The Adventure of the Demonic Ox

When sorcerer Learned Penric hears of the suspected demonic possession of an ox at his brother-in-law’s bridgebuilding worksite, he thinks it an excellent opportunity to tutor his adopted daughter and student sorceress Otta in one of their Temple duties: identifying and restraining such wild chaos elementals before harm comes to their hosts or surroundings. What begins as an instructive family outing turns anything but routine when a mountain search becomes a much more frightening adventure for Penric and his charges. What is undergone there by both mentor and students will yield lessons both unexpected and far-reaching. 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” "Penric and the Bandit" "The Adventure of the Demonic Ox" “A superb craftsman and stylist, Ms. Bujold is well on her way to becoming one of the great voices of speculative fiction.”   - Rave Reviews “Bujold has a gift.”   - Chicago Sun Times “Best-selling author Bujold follows her Hugo-nominated “Penric and the Shaman” (2017) with another adventure featuring the sorcerer Penric and his resident 200-year-old chaos demon, Desdemona. ... Series fans will be delighted with this tale, which begs for continuation.” - Booklist on “Penric's Mission” "Bujold follows 'Penric's Demon' with another brief tale set in her World of the Five Gods, this time combining supernatural sleuthing with finely drawn characters and a panoply of emotions... This is a wonderful expansion of her World of the Five Gods." - Publisher's Weekly *Starred Review* on "Penric and the Shaman" "Series fans and fantasy readers who seek well-drawn characters will love this tale." - Publisher's Weekly on "Mira's Last Dance" "Bujold's delightful latest tale of Penric ... is another winner in Bujold's already strong series." - Publisher's Weekly *Starred Review* on "The Prisoner of Limnos"