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In the month or two since I last read the Steerswoman books, I had almost forgotten how good they were. I mean, I knew! But then I started reading The Lost Steersman and I knew all over again.
So The Lost Steersman begins with a story arc I both enjoy and identify with: Rowan has to settle into a town for a while to put the archives in order (the archives being in order is explicitly a key component for saving the world! *___*) which also requires socializing with the locals. Small talk, for Rowan, is like pulling teeth. The locals think she is weird and unfriendly -- and I love when one of the villagers calls her out on the fact that she pretty much thinks they're boring and not worth her time, and they can tell. It's a completely different kind of culture clash than the one in the previous book -- one I don't usually see tackled -- and as with all culture clashes in these books, it's handled very well, and also inspires in me a passionate identification with Rowan while at the same time recognizing the places she messes up. I would rather be alphabetizing than networking any day! I FEEL YOU, ROWAN.
So this is going on, and there's an old friend of Rowan's hanging around and acting weird, and some mysterious demon creatures keep attacking the town . . .
. . . and then EVERYTHING GOES OFF THE RAILS and if you're reading under this cut you should already know what I'm talking about.
So I spent a lot of the last hundred pages thinking essentially the equivalent of "oh Rowan you beautiful naive sophisticated newborn baby," in a way that made me sad for my own cynicism. Rowan thinks that once people know about the sentience of the demons, everyone will care! I love her for thinking that. I . . . do not. The situation on the planet inherently sets up a "them or me" kind of mentality, and the demons are so alien, and so historically feared among the Outskirters, that I cannot see this ending well. AT ALL. FOR ANYONE. I loved the construction of the demons and their completely alien mode of communication and the bare, faint glimmers of understanding, and I can't think it will in any way be enough.
Other deep, deep thoughts:
a. JANUS IS A DICK
b. ZENNA IS PRETTY AWESOME
c. I really hope the ~mystery of Mira~ will be solved in the next book (right now I'm guessing she did just what the townspeople accused Rowan of doing, and replaced the real Mira? But I would not be surprised if it turned out more complicated than that)
d. how much did I love Bel popping up all "heeeeeeere I come to save the daaaaaaay!" SO MUCH.
So The Lost Steersman begins with a story arc I both enjoy and identify with: Rowan has to settle into a town for a while to put the archives in order (the archives being in order is explicitly a key component for saving the world! *___*) which also requires socializing with the locals. Small talk, for Rowan, is like pulling teeth. The locals think she is weird and unfriendly -- and I love when one of the villagers calls her out on the fact that she pretty much thinks they're boring and not worth her time, and they can tell. It's a completely different kind of culture clash than the one in the previous book -- one I don't usually see tackled -- and as with all culture clashes in these books, it's handled very well, and also inspires in me a passionate identification with Rowan while at the same time recognizing the places she messes up. I would rather be alphabetizing than networking any day! I FEEL YOU, ROWAN.
So this is going on, and there's an old friend of Rowan's hanging around and acting weird, and some mysterious demon creatures keep attacking the town . . .
. . . and then EVERYTHING GOES OFF THE RAILS and if you're reading under this cut you should already know what I'm talking about.
So I spent a lot of the last hundred pages thinking essentially the equivalent of "oh Rowan you beautiful naive sophisticated newborn baby," in a way that made me sad for my own cynicism. Rowan thinks that once people know about the sentience of the demons, everyone will care! I love her for thinking that. I . . . do not. The situation on the planet inherently sets up a "them or me" kind of mentality, and the demons are so alien, and so historically feared among the Outskirters, that I cannot see this ending well. AT ALL. FOR ANYONE. I loved the construction of the demons and their completely alien mode of communication and the bare, faint glimmers of understanding, and I can't think it will in any way be enough.
Other deep, deep thoughts:
a. JANUS IS A DICK
b. ZENNA IS PRETTY AWESOME
c. I really hope the ~mystery of Mira~ will be solved in the next book (right now I'm guessing she did just what the townspeople accused Rowan of doing, and replaced the real Mira? But I would not be surprised if it turned out more complicated than that)
d. how much did I love Bel popping up all "heeeeeeere I come to save the daaaaaaay!" SO MUCH.
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I was also highly disappointed to find that the intended sequels beyond Language of Power have not thus far been published.
