Penric's Mission spoiler discussion and typo reporting thread
So...
As before, I think I'll set up a thread where people who have already read the story can discuss it with each other, and those who haven't and don't want to be spoiled can avoid it.
Also, but just for the next day, it's open to typo reports. I have a few in hand, enough to ask my e-person to go through the work of correcting the file for sale, but I don't want to ask her to do this more than once. Nevertheless, I'd like to do it as early as possible. So, speak now (or at least soon) or forever hold your peace.
Monday: Thanks, sharp-eyed fans! I have collated the typos and sent them off to my e-wrangler.
If anyone spots any more... keep them a secret.
Ta, L.
As before, I think I'll set up a thread where people who have already read the story can discuss it with each other, and those who haven't and don't want to be spoiled can avoid it.
Also, but just for the next day, it's open to typo reports. I have a few in hand, enough to ask my e-person to go through the work of correcting the file for sale, but I don't want to ask her to do this more than once. Nevertheless, I'd like to do it as early as possible. So, speak now (or at least soon) or forever hold your peace.
Monday: Thanks, sharp-eyed fans! I have collated the typos and sent them off to my e-wrangler.
If anyone spots any more... keep them a secret.
Ta, L.
date
newest »
newest »
It ended too soon! I have sooo many more questions about what happens next than I did after Penric and the Shaman. Did they end up in Orbas? or somewhere else? What kind of ripples will that ending cause in the Bastard's order? And for heaven's sake how does the relationship between Pen and Nikys work itself through?
Is there any place I can get this for the stanza reader? The full I bought it for kindle and cannot read the full justification that kindle insists on.
A great story but I agree with S, so many questions about what happened NEXT!
How do you pronounce Nikys? I see that some of the ideas from The Sharing Knife have migrated/mutated to the Five Gods worlds (starting in Penric and the Shaman): Inglis' knife and blood, nerve pinching.
One of the many things I have enjoyed in LMcM B's stories are the great, satisfying endings. (Not like real life.) So the story of Penric's Mission isn't finished.
DebL wrote: "How do you pronounce Nikys? I see that some of the ideas from The Sharing Knife have migrated/mutated to the Five Gods worlds (starting in Penric and the Shaman): Inglis' knife and blood, nerve p..."
1) NICK-ees
2) Goes along with tying magic tightly to biology, I suppose.
Also, one thing I have noticed in other fantasy is how often the writers cheat and make their powerful mages unable to heal by magic, for one arbitrary reason or another, for the obvious reason that if they had such powers, assorted dramatic possibilities would go out the window. I wanted to play with that problem a bit.
I am also exploring a number of things about 5GU-style magics that were tossed off as background or throw-away lines in prior books. It's somewhat like the difference between looking at any highly technical profession from the outside versus the inside.
Ta, L.
Margaret wrote: "One of the many things I have enjoyed in LMcM B's stories are the great, satisfying endings. (Not like real life.) So the story of Penric's Mission isn't finished."I am aiming to let this series grow organically, rather than to try to force it into any pre-established commercial pattern. That said, I was lately reminded of the Sherlock Holmes stories, that jump back and forth in time but eventually added up, rather to their writer's surprise I suspect, to a larger, if disjoint, narrative.
But the most important thing with this new direction is that it remain fun for me to write. Otherwise there's no point.
Ta, L.
I very much enjoyed Penric's Mission (and now agree that it was best not to have Madam Owl in the title). One thing that struck me when Penric insisted on investigating what had happened to the general that he seemed to have developed a "saving people thing". Actually, a continuation of his previous actions, as his desire to help an ill elderly lady ended with his acquiring Desdemona, and in Penric and the Shaman he also wanted to save everyone and everything he could. (I just thought as I typed this, that his prayer to the Bastard toward the end of the first novella was his wanting to save his demon.) So, I suppose that an interest in saving people is something that Lois admires and tends to put into her major important characters, and possibly enjoying reading about those who want to save others is something that makes us readers enjoy her works. But, somehow in Mission, when he was alone (well, he and Desdemona were alone) in enemy territory facing completely unknown dangers, instead of fleeing to safety once he had escaped, Penric first wanted to discover how much trouble his totally unknown to him "partner" in negotiations had developed and then had to risk much to save him.
The issues about the medical treatments, both in the current story and in the back story that was filled in about Penric's past between novellas were very interesting indeed.
The summary is: great and thought provoking story, worthy of a re-read soon and other re-reads later. I enjoy reading what makes Lois happy to write. I don't really need to have the blanks filled in, I want to learn more about Penric and Desdemona, but I want what Lois wants to write.
I guessed wrong about pronouncing Nikys; my mother got it exactly right. Good read!
Typos (pulled from my Kindle highlights file):
Location 288 “You efforts on your brother’s behalf are understandable
You -> Your
==========
Location 306-307 Then cut off sharp, as if the raw throat from which it reverberated had clenched closed, or been sliced though.
though -> through
==========
Location 450-451 from open widows roseate with lamplight,
widows -> windows
==========
Location 1179-1180 Pen fancied this wintery mark might serve.
wintery -> wintry? I could see this one going either way.
