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The Steerswoman #3
The Lost Steersman
How do you find a person you have never seen, or have never heard described? And what if the consequences of not finding him are too terrible to imagine?
The steerswoman Rowan has learned that Slado, a mysterious wizard, has secretly been working spells of incredible power. Both the Inner Lands and the Outkskirts are now threatened by his magic—and before the destruction becomes too great to reverse, Rowan must find Slado so that he can be stopped. But how does one stop the most powerful man in the world?
In the seaside town of Alemeth, the Annex holds centuries of steerswomen's journals. They may contain clues to Slado's location, but combing through them would take more time than Rowan has to spend. Then she encounters a lost friend: Janus, one of the few rare Steersmen. But Janus quit the order without explanation. Now the bright, beloved companion of Rowan's student days has become a man dominated by dark moods and even darker secrets.
When sleepy Alemeth transforms into a place of chaos, terror, and sudden death, Rowan wonders if all the secrets are connected. The shocking answer will change the steerswoman—and her world—forever. . . .
The steerswoman Rowan has learned that Slado, a mysterious wizard, has secretly been working spells of incredible power. Both the Inner Lands and the Outkskirts are now threatened by his magic—and before the destruction becomes too great to reverse, Rowan must find Slado so that he can be stopped. But how does one stop the most powerful man in the world?
In the seaside town of Alemeth, the Annex holds centuries of steerswomen's journals. They may contain clues to Slado's location, but combing through them would take more time than Rowan has to spend. Then she encounters a lost friend: Janus, one of the few rare Steersmen. But Janus quit the order without explanation. Now the bright, beloved companion of Rowan's student days has become a man dominated by dark moods and even darker secrets.
When sleepy Alemeth transforms into a place of chaos, terror, and sudden death, Rowan wonders if all the secrets are connected. The shocking answer will change the steerswoman—and her world—forever. . . .
419 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
July 23, 2021
I was up until 0445 reading this. Oblivious to everything including the birds singing not far from my window. A highly immersive reading experience.
Kirstein sets standards in the genre with the Steerswoman series that deserves much more attention and acclaim.
More of my thoughts about this book and series can be found here
Kirstein sets standards in the genre with the Steerswoman series that deserves much more attention and acclaim.
More of my thoughts about this book and series can be found here
January 6, 2022
I had to sit and think about this one. The more I think, the more clever and also more frustrating I think it becomes.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-The steerswomen. Oh yes! Plural! You meet more! And it was good that we did, because I was beginning to feel that Rowan was an author stand-in, and then we met another and she was so different but also still the same, so I was able to accept that what we were seeing were flaws in our hero.
-The world. It just gets richer. It feels like one of those videos where it's like "this is the solar system, this is Earth, this is your country, this is your house..." all the way down to atoms. Kirstein KNOWS what is happening and doles out pieces of it as they become apparent to explorer-scientists.
-The side characters. We had such good foils here. So many great character moments.
-The plot. Overall, I think this was a strength. It was so integrated into character and world building, and was largely quite logical and in keeping with what we know of the world. I was impressed with how natural it felt.
Things that still nag at me:
-Dismissal of mental health concerns. I don't think anyone here deals healthily with their mental health, and the lack of care doesn't read so much as "we don't know how hurt we are" so much as "it doesn't matter how hurt you are as long as you tough it out."
-A few conclusion leaps. To really drive home the scientific nature of steerswomen, I would have preferred we either see them negate a few more possibilities, or have some other person call them out on their biases.
-The "end?" We go all moustache twirly here! I'm not sure this conclusion made sense given the set up.
Overall, still excellent. Lots of fun, good use of the themes, and I hope to continue!
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-The steerswomen. Oh yes! Plural! You meet more! And it was good that we did, because I was beginning to feel that Rowan was an author stand-in, and then we met another and she was so different but also still the same, so I was able to accept that what we were seeing were flaws in our hero.
-The world. It just gets richer. It feels like one of those videos where it's like "this is the solar system, this is Earth, this is your country, this is your house..." all the way down to atoms. Kirstein KNOWS what is happening and doles out pieces of it as they become apparent to explorer-scientists.
-The side characters. We had such good foils here. So many great character moments.
-The plot. Overall, I think this was a strength. It was so integrated into character and world building, and was largely quite logical and in keeping with what we know of the world. I was impressed with how natural it felt.
Things that still nag at me:
-Dismissal of mental health concerns. I don't think anyone here deals healthily with their mental health, and the lack of care doesn't read so much as "we don't know how hurt we are" so much as "it doesn't matter how hurt you are as long as you tough it out."
-A few conclusion leaps. To really drive home the scientific nature of steerswomen, I would have preferred we either see them negate a few more possibilities, or have some other person call them out on their biases.
-The "end?" We go all moustache twirly here! I'm not sure this conclusion made sense given the set up.
Overall, still excellent. Lots of fun, good use of the themes, and I hope to continue!
September 16, 2014
I had read this book once before. I must have been about ten years old; I owned and loved The Steerswoman's Road, and borrowed this third book in the series from the library. For some reason, it made little impression on me. I remembered the emotional contours of the story - the tension and nostalgia between Rowan and Janus, the warmth of Steffie's arc, the steadily building frustration (very much like that of The Outskirter's Secret) and then the dramatic upset of the ending. But I remembered it as artificial, inferior to the previous two books.
I have no idea how I could have thought that of this book. I must have been too young for it.
Kirstein's narrative skill astonishes me; I don't think I know any other author who can grip my attention in this very particular way, lead me so effectively down the path of her story. She does reveals and revelations amazingly well - I think this is largely because these novels are, at their core, so much about the process of discovery itself, and her reveals engage the reader equally on an emotional and intellectual level. I knew this before today - I've read The Steerswoman's Road over and over and over, dissecting its craft with as much fascination and excitement as Rowan has when she dissects the unfamiliar creatures and objects she encounters. But rereading The Lost Steersman for the first time in many years, I was completely and entirely absorbed.
And the last section...the last section hit me so hard that I felt winded, closing the book.
I am so much looking forward to finally reading The Language of Power, I cannot even say.
I have no idea how I could have thought that of this book. I must have been too young for it.
Kirstein's narrative skill astonishes me; I don't think I know any other author who can grip my attention in this very particular way, lead me so effectively down the path of her story. She does reveals and revelations amazingly well - I think this is largely because these novels are, at their core, so much about the process of discovery itself, and her reveals engage the reader equally on an emotional and intellectual level. I knew this before today - I've read The Steerswoman's Road over and over and over, dissecting its craft with as much fascination and excitement as Rowan has when she dissects the unfamiliar creatures and objects she encounters. But rereading The Lost Steersman for the first time in many years, I was completely and entirely absorbed.
