Penric's Demon
Jul. 30th, 2015 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackBujold wrote a new novella in the Challion-verse! I was disappointed to see it wasn't about the Mother or the Father, but more about demons, but reading about demons is always interesting. I definitely enjoyed it, it had several of the lip-quirking deadpan-humour moments that I love finding in Bujold, and interesting and sympathetic characters. At first I thought it didn't really add much to the world or plot, but I find it more interesting as I think about it.
It also clarified the chronology slightly, the afterword says it was set one-two hundred years after Hallowed Hunt, somewhere in the same area (nobles are referred to as "kin someone" although it seems to have become more formalised, rivers are named after birds, there's a hallowed king somewhere although we don't know if he has any powers, some of the ecclesiastical power structures are the same), but that doesn't overlap with any of the places we were familiar with. And that's one-two hundred years before Curse of Challion.
There's no mention of kin shamans, only of the Challion-esque quintarian divine approach to religion. I don't know if the tradition has been revived successfully in the capital, or if it's faded out, and if so, if the last shaman found a way to cleanse him/herself and go to heaven or sundering peacefully.
It was really interesting to see a demon as an actual character. Even Foix's demon was at best amenable, but didn't yet really have any drive of its own. And Catti's demon and Sordso's demons were clearly intelligent, but I'm embarrassed to say it never occurred to me wonder how I felt about them being sent back to 'hell'. Although no more than many humans who were killed in the battles. I was happy to accept the demon's personality as an amalgam of previous host personalities, I agree that can make a unique person.
It's disturbing to think that demons can become intelligent and non-sociopathic beings, but usually don't. With another 1000 years of theological development, could people have learned how to raise demons right so they can USUALLY become productive members of society? The potential moral parallels to our world are potentially disturbing.
It also clarified the chronology slightly, the afterword says it was set one-two hundred years after Hallowed Hunt, somewhere in the same area (nobles are referred to as "kin someone" although it seems to have become more formalised, rivers are named after birds, there's a hallowed king somewhere although we don't know if he has any powers, some of the ecclesiastical power structures are the same), but that doesn't overlap with any of the places we were familiar with. And that's one-two hundred years before Curse of Challion.
There's no mention of kin shamans, only of the Challion-esque quintarian divine approach to religion. I don't know if the tradition has been revived successfully in the capital, or if it's faded out, and if so, if the last shaman found a way to cleanse him/herself and go to heaven or sundering peacefully.
It was really interesting to see a demon as an actual character. Even Foix's demon was at best amenable, but didn't yet really have any drive of its own. And Catti's demon and Sordso's demons were clearly intelligent, but I'm embarrassed to say it never occurred to me wonder how I felt about them being sent back to 'hell'. Although no more than many humans who were killed in the battles. I was happy to accept the demon's personality as an amalgam of previous host personalities, I agree that can make a unique person.
It's disturbing to think that demons can become intelligent and non-sociopathic beings, but usually don't. With another 1000 years of theological development, could people have learned how to raise demons right so they can USUALLY become productive members of society? The potential moral parallels to our world are potentially disturbing.