37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Martin = quality, June 12, 2001
Don't buy this book expecting the Song of Fire and Ice. This is a much simpler story or collection of stories depending on your point of view. The story revolves around the life of Maris a land-bound who wishes to join the fliers (society's elite), and it is broken up into three sections at different stages of her life. As with his other books, Martin lays out the issues and lets the reader decide if the heroine's actions are for better or for worse. Much as with real life, the answer is not always clear. I thought the main point of this story was the idea that an individual's action have reprecussions. You can't just change one thing and expect everything to stay the same.
The characters in this book are simple, but developed enough in the time you read about them to develop an attachement to them. I thought the characters also acted realistically in many different situations.
I have read already a negative review of this book and I had to laugh. Just in general, can we stop comparing every fantasy novel to Tolken please! Yes, we all know how good Tolken was. And, yes The Lord of the Rings will probably sit atop the fantasy book pile for the rest of eternity as king, but let's give it a rest.
This book is a good, short, simple, light fantasy story. If you have not read any of Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, I would highly, highly recommend it.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasant flight, August 12, 2001
It seems unfair (or perhaps just ignorant) to criticize a book based on its author's other works, but Windhaven's faults are made all the more apparent because thanks to "A Song of Ice and Fire" we know what George R.R. Martin is capable of. If Windhaven were simply different because of style, approach, or content, it wouldn't be so easily comparable to his latest works. As it is, the same elements are there: a unique world, sympathetic characters, attractive yet conflicting philosophies. But unlike in "A Song of Ice and Fire," it's not taken far enough, and the reader never inhabits the story in the same powerful way.
The world of "Windhaven" is engaging; a mostly oceanic globe dotted with island archipelagos. The seas connecting these scattered homes are perilous, and ship travel chancy and slow. The bulk of inter-island contact is made via Flyers; an elite group of men and women trained to ride the constant winds on wings made from the remnants of the spaceship which first landed there. Flyers in Windhaven are nobility of sorts, with the precious wings handed down to the firstborn of each generation. The rest of the population is "land-bound," with a Landsman leader for each island, but mostly appearing to be merchant and peasant classes.
Maris is one of these peasants; a fisherfolk daughter. Although she is land-bound she worships the flyers and eventually gets the use of a pair of wings. As it happens she is a brilliant flyer, no happier than when in the sky. However, the surrogate father who lent her wings eventually has a trueborn son, and plans to strip Maris of both wings and title of Flyer, as tradition mandates.
Here begins the argument that takes one form or another in each of the book's three sections; should wings and flyer's privilege be inherited or earned? Maris's stepbrother has no interest or ability in flying, and Maris has both. Why should she or any other land-bound be denied the wings simply because of her birth? The first section, "Storms," describes her struggle to break tradition and become a flyer, the second section, "One-Wing," delves further into the flyer/land-bound conflict with a controversial land-bound flyer (Val), and the third examines flyer and land-bound rights in "The Fall."
The stories are lightly interesting, but are overly simplistic. Maris's argument to become a flyer is far too easily accepted in such a supposedly tradition-bound society. Val is distasteful but has "childhood trauma" reasons for being so, so is rendered far less potent. And in "The Fall," the weakest of the three, land-bound and flyer politics are muddled, people's actions and reactions unclear. Without giving away the story, a group of flyers gathers over a tainted city, circling in black, never seeming to rest. It's supposed to be a disconcerting image, meant to rattle the city's ruler and get him to yield to their terms, but it's never clear why it should. The flyers do not attack, do not say anything; they do nothing but fly. If the Landsman were to wait long enough, one would think the flyers would eventually have to go home; it wouldn't make sense that they would stay away from their duties for so little purpose indefinitely.
This is the main problem of "Windhaven"; a lack of power. We know people are experiencing life-altering issues, but they're presented so simply that they have little strength to move us. The conflicts between the different aspects of society (flyers, land-bound, Landsmen) would be interesting but are never truly explored. They're only mentioned in order to manufacture conflict between flyers. Martin's latest books brilliantly examine different sides of the story with the effect of tearing the reader in two, not being able to say what is right or wrong. "Windhaven" just glances in the direction of such conflict, choosing a simpler, more pat resolution.
It's always interesting to read an author's earlier works and watch the writing change over the years. A major change is dialog; Martin's years in television and movies have drastically improved his character's speech since "Windhaven." One thing that hasn't changed is his ability to open his world to us. The flying sequences are bright, while the land and seascapes come easily to life. If you don't look too deep, "Windhaven" can be a pleasant glide over a colorful map. It just isn't as interesting when you land.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky, but fascinating, October 18, 2000
The great thing about George R.R. Martin is his uncanny ability to write superb books in different sub-genres. Windhaven is a classic tale of a pebble generating massive waves in a placid pond. Till Maris rebels, the placid populace of Windhaven never thinks to question the feudal hold of the flyers and their hereditary rights. Even Maris rebels not so much on general principle but because she is personally impacted. However as the story progresses, she grows in maturity till by the end, her battle is totally on account of principle. As with change in any feudal society, you have the classic instances of resistance by vested interests, friends unable to understand, relationships being broken because the non-revolutionary partner cannot or will not mature along with the rebel, the sheer horror when choosing principle over sentiment can mean the end of a lifelong friendship. Science fiction or fantsay may be the genre, but Martin's stregth is the painting of Windhaven, its way of life, its people. There are no "bad" characters as such, just ordinary people, each with their own circumstances and motivations. Here is Martin's forte: in explaining the various motivations, he brings the characters to life and makes it easy to identify with this world, totally alien as it may be. The juxtaposition of the familiar and the strange is so well done as to be almost seamless. The end too is inspired. This is not the traditional "lived happily ever after" tale. As with most events in the book, the end is bitter sweet and reflective of real life. Recommended to any fan of good reading, science fiction of otherwise. Thios is an author who is much under-rated.
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