And the last section...the last section hit me so hard that I felt winded, closing the book.
I am so much looking forward to finally reading The Language of Power, I cannot even say.
September 8, 2015
Okay, so, wow. This book is still percolating in my brain - it's amazing. I'm going to be mulling it over for a while.
The first half of this book is in line with the first and second books in the Steerswoman series. Rowan returns from her Outskirter adventure and is doing research in a small town, making haphazard attempts at fitting in while she goes through an appallingly neglected archive. I liked this part of the book perfectly well; the townspeople are interesting, particularly Steffie, the young man who is intrigued by the way Rowan thinks and finds himself challenged to broaden his own mental horizons. I would have been perfectly happy to read an entire book about the village, and the odd demon attacks that begin there.
But the second half of this book takes the first half, and the earlier volumes of the series, and takes them to a whole new place. Kirstein writes what is so hard to pull off well - a completely alien society, not an "alien" society that looks/acts/thinks like humans, only with interesting anatomy or something. Rowan becomes almost an xeno-anthropologist, and it is utterly riveting. I found myself almost holding my breath. And when, at the very end, the full story of the secret of the eponymous Lost Steersman is revealed - it took my breath away, even though I had known to expect something of the like.
I've read a lot of fantasy/sci-fi, and until this book, The Steerswoman series was a perfectly nice, pleasant way to spend an afternoon. For instance, I loved the sociological study bits of Book 2 in the Outskirter tribe, and all the interesting characters Kirstein gave us. But this book took things to a different level. Wow.
Really looking forward to the next book in the series. If I hadn't stayed up until 3am because I had to finish this one tonight, I'd start in on the next one immediately.
Small notes:
* Bel is almost entirely off-screen in this book, for necessary plot purposes. I do miss her - she's an amazing character - but needs must. Kirstein gives us Steffie to help make up for her absence.
* I don't think this book would stand alone. You might be able to skip the first book, I'm not sure (although you'd lose tons of character development), but the second book is necessary to read before this one.
The first half of this book is in line with the first and second books in the Steerswoman series. Rowan returns from her Outskirter adventure and is doing research in a small town, making haphazard attempts at fitting in while she goes through an appallingly neglected archive. I liked this part of the book perfectly well; the townspeople are interesting, particularly Steffie, the young man who is intrigued by the way Rowan thinks and finds himself challenged to broaden his own mental horizons. I would have been perfectly happy to read an entire book about the village, and the odd demon attacks that begin there.
But the second half of this book takes the first half, and the earlier volumes of the series, and takes them to a whole new place. Kirstein writes what is so hard to pull off well - a completely alien society, not an "alien" society that looks/acts/thinks like humans, only with interesting anatomy or something. Rowan becomes almost an xeno-anthropologist, and it is utterly riveting. I found myself almost holding my breath. And when, at the very end, the full story of the secret of the eponymous Lost Steersman is revealed - it took my breath away, even though I had known to expect something of the like.
I've read a lot of fantasy/sci-fi, and until this book, The Steerswoman series was a perfectly nice, pleasant way to spend an afternoon. For instance, I loved the sociological study bits of Book 2 in the Outskirter tribe, and all the interesting characters Kirstein gave us. But this book took things to a different level. Wow.
Really looking forward to the next book in the series. If I hadn't stayed up until 3am because I had to finish this one tonight, I'd start in on the next one immediately.
Small notes:
* Bel is almost entirely off-screen in this book, for necessary plot purposes. I do miss her - she's an amazing character - but needs must. Kirstein gives us Steffie to help make up for her absence.
* I don't think this book would stand alone. You might be able to skip the first book, I'm not sure (although you'd lose tons of character development), but the second book is necessary to read before this one.
March 19, 2024
Some of my friends are not going to appreciate this review and as usual I have a bunch to say about a book I did not like-ish.
The first 75 percent was just as good as the first two books and I was ready to decide between 4 and 5 stars. One small issue I had was the whole conversation without being able to answer questions. Rowan could anticipate Janus' questions just fine and she could have volunteered useful or appropriate information, yet even though she was working to lift the ban, decided to just be stubborn and shut down. Probably because the author really, really wanted to write a conversation with no questions.
The last 25 percent were so tedious, so self involved b.s. that it absolutely killed the book for me. Even getting to the demon town was awesome but once there, the whole journey to the center, finding Janus, discovering Demons can think and "talk" were so over described, over thought out, it was painful getting through it. The change in Janus' personality after finding out what his goal was and Rowan's change in personality because of it was also dumb and not what the Rowan in the first two books would have done. The handwavy ending where a miraculous saviour shows up even though we only knew of one boat that could get to the island was the capper on a terrible last 1/4
This puts a serious damper on me reading the 4th and last.
The first 75 percent was just as good as the first two books and I was ready to decide between 4 and 5 stars. One small issue I had was the whole conversation without being able to answer questions. Rowan could anticipate Janus' questions just fine and she could have volunteered useful or appropriate information, yet even though she was working to lift the ban, decided to just be stubborn and shut down. Probably because the author really, really wanted to write a conversation with no questions.
The last 25 percent were so tedious, so self involved b.s. that it absolutely killed the book for me. Even getting to the demon town was awesome but once there, the whole journey to the center, finding Janus, discovering Demons can think and "talk" were so over described, over thought out, it was painful getting through it. The change in Janus' personality after finding out what his goal was and Rowan's change in personality because of it was also dumb and not what the Rowan in the first two books would have done. The handwavy ending where a miraculous saviour shows up even though we only knew of one boat that could get to the island was the capper on a terrible last 1/4
This puts a serious damper on me reading the 4th and last.
February 13, 2021
Wow. Just....wow.
This was a tour de force - in the best way.
Kirstein once again manages to expand her world, to make it strange and then make it make sense.
At the same time, her ability to draw complex, layered, and interesting characters and trace their development is not diminished one bit.
This was a tour de force - in the best way.
Kirstein once again manages to expand her world, to make it strange and then make it make sense.
At the same time, her ability to draw complex, layered, and interesting characters and trace their development is not diminished one bit.
November 21, 2021
3 to 3.5 stars. For me this third book of the series was a little slow-paced and drawn out. At the end, I was left feeling as if not a lot of progress had been made towards the solving of the overall mystery running through the books (of the origin of the ‘wizards’ and their ‘magic’).
This may well prove to be a mistaken impression as I read the next book, but that’s how I felt. There was some groundwork laid for future revelations no doubt, but I still felt a little as if I was marking time. I also missed some of the magical feel of the earlier books with their search for the origins of the jewels.
So I liked being back in the steerswomen’s world, but this book is my least fav so far out of the three I’ve read. I fully intend to read book 4, and if that goes well, I will read the subsequent books when they’re released. It’s a very interesting world Ms Kirstein has created, and I like the idea of sci-fi elements that are yet to be revealed.
