Windhaven - Softcover

George R. R. Martin; Lisa Tuttle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553577905 ISBN 13: 9780553577907

Publisher: Spectra Books, 2003

Synopsis

George R. R. Martin has thrilled a generation of readers with his epic works of the imagination, most recently the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling saga told in the novels A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords. Lisa Tuttle has won acclaim from fans of science fiction, horror, and fantasy alike— most recently for her haunting novel The Pillow Friend. Now together they gift readers with this classic tale of a brilliantly rendered world of ironbound tradition, where a rebellious soul seeks to prove the power of a dream.

The planet of Windhaven was not originally a home to humans, but it became one following the crash of a colony starship. It is a world of small islands, harsh weather, and monster-infested seas. Communication among the scattered settlements was virtually impossible until the discovery that, thanks to light gravity and a dense atmosphere, humans were able to fly with the aid of metal wings made of bits of the cannibalized spaceship.

Many generations later, among the scattered islands that make up the water world of Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers, who bring news, gossip, songs, and stories. They are romantic figures crossing treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms that could easily dash them from the sky to instant death. They are also members of an increasingly elite caste, for the wings—always in limited quantity—are growing gradually rarer as their bearers perish.

With such elitism comes arrogance and a rigid adherence to hidebound tradition. And for the flyers, allowing just anyone to join their cadre is an idea that borders on heresy. Wings are meant only for the offspring of flyers—now the new nobility of Windhaven. Except that sometimes life is not quite so neat.

Maris of Amberly, a fisherman's daughter, was raised by a flyer and wants nothing more than to soar on the currents high above Windhaven. By tradition, however, the wings must go to her stepbrother, Coll, the flyer's legitimate son. But Coll wants only to be a singer, traveling the world by sea. So Maris challenges tradition, demanding that flyers be chosen on the basis of merit rather than inheritance. And when she wins that bitter battle, she discovers that her troubles are only beginning.

For not all flyers are willing to accept the world's new structure, and as Maris battles to teach those who yearn to fly, she finds herself likewise fighting to preserve the integrity of a society she so longed to join—not to mention the very fabric that holds her culture together.

About this title

Review

Praise for Windhaven
"A powerful flight of the imagination ... wrought by a pair of writers noted for excellence." Roger Zelazny
"Told with a true storyteller's voice: clear, singing, persuasive, and wonderfully moving. They have made a mythic land and peopled it with unforgettable characters. It is a book for adults and children who have dreamed of flying with their own wings, and for story listeners of all ages for whom dreams are as potent as realities. A truly wonderful book." Jane Yolen
"It's a romance. It's science fantasy. It's beautiful." A.E. van Vogt
"The pace never slackens, shifting easily from moments of almost unbearable tension to others of sheer poetry and exhilaration. Martin and Tuttle make wonderful professional music together."
-- "Fort Worth Star-Telegram"

For George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones
"Grabs hold and won't let go. It's brilliant."-- Robert Jordan
"A grand feast and pageant: George R. R. Martin has unveiled for us an intensely realized, romantic but realistic world."-- "Chicago Sun-Times
"
A Clash of Kings
"Destined to be one of the best fantasy series ever written."-- "The Denver Post
"
"Rivals T. H. White's The Once and Future King."-- "The Des Moines Register"
For Lisa Tuttle's The Pillow Friend
"A disturbing novel about dreams and wishes, a nightmarish distaff monkey's paw of a book that it's impossible to forget. Lisa Tuttle remains our preeminent chronicler of family madness and desire."-- Neil Gaiman
"Stunning. This novel shows us that what we hide from ourselves, and what we make up, may be more real than reality itself."-- "Library Journal"
Lost Futures
"Lisa Tuttle's best fiction is like a slow settling of vast planes of thought and emotion -- luminous, quiet, wry and often bitter. The edges almost always admit other worlds, sometimes horrific, whose full import may be revealed, fully and skillfully, in a single, telling line."-- Kathleen Ann Goonan, "The New York Review of Science Fiction""

