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pachypedia's review
4.0
Una parodia de la fantasía heroica estupenda para pasar un buen rato, y que, al mismo tiempo, tiene más trasfondo del que parece en un principio.
mxsallybend's review
3.0
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 mayhem. These aren't just characters, they're character classes - wizard, cleric, warrior, rogue - with spells cast and weapons wielded according to the rules of the game. There were so many echoes of Weis and Hickman, Salvatore, Greenwood, Nile, and Knaak that it actually became distracting.
Where I finally got past that, and was able to settle in and enjoy the tale, was through the character of Nth. Here we have one of those vintage monsters, a giant spider, whom the party wizard arrogantly transforms into something vaguely human. He opens so many moral and ethical dilemmas, making us question our stock assumptions of good versus evil, that you don't realize how cleverly you've been duped until the story's almost over. Suddenly, in those last few chapters, it all comes together, and the truth behind those intentions I doubted at the start are revealed.
Yes, it's horribly cliched in its construction, incredibly awkward in its humor, and almost painful in some of its dialogue - but all deliberately so. It takes some patience, and requires some trust that there is indeed a method to Tchaikovsky's madness, but it all pays off in the end.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
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 mayhem. These aren't just characters, they're character classes - wizard, cleric, warrior, rogue - with spells cast and weapons wielded according to the rules of the game. There were so many echoes of Weis and Hickman, Salvatore, Greenwood, Nile, and Knaak that it actually became distracting.
Where I finally got past that, and was able to settle in and enjoy the tale, was through the character of Nth. Here we have one of those vintage monsters, a giant spider, whom the party wizard arrogantly transforms into something vaguely human. He opens so many moral and ethical dilemmas, making us question our stock assumptions of good versus evil, that you don't realize how cleverly you've been duped until the story's almost over. Suddenly, in those last few chapters, it all comes together, and the truth behind those intentions I doubted at the start are revealed.
Yes, it's horribly cliched in its construction, incredibly awkward in its humor, and almost painful in some of its dialogue - but all deliberately so. It takes some patience, and requires some trust that there is indeed a method to Tchaikovsky's madness, but it all pays off in the end.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for review consideration. This does not in any way affect the honesty or sincerity of my review.
agus_gm's review against another edition
2.0
Buen inicio que se viene a menos y termina siendo simplemente un libro más a marcar como leído pero que no estará entre mis recomendados o en alguna charla lectora. Aprobado justito.
rockwell_books's review against another edition
4.0
NOTA: 4/5
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Segunda obra de Adrian Tchaikovsky traducida al castellano y mi primera aproximación al autor, y puedo asegurar que no será la última (si no hay más arañas, claro).
En Spiderlight nos encontramos a cinco héroes, que siguiendo una profecía, se dirigen a los dominios del Señor Oscuro para destruirlo para siempre. Así, tenemos a Dion, la sacerdotisa de la Luz, a Cyrene, la arquera, a Lief, el ladrón, Penthos, un mago al que le gusta quemar cosas y a Harathes, el idiota. Perdón.. Quería decir el guerrero. El guerrero idiota.
A este grupo de héroes se les unirá un sexto integrante, la araña Enth, que ha de guiar a los héroes por el sendero de la araña hasta la torre del Señor Oscuro. Y esta es para mi la nota discordante: ¿Arañas? ¿No podían ser hormigas? Ahora en serio, he llegado a empatizar, e incluso a apreciar, a un octópedo bicho peludo de mil ojos y colmillos afilados. Y eso tiene mucho mérito.
Aunque puede que leyendo el argumento se piense que "esto ya lo he leído antes", Luz contra Oscuridad otra vez, puedo decir que para nada. En Spiderlight se destrozan muchos clichés de las novelas de espada y brujería, cosa que la hace de lo mas original y divertida, y por ello la recomiendo encarecidamente y le pongo 4 estrellas sobre 5.
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Segunda obra de Adrian Tchaikovsky traducida al castellano y mi primera aproximación al autor, y puedo asegurar que no será la última (si no hay más arañas, claro).
En Spiderlight nos encontramos a cinco héroes, que siguiendo una profecía, se dirigen a los dominios del Señor Oscuro para destruirlo para siempre. Así, tenemos a Dion, la sacerdotisa de la Luz, a Cyrene, la arquera, a Lief, el ladrón, Penthos, un mago al que le gusta quemar cosas y a Harathes, el idiota. Perdón.. Quería decir el guerrero. El guerrero idiota.
A este grupo de héroes se les unirá un sexto integrante, la araña Enth, que ha de guiar a los héroes por el sendero de la araña hasta la torre del Señor Oscuro. Y esta es para mi la nota discordante: ¿Arañas? ¿No podían ser hormigas? Ahora en serio, he llegado a empatizar, e incluso a apreciar, a un octópedo bicho peludo de mil ojos y colmillos afilados. Y eso tiene mucho mérito.
Aunque puede que leyendo el argumento se piense que "esto ya lo he leído antes", Luz contra Oscuridad otra vez, puedo decir que para nada. En Spiderlight se destrozan muchos clichés de las novelas de espada y brujería, cosa que la hace de lo mas original y divertida, y por ello la recomiendo encarecidamente y le pongo 4 estrellas sobre 5.
tonimp28's review against another edition
5.0
No solo se trata de una historia de fantasía. Tchaikovsky aprovecha la construcción de los personajes para transmitirnos aspectos éticos y morales que le dan un plus a la novela. El comportamiento de cada uno de ellos, el modo en que interactúan entre sí y cómo reaccionan ante ciertas situaciones es lo que más me ha gustado.