This may well prove to be a mistaken impression as I read the next book, but that’s how I felt. There was some groundwork laid for future revelations no doubt, but I still felt a little as if I was marking time. I also missed some of the magical feel of the earlier books with their search for the origins of the jewels.
So I liked being back in the steerswomen’s world, but this book is my least fav so far out of the three I’ve read. I fully intend to read book 4, and if that goes well, I will read the subsequent books when they’re released. It’s a very interesting world Ms Kirstein has created, and I like the idea of sci-fi elements that are yet to be revealed.
April 3, 2021
If my praise of Rosemary Kirstein is growing tedious, that is most likely because you haven't read her books yet and you don't understand why it is so well-deserved. Unfettered by common tropes, spectacularly expressive in her prose, talented wielder of the slow reveal, Kirstein is not messing around. This is her story; she was meant to tell it.
Reasons to like this third installment:
* New character, Steffie, whose brain works so much faster than his ability to get his thoughts out that he ends up looking and feeling baffled, but still acting with a wisdom beyond his years. If he does not capture your heart you are made of STONE.
* New settings, new challenges, new immediate perils that prevent Rowan from making the immediate progress she desires towards her larger goal, but end up revealing essential information that significantly advances our understanding of the world.
* New linguistic challenges, akin to those in the movie Arrival to tickle the brain. It would be spoiling to say more.
* And, of course, all the things I loved from the first two books: the championing of intellectual endeavor and logical methodologies, the matter-of-course feminism, the prose that seems to form shapes and create gravitational forces in its ability to bring you along into the exact way that a character is perceiving something.
Reasons to like this third installment:
* New character, Steffie, whose brain works so much faster than his ability to get his thoughts out that he ends up looking and feeling baffled, but still acting with a wisdom beyond his years. If he does not capture your heart you are made of STONE.
* New settings, new challenges, new immediate perils that prevent Rowan from making the immediate progress she desires towards her larger goal, but end up revealing essential information that significantly advances our understanding of the world.
* New linguistic challenges, akin to those in the movie Arrival to tickle the brain. It would be spoiling to say more.
* And, of course, all the things I loved from the first two books: the championing of intellectual endeavor and logical methodologies, the matter-of-course feminism, the prose that seems to form shapes and create gravitational forces in its ability to bring you along into the exact way that a character is perceiving something.
And in a single, elegant movement of thought, so graceful it astonished Rowan herself, the steerswoman created in her mind both the largest map she had ever conceived and the smallest, simultaneously.
The largest was of the world itself, whose shape and size she knew from the secret and intimate interplay of mathematics, but which she now seemed to see whole, all open sweep beyond all horizons, curving to meet itself at the other side, complete, entire--and huge, so huge.
The smallest map was, to scale, that part of the world known by humankind.
The smallest map was crowded; the greatest, nearly empty.
And there, just outside the smaller map, the steerswoman with casual precision marked her own position, as if with a bright, silver needle; and she saw and felt the greater map rock, turn, orient, descend (or ascend, she could not tell which), approaching, adjusting, and finally matching, point for point those distant cliffs, those nearer hills, this shoreline, this rock-strewn beach, the spray-splashed boulder on which Rowan stood, wet to the knees, arms thrown wide, head tilted back, breathing salt-tang air, and laughing for wonder.
December 1, 2021
This is my favorite book in the Steerswoman series so far. 4 1/2 stars
Very much ahead of it's time, published a year before facebook, 3 years before twitter is even founded. We already see a description of fake news.
I so glad SFBC decided to read BK1, I'm off to start book 4.
Very much ahead of it's time, published a year before facebook, 3 years before twitter is even founded. We already see a description of fake news.
See, one by one, none of them's smart as a Steerswoman; but if you put them all together, then the really stupid ideas sort of fall out the bottom, and the ideas that make sense sort of clump in the middle where everyone can look at ’em. So, the wrong thing would have to look like the right thing to most of the people doing the looking, and it can’t, because it’s the wrong thing. So, they wouldn’t. Run you out of town. Unless more things happened to make the wrong thing look right. To most of the people. Or if the people with the stupid ideas made a lot of noise and kept putting the stupid ideas back at the top, ’cause it takes a while for them to fall out the bottom— it doesn’t happen straight off,
She was sorry, and frightened at herself. She was used to danger, and she thought she’d seen it
The world is as it is, Rowan, and there are three ways to exist gladly in it: You can be ignorant, knowing nothing of its nature; you can be stupid, and know of it but never truly understand; . . . or you can be brave.
I so glad SFBC decided to read BK1, I'm off to start book 4.
May 17, 2012
This is almost two books: the first depicting broken people's struggles. Rowan struggles with the trauma of living in the Outskirts, constantly in danger, and returning to civilization. Struggling with safety. Struggling with townspeople who are soft, slow and do not understand danger and the trust it brings. Rowan's character comes out in detail as a medieval geek, dedicated to knowledge, always thinking logically, unable to connect with the people around her, unable to understand the society she enriches and protects. Isolated, and her efforts at finding and giving truth isolate and frustrate herself further. This comes out in stark contrast when we meet other steerswomen who do their jobs very differently.
I will admit, the first half drags a bit. It's worth it.
The second book is Rowan's trip to another planet... metaphorically. Like her interactions learning Outskirter society and land in The Outskirter's Secret, she delves into a land even more alien, even more hostile and with an even more shocking secret. Culminating in one of my favorite things, a truly alien society. Beings so unlike ourselves that not only can Rowan not communicate, she can't even begin to build a common language. A xenolinguist's dream and nightmare.
I will admit, the first half drags a bit. It's worth it.
The second book is Rowan's trip to another planet... metaphorically. Like her interactions learning Outskirter society and land in The Outskirter's Secret, she delves into a land even more alien, even more hostile and with an even more shocking secret. Culminating in one of my favorite things, a truly alien society. Beings so unlike ourselves that not only can Rowan not communicate, she can't even begin to build a common language. A xenolinguist's dream and nightmare.
June 18, 2017
I love these books so much! I read the first two (compiled into one book) about a year ago. They're a celebration of science and exploration, in such a Star Trek meets fantasy novel meets mystery novel kind of way. The suspense centres on solving the mystery with our hero Rowan, while she tries stubbornly to do everything on her own while meeting awesome friends along the way who want to help. I can't reveal my favourite thing about this book without totally spoiling it, but if you liked the first two, this one's even better. It goes in a totally surprising direction.
February 9, 2023
These books have been mostly been good but not amazing. But then the author did a thing I mostly associate with Bujold and Ada Palmer. She has spent enough time establishing in-world social norms and then set up a scene where a character has a huge emotional impact doing something transgressive in the story that wouldn’t make sense in our society. When this works, it's _spectacularly_ impressive writing, and here it worked.
