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The Lost Steersman (Steerswoman Series Book 3) by [Rosemary Kirstein]

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Rosemary Kirstein

The Lost Steersman (Steerswoman Series Book 3) Kindle Edition

by Rosemary Kirstein (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 733 ratings

Book 3 of 4: Steerswoman Series

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THE BLIND SEARCH

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 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 connected?

"An original and fascinating take on the tensions between science and belief, observation and expectaion, courage and fear. Highly recommended." -- Suzy McKee Charnas, author of Motherlines and Walk to the End of the World

"Kirstein's striking portrait of an innovative woman who is scientist, judge, historian, and adventurer makes for a good, thought-provoking read." -- Publisher's Weekly

“If you haven’t read Kirstein’s Steerswoman books I envy you the chance to read them now for the first time.... I think they have a very good claim to be my favorite thing still being written. […] If you like science, and if you like watching someone work out mysteries, and if you like detailed weird alien worlds and human cultures, if really good prose appeals... you’re really in luck.” — Jo Walton, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner, author of Among Others and Farthing.

Book 3 of 4

Steerswoman Series
Print length

432 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

March 24, 2014
File size

1456 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rosemary Kirstein is the author of the Steerswoman series: The Steerswoman, The Outskirter's Secret, The Lost Steersman, and The Language of Power. Work is underway on Volumes 5 and 6. Kirstein's short fiction has appeared in Asimov's and in Aboriginal SF. She blogs at www.rosemarykirstein.com, and can be found on Facebook as "Rosemary Kirstein -- writer." She occasionally tweets random non sequiturs on Twitter as @rkirstein. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00J8BY6CU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rosemary Kirstein (March 24, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 24, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1456 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 432 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #117,257 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,239 in Space Operas
- #3,557 in Science Fiction Adventures
- #6,789 in Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 733 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

733 global ratings

5 star		60%
4 star		32%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Crinn

Can't wait to keep reading!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 7, 2022

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This book is a great addition to the Steerswoman series! Even if you didn't read the first two books you'd still be able to follow along and get lost in the adventure, (although I do recommend reading them first!). In book three Rowan continues her adventure in Alemeth looking for any sign of wizards or wizard activity. I don't want to spoil the book, but I will say the story takes some surprising turns, some old friends show up and new friends are made. I love how Kirstein gives the reader the opportunity to look in the character's minds leaving room for readers to hypothesize, to guess, to make assumptions right alongside Rowan and the other characters we meet.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 20, 2021

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The Steerswomen is an amazing series. Every new book takes you someplace you’ve never been and never thought of. I go in hope and end in amazement. Love this one especially

One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Good reading

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 10, 2021

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I found this to be very interesting continuation of the story of Rowan. This is another story well worth reading.

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Darrel D Felty

One of my favorites! Highly recommended!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 1, 2016

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I love this series. It is a dystopian future, from a sufficiently distant future that we cannot determine exactly when it takes place. It appears that at least a few hundred years have elapsed since our current time, but it could easily be a thousand or more. The societal structure is well thought out, with a type of guild system in effect.

There are also beasts such as demons and dragons. Each are carefully described in this volume, much to my relief. What was previously mystical becomes more reasonable with every episode! How the demons came about is still unclear, apparently leaving fodder for volumes four and five. However, we come to know them in great detail, with much empathy.

The authors style is at times straightforward, and at times extremely colorful and descriptive, depending on the action status and plot circumstances. Ms. Kirstein is very adept at taking us where she wants, and we are in the hands of a master storyteller. This is a remarkable series!

2 people found this helpful

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Paul Brimmer

Read the whole series!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2018

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I can’t remember where I came across the recommendation to read this series, but I’m so thankful to whoever it was that put The Steerswoman in my head! Sherlock and Holmes are held up as the gold standard literary pair of adventuring friends, and others like Aubrey and Maturin as well. They’re great and all, but in my mind they don’t hold a candle to Rowan and Bel! I love those two so helplessly! They’re each so different and they fit together so well. Their deep understanding of each other and unfailing trust and confidence in each other absolutely fills my heart!

