Graphic Novel Review – Windhaven by George R. R. Martin, Lisa Tuttle, Elsa Charretier (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: August 21, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-0553393668
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Among the scattered islands of the ocean-bound world called Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers—humans borne on handcrafted wings who cross treacherous seas, braving shifting winds and sudden storms, to bring news, gossip, songs, and stories to Windhaven’s far-flung communities. Maris of Lesser Amberly is only a fisherman’s daughter, but as much a descendant of the star sailors who founded her world as the flyer family who adopted her. She yearns to soar high above the water on the sky’s buffeting currents.
But it is Maris’s stepbrother who stands to inherit the irreplaceable wings when he comes of age—though he dreams of pursuing a very different path. So Maris dares to challenge tradition and the law by demanding that flyers be chosen by merit rather than inheritance. Determined to establish flying competitions and training academies for those not of the flyer-born classes, she wages a bitter battle for change. But even as she triumphs, a host of new troubles confronts her. For a brewing revolution now threatens to destroy the world she fought so hard to join, and crush her proud, rebellious spirit—unless she is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I borrowed from the library.
Story (4/5): This story tells us about Maris’s life. We start at the very beginning of her life when she is a young girl and wants to fly, then go to when she fights for big changes to society’s structure to be able to fly, and onto her late life when she sees the ramifications of those changes. The story covers a big time range and I enjoyed it. The story outside of Maris’s life is pretty typical of fantasy “power-struggle between nations” type of story.
Characters (3/5): I liked seeing Maris’s whole life laid out in this one book, it was interesting to see how she changed over time. I will say I didn’t love any of the characters in here and they didn’t have a ton of depth. Most of the characters come off as fairly selfish.
Setting (3/5): This is set in a typical fantasy world where families who own wings can become flyers. This one nation is well built but we don’t see a lot of the rest of the world. Aside from the flying aspect there isn’t much to set this apart from a million other fantasy worlds out there.
Writing/Drawing Style (2/5): I was really unimpressed with both the writing and the drawing style. Characters looked sketched at times with very little facial expression, what could have come across as sweeping vistas from the air just looks undetailed and unfinished. The book is fairly poorly written with awkward dialogue between characters that sounds stiff. The writing it what I would expect in a children’s book, very immature sounding, but this is definitely not a children’s book.
My Summary (3/5): Overall I liked the idea of the world and enjoyed Maris’s story. However, the selfish unlikable characters, poor drawing, and awkward dialogue made this a less than stellar read for me. I didn’t hate it but I kept feeling like it could have been done so much better. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are desperate for a fantasy graphic novel to read. It’s not awful but it’s not good either.