July 14, 2011
Hmm. Third book in the series. So I loved the first and second books because they were a fresh new way of doing things that I hadn't read before. With this one, there were times when I was wondering if there might be a reason that people don't write this way. Not all the time, mind you, but on occasion.
These books are the most realistic in such a fascinating way. For example, in the second book (this is a spoiler for the second book, if you haven't read it, by the way), Rowan went on an epic journey to discover more about the fallen guidestar, but didn't end up learning anything about it at all. Journeys take you in places you never intend, to be sure, and a lot of what happens in real life is useless in the sense of one goal. People make false assumptions on huge scales, but most book characters never do because then they would wander away from the point of the story. That's why this book is different. It doesn't care if the point of the story is lost because something is still learned, and that's what being a Steerswoman is all about.
Will Rowan eventually learn something about the wizard Slado and work on saving her world from him? Sure. But I'm certain this is going to be one of those missions that drags on and on for books and books. And yes, the unrelated stuff she learns in each book will no doubt be very significant in coming back to help her in understanding magic and the wizards at a most dire time, but as of now, in looking back on the entire book, I can safely say that NOTHING plot related happened in the entire book. Is this a bad thing? I haven't decided.
That said, the writing is very intelligent, and the debates and reasoning methods are fun to read about. The way an idea or observation is turned over in Rowan's mind is intricate and amazing. And the characters are very human, especially in making mistakes and as individual people. But where was Bel for the entire book? Bel brought a lot of humor to the previous two books, something that was missed in this one.
Then we come to that pesky Steerswoman ban again, where if someone won't answer your questions, you don't answer theirs. So Rowan will bend the rules to answer a wizard's question, but she won't answer her former friend Janus's not really question question of "When did your hair get as gray as a badger's?" I'm a fan of the idea of the ban, but its application is very uneven. As, I suppose, would be realistic, but in this case it just seemed annoying, like Rowan was playing at being all high and mighty because Janus wouldn't tell her stuff. The wizard wouldn't tell her stuff either, but she doesn't seem to want to apply the ban to him. She's cheating.
Will I keep reading the series? Maybe, because of one significant arrival at the end. But I'll be prepared for very little plot movement and a lot more world exploring in the meantime. Kirstein's still got three or four books to plod out, if she has her way.
These books are the most realistic in such a fascinating way. For example, in the second book (this is a spoiler for the second book, if you haven't read it, by the way), Rowan went on an epic journey to discover more about the fallen guidestar, but didn't end up learning anything about it at all. Journeys take you in places you never intend, to be sure, and a lot of what happens in real life is useless in the sense of one goal. People make false assumptions on huge scales, but most book characters never do because then they would wander away from the point of the story. That's why this book is different. It doesn't care if the point of the story is lost because something is still learned, and that's what being a Steerswoman is all about.
Will Rowan eventually learn something about the wizard Slado and work on saving her world from him? Sure. But I'm certain this is going to be one of those missions that drags on and on for books and books. And yes, the unrelated stuff she learns in each book will no doubt be very significant in coming back to help her in understanding magic and the wizards at a most dire time, but as of now, in looking back on the entire book, I can safely say that NOTHING plot related happened in the entire book. Is this a bad thing? I haven't decided.
That said, the writing is very intelligent, and the debates and reasoning methods are fun to read about. The way an idea or observation is turned over in Rowan's mind is intricate and amazing. And the characters are very human, especially in making mistakes and as individual people. But where was Bel for the entire book? Bel brought a lot of humor to the previous two books, something that was missed in this one.
Then we come to that pesky Steerswoman ban again, where if someone won't answer your questions, you don't answer theirs. So Rowan will bend the rules to answer a wizard's question, but she won't answer her former friend Janus's not really question question of "When did your hair get as gray as a badger's?" I'm a fan of the idea of the ban, but its application is very uneven. As, I suppose, would be realistic, but in this case it just seemed annoying, like Rowan was playing at being all high and mighty because Janus wouldn't tell her stuff. The wizard wouldn't tell her stuff either, but she doesn't seem to want to apply the ban to him. She's cheating.
Will I keep reading the series? Maybe, because of one significant arrival at the end. But I'll be prepared for very little plot movement and a lot more world exploring in the meantime. Kirstein's still got three or four books to plod out, if she has her way.
July 19, 2018
The one where Rowan works with other steerswomen (absent, present, past, and future), makes a long journey and an amazing discovery, but doesn't get one step closer to the wizard she's looking for.
The pacing of this book was very strange -- the section in the Demon Lands would have worked perfectly fine if it had been in the early part of the story, but in the last third, where we're conditioned to expect the pace to pick up, it was agonizingly slow.
I also couldn't buy the leaps of logic that Rowan made about the behavior that she observed.
I really thought Janus was going to be another wizard's man, so I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong, but Rowan needs to seriously examine how she goes about choosing whom to trust, because so far Bel is her only success in that area.
The pacing of this book was very strange -- the section in the Demon Lands would have worked perfectly fine if it had been in the early part of the story, but in the last third, where we're conditioned to expect the pace to pick up, it was agonizingly slow.
I also couldn't buy the leaps of logic that Rowan made about the behavior that she observed.
I really thought Janus was going to be another wizard's man, so I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong, but Rowan needs to seriously examine how she goes about choosing whom to trust, because so far Bel is her only success in that area.
April 16, 2020
Our steerswoman Rowan returns from the outskirts to the 'frontier' town of Alemeth to search the Steerswomen's archives there for clues to the wizard Slado. Bel remains in the outskirts to alert other tribes of the coming problems. In Alemeth, Rowan finds Janus-- a former steersman who quit a few years ago and who is now banned due to his refusal to answer why he quit. The former keeper of the archives in Alemeth recently passed away and Rowan assumes her role, albeit disquieted about the state of the archives. Steffie, a young man, basically used to hang out with the former archive keeper and begins to work with Rowan. Rowan feels there is something off about Janus and begins to look into his affairs.
A nice, slow burn novel that gives further clues to the state of humanity. It seems that humanity itself is either an invader on the planet, surrounded by a hostile ecosystem, or earth itself has been invaded. The clues are tantalizing and looking forward to the next installment.
A nice, slow burn novel that gives further clues to the state of humanity. It seems that humanity itself is either an invader on the planet, surrounded by a hostile ecosystem, or earth itself has been invaded. The clues are tantalizing and looking forward to the next installment.
January 26, 2019
I LOVED the Steerswoman and I literally cannot understand how every new book in this series keeps getting BETTER! THIS BOOK ABSOLUTELY BLEW ME AWAY! READ IT!!
