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Web Shifter's Library #3
Spectrum
The third book in the Web Shifter's Library series returns to the adventures of Esen, a shapeshifting alien who must navigate the perils of a hostile universe.
Here Be Monsters
Something malevolent lurks in deep space, something able to pluck starships from their course and cause their crews to vanish.
It has a purpose: to use those ships to mark an unmistakable boundary. A warning.
It has an interest: Botharis, the planet where Esen and Paul have established the All Species' Library of Linguistics and Culture. Home to Veya Ragem, whose ship was the first to trespass.
Esen and Paul will need every resource, every friend and even foes, if they're to discover who--or what is behind this before more are lost. Once they do, Esen plans to use her abilities to comprehend and reason with this new species. What she doesn't know? There truly are monsters. And they wait for you in the dark.
Just ask Evan Gooseberry.
Here Be Monsters
Something malevolent lurks in deep space, something able to pluck starships from their course and cause their crews to vanish.
It has a purpose: to use those ships to mark an unmistakable boundary. A warning.
It has an interest: Botharis, the planet where Esen and Paul have established the All Species' Library of Linguistics and Culture. Home to Veya Ragem, whose ship was the first to trespass.
Esen and Paul will need every resource, every friend and even foes, if they're to discover who--or what is behind this before more are lost. Once they do, Esen plans to use her abilities to comprehend and reason with this new species. What she doesn't know? There truly are monsters. And they wait for you in the dark.
Just ask Evan Gooseberry.
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2021
14 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Julie E. Czerneda
103 books750 followersHaving written 25 novels (and counting) published by DAW Books, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies, in 2022, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Her science fiction and fantasy combines her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism, winning multiple awards. Julie's recent releases include the standalone novel To Each This World, her first collection Imaginings, and A Change of Place, #3 in her Night's Edge fantasy series. Out July 2025 is A Shift of Time, #4 and the second last of the series.
For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews
March 18, 2021
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book for review purposes and enjoyed it immensely. Fans of the Esen series will not be disappointed--this one's every bit as good as the others. In fact, I think I enjoyed it the most of those I've read to date.
August 8, 2023
Spectrum is the third book from the Web Shifter’s Library series and I tell you that I just cannot seem to get enough of Esen and her shenanigans. One thing that you will really love about this book, outside of that fact that it is just an awesome piece of science fiction, is that there is closure that I was not expecting and great character growth. Spectrum was everything I have come to expect in this series and I encourage you to grab a copy today!
This review is based on a complimentary book I received. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
This review is based on a complimentary book I received. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
June 6, 2021
It's a fascinating and gripping story that kept me reading and fall in love with this series.
Complex world building, great characters, a well told story full of twists and turns.
I've read the rest of the series and then this one. I can't wait to read other books in this series because it's excellent.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Complex world building, great characters, a well told story full of twists and turns.
I've read the rest of the series and then this one. I can't wait to read other books in this series because it's excellent.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
April 29, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, another great instalment in the Web Shifter's universe. Engaging characters, and a great plot.
September 3, 2021
Here Be Monsters, indeed! And such a fine monster tale!
Esen and Paul certainly have their hands full this time! Veya Ragem, Paul's mother, never returned from her last trip into deep space. As a Starship Navigator, she was away on space missions frequently.
At the very least, this monster is a hazard to the spacelanes, pulling starships out of translight and their crews are never heard from again, either.
Ms. Czerneda certainly pulled out all the stops for this one! Esen and Paul will need not only all of their friends, and whatever resources they can obtain, but will even need to call on their enemies for help with this threat!
Highly recommended for series readers as this is book seven in the Web Shifters series (counting the prequel), space opera fans, deep space exploration fans, and Julie Czerneda fans! New fans will still be able to read Spectrum but longtime Czerneda readers will enjoy this book the most!
Esen and Paul certainly have their hands full this time! Veya Ragem, Paul's mother, never returned from her last trip into deep space. As a Starship Navigator, she was away on space missions frequently.
At the very least, this monster is a hazard to the spacelanes, pulling starships out of translight and their crews are never heard from again, either.
Ms. Czerneda certainly pulled out all the stops for this one! Esen and Paul will need not only all of their friends, and whatever resources they can obtain, but will even need to call on their enemies for help with this threat!
Highly recommended for series readers as this is book seven in the Web Shifters series (counting the prequel), space opera fans, deep space exploration fans, and Julie Czerneda fans! New fans will still be able to read Spectrum but longtime Czerneda readers will enjoy this book the most!
May 4, 2021
Julie E. Czerneda’s universe is filled with truly alien, aliens. Esen, the youngest of the web beings, can shift into any one of them. The latest problem brought to All Species' Library of Linguistics and Culture, that she and Paul established, is of missing starships. Unfortunately the monster destroying the ships and eating their crew is an ancient one that used to eat web beings as the flew between the stars eons ago. There’s also the Spectrum (hard from DAW) of politics to complicate what could have been a simple whale hunting tale. A new tale of Esen and her friends is always very welcome, and this is a good one.
