Helpful Score: 2
The protagonist, Maris, is the daughter of a poor fisherman. As a young girl she yearns to fly - and when she's adopted by a member of the flyers' guild, it appears the orphan may achieve her dream despite the odds. Wealthy landowners control the guild, however, and in order to keep her wings she has to fight generations of tradition as well as prejudice from the sons and daughters of nobles.
This is a reasonably well done story. Decent writing, believable plot devices, mildly interesting characters. And the world built here is actually pretty interesting. A remote archipelago hosts a pre-industrial society literally built from the wreckage of interstellar travelers; the flyers use wings cobbled together from old space ship parts.
Still, despite a lot of potential, this book seems to be missing something. The authors offer a "moral dilemma" dressed up with cultural/class warfare to drive the story but then it just kind of limps along. As I read, I kept thinking, "yeah, so what?"
This is a reasonably well done story. Decent writing, believable plot devices, mildly interesting characters. And the world built here is actually pretty interesting. A remote archipelago hosts a pre-industrial society literally built from the wreckage of interstellar travelers; the flyers use wings cobbled together from old space ship parts.
Still, despite a lot of potential, this book seems to be missing something. The authors offer a "moral dilemma" dressed up with cultural/class warfare to drive the story but then it just kind of limps along. As I read, I kept thinking, "yeah, so what?"
Helpful Score: 1
Good read, it helped pass the time on an airplane. Among the scattered islands that make up the water world of Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers, who bring news, gossip, songs, and stories. They are romantic figures crossing treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms that could easily dash them from the sky to instant death.
This reminded me of Anne McCaffery's dragon flyers series.
This reminded me of Anne McCaffery's dragon flyers series.
