I'll be honest, I have never read anything by George R.R. Martin. Yeah, I know, let the haters bash me for it because they all are right. If I love J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, I need to love good old Martin. George R.R. Martin is widely known for the "Song of Ice and Fire" series and the acclaimed T.V. show, "Game of Thrones," A.K.A. the show that kills everyone off without warning. However, he has written other books outside the series, and my curiosity peaked when I saw Windhaven at Barnes and Nobles, one day.

Now George R.R. Martin wasn't alone in writing Windhaven. Lisa Tuttle also wrote the book, and according to research, she was the primary writer of the book, but obviously it sold because of Martin's name being on the cover. Now, what did I think of the book... well I'll get to that later.

The story takes place on the Windhaven, a distant planet where most of its surface is primarily ocean, with large islands here and there. Those who inhabit the planet are descendants of human space voyagers who crash landed on the planet centuries before. The population spread among Windhaven's many islands, and in order to keep communication between them, simplistic gliding devices or Wings, were constructed from the ship's wreckage, and those who pilot them can use the planets extremely windy atmosphere to travel from one island to another. Over time, the pilots, who would be called the Flyers, became their own class, and the wings are handed down to their offspring at the age of thirteen. Wings can only be earned through family inheritance. Giving a sense of class denominations among the inhabitants of the planet. Those who aren't of flyer's descent are called Landbounds.

The story follows Maris, a girl adopted by a flyer when she was a little girl. She always had dreams of being a flyer and had grown to build such a strong love for flying. The book follows her life and is split into three parts.

In the first part of the story, Maris is in her late teens, and she is living her dream as a flyer. Unfortunately, Russ has a biological son now, Coll, who Maris shares a sister/motherly relationship with. Cole is soon to turn thirteen, Maris will have to give the wings to him, something she doesn't want to do. Coll doesn't want to be a flyer, but a singer. He plays guitar and writes songs. When Maris refuses to give up the wings, none of the other flyers are happy, especially Russ, who is so ashamed he denounces Maris and Coll and never being his children. She calls a flyers council to defend her entitlement to the wings, and as a result, she not only causes the ancient code to be repealed but to open up an academy so any landbound can have an opportunity to win the ownership of wings. And this leads into the middle chapter.

Skipping ahead ten years later, Maris's love for the sky has grown ever so stronger. The flyers have also opened an academy giving the landbound a chance to earn their wings. However, not everyone is pleased by it. Dorrel, one of Maris's close friends and casual lover, has expressed deep hatred towards breaking the ancient code of the flyers, despite having supported Maris all the way through. Landbounds trying to earn their wings are given the slander term "One wings." That's when we meet Val, a flyer who originally was a landbound, but challenged the ancient code years before Maris. Val has a little bit of a bad reputation since a few years back he challenged a close friend of Maris to a flight duel, resulting in her losing her wings and committing suicide afterward. To make that long story short....ahhh you'll just have to read the book to find out for yourself.

The last third of the book is probably my favorite, skipping a few decades ahead, Maris is old now and very worn out. A flying accident leaves her injured for many months. She forms a bond and a very beautiful romance with her healer Evans, who is also an elderly man. Unfortunately, she has lost her sense of balance and is unable to fly again. Stricken with grief, she deliberately distances herself from the flyers, only to be reluctantly drawn back in when an uprising against the local ruler takes place. I would go into details but that would require additional spoilers.

The book was very well written. Martin and Tuttle created a very complex world out of "Windhaven." The terminology is admittingly amateur, but its, forgivable. The characters are complex, sympathetic, and a little unlikable. There were a few times where I didn't like Maris. In the middle chapter, she seemed like a hypocrite, because when it came down to it, she challenged the code for her own personal desire to possess the wings, and at times isn't fond of some of the flyers or the landbound who earn their wings. This creates a sense of hypocrisy in her character, kind of giving her a sense of realism.

If there is one flaw with the book, it's the transitions between each chapter. Each chapter started out slow, and slowly spread up as the story unfolded, but the beginnings of each chapter were so slow I almost gave up the book entirely. This is a book you have to be patient with, but I guarantee if you do that, you will enjoy it.

The book was pretty good, definitely worth checking out!

But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? If so, do you want to now? Comment below and stay tuned for more!