June 12, 2021
Superlative!
As with EVERYTHING Julie Czerneda writes, I am absolutely in love with Spectrum. I'll say right off that if you haven't read the previous Esen books, you will likely be confused - so seriously treat yourself, and start at the beginning! If you have read them, then I probably don't need to recommend Spectrum, because you will have already read it by now.
I just want to give an overall recommendation for all of Czerneda's work, especially for readers of science fiction, fantasy, or Canadian authors. It's really magical. I really can hardly wait for whatever comes next from her (Evan Gooseberry is on my mind, and I really want more of Great Gran!).
As with EVERYTHING Julie Czerneda writes, I am absolutely in love with Spectrum. I'll say right off that if you haven't read the previous Esen books, you will likely be confused - so seriously treat yourself, and start at the beginning! If you have read them, then I probably don't need to recommend Spectrum, because you will have already read it by now.
I just want to give an overall recommendation for all of Czerneda's work, especially for readers of science fiction, fantasy, or Canadian authors. It's really magical. I really can hardly wait for whatever comes next from her (Evan Gooseberry is on my mind, and I really want more of Great Gran!).
September 1, 2021
This is the latest entry in the second trilogy about this character: Esen-alit-Quar, the "blue blob" alien who forms an attachment to a human, Paul Ragem. The first trilogy set in this world (which I own) was published more than twenty years ago, and this second trilogy picks up the plot threads in the final book: Esen and Paul have built their All Species' Library of Linguistics and Culture, dedicated to promoting understanding between the galaxy's sentients.
As always, the appeal of this series is the character of Esen. This story is told from the first-person viewpoint of the alien, which in the wrong hands--indeed, in the hands of just about anyone except this author, who is a biologist and knows how to create believable alien species--could have been a disaster. But Esen is a delight. She is over five hundred years old, a slip of time to her all but immortal species (as I understand it, they can be killed but don't die due to old age), which works out to a child of about ten years in Human terms. Esen's character reflects this: she is childlike in many ways, naive and impulsive, still possessing a wide-eyed innocence despite the many things she has seen. She calls the Human Paul Ragem her "first and best friend," but they have more of a parent-child relationship. So much so that in the previous trilogy, Paul goes into hiding for over fifty years, faking his death, to protect the secret of Esen's existence.
This book tells the story of Paul and Esen battling an extradimensional monster called the Null that resembles what Esen describes as a "trapdoor spider," spinning out threads of energy to capture starships in translight (this universe's faster-than-light travel method) and suck their energy dry, in the process slaughtering the crews. This being has sucked Paul's mother into its maw, and is using her artificial robotic eye to track other starships. (In the process keeping her alive, or at least parts of her, in its gut. This is a horrifying fate, and one cannot blame Esen at the climax, when she enters the Null with a hidden bomb to destroy it, and finds all the remnants of Veya Ragem's body and ends them.)
The only knock I have against this book is that it takes a long while to get going. A goodly portion--nearly the first half--is devoted to shenanigans at the All Species' Library, depicting the relationships between the various characters. While seeing the immense variety (and in many cases, absurdity) of the aliens Czerneda can create is always interesting, I do wish the book had been paced a little better. But when the Null is identified and the stakes are revealed, the plot kicks into high gear and carries through to the end.
The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, promising a different storyline than the one so far (if it's picked up). This is a solid series with an interesting protagonist, and I will keep reading.
As always, the appeal of this series is the character of Esen. This story is told from the first-person viewpoint of the alien, which in the wrong hands--indeed, in the hands of just about anyone except this author, who is a biologist and knows how to create believable alien species--could have been a disaster. But Esen is a delight. She is over five hundred years old, a slip of time to her all but immortal species (as I understand it, they can be killed but don't die due to old age), which works out to a child of about ten years in Human terms. Esen's character reflects this: she is childlike in many ways, naive and impulsive, still possessing a wide-eyed innocence despite the many things she has seen. She calls the Human Paul Ragem her "first and best friend," but they have more of a parent-child relationship. So much so that in the previous trilogy, Paul goes into hiding for over fifty years, faking his death, to protect the secret of Esen's existence.
This book tells the story of Paul and Esen battling an extradimensional monster called the Null that resembles what Esen describes as a "trapdoor spider," spinning out threads of energy to capture starships in translight (this universe's faster-than-light travel method) and suck their energy dry, in the process slaughtering the crews. This being has sucked Paul's mother into its maw, and is using her artificial robotic eye to track other starships. (In the process keeping her alive, or at least parts of her, in its gut. This is a horrifying fate, and one cannot blame Esen at the climax, when she enters the Null with a hidden bomb to destroy it, and finds all the remnants of Veya Ragem's body and ends them.)
