Windhaven
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | George R. R. Martin, Lisa Tuttle |
| Products | Science fiction novel |
Windhaven is a science fiction fix-up novel authored by Americans George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle, initially released in 1981 through Timescape Books. The book unites three previously independent novellas. A mass market paperback edition was issued in 1982 by Pocket Books, both editions showcasing cover illustrations by Vincent Di Fate. Subsequent printings appeared under Bantam Spectra with artwork by Stephen Youll, along with UK paperback versions published by New English Library and Gollancz.
This work received a nomination for the 1982 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and secured second place in that year's Locus Poll.
Writing process
Friends since 1973, Martin and Tuttle collaborated on the initial novella, The Storms of Windhaven (referred to as "Storms" within the novel), which first appeared in the May 1975 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. This story won the 1976 Locus Award for Best Novella and was shortlisted for both the Hugo Award for Best Novella and the Nebula Award for Best Novella.
They revisited Windhaven with One-Wing, serialized in two installments in the January and February 1980 issues of Analog. This piece garnered a Hugo nomination in 1981 and won the Analog Readers Poll for best serial.
The final novella, The Fall, along with an original prologue and epilogue, were crafted specifically to expand the narrative into a full-length novel.
Although plans existed for two additional volumes—beginning with Painted Wings as a sequel—Martin and Tuttle did not continue their partnership. Diverging creative directions and conflicting schedules prevented further collaboration.
Background
Set on the imagined world of Windhaven, the story unfolds among descendants of human space travelers who crash-landed centuries ago. These survivors established communities on scattered islands within a vast oceanic planet, fashioning rudimentary gliders from spaceship debris to maintain contact. Over generations, pilots of these gliders—called "wings"—developed into an elite social class, inheriting wings within families and barring non-flyers from piloting. This social hierarchy forms the foundation of the character-driven plot.
Prologue
Maris, a young girl from a humble background on Lesser Amberly island, lives with her mother following her fisherman father's death years prior. Their livelihood depends largely on gathering clams and collecting debris washed ashore after storms. One day, Maris meets Russ, one of the island’s three flyers, who treats her kindly. Inspired, Maris confides her desire to become a flyer herself.
Part 1: Storms
Now grown, Maris has been taken under Russ’s wing—literally—and trained after he passed his wings to her following an injury that ended his flying days. Traditionally, wings are inherited by the eldest child; however, Russ had no offspring at that time. Subsequently, Russ’s wife gave birth to Coll, who at thirteen is expected to inherit the family wings. Coll’s claim threatens Maris’s right to fly, though she doubts his skills and knows he dreams of a career as a traveling musician.
On Coll’s coming-of-age flight demonstration day, he crashes and declines to accept the wings, announcing his intention to pursue music instead. Russ disowns both Coll and Maris; another flyer named Corm seizes the wings with plans to transfer them to a flyer from a neighboring village. During the night, Maris steals back the wings from Corm and entrusts them to Dorrel on another island, aiming to convene an uncommon "flyer’s council" to validate her claim.
At this council summoned by Corm—who seeks to declare Maris an outlaw—she challenges the hereditary wing system as unjust and obsolete. The assembly votes to create flyer academies accessible to all residents and establish an annual contest where candidates compete for wings. Additionally, Maris is permitted to retain possession of Russ’s wings.
Part 3: The Decline
As she grows older, Maris endures a life-threatening accident while navigating a storm over the Island of Theos. Under the care of a local healer named Evan, who eventually becomes her romantic companion, she slowly recovers. Although her mobility returns, a traumatic brain injury leaves her unable to fly, resulting in her wings being taken away and sent back to her native island. Grieving this loss, Maris withdraws from flyer culture and dedicates herself to assisting Evan in his medical practice. When her brother Coll and his daughter come to live with them, Maris confronts her unfamiliarity with a settled, land-based lifestyle.
Maris later reenters flyer society by acting as a mediator between one-wing flyers and those born to flyers after a contentious execution of a one-wing flyer by an influential landowner on the island. Feeling culpable for not preventing the hanging, she organizes a protest where one-wing flyers circle the execution site and employs singers to spread awareness of the injustice, casting the landowner as the antagonist. Her actions bring the divided groups together, leading to a peaceful resolution and the removal of the tyrannical landowner.
In the end, Maris finds harmony between her sense of self and community connections, deciding to stay with Evan instead of returning to her teaching role at the academy. Evan also pledges to leave his homeland to support her where she is most needed.
Epilogue
As Maris approaches death, a singer visits her bedside while she recites a song penned by her deceased brother Coll. This song stands as Coll’s final message to her.
Graphic novel adaptation
In 2018, Bantam Books released a graphic novel version of the story, adapted by Lisa Tuttle with illustrations by Elsa Charretier and coloring by Lauren Affe.
External links
- SF Site review by Wayne McLaurin
- Infinity Plus review by John Grant