Demon Daughter, Pen & Des #12, now up in epub
“Demon Daughter”, the 12th Penric & Desdemona story, is now up in epub!
Vendor page copy goes:
“A six-year-old shiplost girl draws the kin Jurald family of Vilnoc into complex dilemmas, and sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona into conflict—with each other. It will take all of Penric’s wits, his wife Nikys’s wisdom, and the hand of the fifth god’s strangest saint to untangle the threads of their future.”
This novella is about 41,500 words long, so, full-sized for its category.
Final cover:
Cover art again by Ron Miller
https://www.black-cat-studios.com/
Vendor links:
Amazon Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Penri...
Barnes & Noble Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book...
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/demon...
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/pen...
Google Play Books:
https://play.google.com/store/books/a...
GPB is not, sadly, "Demon Daughter"; just a link to my page there. DD is having formatting issues and hasn't been uploaded, more down in comments if wanted.
The internal chronological order of the Penric & Desdemona tales is presently:
“Penric’s Demon”
“Penric and the Shaman”
“Penric’s Fox”
“Masquerade in Lodi”
“Penric’s Mission”
“Mira’s Last Dance”
“The Prisoner of Limnos”
“The Orphans of Raspay”
“The Physicians of Vilnoc”
The Assassins of Thasalon
“Knot of Shadows”
“Demon Daughter”
I will as usual start a spoiler-discussion post next, where folks who have already read the story can talk about it with each other without worrying about upwhacking other peoples’ upcoming reads.
Later: be it noted, as ever these indie e-releases don't get much more PR push from me than these blog posts, so any mention anyone wants to make around and about the Net, of this or any other of my works, in book-appropriate places would be very helpful. Because otherwise folks won't know.
Ta, L.
Vendor page copy goes:
“A six-year-old shiplost girl draws the kin Jurald family of Vilnoc into complex dilemmas, and sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona into conflict—with each other. It will take all of Penric’s wits, his wife Nikys’s wisdom, and the hand of the fifth god’s strangest saint to untangle the threads of their future.”
This novella is about 41,500 words long, so, full-sized for its category.
Final cover:
Cover art again by Ron Miller
https://www.black-cat-studios.com/
Vendor links:
Amazon Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Penri...
Barnes & Noble Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book...
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/demon...
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/pen...
Google Play Books:
https://play.google.com/store/books/a...
GPB is not, sadly, "Demon Daughter"; just a link to my page there. DD is having formatting issues and hasn't been uploaded, more down in comments if wanted.
The internal chronological order of the Penric & Desdemona tales is presently:
“Penric’s Demon”
“Penric and the Shaman”
“Penric’s Fox”
“Masquerade in Lodi”
“Penric’s Mission”
“Mira’s Last Dance”
“The Prisoner of Limnos”
“The Orphans of Raspay”
“The Physicians of Vilnoc”
The Assassins of Thasalon
“Knot of Shadows”
“Demon Daughter”
I will as usual start a spoiler-discussion post next, where folks who have already read the story can talk about it with each other without worrying about upwhacking other peoples’ upcoming reads.
Later: be it noted, as ever these indie e-releases don't get much more PR push from me than these blog posts, so any mention anyone wants to make around and about the Net, of this or any other of my works, in book-appropriate places would be very helpful. Because otherwise folks won't know.
Ta, L.
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Sandy
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Jan 09, 2024 12:17PM
Will there be a typos discussion post or is that a moot point? Not that there is ever much to find. I have not yet finished reading, but noticed only a place or two where a word seemed to be missing so far.
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Sandy wrote: "Will there be a typos discussion post or is that a moot point? Not that there is ever much to find. I have not yet finished reading, but noticed only a place or two where a word seemed to be missin..."Save all that for the spoilers post.
...Although I would be gratified if the very first comment isn't a typo note! It is, after all, a place to discuss the story, not the errata, but the latter have a weird way of taking over.
People could discuss the old & new covers here, though. Ron made some subtle changes that solved the problems being mooted in the December post -- it'll be interesting if anyone can spot them.
