I admit to being surprised how much I enjoyed this story of an awkward young man starting out into his - I suppose - hero's journey. And that mostly by accident. I had previously attempted but not liked [b: The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322571773s/61886.jpg|1129349] and so avoided other books by the same author. This was a quick and enchanting read and I enjoyed the idea of demons turning people into sorcerers quite a bit. Desdemona is definitely a character I want to read about more ... which I did because there is [b: Penric and the Shaman|30365013|Penric and the Shaman (Penric and Desdemona, #2)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466762873s/30365013.jpg|50875790]

The ending has several surprises not the least Penric swearing himself - again accidentally - to the Bastard's service