The Language of Power [Paperback]

If you are new to this outstanding series, stop where you are, go back and read "The Steerswoman's Road" and "The Lost Steersman." This is a series that carefully builds on itself and you will lose half the delight in these books if you start in the middle.

And another thing: many reviewers seem to think this is a fantasy. It's not. It's pure science fiction. And it is all recognizable science. Many of the characters in the stories think that there is magic involved. There isn't, but they don't know that. Understanding why that is so, and why some of the characters call themselves "Krue" is at least half the fun in reading these books.

Clarke's Law says that any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic. Kirstein's premise is that if a population is unaware of science, then all science is magic. Kirstein has invented an alien world still undergoing human terraforming. The general population is ignorant of all science and all but the most primitive technology. Those who do know science and technology are called wizards, and ruthlessly cut down challenges to their power.

The protagonist, Rowan, is a Steerswoman, a member of a scholarly order that has re-invented logic. Rowan discovers puzzling "jewels," integrated circuit and solar power chips, and in trying to reason out what they are and what they mean discovers terrifying threats to her world. Through the earlier stories she has had to avoid the efforts of the wizards to kill her, and in her efforts to understand the dangers, explored parts of her world that her people have never seen. But at no time does that exploration degenerate into a Larry Niven-like travelogue. This isn't wandering or touristry; Rowan is on the track of a deep mystery and her travels are purposeful and focused. But they give Kirstein the excuse to describe the world she has invented. And that world is fascinating and rigorously self-consistent.

While there are sword fights and moments of very high tension, this is mostly a story of ideas and the joys of understanding. The most important moments aren't the battles; they are the moments when Rowan understands, reasons out and comprehends critical aspects of the problems her world faces. She has known since the second half of "The Steerswoman's Road" that she cannot fight her enemy with force; she must learn and comprehend.

This is a story of ideas, exceptionally well-told. We get to revisit dangers and friends from the first book, and watch Rowan make considerable progress in her quest. Wonderful characterization, flawless plotting and considerable suspense, all told with flashes of humor and delightful surprises.

Special thanks to Ms. Kirstein and her publisher for getting this sequel out so quickly on the heels of "The Lost Steerman." And yes, I want my next desktop computer to be like Kieran's.

Without spoilers, at the end of this story Rowan actually has a piece of the puzzle in front of us. But Rowan, because she lacks a context to understand what it means, cannot understand. Kirstein is a skilled enough writer that we don't either. But I can't wait to find out.

If you are looking for swords and sorcery, try a different author. If you want an engrossing, enthralling and well-told adventure of ideas, this is the best there is. Very highly recommended.

Rosemary Kirstein's THE LANGUAGE OF POWER is a bit different, but after all is said and done, it is a worthy continuation of the very gripping saga she has been unfolding in the preceding books, beginning with THE STEERSWOMAN'S ROAD.

A reviewer needs to tread carefully here, since too much attention to a plot summary can prove to be a "spoiler" for those who have not begun the book.

Let us put it this way. THE STEERSWOMAN'S ROAD and THE LOST STEERSMAN were painted on a large canvas. They involved quest, and crossed the mapped world. They involved peoples, countries, cultures, all beautifully brought to life by the writer.

THE LANGUAGE OF POWER pretty much stays in one place, the port city of Donner. Rather than taking us across a world, this book "drills down deep." Rowan, the protagonist, is on the trail of the elusive "wizards." She has good reason to care-- she was severely injured and saw an entire people destroyed by the callous exercise of the wizards' powers.

Now Rowan puts all her analytic powers toward unraveling the mysteries and secrets of the wizards. And that involves going into the past. She interviews the villagers, getting a bit of information here, and a bit of information there. We have numerous interesting characters, most rather well sketched, who provide bits and pieces of information. Out of this, we observe a brilliant deductive mind at work-- Rowan's. Only Rowan has the capability to piece together fragments of the past, to finally clarify the frightening nature of the wizards. And then, to find the courage to GO HUNTING THEM.