Ta, L.
I would wax poetic of my blooming pleasure with the story, but that definitely seemed to be something to save for the spoilers post. Also, I await my opportunity to finish reading entirely, and perhaps repeatedly, before attempting a deserving review. I will be sure to make a point to take note of the lovely cover art as well though!
Bo wrote: "Arrived at Apple too:GR apparently forbids links in comments, which may be why this one does not work. Apple Books is not search-friendly, but maybe we can figure out a work-around?
L.
My wife and I are taking a long trip in February, a second honeymoon. I'd like to save this for the train ride, but let's be honest, I'll be done by morning!
The story is charming, and I’m happy with it. It upends my expectations in some ways, but that just makes it a pleasant surprise.The cover looks more impressive now that I can see it larger, on my computer monitor.
As I understand it, the maximum size of a novella under Hugo and Nebula Award rules is 40,000 words, so it seems that this is officially a short novel! I’d already noticed that a number of books sold as novellas in recent years seem to be longer than 40,000 words, although I know no easy way to get an accurate word count. (Also, the word count varies depending on exactly what you count as a word.)
Jonathan wrote: "The story is charming, and I’m happy with it. It upends my expectations in some ways, but that just makes it a pleasant surprise.The cover looks more impressive now that I can see it larger, on m..."
Novellas are a very interesting length. The Hugo/Nebula word-count thing is entirely arbitrary, and a historical artifact by now. Also, irrelevant if one is not chasing SF awards. Novellas used to be an underpopulated category, because the pulp mags had room for very few, and they weren't long enough to be sold as books. The space between ~40k and ~70k words was sort of a weird no-man's land. All those paper limits are now gone -- I talk about this at greater length in my intros to the first two Baen Pen & Des collections.
Ta, L.
Bo wrote: "Arrived at Apple too..."Lois wrote: “GR apparently forbids links in comments, which may be why this one does not work. Apple Books is not search-friendly, but maybe we can figure out a work-around?
L.”
For me it didn't function as a link, but when I copypasted it into chrome it went straight to the correct page.
JuaSaysHi wrote: "Bo wrote: "Arrived at Apple too..."Lois wrote: “GR apparently forbids links in comments, which may be why this one does not work. Apple Books is not search-friendly, but maybe we can figure out a..."
Aha. I had tried that and it didn't work, possible because I'd dragged along some extra characters, but it worked just now in my Firefox. I shall add it above in the post (where it will work.)
thanks, L.
Marie wrote: "Will there be an audiobook?"The story has only just been submitted to Blackstone last week (I presume); I doubt they've had time to get to it yet. Assuming it's not lost in the shuffle (an event with precedent) it's certainly my intention to license it to them like all my other work.
Best case would see it produced in about six months, but that depends on Blackstone's schedules.
Ta, L.
Lois wrote: “The space between ~40k and ~70k words was sort of a weird no-man’s land.”Well, not really: it was occupied by novels. It seems to me that the expected length of a novel has been creeping up during my lifetime (and yours), which has led to similar inflation in the expected length of a novella.
Ben Aaronovitch’s recent “Winter’s Gifts” is sold as a novella, and described on Amazon as 227 pages in hardback: similar to “Ethan of Athos” (224 pages in hardback).
There are various 20th century books thought of as novels that are less than 200 pages long. Examples: Panshin’s “Masque World” (157 pages in paperback), Niven’s “World of Ptavvs” (160 pages in hardback), Kapp’s “The Survival Game” (184 pages), Zelazny’s “Doorways in the Sand” (195 pages in hardback).
Martha Wells’s recent “System Collapse” (256 pages in hardback) is sold as a novel, but has been described as a novella by at least one reviewer.
I like novellas, but is there any distinction between a novella and a novel that is not arbitrary?
“I talk about this at greater length in my intros to the first two Baen Pen & Des collections.”
Unfortunately I miss out on these intros because I buy only e-books these days.
