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A review by larrydavid
The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold
2.0
This book continues the increasing trend of this series of never putting the characters in any risk whatsoever. Here Penric and Desdemona must go to the heart of an empire arrayed against their people, and challenge in his home-state a brilliant and devious ruler and his evil sorceror... and both threats are dispatched with trivial ease, one even off page. The other with a literal deus ex machina, though in a world where god exists, perhaps a deus ex machina is more forgivable. In addition we get the resolution of a long running "love" story that would matter more to me if the characters involved had ever met before this book's final chapter. Truly it melted my icy heart.
This is the latest volume in a series that has yielded two truly excellent books out of ten (Penric's Mission and Mira's Last Dance), both good enough to carry me through the overly cozy remainder of the series. I would highly recommend reading the books in publication order rather than chronological order, as the books start off better, and in addition I think the book Masquerade in Lodi does not work at all unless you have read the previous book that discusses Penric's reaction to his first experience as a physician. In fact if you don't enter with that knowledge, I think Masquerade in Lodi seems to treat a very serious topic in a far too perfunctory way, whereas with prior knowledge its slightness on this subject is more understandable.
These are very light books, compared to the excellent and more interesting Vorkosigan series. Partly this is because Bujold was capable of putting Miles in situations with actual consequences. Partially I think the problem is that this is a fantasy novel in a world where the Gods definitively exist, as does magic, and an empire that runs on slavery and forcibly turning some of its citizens into eunuchs, and yet the main characters all have completely modern sensibilities. A character in a feudal system with a demon in their head and the certainty that their god exists would not think or behave exactly like us, would not share our mores, and I think it would be much more interesting to read an exploration of that character.
This is the latest volume in a series that has yielded two truly excellent books out of ten (Penric's Mission and Mira's Last Dance), both good enough to carry me through the overly cozy remainder of the series. I would highly recommend reading the books in publication order rather than chronological order, as the books start off better, and in addition I think the book Masquerade in Lodi does not work at all unless you have read the previous book that discusses Penric's reaction to his first experience as a physician. In fact if you don't enter with that knowledge, I think Masquerade in Lodi seems to treat a very serious topic in a far too perfunctory way, whereas with prior knowledge its slightness on this subject is more understandable.
These are very light books, compared to the excellent and more interesting Vorkosigan series. Partly this is because Bujold was capable of putting Miles in situations with actual consequences. Partially I think the problem is that this is a fantasy novel in a world where the Gods definitively exist, as does magic, and an empire that runs on slavery and forcibly turning some of its citizens into eunuchs, and yet the main characters all have completely modern sensibilities. A character in a feudal system with a demon in their head and the certainty that their god exists would not think or behave exactly like us, would not share our mores, and I think it would be much more interesting to read an exploration of that character.