The Orphans of Raspay
core novella 2019 World of the Five Gods
Record
| First published | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novella |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.29 (5,204 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 127 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781596069725 |
| Internal chronology | 10 |
Synopsis
Sent overseas on a diplomatic errand on behalf of Orbas, Penric and his demon Desdemona find their voyage interrupted when island raiders seize the ship they are traveling on. Among the other captives are two young sisters from the island of Raspay, separated from their family and searching for their father, who is absent from home. Taken prisoner alongside the girls, Penric must rely on his wits and Desdemona's abilities to keep them safe while confined in the pirates' hold, with no immediate means of escape and uncertain intentions from their captors. The novella follows Penric's efforts to protect the two sisters and find an opening to free the group, all while concealing the full extent of his sorcery from raiders who would see it as a threat or a prize worth exploiting.
Where it sits
- Universe: World of the Five Gods
- Series: Penric & Desdemona core; position 7 of 16 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Notes
- From the series record (Penric & Desdemona): 16 novellas (2015-2026); publication order diverges from the author's own stated internal chronological order (recorded via internal chronology). Set roughly 150 years after The Hallowed Hunt and roughly 100 years before the Chalion novels. Classified Core Canon (not Expanded) because the novellas are marketed/sold as their own numbered series, are narratively load-bearing rather than side content, and the Hugo voting body treated them as full constituent parts of the universe when awarding the 2018 Hugo Best Series to the whole World of the Five Gods.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Penric & Desdemona: position 7 of 16: previous The Prisoner of Limnos (2017) · next The Physicians of Vilnoc (2020)
- Internal chronology, within World of the Five Gods: position 10 of 19: previous The Prisoner of Limnos (2017) · next The Physicians of Vilnoc (2020)
Sources
← World of the Five Gods dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.