The Orphans of Raspay – Lois McMaster Bujold

And I’m back to the story of Penric – in this case, he and Desdemona are on the way back from a mission on behalf of the Duke of Orbas, when his ship is captured by pirates. By virtue of him looking like a weak scholar, he gets thrown in with the other vulnerable prisoners – two girls, recently orphaned, on their way by themselves to find their missing father.

They’re brought to an island in a nearby archipelago that seems to have been taken over by these pirates, and Pen does what he needs to do to get himself and the girls out of there. It’s as fun as usual – I’m so glad the author’s recently published more stories of Pen and Desdemona.