One person found this helpful

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Kootch

Here be demons

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 23, 2015

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This third book in the Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein adds another layer of texture that the author is weaving over the straightforward theme of Rowan's quest to find the wizard Slado and stop him. This time we have demons dealing death in the sleepy town of Alemeth. Yet these are monsters from the Outskirts, so how did they get to the Inner Lands? And what's wrong with Janus, the Steersman who resigned his membership in the Steerswomen with no explanation? Rowan's investigative skills lead her to the demon society, and a denouement that is unexpected and profoundly moving.

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Robert Shuler

dullsville and a pointless complexity

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 9, 2019

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This series begins to nose over into boring territory in the first half of this installment, and into stupid territory in the latter half. It goes on and on. Then finally the author plays a trick on herself.

Oh sure, at first she tricks the reader. But you catch on pretty quick, a lot quicker than the steerswoman. Then the steerswoman becomes unbalanced, turning against a long time friend who has been traumatized by the discovery, instead of viewing things objectively.

If you think any of this is going to make any difference in the next book, you are mistaken, as I've read that too. It seems to be forgotten, and events plot on as if the Steerswoman has totally forgotten the moral dilemma she has discovered.

This hidden moral dilemma business might work across one novel or even two, but now we have it spreading to the whole series and people seemingly acting stupid in order to keep the dilemma hidden. It is not enlightened reading.

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bluewynd

background information

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 30, 2015

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It wasn't until my scond read of this book that I found it interesting. just a slow start and the writing style threw me off -- one minute the characters are in one place and suddenly they are in another. had to follow at times. but its good background for rest of the series. the qustion of what are the stones is not answered in this book (if I recall correctly)

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sjhigbee

Another wonderful addition to this outstanding series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 27, 2017

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This book absolutely filled the brief of completely absorbing me from the first page to the last, which I finished once more blown away by where Kirstein has taken this amazing series.

I love Rowan. She is a strong, capable protagonist who is consumed with curiosity about the world around her – which is why she trained to be a Steerswoman in the first place. Steerwomen undertake long, arduous journeys mapping and logging the landscape and are bound to answer any questions put to them by the local populace, unless someone refuses to answer one of their questions. So part explorer, cartographer, naturalist and educator… It’s a really nifty plot device to get a skilled, capable cadre of people out on the road without resorting to war. Over the last three books, I’ve come to be aware of her weaknesses as well as her strengths. She has an over-developed sense of responsibility and is poor at delegating jobs to others – and while she is good at moving through a landscape and keeping on good terms with the people around her, she tends to hold herself somewhat aloof.

This means that once she arrives in Alemeth, where the retired Steerswoman has recently died and they are awaiting a replacement – the villagers contrast her unfavourably with chatty, manipulative Mira. I love the fact that all these books can be read as a standalone without too much difficulty – however if you do read them in the right order (and for a wonder, this time around I have…) then they stitch together to build into a coherent adventure where the consequences of not tracking down Slado could be devastating. However, there is a wrinkle – once Rowan arrives, the village is attacked by a creature never seen before in those parts… I’m not saying any more as I do not want to venture into spoiler territory – but suffice to say that I’m so very impressed at the sheer peculiarity of the creatures that populate her fantasy landscape, along with the flora. Kirstein has built an amazingly detailed and plausible world without holding up the pace.

The twisting turns in this adventurous tale take meant that I stayed up late to read this one – it’s a reasonably substantial read at well over 400 pages, but they more or less turned themselves as I was desperate to know what happened next. This particular story arc was satisfactorily brought to a close – but the overarching narrative has now got an additional disturbing and dangerous strand which has added to the worldwide threat.

