Fantasy review: The Steerswoman, by Rosemary Kirstein

I picked up this book on a recommendation from Jemima Pett's blog, and found myself very much drawn into the world of the book (first in series).

 

Title: The Steerswoman
Author: 
Rosemary Kirstein
Publication Info: Del Rey, 1989. 262 pages, Kindle Edition.
Source: 

Library
Publisher’s Blurb:
If you ask, she must answer. A steerswoman's knowledge is shared with any who request it; no steerswoman may refuse a question, and no steerswoman may answer with anything but the truth.

And if she asks, you must answer. It is the other side of tradition's contract -- and if you refuse the question, or lie, no steerswoman will ever again answer even your most casual question.

And so, the steerswomen — always seeking, always investigating — have gathered more and more knowledge about the world they traveled, and they share that knowledge freely.

Until the day that the steerswoman Rowan begins asking innocent questions about one small, lovely, inexplicable object…

Her discoveries grow stranger and deeper, and more dangerous, until suddenly she finds she must flee or fight for her life. Or worse -- lie.

Because one kind of knowledge has always been denied the the steerswomen:

Magic.

 
My Review:
The world of Rowan and the steerswomen (and rare steersmen; the lack of male members of the group seems to be more about tastes and natures than rules) is one that I still feel like I'm getting a grip on. It is much like a pre-technological version of our world, but it is also very much a fantasy land, with magic. The influence of Middle Earth is there in every work of high fantasy since Tolkien, but in this book it is absorbed, digested, and emerges as a unique world. 

I love the steerswoman's underlying sense that there must be logic to magic. She is, in fact, every inch a scholar as well as *almost* every inch a warrior. Rowan and the reader alike are lucky that she takes up with a companion who is truly every inch a warrior, allowing her to survive while pursuing knowledge wherever it leads.

Though I took some time getting caught up in the story, in the end, I found the book a gripping read: a tale of swords-and-sorcery with more than one brave last stand, and a book about the importance of knowledge and understanding the world. I hadn't realized the age of the book, but feel like it has traveled well through time. There is a hint of the evolution of narrative styles since the 1980s, but the story wears well. 

I enjoyed this high fantasy tale with a buddy-road-adventure element--and female protagonists. How did I not discover this when it first came out? (Counts on fingers, thinks about it, and finds the answer to the Steerswoman's question: I was in graduate school. That would explain it).



My Recommendation: 

 


I enjoyed it. If you like fantasy, even without orcs, elves, and ents, you may well enjoy it too.

FTC Disclosure: I checked The Steerswoman  out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  


 

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2023
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