I really enjoyed all four books in this series, the worldbuilding is fantastic the characters are really engaging and in this book all three of the main characters from book one are reunited. The only complaint I have is that it's December 18 years later that this book was published and we haven't gotten another book in the series. I want to see what happens to these characters and world.
This book has a note that the author is working on books five and six, but I don't know if that was in the 2003 edition or the later released ebook that I'm reading. ( )

Like many fantasy readers, I can be a bit gunshy about authors with multi-part epics that they are totally writing, stop asking them about it. This is one of the few exceptions, because the Steerswoman author makes sure to make every book interesting in it's own right and doesn't hold back satisfying plot points for display in books that will never be written. I hope Rosemary Kirstein finishes more Steerswoman books, but if she doesn't I'm still happy to have read them.

I especially enjoyed the exploration of the difference between power and omnipotence in this one. Approaching a powerful foe does not always require looking them in the eye. ( )

I don't really have any big criticisms of this, aside from the fact that I didn't want it to end. The story is a return to the first book in the series, in a lot of ways, and a smaller scope than the previous two (mostly because Rowan doesn't travel much in this one, and the book is much shorter). It didn't blow my mind the way the previous book did, and one of the action-y parts got a bit repetitive, but these are minor complaints. The story was still riveting, the characters delightful, and the relationships rich. Plus, lots of very good food descriptions in this one. I hope Kirstein hurries up and finishes this series. I love it so much. ( )

I forget who recommended the first book in this series, The Steerswoman, but when I came across a copy in a local charity shop, I bought it, later read it… and liked it so much I went and tracked down the remaining Steerswoman books (only the first was ever published in the UK, so I had to buy US editions… and there was such a long gap between books two and three that the first two were re-issued in an omnibus edition.) The Language of Power follows directly on from The Lost Steersman, but none of the books really make much sense unless read in order from The Steerswoman. Rowan is back in the seaport of Donner, trying to make sense of the events recounted in previous book. But her efforts to track down the records of a previous Steerswoman draw unwanted attention from the wizards… but then she stumbles upon Will, the boy genius who was taken on as apprentice by a friendly wizard, and it seems they’re trying to figure out the same things. These books are hugely likeable, and the presentation of science fiction as fantasy is perfectly pitched. It’s not a new idea, by any means – even Robert Jordan used it, for example – but Kirstein’s talent is in presenting understandable science fiction to the reader, not a handful of sf buzzwords or well-worn tropes, in such a way that it’s obvious this is sf to everyone except the characters. Sadly, the story is not yet complete and the recent installments have taken a while to appear. But it’s worth hanging in there, because these books are lots of fun. ( )

Much better than book 3. A far deeper glimpse into the world of the wizards than we have seen so far, answering many suspicions and guesses from previous books. Like book 1 & 2 sets up and solves a compelling mystery while moving the overall story forward. Will be back for the next book. ( )