2025 fantasy novella in the World of the Five Gods (formerly known as
Chalion). Penric's son Wyn is helping his uncle on a bridge-building
job. But when one of the beasts starts acting oddly, he recognises
what it might be and sends for help…
In spite of its relatively short length, this definitely falls
into segments. There's a family trip with a just-sufficient excuse of
a possible new demon, shockingly ended in a mess that's not really
anyone's fault (except perhaps the dog) but ends up with a lot of
injury and death. Then after the return home there's further
consideration of what Pen's children plan to do next.
The series has always been framed as glimpses of Pen's life rather
than a single continuous narrative, but it's very clear here that much
has been going on that hasn't been written about. When one of Pen's
daughters comes up with a plan for her life, we can tell (because
Bujold is good enough to convey it without stating it) that this is
not an adolescent whim but the culmination of an extensive process of
thought.
I get the impression that Bujold writes a new entry in this series as
she's said she's doing with Vorkosigan, when she feels she has
something that deserves to be written about. Perhaps these new
glimpses of the world don't come out as often as I might ideally like,
but they're good when they do.
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