September 5, 2017
I picked up the first in the Steerswoman series after reading a review in Eyrie.org (this is a site I don't see mentioned much at all, probably since it's pretty low-key, but I've been following it for many years it's led me to quite a lot of wonderful books, mostly in the fantasy/sci-fi and non-fiction genres). I had never heard of Rosemary Kirstein and never heard of this series before reading the review. Having finished all 4 available books now, I can tell you they should be much better known!
The books were written over quite a long period. The first two came out in 1989 and 1992, while the last were published in 2003 and 2004. And I really should note here that the series is not yet complete (I didn't know that when I started, as I only read the review of book 1). We do have a fair bit of resolution and closure by the end of book 4, so it still feels satisfying, but if you don't want to get into a series that might never been completed (I think Kirstein is supposed to be working on another book, but it's been 13 years...), this might not be for you.
Onto the books themselves, then! They are set in a world that feels vaguely medieval. Rowan, our main protagonist, is a Steerswoman. Steerswomen are part of an order devoted to seeking out, sharing and preserving knowledge. Some of their number work in archives, doing mostly the preserving part, but Rowan is one of the many who spend their time travelling. She talks to people and finds out stuff, basically, which she then makes sure is written down and gets to the archives. If she finds anything interesting or remarkable, her job is to investigate it and understand it, using her extensive training about how to think and reason.
Steerswomen have some fascinating rules about how they operate. They must answer truthfully any questions they are asked. In exchange, anyone they interact with must, in turn, answer Steerswomen's questions just as truthfully. If anyone refuses to answer a question, or the Steerswoman realises they have lied, then that person is placed under the Steerswomen's ban. No Steerswoman will answer any of their questions. This is a world where the Steerswomen's knowledge is considered extremely valuable (they are welcomed pretty much everywhere and will often not have to pay for anything), so the ban is something most people want to avoid.
The exception are the wizards. The wizards are the only ones in this world who have magic, and they hold themselves apart. They are extremely powerful, and operate sort of as a kind of nobility, the ones who control territory and have carved up the entire country amongst themselves. The wizards refuse to answer any questions from Steerswomen, and no one knows what they're about. They're, as a class, all under the ban.
So, that's the setup. As the first book starts, Rowan is puzzling over some strange flat blue jewels she's found over the years. They're like nothing she's seen elsewhere, and she's very intrigued by the pattern of where they've been found. It seems almost as if they've been flung with great force and from a strange point of origin. As she begins to investigate in earnest, it becomes clear wizards are trying to kill her. And it's just as clear this has got something to do with the jewels, which only makes Rowan more determined to find out what they are.
Right at the start of the book, Rowan meets an Outskirter named Bel. Bel owns a belt with some of the blue jewels encrusted in it, and it's her information about where those were found that leads to Rowan deciding to investigate properly -and consequently, puts the wizards after her. Bel is intrigued by the whole thing, and suggests she join Rowan on her travels for a while. The Outskirters are a nomadic people who live in, well, the outskirts of the 'civilised' world. They are known for being fierce warriors, and those of the Inner Lands who leave close to the edge fear them, as they are prone to raiding. Someone like Bel is useful to have around when people are trying to kill you, plus, Rowan recognises and likes the curiosity and intelligence in Bel.
Later on they're also joined by a young man named William, who comes from a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. William has managed to teach himself some magic, and is determined to parlay that into a better life and become a wizard's apprentice.
The books all follow Rowan, sometimes with Bel and/or William, sometimes not, as she works to solve the mystery of the jewels. And what she finds out is quite earthshattering, something that will change her entire conception of how her world works.
It's a fabulous series. The worldbuilding is fresh and complex, and really intriguing, which I hope will be obvious from my description above. But what really makes these books are the characters. The worldbuilding and revelations are perfectly integrated into the story of characters who feel well-developed and who we come to care about very deeply. It's not just about what we find out, it's about the process, and about how that affects people and their worldview.
Rowan is just awesome. She's intelligent and determined and brave. I loved her complete devotion to knowledge, because it's driven by a very ethical and idealistic and, well, humanistic worldview. She's devoted to knowledge because she believes it will make people's lives better, and because she therefore believes they have a right to it. I just loved seeing her think. She's an extremely logical person, and Kirstein made me believe in the thought processes that led her way, way out of her sphere of experience and into the completely inconceivable.
Bel is also fantastic, and makes a perfect foil for Rowan. She's just as intelligent, but more intuitive, more adventurous. She brings Rowan back to Earth when she occasionally goes off into the abstract plain, and her real-world knowledge and understanding of people are crucial in helping Rowan achieve her mission.
Book 1, The Steerswoman, functions as set-up and introduction, but without it feeling like mere worldbuilding. There is a proper plot and we get enough resolution, and we also find out some initial answers (e.g. we find out what the jewels are and have a pretty good idea of where they came from). So it's one where, even if you decide not to go on, you'll have had some satisfaction if you stop there. But you really shouldn't stop there, because...
Book 2, The Outskirter's Secret, is by far the best out of all four. I'm not sure how Kirstein gets it to work so well, because the set-up is not necessarily promising. Having found some answers in the previous book, Rowan decides she needs to go visit the area where the jewels in Bel's belt were found. This is way beyond the civilised world, in an area of the Outskirts that is remote even to Outskirters themselves. It's a dangerous journey, so she joins Bel's tribe, which is headed in that general direction, for part of the way.
There is a lot of travelling here, and a lot about Rowan exploring Outskirter culture and customs. That's the bulk of the book. That can be episodic and boring, but here, it absolutely isn't. It's all fascinating and gripping, and there are several moments that brought me close to tears (the scene where new people are brought into the clan, and the way the recitation of ancestors worked to do that... wow!). And then we come to the resolution of the book, which was just awesome, full of danger and massive revelations, and left me gasping in astonishment. It's a wonderful book, and one where, weeks later, I still relive certain scenes.
Book 3, The Lost Steersman, was a bit of a letdown, after the wonder that was The Outskirter's Secret. Rowan is back to the Inner Lands, and stops at one of the Archives. The Steerswoman who was supposed to be in charge of it has died and no replacement has been sent, which is a problem, since the woman had done a piss-poor job of organising and preserving new material. Rowan's efforts to sort out the records, while finding anything that will help with her mission, are interrupted by increasingly frequent attacks on the town by monsters from the Outskirts, and Rowan is determined to use her skills as a Steerswoman to help the town survive.
