Three books last week, all new. Raising Steam, The Girl Who Just Appeared, and The Steerswoman. Two of them I bought very recently. The third, Raising Steam has been on my to-read list for a while. I read it last week because it seemed like the right time.
Knowing the circumstances under which it was written may be affecting my opinion, but it seems somewhat flimsy at times. The jokes are cruder and more obvious. It feels like the tone of the book is trying too hard to mimic earlier instalments.
The Girl Who Just Appeared is about a woman who was adopted. The only hint to her birth family is the name and address on her birth certificate. When that address comes up for rent she decides to move in and finds an old diary under the floorboards. Great beginning, interesting book.
The Steerswoman is about a guild of truthtellers. A steerswoman - or man, though they are rarer - is bound to truthfully answer any question they are ask, as long as their questions are answered in return. The second you refuse to answer a steerswoman's question, you are under their ban and they will never answer a question for you again. The book follows one specific steerswoman, who is investigating strange crystals that were strewn across the landscape some thirty-thirty-five years before. Late eighties feminist hard sci-fi heavily disguised as fantasy, which happens to be my favourite genre (see Jinian Footseer).
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