The Desert

Spider World #1

by Colin Wilson

     Mankind once ruled planet Earth, smugly ignoring the tiny creatures crawling underfoot. Then came the cosmic catastrophe which put man at the mercy of the giant spiders, icily intelligent conquerors armed with awesome mind powers. Now, the struggle for survival begins...
     The Death Lord spiders rule the Earth, herding humans like cattle. A few tribes of free men and women dwell in the desert, hiding underground, living by their wits. Now, a young warrior named Niall begins an epic search for the secrets of the spiders - secrets which might give humanity a fighting chance against the overlords...

Edition note: while this is the first volume of the Spider World series, it was also originally (and later) part of most editions of "The Tower". The 1988 edition of "The Tower" split the formerly unified book into three, respectively "The Desert", "The Tower" and "The Fortress", leading to considerable confusion.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, British Literature, Dystopia

163 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1988

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spider World, yahoo! this is so much better than the series' title sounds. in the transparency of its prose and the richness of its ideas, i was reminded of a darker, not-quite-post-apocalyptic version of Le Guin's Earthsea. there are certainly equivalent amounts of those intangible things "depth" and "resonance". the series is action-packed yet moodily contemplative and at times uncompromisingly stark. the protagonist moves through eerie adventure, frightening bondage, and strange journeys of discovery... all leading to surprisingly thoughtful meditations on the human condition. as the series unfolds, the mysteries of humankind are solved and yet made all the more mysterious. where will man go and where has he been? what is our life for and what does it all mean? and of course the classic Colin Wilson conundrum: What Is Human Consciousness? 4 stars for the entire series!

also, a special award for
Best Realization of How Giant Futuristic Spiders Actually Think



nope, that's not what they are thinking.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a good deal more than I initially expected that I would. The world of The Desert is a strange one. Humanity has declined and now spiders rule the planet Earth. Uhh... Right. Okay. But the author makes it work. The world is effectively fleshed out, the characters are well distinguished and the action sequences are dynamic and exciting.

I planned to read this over a couple of days. Ultimately, I finished it in one afternoon.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Premise being what it is (great, mind you), it’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better than Wilson does here, for this is not simply a book about the scattered remnants of humanity dealing with the constant threat of a metamorphized and giganticized insect fauna, to say nothing of the intelligent spiders patrolling the skies for human slaves, but also a consistently curious book about nature, humans place within it, and the boundary between living creatures. It’s also just a good fucking time.

[Sandrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This must have been quite original for its time. Humans no longer are the dominating species on the planet - spiders somehow got to be the rulers... But not all is lost, there are some courageous and innovative humans around :)

[juliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

spider world

[Ayn Doe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started solely because of the author. I've been wanting to read more self-proclaimed philosophical-treatises-as-novels lately, especially written by those with far-right beliefs. This was the last work he did, his self-proclaimed magnum opus, and I've always loved insects so I figured why not. If nothing else i figured the occult as portrayed by someone who wrote books on it and "believed everything occult he read about" from Steiner to Jung would be interesting.

The level of depth shown very evident in, say, the development of mind-control through subtle subjugation of wills from someone who genuinely believes that is real as opposed to most other writings. I loved how Niall subjugating a grey spiders will for the first time gave it such a shock as it experienced jealousy for the first time, the requirements for telepathy and its limits, how powerful even the most primitive spiders were because their entire lives revolve around passive perception in feeling vibrations in their environments, which is something humans need to be trained to do, and whatnot.

Speaking of far-right beliefs, it’s not a surprise that the author was friendly to the likes of Oswald Mosley. the quirks of 20th century fascism in his work are blatant. Every woman is either a silent devoted wife or an irrational hysteric. The main character, Niall, tapping into "racial memories" to figure out how a car works. The dichotomy of constant struggle or aimless boredom with the latter being the far preferableble option for humanity matches a lot of what Wilson says in his interviews with regard to technology causing civilizational decline.

Seperated from all of this was an interesting story in its own right. I loved the vivid descriptions of the ant wars and how trapdoor spiders and grey spiders go about their lives. And how routine hiding your fear was so gigantic spiders gliding through silk balloons wouldn't see you. It does have me wondering how this story will close.

