Rosemary Kirstein

Steerswoman Rowan, sworn to seek and tell the truth, travels through the lethal prairies beyond civilization with Bel, a barbarian warrior and poet.

The Steerswoman was acceptable and inoffensive, but its sequel is excellent. It's chockablock full of things that I like: culture clashes, nomadic peoples, and intelligent protagonists. And while the series is not grim or depressing, it never sugarcoats the terrible choices made by its characters. In The Steerswoman, our heroines engage in violence for reasonable and intelligent reasons, and that serene brutality is continued in The Outskirter's Secret as they encounter a traitor with magnificently divided loyalties.… (meer)

I've seen The Steerswoman recommended a number of times by people over the years, and finally got my hands on a copy of it. The basic premise of the book is interesting—Rowan, the Steerswoman of the title, is one of a number of such women (and the occasional man) whose task is to explore their world, preserving and transmitting knowledge—but I found it a work which I respected more than admired. I never clicked with the POV characters, or was that convinced/clear about some aspects of the world-building, and some of the characters' actions have dated very badly in the thirty or so years since this book was first published. There's an awful lot of "torture allows us to extract information effectively!" and "let's kill the redshirts indiscriminately!" from people who are clearly supposed to be the good guys. Solid for what it is, but I don't think I'll be continuing on with the series.… (meer)

This is a strange book. Simultaneously very speculative, and very uncaring of human life.

I started the book and wasn't very interested. I came back and found myself more compelled. I dropped it for a week, but then picked it up and desperately needed to know how it ended.

I still have very little idea of how the magic works. This is frustrating, considering it's core to much of the plot. Kirstein would explicitly point out dialogue with social issues, but magic is still very vague.… (meer)