While eager to jump into the pages of "Windhaven" by George RR Martin
and Lisa Tuttle, I found my first disappointment in my fantasy-fiction
idol wherein George fails to deliver. I found myself questioning his
acceptance in permitting his name to be published on the cover. While
interesting in concept, I found it supremely disappointing in style,
depth of character and plot line. The idea is intriguing, but fails to
evoke the slightest emotional response from the reader throughout all
the chapters of the main character's life. I turned the final page
without the twinge of regret I typically experience to finish a book.
George RR Martin may have his name on the
cover, but none of the depth of character fans have come to know and
love about his writing lies between the pages.
The premise:
Windhaven is a water-based world with a collection of small islands
inaccessible for long-distance travel (or routine communication) by boat
travel due to rough seas, frequent storms, high winds and a collection
of sea monsters with eager jaws. Populated by the survivors from a generations-old spaceship disaster,
the inhabitants of Windhaven have come to form a messenger network of
"flyers" - regarded as an elite cadre in their society for their ability
to fly messages, calls to war, gossip, story and song to the other
isles. These silver-winged couriers found their ability to glide long
distances between population centers in the lower gravity, near-constant
winds and use of their precious wings made of the recovered nearly
indestructible metallic fabric from the original spacecraft.
Maris, a young fisherman's daughter, dreams of one day learning
to fly, but is disregarded in her fantasy as she firmly inhabits the
lower class of "landbound" and caste rules hold hard and strong. From
time immemorial, inheritance of the precious wings passes to the eldest
trueborn child of a flyer upon their coming-of-age at 13. However, the
wings are becoming more and more valued and rare as the flyers succumb
to the variances of the planet's harsh weather, erratic winds, the
dreaded "still air" or other accidents. A flyer adopts Maris as his own
daughter, and violating the strict rules of the accession to the
privilege of being a flyer only through direct-blood, she becomes a
"one-wing" and challenges the heirarchy by proposing that all citizens
of Windhaven should have the opportunity, if desired, to train at an
academy, challenge for the right to wear wings, and that it should no
longer be restricted to flyer family for the direct
inheritance. In part, sparked by her adopted brother Coll's fear of
flight and near-fatal accident on his 13th birthday, she successfully
overthrows the tradition. But, as in the age-old adage: Be careful what
you wish for. Her overturning of tradition comes with a butterfly effect
- ripples are farther reaching, and more personally impacting, than
Maris could ever have predicted.
My vote: One-thumb sideways. Eager to start a new book to wash the bland taste of this book from my mouth...........
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