The Steerswoman

The Steerswoman is a 1989 science fantasy novel by American writer Rosemary Kirstein. It follows the journey of Rowan, who is a Steerswoman in an age that is just beginning to gain technology and advancement.

The Steerswoman was followed by The Outskirter's Secret (1992), The Lost Steersman (2003), and The Language of Power (2004).

Plot
A Steerswoman is a traveling scholar, required to answer any question asked of them, as long as the asker answers truthfully in return. Only wizards do not respect the Steerswomen, maintaining intense secrecy around their magic.

Steerswoman Rowan is investigating strange jewels that have been found scattered across the land. She meets Bel, a warrior from the Outskirts with a belt of these jewels. They travel together, and are attacked twice by wizards’ soldiers. The Steerswomen conclude that the wizards are trying to prevent Rowan's investigation, but that their calling is to pursue the information anyway. Rowan renounces her status as Steerswoman so she can travel undercover and lie if needed.

Meanwhile, teenaged Will has run away from his small town. He has a talent for making things explode, much in the way wizards do sometimes. He encounters Rowan and Bel, traveling in disguise, and joins them in the belief they will help him become a wizard’s apprentice.

After another fight with wizards’ soldiers, Rowan decides to face the wizards directly. Rowan and Bel infiltrate the fortress of two wizards, where Rowan is captured. Rowan shares information freely with the wizards, without asking any questions which they might refuse to answer. She gleans that they are following orders from a secret higher wizard, Slado. Bel and Will free her, using Will’s exploding magic to destroy the wizards’ fortress.

After she is safe, Rowan meets with another wizard, playing the same information game as before. She informs him that it is useless for Slado to try to prevent her investigation, as she has already solved the mystery of the strange gems, and the progress of information cannot be stopped. The gems are pieces of a crashed Guidestar, which Rowan now knows to be an orbital satellite used by wizards for their magic.

A demonstration of Will’s magic convinces this wizard to accept Will as an apprentice. Will departs with the promise that he will share the wizards’ secrets with the Steerswomen if he discovers that their secrecy is not motivated by good reasons.

Reception
Jo Walton has called the Steerswoman "terrific fun to read", with "really good prose", while James Nicoll stated that it was "what SF should aspire to be". Pornokitsch has described The Steerswoman as "a lovely example of an epic story driven by brains over brawn, and wit over magical destiny", noting that "unlike many of its contemporaries, [it] has not aged badly".