The Kindle obstinately refuses to provide a word count. It measures text in ‘locations’, whatever that means. Ranked by locations, the Penric stories go like this:Mira’s Last Dance (1326), Knot of Shadows (1426), Masquerade in Lodi (1575), Penric’s Demon (1612), Penric and the Shaman (1745), Penric’s Fox (1792), Demon Daughter (1918), The Physicians of Vilnoc (2013), The Orphans of Raspay (2019), The Prisoner of Limnos (2125), Penric’s Mission (2140), The Assassins of Thasalon (4030).
Some others for comparison: Winterfair Gifts (1033), The Flowers of Vashnoi (1107), Ethan of Athos (3064), Komarr (5726), The Hallowed Hunt (8177), A Civil Campaign (9259).
I count from the beginning of the story to the end of the story, omitting front and back matter.
The length of a story isn’t very important to me. When reading, I don’t really notice that A Civil Campaign is an unusually long novel, or that Ethan of Athos is a rather short one. I like both of them. But I’ve made a list of the lengths as a matter of statistical curiosity.
Jonathan wrote: "Lois wrote: “The space between ~40k and ~70k words was sort of a weird no-man’s land.”Well, not really: it was occupied by novels. It seems to me that the expected length of a novel has been cree..."
There is very little about fiction that is not arbitrary or subjective, but as to page count, it's pretty useless for comparing the lengths of paper books. Typesetter choices of font, line spacing, margins, break spaces between chapters, etc., mean that the same number of words can be made either a 300-page book or a 600-page book. (I've seen this, in different editions of the same titles.)
Off the top of my head, Mirror Dance was my longest novel at about 163k words; Ethan of Athos the shortest at 62.7k. Which is indeed not that far from my longest novella, "Knife Children", at 53k, which does fall into that no-man's-land between categorizations, but which I think of as functionally a novella. "Winterfair Gifts" was my shortest novella at 23.5k. The Curse of Chalion was substantial but not especially long at 143k.
But you're right about length creep. When I first started at Baen contractual word counts were set at 80k words minimum; that rose to 100k at last look. The Assassins of Thasalon, at about 85k, would be considered a short novel these days if I had to care. Which, happily, I don't, for these indie epubs.
Ta, L.
Lois wrote: “… as to page count, it's pretty useless for comparing the lengths of paper books.”I realize that, but it’s often the only measure that’s available. If I have a Kindle copy of the book, I can measure it in ‘locations’, which is almost certainly better than page count. But a word count remains unavailable.
If you’re the author or publisher, you can easily put the book through some word-counting software, but this isn’t feasible for ordinary members of the public, who don’t have access to the source file.
I tend to compare book length by the running time of the unabridged audiobook. Which also has problems, as different readers can make the exact same text come out with quite a lot of variation. But with Grover Gardener reading all of the Penric tales to date, that is my comparison for them! Not for Demon Daughter yet, of course. But I admit as I start my second read I find myself almost hearing his voice in my head and thinking about how he will express various parts of the tale.
Jerri wrote: "I tend to compare book length by the running time of the unabridged audiobook. Which also has problems, as different readers can make the exact same text come out with quite a lot of variation. But..."100% I have the whole series in audible and his voice acting is perfect. I can hear him in my head now as Des - "Penric attend!"
Thank you! I've just seen this post and I've already got the book at Kobo.
So, DD vs. Google Play Books... my e-wranger produced quite a lovely file for it, but in 3 places there appeared unwanted page breaks with no discernible cause. No text is lost, but it looks like either a chapter break in a story that has none, or that there's a chunk of text missing, very disconcerting.Several days of horsing around with every solution anyone could think of and much emailing various Supports has not yet managed to get rid of them.
We could still upload it with the flaw embedded, to the confusion of future readers, but I'd rather wait a bit more and see if some fix does emerge. Meanwhile, since we've just started to put my Spectrum ebooks up on that vendor, I voted for just continuing to upload my other titles, which is going to take a while.
And that's what's going on there.
Ta, L.