[David Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel; and I wasn't expecting to. Although I am a huge Wilson reader, having read and enjoyed most of his huge oeuvre, the premise of this novel did not at all sound promising: giant spiders versus a repressed mankind sounded a bit like a crass metaphor, a low-end B-Movie fantasy/horror. However, it beyond my first impression, my pre-judgement, and is written with a vivifying sense of time and place, and moreover it lives up to Wilson's own notion of 'Faculty X' (the sense of other times and other places).

There is indeed a poetry here, and Wilson's usual philosophising is gently infused in this enjoyable fantasy series. It is perhaps one of Wilson's most well written novels since The Mind Parasites.

I am surprised it is not better known, for it is wonderful entertainment with a bounty of food for thought.

[Mindaugas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hobby comeback, one more Tick in goals: SciFi and Fantasy reading. Numerous books within Spider World series, recommended for easy reads. First three awesome, sadly value dropping with every next.

[Liutauras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smagu vėl perskaityti, vis tik geras action romanas su geromis idėjomis

[Kirkirvarpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Istorija apie pasaulį, kuriame karaliauja vorai, o žmonės tik bejėgiai besislapstantys sutvėrimai. Arba vorų vergai.
Neatrodo, kad, romanas per beveik 40 metų nuo parašymo būtų smarkiai pasenęs. Labai gerai sudėliotas siužetas ir užkoduotos užuominos, kurios nutiesia kelią tolesnei istorijos eigai. Kadangi siužetą miglotai atsimenu iš seniau, matau, kaip užtikrintai rašytojas verpia pasakojimo giją. Žiauriai gerai susiskaitė.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spiders have enslaved the human race.
Young Niall and his family eke out a bare subsistence somewhere in the western desert.
I've never read anything quite like this by Colin Wilson before. It seems to be a Juvenile or Young Adult.
A quick read, but this is volume 1 of 4.

[Sashko Liutyj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Інтересненько. Чудовий задум, цікавий всесвіт, але так сухо і скупо, що хочеться винести авторові догану.
Шкода, що він вже вмер.

[Povilas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling world of spiders.

[Christoffer Ladstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doing a reread 3 decades later, and I realize my memory of it is very weak. An easy fastpaced read it is, more YA than adult, but I do expect the sequel to be more fascinating.
3.5 stars

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently written in response to a challenge from Roald Dahl to write a children's book. It's pretty grim and, really, quite good! I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

[Christopher Desruisseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mankind has fallen and giant psychic spiders rule the world. Interesting concept that kept me reading for a few more books.

[Invadozer Misothorax Circular-thallus Popewaffensquat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bug preppers take note. This is for bugocalypse.

[Salim M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good story out of a random find in an old book shop! Spiderworld... what an interesting thought experiment.

[John Leitzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not your sword and fantasy or a typical space opera. At times, it reads more like a naturalists description of the life around him. Even the action sequences seem blandly objective from a scientific journal. Might want to read Colin Wilson's writings on his philosophy and mind expansion. Then try to figure out how in the world could humans encounter beings like this. The series is Wilson's take on it.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although well-written and carefully imagined, Wilson's story about a world in which humans eke out a primitive life in desert regions while insects rule the earth is strangely uncompelling. The coldly objective (and detailed) narration distances the reader from the characters, making it difficult to care about what they do or what happens to them. Many of Wilson's signature concerns (will, telepathy, avoiding complacency) are thoughtfully presented in terms the intended young adult audience can readily understand, but much of the excitement and urgency of Wilson's earlier novels (The Mind Parasites, The Philosopher's Stone, The Space Vampires/Lifeforce) is missing.

[Rayne Leafe · Rating 5 out of 5]

INCREDIBLE

[andrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

literally no idea how I came across this but boi am glad I did. really nice character development, and despite narrative seemed dense in the begining, it became exciting. so much stuff happening and the lore is great. judging from stuff that happened and sequels' titles, I'm so so very excited for more <3