With her dear friend Willam now returned (Willam, not William as another reviewer kept putting it) Rowan goes on the attack at the end of this book. Willam, a half-trained apprentice wizard, as well as Bel, Rowan's swordswoman soul-mate, are her indispensible allies -- they keep her alive while she pursues an old, cold trail of evidence. The upshot of this book is the destruction of one wizard, plus priceless information that will allow her personal war to continue.

One thing so exciting about Ms. Kirstein is -- throw out the EXPECTED. Things happen in this book that are truly ORIGINAL. Her narrative detailing the capture of a dragon is marvelous. I can't spoil this by describing it, but it is totally gripping. One can never anticipate what will come out of the pen of this writer. To illustrate my point, I have recently read TANEQUIL by Terry Brooks. Not bad, really, but so predictable. Fantasy by formula. Change character names, and a plot summary would be much like those for Mr. Brooks's earlier epics. Ms. Kirstein throws out the formula. No one can imagine what is going to happen as one starts one of her novels.

The element of surprise in her books is paramount. It brings to my mind a quotation from Lawrence Durrell's THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET -- "Take but a step to the East or West and the entire picture changes."

This book is a fascinating blend of fantasy and science fiction. The world of the Steerswoman is a fantasy (sword and sorcery) sort of world. But to drill down into the mystery, the protagonist Rowan must begin to enter a world of scientific thought.

And ultimately, Ms. Kirstein has great villains ! ! The wizards. So cold, so ruthless, so incredibly powerful -- and yet... The wizard she fights in this book, Jannik, reminds me of the wizard of Oz -- a short, plump little man with silver hair and a smooth, disarming manner. Not very prepossessing -- but in reality quite frightening and quite deadly. We learn from this book that the wizards are of a different race, and of unknown origin. They kill with no remorse. They "move the very stars." Who can stand up to them? Rowan learns that their plots will turn the world into a holocaust. She MUST stop them.

As this book ends, Rowan has far more pieces of the puzzle. She knows where to look for Slado, the wizard master. Rowan goes on the hunt. This woman has deep scars from her near fatal encounters with the wizards' minions. She is "ticked off" -- totally. She is going for the kill. A bit like David and Goliath perhaps, but personally, I am betting on this very sharp woman to take down Goliath.

I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

The Language of Power is the fourth novel in the Steerswoman series, following The Lost Steersman. In the previous novel, Rowan traveled to the Demon lands searching for Janus, the lost steersman. She learned that the indigenous Demons are fellow sentients who communicate by body language and by physical icons produced by the females. She also discovered that Janus has gone mad and killed many of the Demons. She was badly burned on her left leg and only lived to return to civilization with the assistance of Janus, who jumped ship and disappeared prior to her recovering full consciousness.

In this novel, Rowan takes up her hunt once more for the elusive prime wizard, Slado, within the Annex archives at Alemeth. She discovers that Slado had been an apprentice to the Wizard Kiernan in Donner, so she takes ship to question the inhabitants of that town. Since Slado had ordered Jannik, the current wizard in Donner, to attack her during a prior visit, Bel and Dan the Cooper pretend to be a separate party while actually guarding Rowan.

Once in Donner, they discover that Jannik is out of town for a few days. Rowan begins tracking down older inhabitants and learns more about Kiernan and Slado while Bel and Dan continue to watch her back. They discover that three people are constantly intersecting their paths: a stinking beggar faking blindness, a middle-aged woman and a mature man. Rowan and Bel assume that these people are minions of the wizards and set up an ambush. However, the results of this gambit are quite unexpected and they find themselves reunited with William, their young friend who had been apprenticed to the Wizard Corvus. Together they plan an intrusion into the former home of the Wizard Kiernan (and present home of the Wizard Jannik) to search for information on the fallen Guidestar.

In this novel, Rowan finds out much more about the history of her people, the nature of magic, and the events surrounding the fall of the Guidestar. However, the new answers only invoke new questions. Obviously there will be another installment in this fascinating series.

Highly recommended for Kirstein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of human settlers on an alien planet and the resulting conflict between local and imported ecologies.

-Arthur W. Jordin