Bem, pareço estar quatro anos atrasado, mas isso é definitivamente Steerswoman Series por Rosemary Kirstein.
A principal protagonista é Rowan - uma mulher que é uma Steerswoman - que viaja pela terra coletando e disseminando conhecimento. Todas as Steerswoman seguem a regra de que devem responder a qualquer pergunta que as pessoas façam (com o melhor de sua capacidade), mas também exigem que qualquer pergunta que façam seja respondida com sinceridade. Eles estão tentando coletar e entender todo o conhecimento.Em Goodreads :
Steerswomen, and a very few Steersmen, are members of an order dedicated to discovering and disseminating knowledge. Although they are foremost navigators of the high seas, Steerswomen are also explorers and cartographers upon land as well as sea. With one exception, they are pledged to always answer any question put to them with as truthful a response as is possible within their own limitations. However, they also require anyone of whom they ask questions to respond in the same manner, upon penalty of the Steerswomen's ban; those under the ban do not receive answers from the steerswomen.
O terreno é povoado pela população em geral, Outskirters, Wizards e Goblins.
- As Steerwomen vêm da população em geral e dão e recebem conhecimento livremente até que alguém se recuse a responder uma pergunta. Isso os coloca em conflito com os magos que se recusam a responder perguntas sobre seu poder. As Steerswomen são um grupo que mantém The Archive - uma coleção de conhecimento - e são lideradas pelo The Prime.
- Os Wizards são um pequeno número de pessoas que têm enormes poderes.
- Os Outskirters são bárbaros que vivem no cerrado nas bordas da civilização.
- Os goblins são criaturas que atacam humanos
Big Spoiler 1:
The heroine Rowan becomes interested in some jewels that are found in a strange widely distributed pattern. Eventually we discover that they are the remains of a satellite that has de-orbited but her search for understanding brings her into conflict with the Wizards who control the satellites
Big Spoiler 2:
The reader comes to understand that the Wizards are descendants of the crew of the colonisation ship and are the only people who have "scientific" knowledge (e.g. Chemistry / Physics) rather than the type of knowledge collected by the Steerswomen.
Big Spoiler 3:
Later books allow Rowan to discover that the habitable area of land is small but growing and that it was much smaller in the past. It is being made larger by the Wizards magic (actually orbital satellite weapons) which are being used to exterminate the Goblins. The Goblins are actually indigenous, intelligent local lifeforms and the satellites are scorching the ground to increase the ability of terran flora and fauna to expand.
Os quatro livros são:
- A Steerswoman
- O Segredo do Outskirter
- O Steerman Perdido
- A linguagem do poder
Esteja ciente de que os livros 1 & 2 foram publicados como um livro sob o título The Steerswoman's Road .