There's a lot of good stuff here. I liked Rowan's conflicted relationship with the townspeople. They were used to the previous Steerswoman, who might have been terrible at her job, but was the beating heart of town life. When Rowan comes in, with her efficiency and proper Steerswoman attitude, they resent her. I also loved seeing Rowan using her logic to solve the problem of the monsters. Unfortunately, at one point the book becomes all about the monsters, and there's a much-too-long section of exploration related to them. There's also the Lost Steersman of the title (yes, there are some male ones, although not many at all). All in all, although enjoyable enough to read, this one felt like a bit of detour, with little progression on the overarching plot.
Book 4, The Language of Power, brings us back to the main plot. Rowan has realised she needs to find a particular wizard, and the book builds up to a major confrontation. The focus here is in what we find out about the wizards and what they do, and there are many, many revelations here about the main plot (even if not everything is resolved, Rowan does get a long way towards understanding). For the first time since book 1, we get Rowan working together with both Bel and William (who's spent several years working with the wizards and has learnt a whole lot), which felt lovely.
I think my favourite element about this book is (again!) seeing Rowan using her reason to grasp stuff that is just out of her experience completely. Kirstein manages to make it feel believable. It's not easy, and yet when Rowan makes leaps, it feels plausible. It was great fun to read.
And now we get into a more spoilery part, which is one of the main attractions of the series: the particular idea it explores. I'll mark this section with a spoiler warning, but I will say that it was obvious to me that this was the theme being explored from relatively early in the first book, so it's not something that will ruin the books if you find out.
Ready? Spoiler starts: Spoiler ends.
I was also particularly impressed by how Kirstein handled a main character who knows less than the reader. As soon as we cotton onto the basics of what's going on, we're able to make very good guesses about explanations for certain things that leave Rowan and her friends baffled. Seeing them gradually almost stumble towards what is obvious to us could have felt frustrating. It never is. Instead, I felt wonder and admiration for Rowan's sharp, sharp mind.
In sum, read this. It's worth it.
MY GRADES:
Book 1, The Steerswoman (1989): B+
Book 2, The Outskirter's Secret (1992): A-
Book 3, The Lost Steersman (2003): B
Book 4, The Language of Power (2004): B+
The books were written over quite a long period. The first two came out in 1989 and 1992, while the last were published in 2003 and 2004. And I really should note here that the series is not yet complete (I didn't know that when I started, as I only read the review of book 1). We do have a fair bit of resolution and closure by the end of book 4, so it still feels satisfying, but if you don't want to get into a series that might never been completed (I think Kirstein is supposed to be working on another book, but it's been 13 years...), this might not be for you.
Onto the books themselves, then! They are set in a world that feels vaguely medieval. Rowan, our main protagonist, is a Steerswoman. Steerswomen are part of an order devoted to seeking out, sharing and preserving knowledge. Some of their number work in archives, doing mostly the preserving part, but Rowan is one of the many who spend their time travelling. She talks to people and finds out stuff, basically, which she then makes sure is written down and gets to the archives. If she finds anything interesting or remarkable, her job is to investigate it and understand it, using her extensive training about how to think and reason.
Steerswomen have some fascinating rules about how they operate. They must answer truthfully any questions they are asked. In exchange, anyone they interact with must, in turn, answer Steerswomen's questions just as truthfully. If anyone refuses to answer a question, or the Steerswoman realises they have lied, then that person is placed under the Steerswomen's ban. No Steerswoman will answer any of their questions. This is a world where the Steerswomen's knowledge is considered extremely valuable (they are welcomed pretty much everywhere and will often not have to pay for anything), so the ban is something most people want to avoid.
The exception are the wizards. The wizards are the only ones in this world who have magic, and they hold themselves apart. They are extremely powerful, and operate sort of as a kind of nobility, the ones who control territory and have carved up the entire country amongst themselves. The wizards refuse to answer any questions from Steerswomen, and no one knows what they're about. They're, as a class, all under the ban.
So, that's the setup. As the first book starts, Rowan is puzzling over some strange flat blue jewels she's found over the years. They're like nothing she's seen elsewhere, and she's very intrigued by the pattern of where they've been found. It seems almost as if they've been flung with great force and from a strange point of origin. As she begins to investigate in earnest, it becomes clear wizards are trying to kill her. And it's just as clear this has got something to do with the jewels, which only makes Rowan more determined to find out what they are.
Right at the start of the book, Rowan meets an Outskirter named Bel. Bel owns a belt with some of the blue jewels encrusted in it, and it's her information about where those were found that leads to Rowan deciding to investigate properly -and consequently, puts the wizards after her. Bel is intrigued by the whole thing, and suggests she join Rowan on her travels for a while. The Outskirters are a nomadic people who live in, well, the outskirts of the 'civilised' world. They are known for being fierce warriors, and those of the Inner Lands who leave close to the edge fear them, as they are prone to raiding. Someone like Bel is useful to have around when people are trying to kill you, plus, Rowan recognises and likes the curiosity and intelligence in Bel.
Later on they're also joined by a young man named William, who comes from a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. William has managed to teach himself some magic, and is determined to parlay that into a better life and become a wizard's apprentice.
The books all follow Rowan, sometimes with Bel and/or William, sometimes not, as she works to solve the mystery of the jewels. And what she finds out is quite earthshattering, something that will change her entire conception of how her world works.
It's a fabulous series. The worldbuilding is fresh and complex, and really intriguing, which I hope will be obvious from my description above. But what really makes these books are the characters. The worldbuilding and revelations are perfectly integrated into the story of characters who feel well-developed and who we come to care about very deeply. It's not just about what we find out, it's about the process, and about how that affects people and their worldview.
Rowan is just awesome. She's intelligent and determined and brave. I loved her complete devotion to knowledge, because it's driven by a very ethical and idealistic and, well, humanistic worldview. She's devoted to knowledge because she believes it will make people's lives better, and because she therefore believes they have a right to it. I just loved seeing her think. She's an extremely logical person, and Kirstein made me believe in the thought processes that led her way, way out of her sphere of experience and into the completely inconceivable.
Bel is also fantastic, and makes a perfect foil for Rowan. She's just as intelligent, but more intuitive, more adventurous. She brings Rowan back to Earth when she occasionally goes off into the abstract plain, and her real-world knowledge and understanding of people are crucial in helping Rowan achieve her mission.
Book 1, The Steerswoman, functions as set-up and introduction, but without it feeling like mere worldbuilding. There is a proper plot and we get enough resolution, and we also find out some initial answers (e.g. we find out what the jewels are and have a pretty good idea of where they came from). So it's one where, even if you decide not to go on, you'll have had some satisfaction if you stop there. But you really shouldn't stop there, because...
Book 2, The Outskirter's Secret, is by far the best out of all four. I'm not sure how Kirstein gets it to work so well, because the set-up is not necessarily promising. Having found some answers in the previous book, Rowan decides she needs to go visit the area where the jewels in Bel's belt were found. This is way beyond the civilised world, in an area of the Outskirts that is remote even to Outskirters themselves. It's a dangerous journey, so she joins Bel's tribe, which is headed in that general direction, for part of the way.