ETA: I actually like the image of widows roseate with lamplight. "Open" doesn't quite work, though.
Bj wrote: "Is there any place I can get this for the stanza reader? The full I bought it for kindle and cannot read the full justification that kindle insists on."https://calibre-ebook.com/ is a program which will run on Windows, OSX, and Linux. It has a "convert" feature which will take unencrypted kindle books and convert them to the ePub format, which Stanza can handle. Since Stanza is no longer available, may I suggest you look into Marvin for iOS devices?
Lois, what you find fun to write, we will find fun to read.My own need for closure seems built in. I noticed it years ago when my classes of first graders didn't need it in the stories we wrote together. I had to let go then and should let go now.
Lois wrote: "But the most important thing with this new direction is that it remain fun for me to write. "Would it be out of line for me to ask when it wasn't fun for you?
Simon Kempster
(It seems only fair that you should know my real name - after all, we all know yours.)
Kosigan wrote: "Lois wrote: "But the most important thing with this new direction is that it remain fun for me to write. "Would it be out of line for me to ask when it wasn't fun for you?
Simon Kempster
(It see..."
Not out of line, but too complicated to answer. That said, the middles of novels are always the hardest, and novellas don't have them. Also, self-e-pub has lower PR burdens... mostly.
Ta, L.
I am loving the way Penric novellas turn up with relatively little notice: like a friend spontaneously giving me things I didn't know I wanted, out of the blue. This extends right down to the details of the stories and the way Penric & Des change (or reveal themselves.) The reason Pen never took oath to the Mother makes so much sense, in retrospect; I would not have predicted it though. This is exactly what I look for in stories. Thank you. I'll follow this series wherever it goes.
I agree with the commenters who said that it ended too soon--not artistically, since it ends at a reasonable break point imho, but for my rampant curiosity! I love these novellas dearly, both for themselves and for a chance to watch you working out the magic systems and the characters. Please, please, even if you do skip around in the chronology, let us know soon what becomes of Nikys. She has such a wonderful practical mind, and such bravery and resolution! I also love the fact that she's curvy--I've gotten so tired of wispy fantasy heroines.
Question, Lois - were you conscious of the way the name Nikys sounds like Nicki, Ekaterin's son? It made me think of how similar the two women are - young widows in patriarchal societies, both much stronger than they know, both introduced via sharing the viewpoint character role with an established male hero who's shortly going to fall in love with them.
David wrote: "Question, Lois - were you conscious of the way the name Nikys sounds like Nicki, Ekaterin's son? It made me think of how similar the two women are - young widows in patriarchal societies, both much..."Yes, although the root is merely the finite menu of names I find euphonious. My method for generating fantasy names is to take real ones, from maps or other sources, break them down into syllable salad, and toss it. This generates a language-coherent-sounding list I keep for when I need a name of a person or place in a hurry. Main characters get first pick.
Ta, L.
Andrew wrote: "Luminous."Thank you!
Ta, L.
I am in the process of my second reading of Penric's Mission, going more slowly to enjoy the ride, after my first rapid reading to find out what happens. And this time also, the eye/hot vinegar bit was really disturbing (as I assume it was intended to be). I must admit, if I hadn't read all your other books, I might have stopped at this point, but I trusted you to bring a resolution of some sort (although I didn't expect the one you and Penric and Des managed), and continued.Was this method of blinding enemies something you found in research, or invented for the story?
I very much enjoyed the positive, sensory especially visual descriptions of locations and people. Pen and Des are using his eyes to good purpose in this tale, somehow I find the visual descriptions more impressive in this one than in earlier ones. Was this an intentional effect, or am I just more aware since one cast member lost his vision?
Jerri wrote: "I am in the process of my second reading of Penric's Mission, going more slowly to enjoy the ride, after my first rapid reading to find out what happens. And this time also, the eye/hot vinegar bit..."The method came straight out of my research, chosen because it was applied to a certain rebellious Byzantine prince, who made partial recovery even without magic and went on to rebel again. (Next time, they executed him.) So I figured I was on sound ground, medically. Plus, I'd seen a few burns or their aftermaths back in my hospital-worker days.
I don't feel I was doing anything different in my descriptions, although having Penric's eyes to work through was fun because he is a noticing sort of fellow. If anything, I was worried I was under-describing. It may, indeed, just be an echo of the events of the tale.
Ta, L.
I want to say how much I love the ending of Penric's Mission. Of course, I want to learn more about these characters, so would have been delighted if it had gone on and on. But a novella has to stop somewhere. And I love the image of the three of them sitting there in the mountains singing together as the moon rises. What a way to symbolize the building of a friendship (and hopefully more)!
That said, I really enjoyed the story! Penric is having a mighty interesting life.