Windhaven

“Told with a true storyteller’s voice: clear, singing, persuasive, and wonderfully moving . . . a truly wonderful book.”—Jane Yolen

From #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Lisa Tuttle comes a timeless tale that brilliantly renders the struggle between the ironbound world of tradition and a rebellious soul seeking to prove the power of a dream.

Among the scattered islands that make up the water world of Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers, romantic figures who cross treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms, to bring news, gossip, songs, and stories to a waiting populace. Maris of Amberly, a fisherman’s daughter, wants nothing more than to soar on the currents high above Windhaven. So she challenges tradition, demanding that flyers be chosen by merit rather than inheritance. But even after winning that bitter battle, Maris finds that her troubles are only beginning. Now a revolution threatens to destroy the world she fought so hard to join—and force her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

“Martin and Tuttle make wonderful professional music together . . . shifting easily from moments of almost unbearable tension to others of sheer poetry and exhilaration.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“A powerful flight of the imagination . . . an entirely enjoyable reading experience, wrought by a pair of writers noted for excellence.”—Roger Zelazny

“It’s romance. It’s science fiction. It’s beautiful.”—A. E. van Vogt

“I didn’t mean to stay up all night to finish Windhaven, but I had to!”—Anne McCaffrey

George R.R. Martin is the award-winning author of seven novels, including Fevre Dream and The Armageddon Rag. He spent ten years in Hollywood, writing screenplays and serving as a story editor on The Twilight Zone and a writer-producer on Beauty and the Beast, before returning to books, his first love. He is presently at work on A Dance with Dragons, the fourth book of his New York Times bestselling saga, which so far includes A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords.

Lisa Tuttle won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1974 and has since gone on to author numerous short stories and novels, including Lost Futures, which was short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and The Pillow Friend. More recently she has written several books for children. Texas-born, she now lives with her husband and daughter in a remote area on the west coast of Scotland, where the scenery and weather are very similar to the seascapes of Windhaven.