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A review by jonathanpalfrey
The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold
4.0
After a series of novellas, this is the first novel-length Penric story, and no-one who’s read this far in the series should need any persuading to buy it.
However, I wouldn’t say that this is significantly different in nature from the other Penric stories: it’s just longer, as this story didn’t happen to fit into a novella.
As usual, the author finds something new to tell us about sorcery, and indeed about theology; and we meet characters old and new. It’s good to meet again the Xarre family from [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963], which remains my favourite Penric story so far. The new characters include a fisherman saint, a novice sorceress, and a sorcerer-villain.
Rather amusingly, Penric here invents and practises his own equivalent of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, to render people temporarily unconscious.
This novel is a good story with plenty of interesting details, and the extra length makes it even more rereadable than usual. It also seems to imply that the series isn’t close to finishing, which is reassuring: it can run on indefinitely, as far as I’m concerned.
It’s hard to imagine how it would feel to read this one as a standalone novel, without having read the preceding novellas in the series. I suppose it could be done, but you’d be missing a lot of background information. In particular, [b:Penric's Demon|25791216|Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436108514l/25791216._SX50_.jpg|45642232] introduces us to Penric aged 19, his demon, and the World of the Five Gods in general; [b:Penric’s Mission|32858701|Penric’s Mission (Penric and Desdemona, #3)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478098172l/32858701._SX50_.jpg|53462520] introduces us to Adelis, Nikys, and the country of Cedonia; [b:Mira's Last Dance|34348998|Mira’s Last Dance (Penric and Desdemona, #4)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487582553l/34348998._SY75_.jpg|55425075] and [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963] explain how Penric comes to be based in Vilnoc (in the country of Orbas); and [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963] introduces us to the Xarre family. The other novellas are worth reading but less relevant to this novel.
However, I wouldn’t say that this is significantly different in nature from the other Penric stories: it’s just longer, as this story didn’t happen to fit into a novella.
As usual, the author finds something new to tell us about sorcery, and indeed about theology; and we meet characters old and new. It’s good to meet again the Xarre family from [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963], which remains my favourite Penric story so far. The new characters include a fisherman saint, a novice sorceress, and a sorcerer-villain.
Rather amusingly, Penric here invents and practises his own equivalent of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, to render people temporarily unconscious.
This novel is a good story with plenty of interesting details, and the extra length makes it even more rereadable than usual. It also seems to imply that the series isn’t close to finishing, which is reassuring: it can run on indefinitely, as far as I’m concerned.
It’s hard to imagine how it would feel to read this one as a standalone novel, without having read the preceding novellas in the series. I suppose it could be done, but you’d be missing a lot of background information. In particular, [b:Penric's Demon|25791216|Penric’s Demon (Penric and Desdemona, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436108514l/25791216._SX50_.jpg|45642232] introduces us to Penric aged 19, his demon, and the World of the Five Gods in general; [b:Penric’s Mission|32858701|Penric’s Mission (Penric and Desdemona, #3)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478098172l/32858701._SX50_.jpg|53462520] introduces us to Adelis, Nikys, and the country of Cedonia; [b:Mira's Last Dance|34348998|Mira’s Last Dance (Penric and Desdemona, #4)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487582553l/34348998._SY75_.jpg|55425075] and [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963] explain how Penric comes to be based in Vilnoc (in the country of Orbas); and [b:The Prisoner of Limnos|36440420|The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric and Desdemona, #6)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508638041l/36440420._SY75_.jpg|58141963] introduces us to the Xarre family. The other novellas are worth reading but less relevant to this novel.