The only knock I have against this book is that it takes a long while to get going. A goodly portion--nearly the first half--is devoted to shenanigans at the All Species' Library, depicting the relationships between the various characters. While seeing the immense variety (and in many cases, absurdity) of the aliens Czerneda can create is always interesting, I do wish the book had been paced a little better. But when the Null is identified and the stakes are revealed, the plot kicks into high gear and carries through to the end.
The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, promising a different storyline than the one so far (if it's picked up). This is a solid series with an interesting protagonist, and I will keep reading.
August 10, 2024
“Spectrum” is the third volume in the Web Shifter’s Library Series by Julie E. Czerneda, and the conclusion of the second trilogy of novels. The Web Shifters Trilogy proceeds it in the series. These books feature Esen-alit-Quar, Esen or Es for short. Esen is a most unique being, thought to be one of the last of her kind. She is a web-being, a shapeshifter that can assume the forms of other beings.
In the Web Shifter’s Library Series, Esen and her human partner Paul Ragem have founded the All Species’ Library of Linguistics and Culture on Botharis (Paul’s backwater home planet). This institution aims to help various alien species understand each other (and sometimes themselves) to prevent tragedies that can occur when misunderstandings happen. Esen has a unique perspective on these matters since she can become any type of alien herself, so long as she can assimilate some of their genetic material.
In this volume the disappearance of starships while in route to their destinations becomes the main issue. Framed images of these lost starships are being sent by an unknown party. Does this indicate the action of an unknown intelligence? Clearly this threat must be dealt with. Along the way, Paul’s past becomes an important part of the story.
Julie E. Czerneda was a Biologist before she became an author, and this clearly shows in her world-building. There are so many amazing aliens in her works. These well-thought-out beings range from mineral to aquatic, and include interesting human cultures that have diverged from the standard as mankind expanded into a galaxy that was already teeming with life. This is an amazing old-school space opera with a vast scope. It’s also a pretty positive read, where even carnivorous giant crab-like species can be understood and reasoned with if one can only try to think like they do.
The cover art was done by the artist Adam Auerbach. This amazing artwork actually is based on an important point in the novel. Although the Web Shifters Library Series concludes with this novel, it ends in such a way to allow the story to potentially continue in future works…
In the Web Shifter’s Library Series, Esen and her human partner Paul Ragem have founded the All Species’ Library of Linguistics and Culture on Botharis (Paul’s backwater home planet). This institution aims to help various alien species understand each other (and sometimes themselves) to prevent tragedies that can occur when misunderstandings happen. Esen has a unique perspective on these matters since she can become any type of alien herself, so long as she can assimilate some of their genetic material.
In this volume the disappearance of starships while in route to their destinations becomes the main issue. Framed images of these lost starships are being sent by an unknown party. Does this indicate the action of an unknown intelligence? Clearly this threat must be dealt with. Along the way, Paul’s past becomes an important part of the story.
Julie E. Czerneda was a Biologist before she became an author, and this clearly shows in her world-building. There are so many amazing aliens in her works. These well-thought-out beings range from mineral to aquatic, and include interesting human cultures that have diverged from the standard as mankind expanded into a galaxy that was already teeming with life. This is an amazing old-school space opera with a vast scope. It’s also a pretty positive read, where even carnivorous giant crab-like species can be understood and reasoned with if one can only try to think like they do.
The cover art was done by the artist Adam Auerbach. This amazing artwork actually is based on an important point in the novel. Although the Web Shifters Library Series concludes with this novel, it ends in such a way to allow the story to potentially continue in future works…
July 6, 2022
You know how they encourage writers to “show not tell?” This book is all Tell. It’s also super predictable. We know about the space monster from the beginning and we can pretty much tell how it’s going to end and while there are obstacles and impediments -some of which are quite maddening- they just created silliness and chaos and don’t add up to a well built dramatic shape. There are too many characters in the book and each is explained in a clunky pedantic way. Czerneda used to be so good expositions ! The beginning of the book is like listening to relatives talk about people you are supposed to remember but you don’t so you just kinda zone out. On the other hand, this came out during Covid, and we all probably needed favorite familiar characters, a story where people are basically decent and a book that didn’t add to the endless tension all around us.
March 5, 2022
This is one the books that falls between the cracks for me - more than a 3 but less than a 4. If you have read the first two books in the Shapeshifter's Library then you should definitely read this one. The cast of characters are all back and since they are so well developed in the first two books, it's like revisiting old friends. I find the plot is what holds the book back. It is another universe threatening threat but, for me, the plot takes too long to develop and, ultimately, not all that satisfying.
December 14, 2022
Third book, but not I'd bet the last in the series. As always with Czerneda's work the world-building especially the aliens are top-notch. Esen's POV is delightful. However, the pacing in the first half of the book was a bit slow.
September 9, 2021
Great!
April 24, 2022
hard to read, but interesting story.
April 14, 2025
Bess reappears!
January 18, 2023
Loved it! Excited for more
Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews