Customer Reviews

The Outskirter's Secret

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the major disappointments of the genre is the apparent abandonment of Rowan and Bel in the Outskirts. There was a sequel planned - I can find references to Ms. Kirstein's reading portions of it at science fiction conventions - but it doesn't seem to have ever been published. This book and its prequel, "The Steerswoman," are among my treasured paperbacks.

At the risk of giving spoilers, imagine a world that's nearly uninhabitable by man, filled with plants and animals inimical to earthkind. Now imagine a program for the terraforming of that world, a program that will take centuries if not millenia, involving first infrared bombardment by satellite and the burning of the borderlands, then sowing a genetically engineered plant that serves as a transition to earth life, and then a succession of increasingly earth-like plants.

After hundreds or thousands of years, in the areas treated first, the land is pretty much indistinguishable from earth; at the borders, life is strange and harsh. Most of the planet is apparently unchanged. Different peoples and cultures inhabit the various zones as the millenia-long terraforming proceeds.

To make things stranger still, those with knowledge have made themselves sorcerers and wizards, wielding technology when and how it suits them, quarreling among themselves and extirpating those who would try to recover science and technology. Most residents in this world are technologically ignorant, unknowingly held in that state by the technocractic wizards.

The sorcerers grudgingly tolerate a band of Socratean scholars, the Steerswomen, who have re-developed principles of logic and serve as explorers, historians and cartographers. They mingle with the people of this world, operating by two rules: they will answer any question you ask, provided that you answer the questions they ask you. If you refuse to answer a Steerswoman's question, they shun you. It works pretty well...

But the wizards have their schemes, and as Rowan the Steerswoman struggles to understand them with the help of Bel, an outskirter, a member of one of the tribes on the fringe of the terraforming, the importance of understanding the schemes is increasingly urgent. Because one of the wizards is willing to use the infrared/burning tool in the satellite system to burn terraformed lands, and it is a terrifying weapon. The same wizard has caused one of the satellites to crash, at what jeopardy to the terraforming product we don't yet know.

It is fascinating to watch Rowan struggle to understand the issues and her situation, to see her begin to grasp that the world she knows is not the world on which earthkind evolved. With her, we are ignorant as to the wizards' motives, but we can understand better than her the risks their actions are creating.

Add to this meticulously crafted world and plot the vivid characters of Bel and Rowan, the logically consistent and believable cultures her world has spawned, and you have a wonderful story .... that is incomplete. It's half told. It's maddening.

I don't know if the problem is with Ms. Kirstein, her editor, her publisher or some combination of them, but this is a storyline that needs to be completed. Please. I'm begging...

Read and enjoy "The Outskirter's Secret" and "The Steerswoman." But be prepared to wait a long time, at best, for the rest of the story.

I have read both of Rosemary Kirstein's books and enjoyed them enormously. She has created wonderful characters out of which an exciting story naturally develops. She has also imagined a world which at first sight looks fantastical and at second seems to be based on very sound science (Rowan's deduction of the notion of how to get something into orbit is fascinating).

What troubles me about these books is that they are plainly part of a larger book which is unfinished. Many questions remain to be answered at the end of Outskirter's Secrets...and the main one *I* have is: what happened to Rosemary Kirstein? Why are two books of a (possible) trilogy all of her work we have to enjoy?

What happened next?

Inga

Well developed characters in an interesting and plausible setting. The plot and pacing never lag, I read it in one sittting.

My only regret is that the previous book in the series "The Steerswoman" seems to be out of print, and the much needed sequel does not appear to have been printed yet!

Kirstein comes up with an interesting story of an explorer's search for truth about her world. I found myself rarely surprised by the plot twists, but enjoying the read none the less. Without access to the prequel book it's hard get a handle on the main characters motivations, but it is good on it's own.

If you begin reading the books in this series, you'll want to get them all. You just have to see how it all ends. The world the Steerswoman lives in is believable as is the technology and the situations with which she must cope.

These can be read as stand alones -- there's ample description in each book to bring you up to speed -- they're best if read as a series so you can journey along as the plot thickens, the mystery deepens and the surprises happen. What are the blue shards? Can a wizard be a wizard and still be a friend? Will she be betrayed by the wizard, after all? Read it and see.

Another original and exciting story of the female, swashbuckling scholar. The author has done her research and knows her subject: from a clever sword fight test to uncover the true identity of an opponent to interesting contrasts of the moral/social considerations of nomads as opposed to that of village dwellers (there is a core element of agreement, or there would be no basis of understanding). If possible, read "The Steerswoman" first.

The Outskirts is a fascinating world described wonderfully through the steerswoman's natural inclination to quesiton and investigate. This book has it all...magic, mystery, intrigue, love, war, adventure.

I look forward to next summer when I can read the next book in the series.

I am looking for this particular book but have not found it so far. I haven't given up hope, I'm very determined when it comes to finding books:) but for those of you who haven't had the good fortune of reading the first one here's basically what happened,......Rowan is a steerswoman, one of those people who dedicate their life to learning and spreading knowledge, she goes around learning about anything and everything and if somebody has a question and she can answer it honestly and well, she does b/c that's what a steerswoman is, basically a human computer, (they do seem to have heightened senses and very quick agile minds) she comes upon a jewel that fascinates her and she learns more about it , she eventually learns that it has something to do with the Wizards and their "magic". The wizards in this world aren't so much wizards as they are holders of technology that the common people don't know about and neither do the steerswomen, b/c if the steerswomen knew all anybody would have to do would be to ask a steerswoman and they would be required to tell them the truth, so neeldess to say the wizards definetely don't want anybody to find out otherwise they wouldn't have power over the common people. the whole book is about her journey with her friend Bel ( a "barbarian" from the Outskirts, a nomadic tribal desert culture, she and Rowan become friends and good traveling partners and it's nice to see how they interact and how they are just human togethor:) and the discovery of the jewel and surviving the plotting of the insidious Wizards....it wasn't a shocker, but it was still really very good, like I said, it wasn't the BEST!!! book I've ever read, but i did enjoy reading it, and I plan on keeping it for a long while, I'm happy I read it there wasn't a lot of romance ( was a little but it wasn't the main thing in the plot) in it, but there was a little, the plot would have been fine without it though, but it was a nice additon, there was quite a good bit of action and lots of thinking which can get a little tiring, but I finished the book in about 2 two and a half hour reading periods....like I said, it was pretty good, do i suggest this book to you ? yes :) it's probably suitable for people who like to think a little bit, if you're just into action and/or romance , this probably isn't the book for you, there was just something about it that keeps you reading though so i honestly do think it was a really good book:) they made me rate this book even though i haven't read it, so the rating i gave this one just apply to the one i'm talking about, it was about a 4....not great, but good.....i WOULD like to be able to rate this one, but i've got to find it first :)lol, well lots of luck to you all :) Tim