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ineffablebob's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
There are some very familiar components to Spiderlight - Tolkien-esque high fantasy world (though no Elves or Dwarves), stark divisions between Light and Dark peoples, a party of adventurers right out of a D&D campaign. But Tchaikovsky very quickly blurs those lines: the Dark creatures aren't all bad, the Light people are often jerks, the cleric's faith isn't as strong as she thought, etc. Much of the novel revolves around an intelligent spider (because of course it does, Tchaikovsky is nothing if not consistent in his love of arachnids) who struggles as he is forced into human company. His interactions with the rest of the (human) company are sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, and run the emotional gamut as the story progresses. There's a twist at the end that I didn't find particularly surprising as it's foreshadowed pretty heavily, but that didn't bother me much as I thought the character progression along the journey was the real strength of the book. If you like the idea of some subversion of the standard fantasy tropes, you'll likely enjoy this one.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
There's a brief scene of sex between a human and half-human, which was not completely consensual. It's not explicit at all, but some still might find it disturbing.ajparmentier's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I could hardly put this book down! Even though it turned out being a little different from what I expected. The adventuring party feels very DND and 90's fantasy, intentionally so, and reading this book feels like picking up a book from another time. The author does a good job looking at the tropes of the time and complicating them. I feel like this approach works very well with the main themes of morality and personhood of the book. I was not expecting for the book to switch perspective so much between the different characters, but it worked well and it was fascinating to compare the different characters. I was a little sad that we didn't have as much perspective from Nth as the book went on, but you can't have everything. This book has the typical sex and violence you would expect from a book of this genre of fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Stalking, Animal death, and Murder
Minor: Bullying and Kidnapping
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