Had there been more conflict with some of the old guard and a proper sense of struggle, it would have felt more justified. After that the notion of traditionalism never poses a serious problem for Maris. This theme is laboured quite heavily but I feel it was undermined somewhat by the way it’s fairly quickly swept aside, as most of the characters seem to recognise that the current system is flawed and quickly see the sense in changing it. It’s made clear that the flyer culture is somewhat elitist and slightly staid, and the book spends a lot of time pondering the fairness and sensibility of an inheritance-based system for those lucky enough to wear wings. Her single-mindedness and utter devotion to flying made her feel a little bland at times, but her struggle to be accepted by the flyers at the start of the book gets the reader onside. I felt that Maris was a great protagonist. Ultimately it’s Maris’s desire to be one of them that sets the plot in motion, and this is a very character-driven story, with some really strong characters to match. The relatively easy life of a flyer is contrasted well with the harshness of life on the ground, and it’s easy to sympathise with the various characters who want to have a chance to fly. You can definitely see some of the early ideas of ASOIAF in this book: particularly in the bleak, harsh way that life in a quasi-medieval world is portrayed.

The flight mechanism used in the story was so well-realised I could easily imagine myself flying on a pair of metallic wings – I had a perfect picture of what they should look like in my head. Maris and the other flyers’ travels across the ocean from island to island were superbly described: the imagery of crashing waves and freezing thunderstorms was vivid enough to make me shiver. These were the part of the book I most enjoyed, and without them the book wouldn’t have worked at all. The language is evocative and doesn’t spare you any detail: at times it’s almost lyrical, particularly in the flying sequences. Regardless, Windhaven is beautifully written. I’d be interested to read some of Tuttle’s individual work to compare. It didn’t seem that they’d alternated writing chunks of the story, as some co-authors do: I recognised touches of Martin’s writing style here and there, but the narrative didn’t feel disjointed or choppy. Perhaps because of my unfamiliarity with Tuttle, I found it hard to distinguish between the two. Conversely, not being at all familiar with Lisa Tuttle, I was even more intrigued to read this book. Teenage readers might find it a little lacking on the action scenes, but it's a great read nonetheless.Īs a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, I love George RR Martin’s writing style and the vivid world and characters he created, and was interested to see what his other work might be like.

Windhaven by George R.R. Martin