Pen is innocent, trusting, and filled with love (it's why we love him too). But a demon is weak for a while after the transfer, so everyone except Pen sees this as a race against time to find someone who can remove the demon before it recovers enough to take him over. Pen is neither of these, and Desdemona is very strong indeed. Only a strong, well-trained person can control one. In the end, 'Penric's Demon' celebrates a nontraditional love so strong that even the gods respect it.ĭemons are notoriously deceitful, and when they gain control of their human hosts, they run amok, destroying body and soul. He does this selflessly only in the final paragraphs does he learn that this has caused her to commit herself to him absolutely. In the climactic scene, Pen looks the Bastard in the eyes and commits himself to her (and him) for life. By the time Clee and his brother are trying to kill him, Pen reacts to the news that a demon jumps from a dying rider before he dies by mourning that he is to be unbetrothed twice before he dies-Desdemona has come to mean more to him than his own life. Over subsequent scenes, as they get to know each other better, we watch the trust and affection between them grow. Pen is unwilling even to masturbate with her watching, which means he takes a vow of chastity during their courtship.

When he names Desdemona, he describes it as a 'courting gift,' and she accepts it as such.

Pen, en route to a betrothal to a girl he barely knows, ends up 'betrothed' to a demon far, far older than he is. It begins with their unorthodox betrothal and ends with their even more unorthodox wedding. Review: 2015.592 ( A Word for Authors) Pro: The story recounts Penric's courtship of the demon, Desdemona.

Penric's demon by lois mcmaster bujold