What do you think?
Rate this book
Spider World #5
The Magician
Niall, now ruler of the spider city, is horrified by a brutal murder that threatens the delicate relationship between the spiders and humans who share the city. Niall uses his psychic ability to track down the killers, but is thwarted in his effort to solve the crime as each conspirator mysteriously dies.
The most obvious clues lead to a being Niall has only seen in a dream: The Magician.
In his quest to find the Magician, Niall makes shocking discoveries about both his own people and the rapidly evolving spiders, whose desire for peace forced them to conquer and forge an empire with the labor of human slaves.
The most obvious clues lead to a being Niall has only seen in a dream: The Magician.
In his quest to find the Magician, Niall makes shocking discoveries about both his own people and the rapidly evolving spiders, whose desire for peace forced them to conquer and forge an empire with the labor of human slaves.
395 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
2 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Colin Wilson
430 books1,289 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.
Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.
Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.
Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 14, 2020
Another great read from Colin Wilson.
Shame the next book is so ridiculously priced!
Shame the next book is so ridiculously priced!
December 4, 2011
It was pretty good, it starts off slow but it goes quicker eventually, but it is just one big build up for the 4th and final? book. not a ton of action in it. you are only gonna like this book if your a fan of the series and even then, definitely the weakest in the series.
January 6, 2022
Jau buvau užmiršęs kiek suveltas yra šitų knygų išleidimas nuo originalo :) bet gerai skaitosi
March 23, 2018
Жанр опять змінився! Тепер це - детектив з домішками сайнсфікшона!
Ходячі мерці, загадочьні убійства! Автора несе по-взрослому)
Неплохо.
Ходячі мерці, загадочьні убійства! Автора несе по-взрослому)
Неплохо.
November 26, 2013
Probably the best book in the Spider World series for me. I enjoyed the murder mystery angle, and the problems Niall has to go through as the new ruler of the spiders. I also enjoyed the insights into the spider mentality and culture. It was a nice, quick read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews