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Spiderlight

Adrian Tchaikovsky (Goodreads Author)

4.10 · Rating details · 1,662 ratings · 293 reviews

The Church of Armes of the Light has battled the forces of Darkness for as long as anyone can remember. The great prophecy has foretold that a band of misfits, led by a high priestess will defeat the Dark Lord Darvezian, armed with their wits, the blessing of the Light and an artifact stolen from the merciless Spider Queen.

Their journey will be long, hard and fraught with ...more

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Paperback, 291 pages

Published August 2nd 2016 by Tor.com

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Sep 04, 2016 Aliette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It starts like a classic quest, with a party determined to kill the Dark Lord, but becomes decidedly unusual when the questers turn a giant spider into a human because they need a guide into the Dark Lord's territory. The spider-human, Nth, gets a crash course in what it means to be human, and everyone else a crash course on quests and Dark Lords and why they shouldn't be trusted.
It's by turns laugh-out humorous and heartbreaking--the chapters from Nth's point of view, in particular, convey what ...more

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Sep 03, 2016 Lindsay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A Dark lord, a world of Light under threat by the Dark, an adventuring party and a prophecy that says the path to victory is via the spider's path.

The adventuring party gains the help of a giant spider and transform him into something more humanoid so that he can pass through human lands. There's Dion, a cleric of the Light who is questioning her faith and the methods she is using, Penthos, a powerful wizard whose connection to the rest of humanity is narrow at best, Cyrene, an archer who strugg A Dark lord, a world of Light under threat by the Dark, an adventuring party and a prophecy that says the path to victory is via the spider's path.

The adventuring party gains the help of a giant spider and transform him into something more humanoid so that he can pass through human lands. There's Dion, a cleric of the Light who is questioning her faith and the methods she is using, Penthos, a powerful wizard whose connection to the rest of humanity is narrow at best, Cyrene, an archer who struggles with the way people treat her as a female warrior, Harathes, a knight of Dion's church and a consummate asshole and Lief, a thief. Penthos transforms the giant spider into a humanoid version of itself that the group calls Enth. He is under their control, but he fairly quickly makes it clear that he's not just a creature of the Dark.

There's a lot going on here and some of it doesn't quite work well together. The concept of Light and Dark and how that relates to good and evil is a large part of the point of the book. There's some pretty strong prejudices in play and these are questioned throughout, particularly in the characters of Dion and Enth. The book is fairly light and with some really quite funny references, but some of the elements are quite heavy. For instance, Cyrene is being sexually harassed by Harathes throughout, and some of the reason for that is Harathes trying to fit her into a traditional gender role to match his prejudice. But Cyrene starts out as the most prejudiced of the party towards Enth, even more so than Harathes.

Enth is an interesting character. He's subject to mind control by the other members of the party, so his agency is limited. That means that his viewpoint is unfortunately underrepresented overall, but when he does have agency it's all the more profound for it. It would have been nice to have more from his point-of-view, but that would have made the story be told from the perspective of a spectator for much of it. A minor related criticism is the gratuitous head-hopping in this book, particularly mid-scene. It can be a little jarring.

Overall, a good entertaining read that tackles some cool issues with the fantasy genre and with a really interesting non-human protagonist. There are some minor issues with tone and wanting more, but it comes out in favor of the book in the end. ...more

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Dec 31, 2019 Phrynne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

After reading quite a few of this author's books I had decided that I preferred his sci fi to his fantasy writings. Then I read this book and changed my mind.

Spiderlight begins in an ordinary fashion with all the tropes - a quest, dark versus light, a world full of magic and weird creatures. Even the main characters are what you would expect, including a slightly crazy, fire loving magician, a self righteous man of god and a cheeky, loveable thief. There is a lot of humour in events and dialogue ...more

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Dec 13, 2019 Gabi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: outstanding_one_way_or_another

Brilliant conversion of Sword and Sorcery tropes

Is there anything that Tchaikovsky can't write? It is his first Fantasy book I've read. I'm a big fan of his SF but tiptoed around his Fantasy, cause I don't like Sword and Sorcery that much. Well … I was positively and overwhelmingly surprised.

In the first part of the book I giggled myself through the pages as I followed the fellowship of crazy misfits on their journey to bring the Light to conquer the Dark: A priestess who starts wavering in her Brilliant conversion of Sword and Sorcery tropes

Is there anything that Tchaikovsky can't write? It is his first Fantasy book I've read. I'm a big fan of his SF but tiptoed around his Fantasy, cause I don't like Sword and Sorcery that much. Well … I was positively and overwhelmingly surprised.

In the first part of the book I giggled myself through the pages as I followed the fellowship of crazy misfits on their journey to bring the Light to conquer the Dark: A priestess who starts wavering in her faith, a mage who wants to set everything on fire, secretly loves the priestess, but doesn't get the basics of social interaction, a knight of the church who is so full of himself that there is no room for common sense, an archer who is frustrated that nobody sees her as a buddy only as sex object, a little thief whose heart is in the right place (and who seems to have the most sense of the bunch) and a spider who is transmogrified into … well … something else.

This unlikely group is the hope of the righteous and stumbles more than strides towards the final battle against evil. Tchaikovsky writes the group members and their interactions with a lot of intelligent sillyness, loveable wit and glimpses of emotional depth. Within a few pages he creates lively, unforgettable characters.

And then, somewhere along the way, while I was grinning and giggling, the tone changes. Slightly at first, then with more impact. The giggling started to get intermingled with goosebumps and (I admit it) some misty eye moments. Effortlessly he turns from silly to profound, in a light-handed way. I can only remember Sir Terry Pratchett as another author who did this to me so far.

I was sure the book would run into a wonderful, lighthearted 4 stars comfort read, but in the last part it checked all the boxes for a 5 star read for me.

The emphasis is on the behaviour towards each other, on the question of who and what is worthy and what isn't. What is the benchmark against which one measures good or evil? I was truly impressed in which manner Tchaikovsky tackled those topics in his book. Never too preachy, always with the escape route for the reader to just read a fun story.

On the outside it feels like one of those Lord-of-the-Rings emulation stories, on the inside it is so much more.

This one goes onto my small pile of books that I will re-read again and again. ...more

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Jan 24, 2020 Twila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: unforgettable, 2020-completed-goal, made-me-laugh, gorgeous-cover, what-did-i-just-read, i-want-more, long-read, crazy-entertaining

I’ve got a special place in my heart for all things D&D. All I needed was one look at this book’s cover and blurb to convince me to buy Spiderlight, to be honest. I’m that easily swayed!

On the surface, this is the exact story I was expecting, the one that I’ve read a million times by now. It’s very clear that Tchaikovsky generously borrowed some of the bigger D&D tropes to set up what is an immensely traditional fantasy world. Here, he uses the sub-genre’s concept of alignment. There are creatur I’ve got a special place in my heart for all things D&D. All I needed was one look at this book’s cover and blurb to convince me to buy Spiderlight, to be honest. I’m that easily swayed!

On the surface, this is the exact story I was expecting, the one that I’ve read a million times by now. It’s very clear that Tchaikovsky generously borrowed some of the bigger D&D tropes to set up what is an immensely traditional fantasy world. Here, he uses the sub-genre’s concept of alignment. There are creatures of the dark that are born “evil” and there are creatures of the light that are born “good” and the two are always at war. So yeah, the typical and stock D&D setting. The plot driving the narrative is also very familiar. There’s a band of ragtag heroes (our main characters) adventuring across the land to kill a great evil lord who has been causing a lot of trouble in their world. It’s that same story we’ve heard over and over and over again. But really, a story doesn’t have to be original to be brilliant. It’s in the way the familiar is retold that can make something special. And oh boy, was Spiderlight special!

Frankly, the simplicity of Spiderlight really DOESN’T MATTER because Adrian Tchaikovsky is an author that has clearly read a great deal of fantasy and has noticed so many of its problems. He’s noticed the whitewashed characters, the lack of well-written women, the one-dimensional moralities, the same tired motivations of the villains, to name a few. Yes, he uses the typical fantasy formula/template, but in his execution, he sufficiently takes it apart bit by bit. That’s what makes Spiderlight so different and so great. It is epic fantasy deconstructed!

What impressed me the most were the characters. The dialogue between them was sharp and laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s their marvelous inner moments of existential revelations that really wowed me. In Spiderlight, I found a shocking amount of depth hidden beneath what I initially believed to be another standard issue cast of fantasy heroes. But throughout only 300 pages, the author somehow gave himself space to expose the more hidden parts of them in a way that did not feel forced but made me genuinely care for them. And not only did he do this, but he used an incredibly diverse tone of voice for each of them and made them feel real. I was the most compelled by Nth, a main character who is also a spider! His extremely alien POV accomplished SO MUCH. Through him, the author got to explore the more subtle truths about power and the destructive nature of humanity alongside some compelling introspection on what it means to be human, or to even just have emotions and how it can sometimes completely warp reason. It was fascinating and I was shocked when I realized how much I sympathized with him.

Not only was Nth a spider but he’s also a slave being dragged along with the rest of the band and it was interesting to see someone forced to live in complete servitude to people who were completely unlike him and who were blinded to his true self and could never understand him. He was seen and treated as a monster and labeled as “evil” because he’s of the “dark” but we in his head knew the truth. But we also got to see him through the others’ eyes and understand why they saw him that way. I mean, he IS a giant spider for crying out loud and I wouldn’t like him either, to be honest! But really, Tchaikovsky packed more into 300 pages than a lot of authors do in an entire series and it’s stunning.

I only came for classic D&D storytelling and while this book could have easily been something totally predictable and forgettable, it was instead spun into something fresh while still giving me enough of the genre’s greatest hits to make me happy and satisfied. If you’ve read Nicholas Eames’ Kings of the Wyld, this book might remind you of that.

About a month ago, I didn’t know this author even existed and I think it’s a real shame that he doesn’t get more recognition and hype. I’m no arachnophobe, but any author that can make my sympathize with a freaking SPIDER of all things must be immensely talented. He’s now got my full attention and I can’t wait to try his other books. I hear several of them also have spiders and I can’t believe it but I’m very excited about that.

4 – 4.5 stars

Would highly recommend. ...more

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Dec 16, 2019 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: okc, library-mst-clw, to-enjoy-again

Because of Gabi's revew... even though it is the kind of fantasy I'm not into. ... Done. Oh gosh she was right.

Brilliant, yes. Original. Thought-provoking. Fun. Sly. Meta. All the praise.

So, 4.5 stars rounded up. Maybe I can't recommend it to *everyone* but I certainly can to anyone who reads Horror, or SF, or Fantasy, or Fairy Tales. Anyone interested in Aliens, Good vs. Evil, Questing Misfits, Feminism, Existentialism, Religion, World-Building, or the remaking of Tropes & Conventions & Lore. A ...more

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Feb 04, 2016 Bob/Sally rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-epic

Spiderlight was a fun tale, a vintage sword and sorcery story that hits on all the old tropes.

I have to admit to some trouble with the first half, however, plagued as I was by doubts as to the intentions behind it. Was it a bad parody of old school fantasy, or was it a wink-and-nod homage to the same?

Seriously, it felt as if Adrian Tchaikovsky pulled out his old roleplaying books, rolled himself a few characters, pulled up a few monsters, and then let his inner dungeon master run free with the m ...more

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Feb 04, 2016 Eon ♒Windrunner♒ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5 stars

Spiderlight is sublime sword & sorcery with great characters, some serious moral and ethical questions and splendid humour. It kept me guessing and surprised me on more than one occasion, while maintaining a superb pace and still keeping up the laughs.

The story is based on the age old fantasy staple of a quest (what else are Dark Lords for but to be defeated as per the prophecy?) and a rag-tag team that needs to fulfill it. This is where the real magic is. The team. Oh, how they bicker 4.5 stars

Spiderlight is sublime sword & sorcery with great characters, some serious moral and ethical questions and splendid humour. It kept me guessing and surprised me on more than one occasion, while maintaining a superb pace and still keeping up the laughs.

The story is based on the age old fantasy staple of a quest (what else are Dark Lords for but to be defeated as per the prophecy?) and a rag-tag team that needs to fulfill it. This is where the real magic is. The team. Oh, how they bicker and love and fight and lust and stand together. Enter the quest takers! A Wizard, a priestess, a thief, a knight, a warrior women & a spider. Or a spider-man. Or um…. fine, see for yourself. Or just buy it. You can’t go wrong with this one.

DION MADE A SOUND. It was not quite a word, or anything fit to come from the throat of a priestess of Armes. The two warriors, Harathes and Cyrene, followed suit. Lief was the only one able to articulate their collective reaction.
“What the fucking arses is that?”
Penthos frowned, still very much in his pose as Ringmaster of the Marvelous. “What do you think it is? I have transmogrified the invertebrate arachnid into the semblance of a man.”
“What man looks like that?” Harathes demanded. “It’s hideous.”
“More so than its native form? I think no—” Penthos started grandly, but Cyrene cut him off.
“It is. Gods help us, but it is. Halfway is worse, Penthos.” Her voice shook.
Dion coughed, still fighting down the shock and revulsion. “Penthos,” she said quietly, diplomatically, “this is the extent of what you can achieve?”
It—he, she supposed, for there was enough evidence to give it a gender—squatted atop the hill, and Cyrene was right that it was the near-miss, that so-closeness that turned the stomach with its almost-familiarity. The skin was grayish in the moonlight, like a Ghantishman’s, and the body seemed close to human, hirsute about the chest and groin, long-limbed but not unnaturally so. He would be tall, when he stood, Dion guessed. There was a lithe strength in that frame, no wasted flesh but not skinny, either. His hands were long-fingered—and definitely a little too long, there. They had no nails, but that was hardly the issue.
The face: the problem was the face, which now stared out at them, and would stare right back into their nightmares later, no doubt. It was not the shape, because Penthos had wrought well there—the basic clay of that visage was well molded, and might have been handsome if all the rest of it had followed something more exactingly human. The marring of that regular perfection was part of what made it so horrible. There was a mouth there, and the teeth it bared were sharp and predatory, with canines like little daggers, elongated enough that Dion could only suppose the creature’s lower jaw had slots to scabbard them. There was a nose, small and sharp. There were eyes, but the eyes . . . There were too many of them, to start with. Two little buttons on his brow glinted back the Light of Armes, and she thought she saw another two pinpoint orbs a little ahead of his ears. She might have taken them for spots or marks or even tattoos, had it not been for those two main orbs that dominated the creature’s blank regard.
They were huge, and they were absolutely round, and featureless—no iris, no white, just great wells of darkness goggling out from that slack visage.
It was hunched, all elbows and knees, looking at—at them, at the world? There was no way to know quite where that all-consuming attention was focused. Now a shudder passed through it, a ripple of muscles that seemed weirdly boneless. Its lips moved over those jagged teeth.
It screamed, throwing its head high and giving off a dreadful, keening wail, and that, at least, sounded almost human. A human in unimaginable torment, but whatever was behind that sound had a visceral connection to them all that spiders lacked. Except it went on and on, until Dion wondered where the breath could be coming from, to power such an unbroken sound of pain and terror and self-loathing.
“What’s wrong with it?” she demanded of Penthos, who was looking entirely unruffled.
“My dear, give it a moment to acquaint itself with its new, ah,surroundings,” the magus suggested. “The wretched monster has undergone a journey that none of you can imagine.”
“Then send the thing back and we’ll dispatch it and find some other way,” Harathes snapped.
Penthos glowered. “Is this it? The thanks I receive for such an unprecedented work of magic? Where would your vaunted quest be without me? Would you even have survived the wood of the spiders without my fire? And a hundred other tribulations upon the road—?”
“Some of which only happened because of you!” Cyrene pointed out hotly.
“I, Penthos!” The magician stabbed a finger at the heavens, and the crack of thunder that followed was too well timed to be coincidental. “I, one of the great masters of the Power Elemental, have reworked the fabric of the world to your bidding, and you presume to complain?”
“We cannot take that anywhere!” Harathes yelled at him. “The spider we could have stuck in a crate, in a cage. That thing looks like a demon. What sort of a—!”
“Harathes!” Dion silenced him with a gesture. “Penthos, listen to me, can your magic, your Power Elemental, not bring the thing that one step closer to human?”
The wizard’s furious expression sagged. “You too?” he asked her. “When I have done this vast act of magic for you, only at your behest?”
“We all know you have done this at least in part because it amused you to make the attempt,” Dion told him firmly. “So tell me, can you . . . refine this magic you have made?”
Penthos spluttered. “It is done. It is irreversible. I, Penthos, set my seal on this. Just . . . buy it a hat or something.”

...more

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Sep 24, 2016 Gary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Spiderlight is a very entertaining novel that utilizes all the calcified tropes of the epic fantasy genre - warriors of the Light are on a quest to stop the forces of Darkness! - to weave a clever little meta-fable about identity and free will. The plot finds Dion - "The Chosen One" - and her by the book band of adventurers (thief, warrior, mage, etc.) taking a Spider called Nth hostage to force him to guide them to the fortress of "The Dark One". Despite being the "heroes" of the story, their t ...more

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Apr 09, 2019 Samir rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sword and sorcery at its finest! Absolutely loved it!

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Aug 07, 2016 Jason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2016, e-books

4 Stars

Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a fun, classic sword and sorcery romp that seems geared towards the young adult crowd. Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Tchaikovsky and will surely read everything that he ever writes. He gives us an action packed tale of the typical quest to vanquish the dark Lord.

Why should you read this? If you are already a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky then this is a no-brainer easy read that you should pick up just to experience the lighter side. I am sure as an autho ...more

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Jun 11, 2019 Timothy Boyd rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shelfari-favorites

I enjoy finding a new writer that I like their writing. I love finding a new writer that just blows me away with the first book of their's I read. John Scalzi did that for me a few years ago and now Adrian Tchaikovsky has done it. The only bad thing is he has alot of books out so my reading list just got way longer. Oh well, medical technology is getting better every year so maybe I'll last long enough to get all my books read. Great fantasy novel with action and humor throughout with an interes ...more

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Apr 12, 2017 Laura Hughes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-favourites

Well, that was awesome! Full review coming at some point on Fantasy-Faction. :)

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Apr 23, 2019 Fonch rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Ladies and gentlemen, I ask forgiveness for having them almost two weeks without criticism. I decided to take a vacation, although I have read. At first my idea was to have written the criticism of "the gates of Anubis ' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... & from_search = true
and after the death of Gene Wolfe https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
(to who God have in his glory), but as my criticism of "Spiderlight" is enough controversy I've decided to start this to defend myself. My int ...more

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Feb 08, 2016 Booniss rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Brilliantly clever novella which uses a traditional fantasy setting and some very original fantasy concepts to explore questions around faith and identity.

Our protagonists decide to compromise their beliefs by allying themselves with spiders, creatures who are of the Dark, in the war against the Dark Lord. We switch perspectives between them and the spider Nth, transformed into the shape of a man, and watch the relationship between them grow and change to something much more complicated than tha ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 David Stewart rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Back in the 90s - I say, dating myself - there were multiple novel series set in different Dungeons and Dragons campaign worlds; mostly Dragonlance and The Forgotten Realms. These included some gems like Salvatore's Drizzt series and the Dragonlance narrative itself. These two sagas were fantasy comfort food that one didn't have to think too much about and that spawned a plethora of imitations - copycat novels that would not be published in today's competitive climate. They were the fantasy equi Back in the 90s - I say, dating myself - there were multiple novel series set in different Dungeons and Dragons campaign worlds; mostly Dragonlance and The Forgotten Realms. These included some gems like Salvatore's Drizzt series and the Dragonlance narrative itself. These two sagas were fantasy comfort food that one didn't have to think too much about and that spawned a plethora of imitations - copycat novels that would not be published in today's competitive climate. They were the fantasy equivalent of trashy romance; fun occasionally but ultimately hollow.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's Spiderlight follows in the tradition of a classic D&D spin off, even if it never mentions any specific D&D phrases or systems, and it somehow manages to elevate this strange sub-genre of fantasy into heights I didn't even know it was capable of. Like this year's debut hit from Nicholas Eames, Kings of the Wyld, Spiderlight is an adventure story about tromping across the land on the way to defeat a great evil. It's chock full of familiar tropes and more than a little comedy, and if I were to read a synopsis of this story, I would assume it was a carbon copy of The Lord of the Rings cross-bred with Garry Gygax's formulaic ruleset. Much like Kings of the Wyld, Spiderlight is so much more.

The story follows Dion and her hand-picked group of adventurers on their quest to save the world - typical fantasy stuff. There is a paladin, a thief, a wizard, a ranger, and Dion herself as the holy priest and the one destined by prophecy to defeat the Dark Lord Darvezion. This is the group in the beginning, but things quickly change as Dion is forced to accept Enth into the group. Enth is a spider.

This is unusual, but even with a spider companion along for the ride - albeit one transformed magically to appear human - one might be tempted to compare Enth to a Gollum or a friendly Ettin if it weren't for the fact that Tchaikovsky lets us into Enth's mind. Viewpoints change often, and Lief the thief, Cyrene the ranger, and Penthos the wizard (who has the personality of Usidore from "Hello from the Magic Tavern") are interesting viewpoints, as is Dion with her righteousness and doubt, but Enth's sections are a fascinating introspection on what it means to be human, to have emotion, and to live in servitude to masters who misinterpret almost everything. He is seen as a monster, and while we the reader can see the falsity of this, that even the term monster is a human invention to demonize the "other", his traveling companions are continually torn, in a world where Light and Dark are very clear-cut, about whether to trust Enth or simply kill him for the nightmare-made-flesh that he is. Their pathos is ultimately useless as Enth is required to fulfill their quest.

So that's part of what makes Spiderlight so cool, and that might have been enough to set this book apart from the multitude of fantasy novels drowning the shelves. But Tchaikovsky is not content to merely subvert a hero trope.

The world of Spiderlight is as familiar as the characters. Light and Dark in Tchaikovsky's vision are manifest things. One can detect the other even if shades of grey seem to exist in every nook and cranny of both humanity and those outside of it. The book is packed with action, which is always entertaining, but it's the indecision and moral squabbling in between the sword-and-fire fights that makes for the more intriguing experience. These characters fight more with their own morality than they do with the varied dark fiends roaming the land. Tchaikovsky seems, in places, to be recriminating the gratuitous violence found in much of the genre while at the same time indulging in it. He finds clever ways as a writer to damn his cake and eat it too.

One could make the argument that the plot of Spiderlight, at least until the final few chapters, is not engaging enough to slog to its incredibly worthwhile ending - how could it be with such a trope-filled cast and by-the-numbers progression - but thanks to Tchaikovsky's deft hand with moral quandary and an equally skilled ability to make almost every chapter laugh out loud funny, reading Spiderlight is never anything less than engaging. And though I won't spoil the ending in this write-up, I have rarely read a final chapter that so thoroughly envelopes the preceding ninety percent of the story.

I am go glad I read this book! ...more

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Apr 30, 2019 Vaelin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was caught out by this one a little bit, but for all the right reasons.

An intelligent "quest"story but jam packed full of ethics, morals and lessons on human (and spider) behaviour.

A quick and tight read. Also the perfect primer for the authors main series "Shadows of the Apt" which I'm preparing to begin reading in the near future. ...more

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Aug 18, 2020 Paulo "paper books always" Carvalho rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, missing-review

I will try to make a review in a couple of days.
Suffice to say it's very different. It views some more common tropes from Fiction (mainly fantasy) and play around with them to the point of absurdity.

Very interesting indeed. ...more

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Dec 22, 2018 Serene Morticia rated it really liked it

Shelves: favourites

WOW okay, that was... different.

'The moral certainty of the Light's crusading methods was an easy thing to vouch for, when you only saw it from the side that held the sword and the disc.'

This was a fantastic exploration and analysis of what justifies Good, Evil prejudice and discrimination through resonate storytelling. For those who are familiar with the Milgram experiment, this powerful parable sought to ask questions central to this kind of theme - "How far will a society go simply becaus ...more

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Aug 03, 2016 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I've never read a book that was so much fun and also so incredibly thought provoking all at the same time. A band of rightious adventurers out to defeat a dark lord need a spider to complete a prophecy. But as no one wants to spend months in the company of a spider they turn it into a man, or at least a man shaped thing. Hijinks ensue! And a thoughtful exploration of consent and ideas of self hood. That also ensues. ...more

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Jan 22, 2018 Daniel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This one was pretty darn fun to read. As others have stated before, and reviewers far better than, it begins as if you are in the middle of the group's quest. Basically imagine as if the Fellowship from LOTR had entered Mirkwood with the express reason to take a fang from Shelob and get a direct hidden pathway to find and kill the Dark Lord. That is the crust of the bread of this book. The really great part is the inside of the sandwich, the character motivations and interactions. That is where ...more

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Jan 03, 2020 Igor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Stop me if you've heard this one: a cleric, a wizard, a paladin, a ranger, and a thief are on a quest to fulfill a prophecy and defeat a Dark Lord.

However.

