The Language of Power
The Steerswoman, no. 4
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
The steerswoman Rowan has learned much about the master-wizard Slado: how his spells are devastating the distant lands known as the Outskirts, and how they will ultimately threaten even the Inner Lands. But she knows nothing else about him, not even why he is hiding his actions from the other wizards. He must be found, and stopped. Now, following the slimmest of clues, Rowan arrives in the city of Donner hoping to learn more about Slado's plans. But when the answers begin coming in faster than the questions can be asked, a strange tale from the past emerges, a tale behind all the secrets of the present... Fortunate that Rowan has the Outskirter warrior Bel on hand to watch her back. Because there's one sure way to know that the steerswoman is on the right track: Someone will try to kill her.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Like its predecessor, The Lost Steersman (2003), Kirstein's highly entertaining fourth book in her Steerswomen series offers plenty of humor and intrigue while seamlessly blending fantasy and SF. Steerswoman Rowan, who travels the world collecting and disseminating information, has come to Donner to investigate the wizard Kieran, who died 42 years earlier when an orbiting Guidestar, responsible for clearing land for the nomadic Outskirters' herds, fell from the sky. Rowan knows the Guidestar was destroyed by the master wizard Slado, once Kieran's apprentice, but the generation-old issue has now become even more important, because Slado recently used Guidestar magic to destroy three Outskirter tribes. Rowan needs to learn all she can about Slado and his allies but that means avoiding Donner's current wizard, Jannik, and working with William, a runaway wizard's apprentice who has secrets of his own. Kirstein deftly captures the joy of Rowan's "eureka" moments as she learns to view magical power in a revolutionary way. Especially well done is the scene where she grasps the concept of programming, then proceeds to work out the steps of a list of instructions on dragons to fool a herd of the deadly beasts. This is fiction for readers who appreciate clever world-building and surprises as much as they like action and character.
