And when she wins that bitter battle, she discovers that her troubles are only beginning. So Maris challenges tradition, demanding that flyers be chosen on the basis of merit rather than inheritance. But Coll wants only to be a singer, traveling the world by sea. By tradition, however, the wings must go to her stepbrother, Coll, the flyer's legitimate son. Maris of Amberly, a fisherman's daughter, was raised by a flyer and wants nothing more than to soar on the currents high above Windhaven. Except that sometimes life is not quite so neat. Wings are meant only for the offspring of flyers-now the new nobility of Windhaven. And for the flyers, allowing just anyone to join their cadre is an idea that borders on heresy. With such elitism comes arrogance and a rigid adherence to hidebound tradition. They are also members of an increasingly elite caste, for the wings-always in limited quantity- are growing gradually rarer as their bearers perish. They are romantic figures crossing treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms that could easily dash them from the sky to instant death. Many generations later, 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.

Communication among the scattered settlements was virtually impossible until the discovery that, thanks to light gravity and a dense atmosphere, humans were able to fly with the aid of metal wings made of bits of the cannibalized spaceship. It is a world of small islands, harsh weather, and monster-infested seas. The planet of Windhaven was not originally a home to humans, but it became one following the crash of a colony starship. A classic tale of a brilliantly rendered world of ironbound tradition, where a rebellious soul seeks to prove the power of a dream.

Windhaven graphic novel