See, Spiderlight is a "however" book. There's a Dark Lord controlling a horde of Dark creatures, however, he's not the first one. There's a prophecy, however it involves our heroes doing less than savory stuff. There's our heroes, champions of Light, however they're, eh, less than likeable on occasion. There's a noble quest to save the world, ...more

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Aug 03, 2017 Alice rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, disturbing, magic, friendship

I loved this book. A band of adventurers and a resentfully helpful spider are on a journey to defeat the Dark Lord Darvezian. The characters are both familiar and refreshing, with a unique take on the typical fantasy templates. I found it really hard to pick a favourite, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Lief. Or Cyrene. Or Nth. No goddamit I can't choose- Adrian how do you do this every time?

Others have mentioned the parallels here with the polarisation of today's politics. It's definitely a ...more

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Jun 13, 2019 El_Commutador rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A great Fantasy tale. Witty, well written, with great characters and smartly built on all that came before. For my money, a must read. Even if you are not a Fantasy reader (which I am not).

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Jun 12, 2016 Patremagne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

http://abitterdraft.com/2016/08/spide...

A dark lord has risen...again...and is marshaling his forces of darkness against the Church of Armes of the Light and all its followers, and it's up to a band of adventurers to stop him from extinguishing all the light in the world. Dion: priestess and champion of Armes, Lief: the sly, quick-witted rogue, Penthos: the master magician, Harathes: the holy warrior, Cyrene: the ranger, and Nth: a spider-turned-human forced to aid the fellowship in their journ ...more

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Aug 25, 2016 Alytha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is awesome.

On one layer, it's a great self-awarely snarky D&D campaign to kill the Dark Lord.
On the next, you get a discussion about the morals of sleeping with somebody who is magically enthralled to follow your orders, and about the nature of good and evil in general.

Almost the level of Terry Goodkind. :)

(view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 03, 2020 Cameron Johnston rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Spiderlight is a wonderful slice of swords and sorcery adventure with the fantastic twist of one of the party being a magically transformed man-spider - and nobody gets into the mindset of an alien species quite like Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The main plot itself is nothing overly complex: a group of adventurers of the Light (with their own personal issues) setting out to defeat the lord of the Dark with the aid of a prophecy requiring the guidance of a vicious, intelligent spider leading them through ...more

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Nov 14, 2019 Jason Smith rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I wanted to like this book, but it just seemed so forced. The premise is interesting but not executed well. Suspense never really builds, and despite the twist at the end the ending is still predictable. Most of the characters are static, and the whole story feels like the author doesn't know who to focus on. The narration has the feel of telling someone else's story for them. Also, the profanity is misplaced, and contributes to the author's struggle with diction. ...more

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Oct 21, 2017 Phil rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Itsy bitsy spider

How to turn the traditional epic saga of good vs evil, light vs dark, man vs monster omits head. Simple use everything everyone expects from that sort of story on its head. A brilliant tale of heroes and how they deal with their beliefs when having to ally with what they consider the enemy.

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Jul 27, 2020 Corey Eiseman rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: challenge-sword

Sadly there were no sword-wielding octopods, but Spiderlight was a highly entertaining read. I can't say it was as innovative to Fantasy as the Children of Time series was to SF, but Tchaikovsky is a talented and versatile author. I'll be looking for more from him. (Presumably he writes things without spiders too.) ...more

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About Adrian Tchaikovsky

Adrian Tchaikovsky

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ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.

Books by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt, #1)

Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt, #2)

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Quotes from Spiderlight

“You’re a priestess. That means people don’t think of you the same way. But believe me, most of us basically can’t talk to a man without him looking us over and deciding whether or not he wants to give us the shaft. And if he does then, whatever else we are, whatever else we do, it’s always there, somewhere in his mind. And if he doesn’t fancy us, then that’s a judgment too, writing us off as a thing without value. You can’t get rid of it. And either way it means you’re always a woman, first. You’re not a warrior, or an archer, or even just a friend to drink with. You’re a woman, and that means you’ve got a place, and a use.” — 0 likes

“New food. Different food. That had everyone’s interest. Across the span of the web, that was strung in mistlike sheets from tree to tree across their forest, he felt the others rousing, rising from their torpor. There was always food, even for so many bodies as Mother’s Brood ran to, but variety was welcome.” — 0 likes

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