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Favorite line, bar none: the "last time Rowan planned a party" part.
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What a perfect, perfect series of books. This is everything I wanted in my youth and had to replace with Anne McCaffrey. I'm so glad it exists.
Race you to Language of Power?? Mine is supposedly coming in today or tomorrow but I'm out of the city until Sunday, so.
Janus is such a dick, and such a fabulist. It's sort of unfortunate that she did the "male bff who seems like an interesting but ultimately ideologically incompatible person turns out to be a traitor on the deepest level" thing twice; on the other hand, it's pointing up very effectively just how small and how rigid Rowan's viewpoint is, however admirable, that there are all these ways to act only for the good of those around you and act in love and still do horrific, incomprehensible things.
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and I screamed in my heart because AHHHH WHAT IF I WANT THE PLANET TO WIN
BUT I DON'T WANT EVERYONE ELSE TO LOSE EITHER
the only future I see is terrible ;____;
The race is on! My library says it's 'in transit' apparently but I'm stuck at an all-day bachelorette party tomorrow so WE WILL SEE.
On the one hand it's sort of unfortunate but on the other hand I almost can't help but admire how she did it so differently both times! I felt deeply betrayed by Fletcher in a way I didn't really by Janus but I came away with an overwhelming feeling of wishing to punch Janus in the face that I didn't have for Fletcher.
BUT speaking of incompatible viewpoints, I am terrified of what the discussion about the demons is going to do to Rowan and Bel.
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I spent a significant portion the book going "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE DEMONS?" I feel like Rowan has not actually faced this problem properly yet. But I do really, really love the idea of EMPOWERING THE TOWNS to enact their own resistance. I also kind of love how it looks for all intents and purposes like she is going to pull the "male intellectual companion --> deep betrayal!" thing and then turns it straight around on its head. Everything with Will is suitably complex and fantastic. And ahhhhh the scene with the dragons! WHAT A BRILLIANT SET PIECE. I do really love how a lot of the technology is neither obvious nor intuitive, which would be the easy way to go about it, because of course it's evolved and changed from what we use -- and from the descriptions you can't look immediately at the dragons in Book 1 and say "ROBOTS!"
Is it wrong to ship Rowan and Will? My mind says maybe yes, and also that's not what the books are about at all, but my heart, like unto the village of Donner, says GET IT GIRL.no subject
The first half of the book really lags, until you get to the dragons, and I think she could've probably fixed it with more demons. And arguments with Bel about the demons. I am floored that Bel is apparently fine with Rowan's contention that demons are people too. But wow, the second half, wow. My favorite part of them in Jannik's house was Will being pissed that the computer kept throwing up visual/iconic representations when he just wanted to work with the command prompt-- it was a great character note but also hugely underscored how much the ship's crew have forgotten about how to do their own work.
So the upcoming ship, a second load of colonists? A check-up? A naturalist study? An invasion? It's obviously not someone the wizards are in contact with, or were in Kieran's time, because then merely seeing it appear wouldn't do it. Do you think Slado's trying to trash the planet so they can all leave? What if he's trying to save the intelligent alien species? :D
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I too am COMPLETELY floored by Bel being okay with Rowan's assertion that the demons are people -- I keep thinking that Rowan is maybe just avoiding the topic because she knows she doesn't want to have this argument? Because Rowan is also apparently still on board with the 'restart Routine Bioform Clearance' plan, and, wait, Rowan! ROWAN WAIT.
Hah, yes! I laughed at that especially because we're starting to do command line stuff in my digital preservation class right now and our entire class is like "wait, what, no GUI?! this is terrifying! . . . BUT SO POWERFUL *___*" I also love, I forgot to say, how at the end Rowan is like "ehhhhhh, I'm pretty sure you never technically lied to me, IT'S FINE." And all the times she slips that ring on and off for convenience over the course of the story. Our little Rowan is growing up to accept shades of grey, and it's FASCINATING.
I saw a theory that Slado is trying to justify the wizard's treatment of everyone else -- 'look at them all warring with each other, we can abandon them and go home!' But all this seems highly convoluted for that. Or for saving the intelligent alien species, for that matter (although I am SO DOWN for more shades of grey.) I still think a check-up would be fascinating though . . .
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This has been "vague foreshadowing" with