Leí Linaje ancestral antes que este, y me gusta mucho cómo escribe este autor, tengo ganas de seguir leyendo otras obras suyas.
Esta, sin duda, la recomiendo muchísimo.
Leí Linaje ancestral antes que este, y me gusta mucho cómo escribe este autor, tengo ganas de seguir leyendo otras obras suyas.
Esta, sin duda, la recomiendo muchísimo.
qalminator's review
5.0
Highly enjoyable RPG-fantasy that subverts most of the expectations of an RPG-fantasy.
Yes, we have our intrepid party of heroes (Cleric! Wizard! Rogue! Ranger! Paladin!), going off to fight the Dark Lord (tm!), but we also have 'Enth', a giant spider reluctantly turned (mostly) human, who must guide them along the prophesied "Spider's Path", and who, just by his presence, illustrates some of the problems with the usual setup (the whole "this race/species is evil, so slaughtering them all is okay, no really!" bit that's common to this sort of fantasy).
I could have done without the sexual posturing within the party (particularly the paladin's), but it did illustrate that being 'of The Light' did not really put them on any better moral footing than those 'of The Dark'. Also, it was not constant.
Anyway, after many trials and tribulations, they reach the Dark Lord's tower! Without spoiling much, the Dark Lord is not at all what they are expecting, and just shatters most of the expectations of the RPG-fantasy-genre in a quite satisfactory way. One of my expectations was met, however:
A lot of fun, and highly recommended.
Yes, we have our intrepid party of heroes (Cleric! Wizard! Rogue! Ranger! Paladin!), going off to fight the Dark Lord (tm!), but we also have 'Enth', a giant spider reluctantly turned (mostly) human, who must guide them along the prophesied "Spider's Path", and who, just by his presence, illustrates some of the problems with the usual setup (the whole "this race/species is evil, so slaughtering them all is okay, no really!" bit that's common to this sort of fantasy).
I could have done without the sexual posturing within the party (particularly the paladin's), but it did illustrate that being 'of The Light' did not really put them on any better moral footing than those 'of The Dark'. Also, it was not constant.
Anyway, after many trials and tribulations, they reach the Dark Lord's tower! Without spoiling much, the Dark Lord is not at all what they are expecting, and just shatters most of the expectations of the RPG-fantasy-genre in a quite satisfactory way. One of my expectations was met, however:
Spoiler
Enth was the only one who could actually fight the Dark Lord.A lot of fun, and highly recommended.
tzurky's review
3.0
Sadly this was a little underwhelming for me. I sincerely appreciate the craft that went into characterizations, the nuances and subtlety with which is character is shaped in a way that both undermines and upholds the classic fantasy tropes, but it was just a little too on-the-nose for me.
The problem is this is a little too close to Abercrombie’s shtick and the latter does it much better because his characters really jump off the page and his themes may hit you over the head with a hammer but sometimes they’re much more subtle and nuanced than you’d expect. I think that’s why the arc of tension was completely missing for me. Who are the characters behind the facade of a classic raiding party? Well, not who they seem meaning that the seeming assholes are nicer than they look and vice versa. What is the big secret of the quest? Quests are stupid. It was exceedingly predictable. The confrontation with the big Bad excited me not one bit.
I confess I didn’t expect either the characterization of the cleric (one of the most neatly done I’ve ever read and an excellent development of the psychological impact of being the prophesied one on both the person concerned and those around them) or the flourish at the end, but that didn’t make up the general lackluster direction, imo.
It was a mistake to read it so soon after Ogres.
The problem is this is a little too close to Abercrombie’s shtick and the latter does it much better because his characters really jump off the page and his themes may hit you over the head with a hammer but sometimes they’re much more subtle and nuanced than you’d expect. I think that’s why the arc of tension was completely missing for me. Who are the characters behind the facade of a classic raiding party? Well, not who they seem meaning that the seeming assholes are nicer than they look and vice versa. What is the big secret of the quest? Quests are stupid. It was exceedingly predictable. The confrontation with the big Bad excited me not one bit.
I confess I didn’t expect either the characterization of the cleric (one of the most neatly done I’ve ever read and an excellent development of the psychological impact of being the prophesied one on both the person concerned and those around them) or the flourish at the end, but that didn’t make up the general lackluster direction, imo.
It was a mistake to read it so soon after Ogres.
jorgefernandez's review against another edition
3.0
Un hijo bastardo entre la Dragonlance y el Mundodisco. Y el saco de dados cerquita para terminar la partida.
Las erratas: haberlas, haylas. Pero no me parece tan abrumador ni molesto como en Herederos del Tiempo, por ejemplo. En la estúpida carrera por ser el primer Tchaikovksy en español hemos perdido nosotros, los lectores. 50,85€ por dos libros plagados de erratas.
La portada: tras leer la novela ya no me parece tan ridícula como me pareció en un principio, pero sigue quedando bastante lejos de la original.
Las erratas: haberlas, haylas. Pero no me parece tan abrumador ni molesto como en Herederos del Tiempo, por ejemplo. En la estúpida carrera por ser el primer Tchaikovksy en español hemos perdido nosotros, los lectores. 50,85€ por dos libros plagados de erratas.
La portada: tras leer la novela ya no me parece tan ridícula como me pareció en un principio, pero sigue quedando bastante lejos de la original.
kittyklaws's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0