The Outskirter's Secret
core novel 1992 The Steerswoman
Record
| First published | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.35 (2,204 ratings, collected 2026-08-27) |
| Page count | 333 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345368850 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
The second book in the Steerswoman series follows Rowan and her companion Bel as they travel beyond the Inner Lands into the Outskirts, a harsh, sparsely settled borderland plagued by dangerous monsters and governed by customs unfamiliar to Rowan. Still pursuing the investigation into the wizards' true nature and powers begun in the first book, Rowan must adapt to the unforgiving demands of Outskirter life and its people while continuing to piece together the truth behind the wizards' guarded secrets. Her search takes on new urgency as the reach of the wizards' interest in her own inquiries becomes increasingly apparent, forcing her to weigh how far she can push before drawing dangerous attention.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Steerswoman
- Series: The Steerswoman core; position 2 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Rosemary Kirstein
Notes
- From the series record (The Steerswoman): A planned 7-book sequence; 4 published so far. Admitted transparently on the same genre-boundary basis as Dragonriders of Pern/The Book of the New Sun: shelved and marketed as fantasy, but the setting gradually reveals a lost-technology, post-catastrophe science-fictional explanation for its apparent magic.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Steerswoman: position 2 of 4: previous The Steerswoman (1989) · next The Lost Steersman (2003)
Sources
← The Steerswoman dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.