Windhaven

Written by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle

Narrated by Harriet Walter

Before Westeros there was WINDHAVEN...

On the stormy planet of Windhaven, flyers are idolised as the vital link between its disparate islands. The common people rely on this elite class to support their way of life. These "land-bound" can only dream of what it must be like to take to the skies.

For Maris, dreams are not enough, and through an unlikely twist of fate she has a taste of what life as a flyer is like.

Maris was born to fly; as her raw talent blossoms into peerless skill it appears her childhood fantasies have come true. However, just as it seems that she has found her true calling, the hereditary dogma which rules the skies sets out to strip Maris of her wings.

Birthright - not ability - has always governed the right to fly.

Maris' rebellious crusade to change this inequality, and earn back her wings has deeper consequences for Windhaven than anyone could have possibly imagined.

In a unique collaboration from two of the Twentieth Century's greatest imaginations; George R. R. Martin & Lisa Tuttle, WINDHAVEN is fantasy at its best.

(P)2012 Random House Audio Inc

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Oct 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781444762235

George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin has been a full-time writer for over 25 years. He is the author of the acclaimed, internationally bestselling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which is the basis of HBO's popular Game of Thrones television series. Martin has won multiple science fiction awards, including 4 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, the Bram Stoker, the Locus Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Daedelus, the Balrog, and the Daikon (Japanese Hugo).

Reviews for Windhaven

[lucky2loki · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I understand it, this book is basically three short stories sewed together, with an added prologue and epilogue. Together, these five snippets of the character follows her from cradle to grave. It alls takes place on a archipelago world where spacewrecked humans in the distant past have given rise to a pre-industrial society whose main reliable means of speedy communication is the oral messages delivered between islands by "fliers" -- Icharus-esque users of wings built from the remnants of the spacefaring technology. These wings are inherited, causing a class of people separate from the rest of society, with no mobiity into it for outsiders. Enter the protagonist, who so desperately wishes to fly, she might just change the world to do so...The first short story is OK, but didn't really grab me. The second was a lot more interesting and engrossed me thoroughly, and the third -- possibly because of the pathos of seeing the woman who was 'just' a young girl reaching the final stages of her life -- was actually rather moving. All in all, thus, this made for a very good and memorable read, but the buy-in of the first third of the book was perhaps a bit steep. Also be warned that due to the low-tech nature of this society, the book might feel more like a no-magic fantasy world than it does a science fiction one -- a boon to my tastes, but possibly not to everyone.

[lyndainoregon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Martin and Tuttle have created an alien but recognizably human world where the descendants of stranded spacefarers have cannibalized the solar sails of their ancestors' ships to create wings allowing a few, specially-trained men and women to fly on the planet's unceasing winds.

That's all backstory, though, as the story centers around a young woman whose desire to fly leads her to batter down barriers that have stood for generations. The average run-of-the-mill fantasy offering might stop there. In fact, the first section of the book does end on that note, and would have been a fine (if somewhat short) YA novel. This one, however, is a book for grown-ups, and it goes far beyond the Brave Young Heroine Challenging Tradition to take a look at what happens to the song when you change a single note.

Well worth reading. And, since I have an utter aversion to series books, it's good to see a stand-alone fantasy novel that doesn't require the reader to make a career out of wading through 27 volumes of high fantasy set in a pseudo-medieval world of magic and myth.

[atreic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book. It is the story of Maris, adopted by a Flyer of Windhaven, but sidelined when he has a biological child of his own. Being a fantasy story, the heir doesn't want wings, he wants to be a singer, and Maris wants to fly with a burning passion that she would change the world for... and so she steals the wings, is tried by the Council, and eventually persuades them that a new way is needed.A lot of books would have stopped there. But this is the story of all of Maris's life, and the traditional Young Adult fight-against-the-odds-to-achieve-your-dream is only the start. The majority of the book is Maris growing up, and having to deal with the changes her naïve actions cause. I think one of the things I love most about this book is Val One Wing. He is written as a very ambiguous, but very dislikable character. Maris, who is talented and loving and so easy to identify with, spends a lot of the book reaching out to him and making an effort, only to find him being what feels like gratuitously cruel to her. He wants to fly, but not to be a flyer - he despises the aristocrats who lord it over the rest of Windhaven. He flaunts their tradition wherever he can. And he is ruthlessly driven - he wins his wings by challenging a women who is distraught weeks after her brother's death, and never shows any remorse for his actions. But he has watertight motivations, and a sympathetic backstory, and leaves me a tangled mix of hating him and loving him every time.In the third part of the book, Maris loses her ability to fly through a terrible accident, and the story talks of grief, of healing, of how we define ourselves, and how we heal and reinvent ourselves. There are so many things I love about this book. But it captures so truly the feeling of soaring and spiraling high above the sea, sun glinting on silver wings, the joy and glory of it.

[ricaustria · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic from the 70s, memorable for its wonderful depiction of the joys of flying, I mean with wings, like an eagle. The written version of the flight training segment of the movie Avatar. 30 years after, the memories are fading but overall it was a good read.

[robinamelia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I would really only recommend this book for historical interest, in noting where two of Rowling's main themes (the battle between people born into magic families and those of mixed ancestry, and magic academies) had precedent. The book follows the life of Maris, a fisherman's daughter, on this world where humans had long ago been stranded, leaving behind only this fabric which allowed those who wore them as wings to fly. That is handy, since the planet is mainly water, with scattered islands and they don't seem to have developed any other means of communication. Maris's fight to become a flyer succeeds, but ends up changing the social order more drastically than she had realized.

[nesum_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was a basically enjoyable book, but little more. I picked it up because I've generally liked other George R. R. Martin titles, but this one lacked the fullness of his other work, especially in the characters. The people who inhabit this world, even the main characters, are very two-dimensional, and I found it very difficult to really care about any of them. As I said, it's an okay read, but it's not one I'd really recommend you run out and buy.

[paganpaul · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very nice and intriguing read, this book. The story is well-written and easy to follow, despite the jumps in time that happen in some places.I really like Windhaven, even when there are many painful and sad moments in it.

[taylorh_97 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A nice treat / departure for Martin & Tuttle fansSep 2006This book doesn't have quite the same plot complexity that I have known Martin for. I don't know if that is Tuttle's influence, or simply a recognition that such would complicate an otherwise graceful story. I am happy for their focus on the flying itself rather than the political struggles of the inter-island governments. There is also less oration than expected in a Martin (except in a few key circumstances) for which I am appreciative. We get to know Maris through her hopes, struggles, wishes, and flight. Rejoice with her in the sun sparkled heights, and hold tight in the dizzying shrieking storms. /Almost/ makes me want to go hang-gliding.

[silentq_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this on up for the first author, I'm trying to fill out my read list on him (just read the Storm of Ice and Fire a novella from the same world). A young woman wants to stay a flying messenger on a water based world, they're the only quick connection between the remote islands as the seas are infested with dangerous predators that make sailing a risky proposition. The messengers fly on wings made from the original settler's space ship, and they're handed down through the families. She wants to break the tradition, make it merit based, and the book covers her life trying to force the world to change. Lots of stuff gets crammed into the novel, it could have been extended into two, maybe, but it's enjoyable in a light sci-fi sort of way. Plus the authors don't shy away from hurting the characters.