The Steerswoman's Road [Paperback]

In The Steerswoman, Rowan is interested in some strange jewels which have been found distributed in an unusual pattern. She meets Bel, an Outskirter warrior, in a frontier tavern, asks her about a collection of such jewels made into a belt, and agrees to allow her to come along on the journey back to the Steerswomen Archives. On the way, they are attacked and almost killed by one of five men who had been wearing a wizard's uniform in the tavern. After almost being killed later in a burning inn, Rowan begins to think that some wizard has ordered her death.

In The Outskirter's Secret, Rowan and Bel travel to the Outskirts, where green vegetation is seldom found, but red and black grass and other exotic plants abound. They travel with Outskirter tribes and Rowan learns much about the fringes of human society. Outskirter life is hard and various forms of alien death surround them, including goblins and demons.

These novels were written over a decade ago and the sequel, The Lost Steersman, has been long awaited. Re-reading these stories reminds me why. The world, cultures and characters seem to fit each other so well that the story seems inevitable. Moreover, the tone and mood closely resembles that of Kingsbury's Courtship Rite, one of the most unique examples of excellent SF worldbuilding.

Highly recommended to Kirstein fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of unusual cultures on alien planets with a touch of mystery.

There is another group that holds knowledge on this world: the wizards. They can work magic. But they don't share their knowledge, they won't answer any questions, and they are under the steerwomen's ban. Early on, a reader will recognize the wizards' "magic" as simply technology, a technology that the wizards deny to the rest of the world.

"The Steerwoman's Road" is a compendium of two earlier books set in this world, "The Steerswoman" and "The Outskirter's Secret." In "The Steerswoman," Rowan is investigating bluish-black jewels that she has found in odd places along a long line across the Inner Lands of her world. For some reason, this simple investigation causes the wizards to attempt to kill her. Allied with Bel, a barbarian from the "Outskirts," the primitive part of the world, she narrowly escapes repeated attempts on her life. Finally, with the help of her sister steerswomen, Bel and an unlikely, even unwanted ally, she tries to solve the mystery of the wizards and their magic.

In "The Outskirter's Secret," Rowan and Bel journey beyond the edge of the known world, to and beyond the Outskirts in their quest to solve the mystery of the blue-black jewels and a possible fallen guidestar. But it is the journey that is important, because in the course of that journey Rowan learns more about her world; she begins to understand the truth about the world she and her sister steerwomen have taken for granted. And she begins to understand just how serious a threat the wizards, and one wizard in particular, may be.

These are brilliant stories. Exceptional plotting, vivid characters, a well-imagined, consistent world and important themes. Because the reader understands technology, Rowan's struggles to come to grips with wizards and their "magic" are particularly delightful. A reader will recognize the "blue-black jewels" at once as integrated circuits, and the "fallen guidestar" as a fallen geosynchronous satellite. Watching Rowan use principles of logic to comprehend technology is simply delightful. And in the Outskirters and the Outskirts Kirstein has created a beautifully realized culture and environment.

It's wonderful to have these stories back in print; it's even better to have a sequel, "The Lost Steersman," after eleven years of waiting. Very highly recommended.

Rosemary Kirstein is the kind of speculative fiction author that I like. She has the background of her world worked out, but doesn't need to include all the details in the story. There are some things that might feel contrived if Kirstein stopped to spend three paragraphs explaining them, but since she is willing to just present the world the way it is, I didn't have to look too closely at my willing suspension of disbelief.

If there are a few pieces in the first book that seem a little out-of-place, keep going. Things are not quite what they seem. If you are a regular reader of speculative fiction, by the end of the first book, you should have a few more pieces to the puzzle than Rowan does, and things will make sense to you in a way that they do not to her.

I read a lot of SF, and I have remembered The Outskirter's Secret all these years. I was very excited to see that there was finally a third volume - I had given up on it ever coming out, and this book clearly demands a sequel. Although The Lost Steersman wasn't quite what I was hoping for, I enjoyed returning to this world in this book and spending time again with Rowan and Bel.