Status
Available
Call number
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. How do you find someone? How, if you have never seen him, never heard him described, did not know where he lived? How, if he wished not to be found? And how, most especially, if he were the most powerful wizard in the world? The steerswoman Rowan has discovered that the fall of the Guidestar and the massacre of Outskirter tribes were caused by one man: the secret master-wizard, Slado. But until now, no steerswoman had known of his existence, nor knew that the wizards answered to any single authority. Now, Rowan must find him. She comes to the seaside town of Alemeth, where centuries of records might help her find clues for her search. Then, an unexpected encounter with a lost friend: Janus, a steersman who had resigned his membership in the Steerswomen, giving no explanation. Now Rowan has hope for help in her search �?? but Janus has changed. The bright intellect is now shrouded in a dark, shattered spirit...Then death comes to sleepy Alemeth, monsters from the Outskirts, and Rowan can not help but wonder: are all these strange events connect… (more)
Pages
419
DDC/MDS
| 813.6 |
Language
Awards
Locus Recommended Reading (2003)
Series
User reviews
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
Another brilliant book by Kirstein! After reading the previous books, I thought I knew what her world looked like, even though Rowan, the main character didn't, but in this book she proved me wrong.She managed to come up with a new story twist that came as a complete surprise to me.
In the
The characters were once more very good. Rowan is the same as she was in the previous books, but we learn more about her through her interactions with the regular people surrounding the Annex. Steffie, one of her companions, is also very sympathetic, and it is delightful to see how he develops. Janus is a whole different story. From the beginning, there is clearly something fishy about him. I halfway believed the explanation for his behavior he gives to Rowan at the beginning of the book. But then again, the book is named for him, so there must be something else going on... By the end of the book, you understand more about him, but not in a good way: I really started to dislike him.
The story is excellent. I really liked the beginning, with Rowan at the Annex, trying to get along with the townspeople, and organizing the books and searching for Slado. Halfway through the book, it went a bit more slowly for me, with Rowan (view spoiler) But in the end, it definitely picked up again when Rowan starts making her amazing discoveries. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book!
In the
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beginning of the book, Rowan and Bel have separated, Bel staying in the Outskirts to notify her people of the coming threats, Rowan to notify the steerwomen and to search for Slado. She ends up in a so-called Annex, where copies of the steerswomen's books are kept. Here, she runs into Janus, the steersman who quit and was even placed under ban for refusing to explain why. (view spoiler) she makes some truly remarkable discoveries!The characters were once more very good. Rowan is the same as she was in the previous books, but we learn more about her through her interactions with the regular people surrounding the Annex. Steffie, one of her companions, is also very sympathetic, and it is delightful to see how he develops. Janus is a whole different story. From the beginning, there is clearly something fishy about him. I halfway believed the explanation for his behavior he gives to Rowan at the beginning of the book. But then again, the book is named for him, so there must be something else going on... By the end of the book, you understand more about him, but not in a good way: I really started to dislike him.
The story is excellent. I really liked the beginning, with Rowan at the Annex, trying to get along with the townspeople, and organizing the books and searching for Slado. Halfway through the book, it went a bit more slowly for me, with Rowan (view spoiler) But in the end, it definitely picked up again when Rowan starts making her amazing discoveries. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book!
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LibraryThing member readinggeek451
The third in the series, and the weakest, but still very good. Rowan investigates unknown territory and discovers stunning truths about the demons.
LibraryThing member bunwat
I wasn't all that impressed by the first of this series, but by book three I'm a convert! Each one has been steadily better and this is the one where I crossed the line from, oh I'll read them if I happen to run into them to, Rosemary Kirstein goes on my list of authors to watch for.
I am really
Her characterizations are getting so good too. I am loving the people. Just terrific stuff.
Yay Rosemary!
I am really
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enjoying the way she gradually builds up your knowledge of the characters and the world in which they live, adding layer on top of layer, each layer altering by a little or a lot your understanding of what has gone before. Her characterizations are getting so good too. I am loving the people. Just terrific stuff.
Yay Rosemary!
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LibraryThing member kenzen
A bit weaker than the first two books. There was just too much exploration of a single topic. I think I know why the author did it, but I still didn't care for it. Still, a good book.
