absolutely no character growth for Penric.
I find most unfortunate is that the author created this very interesting world, and a character with so much potential, and then simply refuses to explore it at any depth.
He has supernatural powers but somehow doesn't use them for 3/4 of the book, because "reasons".
They mentioned again how a way to kill a sorcerer is to drop him off of a ship and sail away… But that does not make any sense to me at all. Why doesn't he just destroy the ship? It would give him plenty of debris to cling to if nothing else.
Then, at the point of complete dismay and utter hopelessness, he is saved by deus ex machina intervention, which is absolutely ridiculous.
There is a reason that authors do not use this type of plot device much anymore, at least those with a mediocre understanding of plot construction and story development. It leaves the readers disappointed and lacking any real fulfillment of plot.
It also seems she has no problem at all the slavery, as she basically gives the slavers get off free, only having to agree to some nebulous 'deal' or whatever. I'd have burned them all to ash.
And frankly at the end it sounds like she's making more arguments for slavery than against.

amlibera's review against another edition

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4.0

I love these books - Penric is part Lord Peter Wimsey, part Lymond, and part Miles Vorkosigan with a touch of magic to make it more fun. I can't help but wish for the unwritten novel that these stories seem to surround but the pleasure is no less for all that.

iaraya's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

mary_soon_lee's review against another edition

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5.0

This is the seventh in a series of fantasy novellas about Penric and Desdemonda, Desdemona being a centuries-old demon and Penric being the young man in whom she is currently resident. I've become very fond of both Penric and Desdemona, and this novella did not disappoint. I love the sureness of Bujold's prose and the underlying compassion. There is fantasy aplenty and a fair amount of violence, but there is also humor and kindness, even tenderness. Near the end, there's a paragraph that underlines the importance of kindness, bringing to the foreground a quality that underpins the story as a whole. A pleasure throughout. Highly recommended.

Update 7/12/2022: re-read this and liked it even better. The paragraph near the end that I singled out before moved me very much. 4.5 out of 5 kindly stars in a time when I value kindness more and more.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).