Booklog 60/2024: Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric’s Demon – Penric #1 – Audiobook

[jacey]

Original review from 2015.
Penric is a bright eyed innocent. On the way to his betrothal he stops to help and elderly lady and his life suddenly changes. She's a temple divine. Her avowed god is The Bastard, 'master of all disasters out of season." She carries a demon inside her. When she dies, the demon makes a jump, and that's how Penric, totally unprepared, acquires a demon who has the memories and knowledge of twelve previous hosts, and a mind of her own. This novella is bascally how Penric and his demon form a relationship, uneasy at first, and Penric joins the clergy. In the world of the Five Gods, religion is a practical subject raher than theoretical. The gods can, and frequently do, make their presence felt. This is a good set-up novella, in the world of the Five Gods where The Curse of Chalion (my favourite book) and Paladin of Souls are both set, though somewhat later in the timeline.

Audiobook read by Grover Gardner 15/06/24

It was good to revisit the first Penric novella via audible. It's a long time since I read it. I'd forgotten a lot of the detail and later novellas skip over Penric's initiation into holy orders. I love Bujold's work and will listen to it regardless, but I could wish she had a different reader for the Chalion books (and the Vorkosigan ones) but she or her publishers obviously have a relationship with Grover Gradner. He's a good reader, who has narrated over a thousand books, but I find his voice very heavy and a bit grating for this type of book. It feels much older than the character he's voicing - which, indeed, it is (I looked him up, he was born in the mid-50s.) Penric is only 18 in this novella while Gardner was approaching 60 when he read it. Also it's a second world fantasy setting and Gardner's voice is heavily American.

 

Comments

[watervole]

I've not tried any Penric audios, but I agree that a younger, English voice would have been my preference too.

[jacey]

A younger, lighter voice, certainly. English would be my preference, but Ms Bujold's audience must be bigger in the USA, so maybe a mid-atlantic accent would work best. neither quite one thing or the other.