This is the second of a two part series reviewing Rosemary Kirstein's Steerswomen Saga. Part one can be found here

In the first two books of her series tracing the quest of the Steerswoman Rowan as she investigates mysterious blue gems and their origins, Rosemary Kirstein introduces the major themes that the books will be dealing with. The control of knowledge to have power over others, and the problems that arise when different peoples come into contact with each other.

In The Steerswomen's Road (an omnibus collection of: The Steerswoman and The Outskirter's Secret) We learnt about the wizards who control the magic of the world, something of the nature of that magic, and about the two prominent tribes or races of people.

The people of the Inner lands roughly equate to medieval earth in life style and living. Technology is limited to simple hand tools and basic implements. Like medieval earth a feudal Lord, who in this case is a wizard, dominates most populated areas of the Inner Lands. If the wizard in your area says jump, you ask how high or you could find yourself dead. The wizards rule their fiefdoms through a combination of fear and ignorance. The inhabitants are kept ignorant of the workings of magic and thus fear the wizards.

The Outskirters are nomads who seem to be free of the influence of the wizards. They roam their desolate landscape in continual war against an environment that could kill them if they get careless. Since tribes are constantly on the move searching for better grazing territory, there is almost continual conflict over things like grazing rights and fresh water.

Rowan and her Outskirter friend Bel make an alarming discovery at the end of The Outskirter's Secret The Guidestars that seemingly hang immobile in the sky to serve as points of reference for navigating are not at all what they seem to be. Already they have discovered that there are more than two of these strange satellites, because it was one of them falling out of orbit that caused the distribution of the mysterious blue gems across the known world.

Even more sinister is the fact that the wizards have been using them for a spell called Routine Bioform Clearance every twenty years in the Outskirts. Until recently it has actually been used beneficially, but now it is being turned on the tribes. The wizards are trying to destroy the Outskirts and force the Outskirters into conflict with the people of the Inner Lands through the elimination of their territory.

But it's not something that all the wizards are happy about. They are being coerced themselves by one wizard more powerful then the rest, Slado. In the third book of the seriesThe Lost Steersman we find Rowan searching for information about this mysterious wizard who almost nobody has ever seen. She hopes to find tidings of him in old steerswomen journals. She travels to a remote town of the Inner Lands to visit one of the annexes where these works are stored and preserved.