Marie wrote: "Will there be an audiobook?"Following up on my prior reply, I'm pleased to report Blackstone's audiobook offer came in yesterday, now accepted. Grover Gardner is confirmed as the narrator, and I'm given to understand they will be wanting to move production right along. Yay!
"Moving right along" for a company this size does not mean instantly, but looking at past performance a conservative guess of 4 - 6 months ought to be about right.
Ta, L.
Will there be a Subterranean Press edition?
MPMP wrote: "Will there be a Subterranean Press edition?"It's been submitted to them. They've hardly had time to get back yet. Because this tale was something of a surprise to everyone (including me) nobody's had lead time for other editions. (Though Blackstone was really fast in their response.)
Anyway, if a contract is made, I'll definitely report it. Even if contracted, I'd expect a year to paper publication, though.
Ta, L.
Grover Gardner has done such a great job narrating your books. ❤️
Does any of these pay you better then the others?
Karl wrote: "Does any of these pay you better then the others?"They are all about the same. Pick to your own convenience.
Ta, L.
I liked it, but did Penric really have to sacrifice himself to save Nikys? It seems to me he didn't really have to die, especially in such a way....
Nah, everyone, I'm pulling your collective leg. Minor spoiler: Penric doesn't die in the story. You can read my actual review here, if you're curious; I avoided major spoilers.
On Apple (at least in the Australian site), Demon Daughter is not currently included in the Penric and Desdemona collection, but shows as an independent work. [It is a wonderful story! Thanks for giving it to us]
Just now learned of Kindle version DD from an Amazon email and bought it sight (site?) unseen. Won't get to it until later tonight, so haven't read spoiler reviews. IMHO, aside from "Prisoner of Limnos," it looks like Pendric doesn't have much luck with boat trips. Although from the blurb, its a young girl having the bad time aboard a ship this time.
Richard wrote: "Just now learned of Kindle version DD from an Amazon email and bought it sight (site?) unseen. Won't get to it until later tonight, so haven't read spoiler reviews. IMHO, aside from "Prisoner of Li..."Ah, Amazon email! That explains the novella's pop up in Kindle sales ranking this weekend.
How do people get those emails, and what are they exactly? I know I have nothing to do with it.
Ta, L.
Lois wrote: “How do people get those emails, and what are they exactly? I know I have nothing to do with it.”I suppose Richard was referring to the quite frequent messages of suggested reading based on your recent activity on the Amazon site.
Amazon.com's shopping tracker is likely culprit. I've ordered your ebooks through and for my Amazon's Kindle tablet, so they know I'm intereasted in the works of LMB and shot me that email.Past 6 months I've not obsessivly trolled Goodreads, so missed advance notices DD was in the works. My ungood.
PS. Betcha the process is automated, so that email was untouched by human hands. Because Amazon is staffed by *mutants,* bwa-ha-ha-ha-haw.
Amazon also allows you to follow an author. Like Goodreads does. Goodreads, which belongs to Amazon. By now Amazon may know even more about me than Google does.
Lois wrote: "When I first started at Baen contractual word counts were set at 80k words minimum; that rose to 100k at last look. "Ahh, that explains why I have felt that the last few years of Baen books could be shortened without damaging the story. Some of those authors were padding the word count.
Pierre-Alexandre wrote: "I liked it, but did Penric really have to sacrifice himself to save Nikys? It seems to me he didn't really have to die, especially in such a way....
Nah, everyone, I'm pulling your collective le..."
That was mean!!
Tracey wrote: "That was mean!!"Really? But... Bosha told me it would be funny. 😟
When is the dead tree version coming out please? Thanks.
Deb wrote: "When is the dead tree version coming out please? Thanks."Not known yet, but it's contracted to Subterranean Press. I'll post on this blog when there's firm news, which will be when SubPress makes their own website announcement. 6 months to a year at a guess. I will have 1200 tip sheets to sign sometime first...
Ta, L.
I was happy to see the audio version show up on Audible for release on March 12th. I have it pre-ordered now.