There is a lot of travelling here, and a lot about Rowan exploring Outskirter culture and customs. That's the bulk of the book. That can be episodic and boring, but here, it absolutely isn't. It's all fascinating and gripping, and there are several moments that brought me close to tears (the scene where new people are brought into the clan, and the way the recitation of ancestors worked to do that... wow!). And then we come to the resolution of the book, which was just awesome, full of danger and massive revelations, and left me gasping in astonishment. It's a wonderful book, and one where, weeks later, I still relive certain scenes.
Book 3, The Lost Steersman, was a bit of a letdown, after the wonder that was The Outskirter's Secret. Rowan is back to the Inner Lands, and stops at one of the Archives. The Steerswoman who was supposed to be in charge of it has died and no replacement has been sent, which is a problem, since the woman had done a piss-poor job of organising and preserving new material. Rowan's efforts to sort out the records, while finding anything that will help with her mission, are interrupted by increasingly frequent attacks on the town by monsters from the Outskirts, and Rowan is determined to use her skills as a Steerswoman to help the town survive.
There's a lot of good stuff here. I liked Rowan's conflicted relationship with the townspeople. They were used to the previous Steerswoman, who might have been terrible at her job, but was the beating heart of town life. When Rowan comes in, with her efficiency and proper Steerswoman attitude, they resent her. I also loved seeing Rowan using her logic to solve the problem of the monsters. Unfortunately, at one point the book becomes all about the monsters, and there's a much-too-long section of exploration related to them. There's also the Lost Steersman of the title (yes, there are some male ones, although not many at all). All in all, although enjoyable enough to read, this one felt like a bit of detour, with little progression on the overarching plot.
Book 4, The Language of Power, brings us back to the main plot. Rowan has realised she needs to find a particular wizard, and the book builds up to a major confrontation. The focus here is in what we find out about the wizards and what they do, and there are many, many revelations here about the main plot (even if not everything is resolved, Rowan does get a long way towards understanding). For the first time since book 1, we get Rowan working together with both Bel and William (who's spent several years working with the wizards and has learnt a whole lot), which felt lovely.
I think my favourite element about this book is (again!) seeing Rowan using her reason to grasp stuff that is just out of her experience completely. Kirstein manages to make it feel believable. It's not easy, and yet when Rowan makes leaps, it feels plausible. It was great fun to read.
And now we get into a more spoilery part, which is one of the main attractions of the series: the particular idea it explores. I'll mark this section with a spoiler warning, but I will say that it was obvious to me that this was the theme being explored from relatively early in the first book, so it's not something that will ruin the books if you find out.
Ready? Spoiler starts: Spoiler ends.
I was also particularly impressed by how Kirstein handled a main character who knows less than the reader. As soon as we cotton onto the basics of what's going on, we're able to make very good guesses about explanations for certain things that leave Rowan and her friends baffled. Seeing them gradually almost stumble towards what is obvious to us could have felt frustrating. It never is. Instead, I felt wonder and admiration for Rowan's sharp, sharp mind.
In sum, read this. It's worth it.
MY GRADES:
Book 1, The Steerswoman (1989): B+
Book 2, The Outskirter's Secret (1992): A-
Book 3, The Lost Steersman (2003): B
Book 4, The Language of Power (2004): B+
June 21, 2024
He was indeed
July 13, 2024
4.5*
these books are astoundingly good. everything about them is just so masterful and well-crafted. AND GOD, THE DEMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
these books are astoundingly good. everything about them is just so masterful and well-crafted. AND GOD, THE DEMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 31, 2020
Ahoy there mateys! A long while back in 2017, Matey Sarah @ brainfluff reminded me that this series existed. I had the two books in omnibus form and they were five stars reads. Then Matey Sarah told me there were two more books in the series! So I recently I re-read the omnibus and then moved into new territory with book three. While I try to post no spoilers, proceed at your own peril . . .
The main character of these books is a steerswoman named Rowan who is the member of "an order dedicated to discovering and disseminating knowledge." This order is almost all women. Men are very, very rare. A steerswoman shares her knowledge for free and does not lie. All she asks in return is that if she asks any question then it must be freely answered. Don't answer and a steerwoman's knowledge is cut off forever. Steerswoman are intelligent, respected, and awesome. They are in control of their own destiny, travel constantly, and better the world.
The first book started with the mystery of an unusual stone and took place in Rowan's homeland. The second book is set in the region called the Outskirts where Rowan's best friend, Bel, lives. Rowan goes there to solve the mystery of the stones. She finds an answer but it only leads to more questions. In the third book, Rowan finds herself in the company of Janus, a steersman who quit the Order under mysterious conditions. Janus isn't talking, demons are attacking, and there is an unusual artifact with mysterious powers. Not to mention the continuing drama of the strange stones and magicians that Rowan is also trying to solve. She thinks all these elements are linked but can't find the common ground.
Frankly things are a mess. The interesting part of this book is that Rowan is forced to stay put in one town and do tasks that aren't part of her strengths. It is weird but fun to watch her struggle and make bad choices. It was fun to get insight into "regular" folks lives. I particularly enjoyed Steffie as an addition to the bunch. Assumptions keep being made all around and prejudices challenged.
This book also continues the trend of further blending more sci-fi into the story and it's cool. Minor plot points that bothered me were how slow on the uptake Rowan could be in this book and that Bel wasn't a major character. I get the reasons for both (and they made sense) but still bothered me. Also the pacing in the second half of the book was off and Rowan's explorations and leaps of intuition were unrealistic. I loved a lot of the new elements and plot twists but the reveal took too long for me. I feel like there really wasn't any momentum to the overall story arc of the series in this book.
Can't really get into more because of spoilers but I still be looking forward to the next book. Arrrr!
The main character of these books is a steerswoman named Rowan who is the member of "an order dedicated to discovering and disseminating knowledge." This order is almost all women. Men are very, very rare. A steerswoman shares her knowledge for free and does not lie. All she asks in return is that if she asks any question then it must be freely answered. Don't answer and a steerwoman's knowledge is cut off forever. Steerswoman are intelligent, respected, and awesome. They are in control of their own destiny, travel constantly, and better the world.
The first book started with the mystery of an unusual stone and took place in Rowan's homeland. The second book is set in the region called the Outskirts where Rowan's best friend, Bel, lives. Rowan goes there to solve the mystery of the stones. She finds an answer but it only leads to more questions. In the third book, Rowan finds herself in the company of Janus, a steersman who quit the Order under mysterious conditions. Janus isn't talking, demons are attacking, and there is an unusual artifact with mysterious powers. Not to mention the continuing drama of the strange stones and magicians that Rowan is also trying to solve. She thinks all these elements are linked but can't find the common ground.
