Algernon (Darth Anyan)'s Reviews > The Prisoner of Limnos

During his assignations with danger and with assorted demons, Learned Penric of the Bastard’s Order has managed to acquire a girlfriend. As we most of us have learned by now, this brings along a different kind of trouble.
In a previous episode, Penric and his companions, general Adelis and his widowed sister Nykis, have escaped from the imperial forces of Cedonia and have taken refuge in the smaller dukedom of Orbas. Here Penric hopes to return to his bookworm habits and to convince Nykis to marry him [and his companion demon Desdemona]

Unfortunately, Cedonian enemies have kidnapped Nykis’ mother and locked her up in the proverbial impregnable tower: the clifftop monastery on the island of Limnos. Penric and Nykis set out on a rescue mission, with some unexpected aid from a palace eunuch and more surprising appearances from relatives of Nikys.

>>><<<>>><<<

By this moment in the series, the sixth in the timeline I believe, the return to familiar characters and to the pseudo-Renascentist setting has become a sort of comfort food for the fantasy reader who wants to have a good time and more than a few laughs, while taking under consideration the various ethical questions of dealing with a creature of chaos.
The same familiarity also allows us to dive right into the middle of the action and to enjoy the ride and the still amusing cross-dressing of the manly hero – Penric in a dress has become a sort of running joke from one episode to the next.

I’m not entirely sure if I would have appreciated the stories so much if they were to be put together in a single volume and read in one sitting. For now, I prefer this novella structure that allows me to slip one book in between reading other, heavier tomes, like a secret and well-deserved dessert that is reserved for a job well done.