I had somehow skipped the Penric books as I mistakenly thought they were part of the Sharing Knife series, which I thought was awful (although I love the Vorkosigan series). But no! They're in the same world as the Curse of Chalion, which was excellent and enjoyable fantasy in a world where demons and gods are real and actually occasionally interact with people.

In this short novella, young Penric, third son of a very minor countryside lord, finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time (or possibly the right place at the right time) and inherits a demon, which turns him into a sorcerer. In the world of the Five gods demons aren't inherently evil, just forces of chaos and destruction - but these can be controlled and directed for good. Such as the traveler who destroys all the fleas and ticks in the inns he visits, or the healer who destroys tumours, worms, and kidney stones in her patients. Penric calls his demon Desdemona, and thus begins a very sudden change in his expected life and career. Nothing earthshattering in this novel but it's an interesting world and sympathetic characters and my main complaint is that this book wasn't long enough!