LibraryThing member iansales
I stumbled across the first book of this series, The Steerswoman, in a charity shop several years ago and bought it because I vaguely recalled someone telling me it was good. I really liked it – and said so in my review on SF Mistressworks (here). I liked the sequel, The Outskirter’s Secret,
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even more (see here). So it’s fair to say I had high expectations of The Lost Steersman. And… it sort of almost nearly met them. Rowan is now in the port town of Alemeth after leaving the Outskirts. There’s a Steerswomen’s Annex there, so she hopes to consult its thousands of volumes for more clues about Routine Bioform Clearance, the spell which opens up new lands to the east and so allowing for human expansion, but which appears to have stopped and is being misused by the evil wizard Slado. But the Alemeth steerswoman has died and has left the Annex in a right state, so Rowan has to get it all sorted out. And then demons, creatures from the Outskirts, begin to attack the town… Although couched in the language of fantasy, this is clearly science fiction, and Kirstein cleverly reveals more of the ecology of the world as Rowan investigates. Unfortunately, the first half of the novel is slow and a bit dull, and things only begin to get really interesting when Rowan sails south looking for Slado’s hidden fortress. She doesn’t find it – but what she does find tells the reader more about the world than it tells Rowan. They’re good books, these. The paperbacks are long out of print, but they’re still available as ebooks. Worth getting. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
One can say Rosemary Kirstein is an excellent author - but not a particularly fast one. There was an 11-year gap between the publication of the last book in this series (The Outskirter's Secret) and this one (1992 - 2003). However, this book is just as good as its predecessors - and that's quite
The Steerswoman Rowan continues her dangerous investigations into the plots of wizards, and how they may threaten the life of her people. What might be the motivation to disrupt weather and cause a war for resources? Where is the wizard that she suspects is behind it? Finding out information from an old friend, Rowan realizes she may have to travel even beyond the Outskirts to find her answers, and she must - at least temporarily - abandon her vows, in the service of a greater quest. But that quest will lead her to completely different - and weirder - revelations than she expected.
An excellent story, notable for some very unique and interesting depictions of alien life.
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good!The Steerswoman Rowan continues her dangerous investigations into the plots of wizards, and how they may threaten the life of her people. What might be the motivation to disrupt weather and cause a war for resources? Where is the wizard that she suspects is behind it? Finding out information from an old friend, Rowan realizes she may have to travel even beyond the Outskirts to find her answers, and she must - at least temporarily - abandon her vows, in the service of a greater quest. But that quest will lead her to completely different - and weirder - revelations than she expected.
An excellent story, notable for some very unique and interesting depictions of alien life.
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LibraryThing member bhutton
This is what happens when an author gets lost in her own world. The first two books setup interesting mysteries and gives satisfying conclusions. This book dies very little to move the story forward from the first two books and the reveal was not unexpected or shocking at this point.
LibraryThing member LisCarey
This is the decade-late sequel to The Steerswoman and The Outskirter's Secret. Bel and Rowan have split up to pursue different parts of the problem threatening their world, and Rowan's part is to track down a missing steersman who may have found some crucial information about the wizards'
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activities. This takes her to the secondary archives, whose keeper has recently died and not yet been replaced, and who, it turns out, had been very lax for years before her death. It also sends her on a lonely and dangerous journey into regions never colonized by humans, where the planet's native life still holds sway. It is, again, an interesting, exciting story, even though it goes in a totally different direction than what might have been anticipated. Show Less
LibraryThing member xiaomarlo
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member sarcher
Anytime an author starts describing a species with plot relevant characteristics that has no human-world analog it's easy to get lost in the details. Happened in Rama, happened in The Amber Spyglass (a book that should not exist), and it happened here. Coasts to a solid three stars due to the
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strength of the surrounding narrative. Show Less
LibraryThing member elenaj
This is a hard, sometimes painful, and sometimes disgusting book to read, but also heartwrenchingly beautiful. The best of science fiction. Highly recommended.
Publication
Del Rey (2003), Edition: 1, 432 pages
Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003-09
2006-05 (deutsch)
Physical description
419 p.; 8.21 inches
ISBN
0345462297 / 9780345462299