I have been spacing these books out, as I didn’t want to reach the end too quickly – but I am delighted to note that Kirstein is working on the fifth and sixth book in the series. Yippee! Highly recommended for all fans of excellent fantasy.
10/10

S. Ainsley-Raffel

Third book in a highly recommended fantasy/SF series.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 28, 2021

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I found the combined "Steerswoman" and "The Outskirter's Secret" paperback in a charity shop (titled "The Steerswoman's Road" and bearing a gorgeous cover), and loved it so much that I got halfway through and bought the entire series on Kindle for ease of taking everywhere with me, reading in the dark etc.
Travellers, teachers, information-gatherers... the Steerswomen walk through the world asking questions, giving answers, amassing and recording data. The world itself seems pre-industrial, peopled with farmers, merchants, soldiers, barbarians, commoners and nobility... fairly standard fantasy fare to begin with, even down to the mention of wizards. But Rowan's story unfolds in unexpected and satisfying directions. Kirstein's writing is fluent and direct, her descriptions creative without getting in the way. Her characters are well-drawn, rounded people who don't always get things right, and she has a knack for depicting incidental characters with warmth and humanity. I galloped through these four books far too fast - I was enjoying myself so much - then immediately returned to the first and started again, more slowly. I understand the author is currently writing the next in the series - now is a great time to allow yourself the grand indulgence of reading the first four books - highly recommended!

Hugh

Incredible but frustrating.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 8, 2016

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Book 3 of the series was another enjoyable, thought provoking yet frustrating read in this unique and complex series. The plot, use of language and characters are all fantastic and the storyline within this particular book was well realised and the mystery of the 'Demons' was explained clearly which was a good reward.
Bel was not in this book but it introduced three excellent new characters who I would have liked to have read more about: Steffie, who acts as Rowan's assistant, Zenna, a charismatic, sociable and highly intelligent Steerswoman and Janus, a former Steersman.
There were two major problems with the book. Firstly, the pacing is all over the place. There are hugely overwritten sections describing in unnecessary detail Rowan's thoughts and her wandering around. Obviously, this is a central part of the series but there's too much here. Conversely, pertinent conversations between key characters that would drive the story forward are eschewed in order to maintain the mystery and that became very frustrating.
Next, the overarching storyline of the series is not progressed enough. There is only one book left in the series for this main thread to be revealed and explained and I'm slightly dubious that I'll receive a definitive answer now.
Overall, the book was still very good. 8/10.

One person found this helpful

J. Heritage

Not quite up to the first two but still very entertaining

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 7, 2015

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This was another entertaining read, but I didn't find it quite as engrossing as books 1 and 2 for two reasons. First, Rowan's exploration of the mysterious city just took ages! I am an impatient reader and I wished I had a book (rather than my Kindle) so I could skip forward a bit and then go back to read in depth. But that's my problem, I am sure many readers would really enjoy the journey.

The other pattern which is beginning to emerge for me is that of Rowan initially making a wrong assumption (about somebody or something) informed perhaps by emotion or prejudice, and then, over time, coming to realise that she was wrong. It's happened quite a lot now and does so several times in this volume. That's well and good, but for some reason on this occasion it annoyed me a bit. I still rushed off to buy the 4th instalment, though!

One person found this helpful

HP

The intrigue continues

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 11, 2014

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Another engrossing read in the Steerswoman series. In this book, Rowan returns to the Inner Lands to try to find answers to some of her questions about the fallen Guidestar, and to find Slado, who seems to be responsible. To do this she heads to the Annex where she knows she can find a lot of information in an archive kept by the Steerwomen. However, when she gets there she discovers things have not been kept in order and her task becomes a lot more difficult. During her time here she gets to know some of the local townspeople who are all such interesting characters, vividly portrayed. She gets some help from them, and some more mysteries come to light when she bumps into someone from her past who should be able to answer a lot of her questions, but he refuses. She ends up following him into uncharted territory, where she makes some startling discoveries about Demons. I have given this book one star less than the others in this series because I felt that this part of the book was quite drawn out and not as interesting as the rest. Her travelling through the demon lands alone was quite tedious. However, what she discovered there was so shocking and not what I expected at all. The imagination of the author is truly something else. I found the demon people actually quite touching and I'm glad this is included in the book, but I didn't realise what part they had to play in the grand scheme of things until I had read the next book.
Rowan's companion Bel is not in this book very much, and I found that I missed her and her interactions with Rowan. They are reunited at the end of the book and it leaves you looking forward to the next stage of their quest.

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