A review by ineffablebob
Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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.

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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.