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claire_bunfield's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
lrvd's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this story overall for the plot and the setting -- an ocean world with scattered islands. However, though I understood the characters and their motivations, the characterization wasn't all that good. The writing quality also wasn't what I had expected it to be. Nontheless, I enjoyed the story. If you could give half-stars I would probably rate this a 2.5
emilyfrizz's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent example of worldbuilding, where each segment of the book expands on a different aspect of the original premise of Windhaven. Full of interesting characters, but perhaps a little too ready to give everybody happy endings, these stories were nonetheless very enjoyable and the world vividly described.
benlundns's review against another edition
5.0
It is not very often that a book will make me get misty eyed at the end, but this one did. Pulled from a collection of short stories, it is short for a George R.R. Martin story in that it's under 600 pages. But it definitely packs a punch, and really touches that universal feeling of wanting more then what you have in life.
rollingfroth's review against another edition
4.0
Reread from 2005. It's flawed of course, but is a pretty story that does a nice job illustrating humanity's struggle to properly balance tradition and progress...
koreilly's review against another edition
4.0
Insane that nobody ever put this book in front of Hayao Miyazaki. Dude would've ate it up. Shame.
irenevh's review against another edition
3.0
3,5 stars
A rare standalone fantasy with an interesting concept, but which peaks too early, and feels slow later on.
Windhaven is the, surprisingly, the first book I have ever read written by George R.R. Martin, and not one I had of before being gifted it by a friend. It is one of his older books and might have not been well known at all if Martin himself hadn't become one of the most well known fantasy authors due to Game of Thrones.
Windhaven is a book about a world consisting of Islands separated by a rough sea which is often plagued by storms. To get messages across between the islands, certain people train to fly between the islands using kite like wings. The story itself follows the life of Maris, a flyer who doesn't like following the status quo.
The book is divided into three parts, each being its own, sort of self-contained story, within Maris' life. They are definitely connected, and wouldn't do well to read separately, but each has their start, build-up conflict etc.
the problem I found with this, is that first part of the book, which is the shortest at about 75 pages, is also the best of the three stories. the other two, each about twice that length tend to feel slow and dragging after a while, which is why even though I started fats in the book, it took me quite long to finish.
Overall the book has an interesting story to tell and the characters and the world are pretty well done, but I think this book could easily have been about 50 pages shorter and still have worked.
A rare standalone fantasy with an interesting concept, but which peaks too early, and feels slow later on.
Windhaven is the, surprisingly, the first book I have ever read written by George R.R. Martin, and not one I had of before being gifted it by a friend. It is one of his older books and might have not been well known at all if Martin himself hadn't become one of the most well known fantasy authors due to Game of Thrones.
Windhaven is a book about a world consisting of Islands separated by a rough sea which is often plagued by storms. To get messages across between the islands, certain people train to fly between the islands using kite like wings. The story itself follows the life of Maris, a flyer who doesn't like following the status quo.
The book is divided into three parts, each being its own, sort of self-contained story, within Maris' life. They are definitely connected, and wouldn't do well to read separately, but each has their start, build-up conflict etc.
the problem I found with this, is that first part of the book, which is the shortest at about 75 pages, is also the best of the three stories. the other two, each about twice that length tend to feel slow and dragging after a while, which is why even though I started fats in the book, it took me quite long to finish.
Overall the book has an interesting story to tell and the characters and the world are pretty well done, but I think this book could easily have been about 50 pages shorter and still have worked.
aymareta's review against another edition
3.0
Una novela muy interesante, aunque Martin tiene mejores obras de este género. A Tuttle no la conocía.
Trata la individualidad, el socialismo, la revolución, la ética de la guerra... Con delicadas alas plateadas.
Trata la individualidad, el socialismo, la revolución, la ética de la guerra... Con delicadas alas plateadas.
ezlyangel's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty good, it was an interesting story. Unfortunately I don't have much more to say about it, I felt a lot more could have been done with such an original world and characters.