Praise for Windhaven
"A powerful flight of the imagination ... wrought by a pair of writers noted for excellence." Roger Zelazny
"Told with a true storyteller's voice: clear, singing, persuasive, and wonderfully moving. They have made a mythic land and peopled it with unforgettable characters. It is a book for adults and children who have dreamed of flying with their own wings, and for story listeners of all ages for whom dreams are as potent as realities. A truly wonderful book." Jane Yolen
"It's a romance. It's science fantasy. It's beautiful." A.E. van Vogt
"The pace never slackens, shifting easily from moments of almost unbearable tension to others of sheer poetry and exhilaration. Martin and Tuttle make wonderful professional music together."
-- Fort Worth Star-Telegram

For George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones
"Grabs hold and won't let go. It's brilliant."-- Robert Jordan
"A grand feast and pageant: George R. R. Martin has unveiled for us an intensely realized, romantic but realistic world."-- Chicago Sun-Times

A Clash of Kings

"Destined to be one of the best fantasy series ever written."-- The Denver Post

"Rivals T. H. White's The Once and Future King."-- The Des Moines Register
For Lisa Tuttle's The Pillow Friend
"A disturbing novel about dreams and wishes, a nightmarish distaff monkey's paw of a book that it's impossible to forget. Lisa Tuttle remains our preeminent chronicler of family madness and desire."-- Neil Gaiman
"Stunning. This novel shows us that what we hide from ourselves, and what we make up, may be more real than reality itself."-- Library Journal
Lost Futures
"Lisa Tuttle's best fiction is like a slow settling of vast planes of thought and emotion -- luminous, quiet, wry and often bitter. The edges almost always admit other worlds, sometimes horrific, whose full import may be revealed, fully and skillfully, in a single, telling line."-- Kathleen Ann Goonan, The New York Review of Science Fiction"

Praise for Windhaven

"A powerful flight of the imagination ... wrought by a pair of writers noted for excellence."--Roger Zelazny

"Told with a true storyteller's voice: clear, singing, persuasive, and wonderfully moving. They have made a mythic land and peopled it with unforgettable characters. It is a book for adults and children who have dreamed of flying with their own wings, and for story listeners of all ages for whom dreams are as potent as realities. A truly wonderful book."--Jane Yolen

"It's a romance. It's science fantasy. It's beautiful."--A.E. van Vogt

"The pace never slackens, shifting easily from moments of almost unbearable tension to others of sheer poetry and exhilaration. Martin and Tuttle make wonderful professional music together."
-- Fort Worth Star-Telegram

For George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones

"Grabs hold and won't let go. It's brilliant."-- Robert Jordan

"A grand feast and pageant: George R. R. Martin has unveiled for us an intensely realized, romantic but realistic world."-- Chicago Sun-Times

A Clash of Kings

"Destined to be one of the best fantasy series ever written."-- The Denver Post

"Rivals T. H. White's The Once and Future King."-- The Des Moines Register

For Lisa Tuttle's The Pillow Friend

"A disturbing novel about dreams and wishes, a nightmarish distaff monkey's paw of a book that it's impossible to forget. Lisa Tuttle remains our preeminent chronicler of family madness and desire."-- Neil Gaiman

"Stunning. This novel shows us that what we hide from ourselves, and what we make up, may be more real than reality itself."-- Library Journal

Lost Futures

"Lisa Tuttle's best fiction is like a slow settling of vast planes of thought and emotion -- luminous, quiet, wry and often bitter. The edges almost always admit other worlds, sometimes horrific, whose full import may be revealed, fully and skillfully, in a single, telling line."-- Kathleen Ann Goonan, The New York Review of Science Fiction

Book Description

An evocative tale revolution and change set on a lost colony co-authored by one of the 90s masters of fantasy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Spectra Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0553577905
• ISBN 13: 9780553577907
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 416