Frankly things are a mess. The interesting part of this book is that Rowan is forced to stay put in one town and do tasks that aren't part of her strengths. It is weird but fun to watch her struggle and make bad choices. It was fun to get insight into "regular" folks lives. I particularly enjoyed Steffie as an addition to the bunch. Assumptions keep being made all around and prejudices challenged.
This book also continues the trend of further blending more sci-fi into the story and it's cool. Minor plot points that bothered me were how slow on the uptake Rowan could be in this book and that Bel wasn't a major character. I get the reasons for both (and they made sense) but still bothered me. Also the pacing in the second half of the book was off and Rowan's explorations and leaps of intuition were unrealistic. I loved a lot of the new elements and plot twists but the reveal took too long for me. I feel like there really wasn't any momentum to the overall story arc of the series in this book.
Can't really get into more because of spoilers but I still be looking forward to the next book. Arrrr!
November 27, 2016
I was quite disappointed in this book mostly because the first two books in this series were so great. While time and trudging are a critical element of this story, the pacing of the story seemed dreadfully slow. I barely had the patience to hang on while the primary characters are struggling through the vicissitudes of an alien environment. As the nature of the quadrilateral aliens is slowly revealed, this story lacks the sense of discovery, connection, and wonder we found in The Outskirters Secret. In other words, the prize is not worth the pain.
Two great mysteries form the center of the story. Each is a disappointment. Not only the aliens are a dreary discouragement. We expect more from the tale of the steersman, given the high standards of the Steerswomen organization to which he belonged. Yet our wait is in vain as his story turns out to be unexpectantly petty and venal.
We are left at the end with a grim sense of accomplishment -- this has been survived.
Two great mysteries form the center of the story. Each is a disappointment. Not only the aliens are a dreary discouragement. We expect more from the tale of the steersman, given the high standards of the Steerswomen organization to which he belonged. Yet our wait is in vain as his story turns out to be unexpectantly petty and venal.
We are left at the end with a grim sense of accomplishment -- this has been survived.
December 18, 2017
All kinds of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting! Also, unlike many middle of series books, this wasn't dull, even if there was quite a bit of traveling.
July 15, 2025
Just awesome. The whole series is a treasure, it feeds a hungry part of my soul.
July 30, 2014
This was going so well! And then the last quarter of the book happened. Ugh, so boring. So repetitive. So many leaps of logic. So much time spent with a single character inside their head.
I liked Steffie and Zenna and I enjoyed everything in the town, but once Rowan was off in the demon lands (I don't even mind that my assumption that they were robots was wrong, because it still would have been tedious and repetitive, but lbr, I might not have minded so much because robots) enacting the same scene over and over again before she suddenly decides that the objects are words was a slog. (If they weren't going to be robots, I was actually hoping all the arm-waving was their language, but no.)
If Bel had been with her (oh man I missed Bel so much), at least she'd have had someone to talk to. I just don't find solitary adventures all that interesting to read about - I need the characters to interact and the final section of this book provided that only in the most inexplicable of ways.
I liked Steffie and Zenna and I enjoyed everything in the town, but once Rowan was off in the demon lands (I don't even mind that my assumption that they were robots was wrong, because it still would have been tedious and repetitive, but lbr, I might not have minded so much because robots) enacting the same scene over and over again before she suddenly decides that the objects are words was a slog. (If they weren't going to be robots, I was actually hoping all the arm-waving was their language, but no.)
If Bel had been with her (oh man I missed Bel so much), at least she'd have had someone to talk to. I just don't find solitary adventures all that interesting to read about - I need the characters to interact and the final section of this book provided that only in the most inexplicable of ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2021
Much like the concept of exploration and learning, the more I read about this world, the more questions and mystery there are to explore. There are so many things to love about this series and the writing and what the author has created and one which helps build all the others is how the classic story expectations are constantly flipped and reworked into something new, unexpected and exciting.
Just when you think you know how a thread will go, it takes you somewhere you hadn't imagined. The gradually expanding world brings 10 questions for every answer and often makes you realise your original questions often wasn't the right one to begin with.
Just when you think you know how a thread will go, it takes you somewhere you hadn't imagined. The gradually expanding world brings 10 questions for every answer and often makes you realise your original questions often wasn't the right one to begin with.
August 15, 2022
Great, as usual. Like many others, overall I preferred the second book to this one. It dragged a bit as the demon attacks ramped up in scale. I really enjoyed the portions where Rowan started to understand demon society. After the revelation of the second book, this was a natural progression, and it was great to see Rowan apply her steerswoman brain to the problem of cross-species communication. My main criticism of the book is that it didn't make sense that Rowan so thoroughly lost her steerswoman thought processes when it came to Slado's location. Why did she become so certain that Slado was sending the demons and was living in the area where the demons were coming from? The steerswomen are typically so good at "the possibilities are N" style thinking, but that was totally forgotten in this case. I can see the argument that Rowan was worried about oncoming global conflict, that she was traumatized by her experience with the bioform clearance satellite, etc. But elsewhere in the book she still exercises her classic steerswoman judgement.
November 1, 2024
Rosemary Kirstein did it again. Here's a story that makes me think of everything I like about stories. Every character a delight to read about and cheer for, every turn intriguing and teasing and revealing just a little more, and by the end the scope of this series has grown tenfold out of the sheer narrative ambition that has been building for 3 novels. I loved it. It's not as neat as book 2, maybe a bit too meandering, maybe a bit too messy, but it's unequivocally great. Fucking speculative fiction. This is what it's all about.
June 6, 2022
Someone called me out and said that I was stingy, so these lines serve as the half-star that I can't give on GR because it (👎😁)
I'm still thinking about how much I loved Zenna, a character written from joy, driven by it.
How she beautifully offers a nice counterpoint to Rowan's extreme self-absorption, and how that exactly is one of the many points of this part 3.
And book sorting party!
I'm still thinking about how much I loved Zenna, a character written from joy, driven by it.
How she beautifully offers a nice counterpoint to Rowan's extreme self-absorption, and how that exactly is one of the many points of this part 3.
And book sorting party!
July 5, 2025
Mit dieser Geschichte ist das passiert, was auch bei Game of Thrones passiert ist: Die Autorin erzählt so vor sich hin, manchmal passieren Dinge, meistens nicht, und der Plot der Serie kommt insgesamt ungefähr einen Viertelschritt voran. Aber ich will es jetzt wissen und lese auch noch den nächsten Band.
January 25, 2024
I thought this book was going to go in one direction, and it threw a total amazing curveball. Somehow, I feel like Kirstein didn't originally intend to go that direction, but the work took her there?
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