Penric and Desdemona reading order

A plan for the whole series

13 volumes, 2,860 pages, about 50 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 10 weeks.

• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2024. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around January 20, 2027, 13 days later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 120 habout 4 weeksby November 24, 2026

   • 1. Penric's Demon2015 · ≈ 220 pages · 4 h
   • 2. Penric and the Shaman2016 · ≈ 220 pages · 4 h
   • 3. Penric's Mission2016 · 264 pages · 5 h
   • 4. Penric's Fox2017 · 200 pages · 4 h
   • 5. Mira's Last Dance2017 · 160 pages · 3 h
2. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 3, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 215 h19 daysby December 23, 2026

   • 6. The Prisoner of Limnos2017 · 256 pages · 5 h
   • 7. Masquerade in Lodi2020 · 89 pages · 2 h
   • 8. The Orphans of Raspay2019 · 224 pages · 4 h
   • 9. The Physicians of Vilnoc2020 · 224 pages · 4 h
4. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by December 27, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 318 habout 4 weeksby January 20, 2027

   • 10. The Assassins of Thasalon2021 · 456 pages · 8 h
   • 11. Knot of Shadows2021 · ≈ 220 pages · 4 h
   • 12. Demon Daughter2024 · 153 pages · 3 h
   • 13. Penric and the Bandit2024 · 174 pages · 3 h
6. The end of the series

   January 20, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: even. Volume scores differ by at most 0.2 points. You get the same level from the first page to the last.

Best volume: The Prisoner of Limnos (8.1, 67 ratings). Weakest: Penric and the Shaman (8.0). The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2024. The last volume (8.0) scores close to the series average or above it.