The Language of Power is the third book in Rosemary Kirstein's Steerswoman series (the three previous entries of which I reviewed here, here, and here).
This will not be a completely spoiler-free review; so, if that bothers you, I recommend clicking on those Amazon affiliate links, buying the books, reading the books, and then coming back here to see what I have to say about them!
First off, let's get the title out of the way: coming off of The Lost Steersman, I was kinda hoping that the Language of Power would be the demon language; but, no. The Language of Power abandons that sidetrack to get back to the main series arc as Rowan returns to civilization and continues trying to track down the mysterious master wizard Slado. In so doing, it picks back up several threads from book 1 that were dropped in books 2 and 3; in particular, we are re-introduced to the boy Willam, who had become apprenticed to the wizard Corvus--and from him, we learn that the Language of Power is actually computer programming. Or maybe mathematical physics... but probably computer programming. Much to my disappointment, there is no serious linguistic exploration going on here, but Willam's knowledge of "magic" and his attempts to explain it to Rowan give the most complete and straightforward evidence so far of the science-fictional, rather than fantastical, nature of this world.
Unlike the previous three books, which range over wide geographic areas, this volume takes place almost entirely in, or near to, the city of Donner, where Rowan has come following leads from an old Steerswoman's journal in order to try to uncover the history of Slado's origins and the fall of the guidestar. It's a fun combination of historical research, detective story, and even spy thriller when Willam spearheads a plan to break into the wizard Jannik's house to access records through his computer and satellite dish link (although, of course, the relevant equipment isn't actually called that in-world).
Unfortunately (or, I guess, fortunately for the author, because it means I will absolutely buy the next as soon as it comes out), we are still left with a number of unanswered questions at the end:
- Will Willam ever actually get his revenge on the wizard Abremio and get his sister back?
- How do Basilisks work? This volume features a detailed explanation of dragons, but that still leaves basilisks unaccounted for; what is the scientific explanation for what is presumably a warmachine that looks like an animal, kills with its gaze, and is as dangerous to its own side as to the enemy?
- And, of course, can the demon language be deciphered?
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