I don’t know if Tchaikovsky’s interest in spiders preceded his writing or followed it, but the man writes a lot of books that try to force people to have compassion for spiders. But dude makes it work.
Plot: A spider’s home in a forest is attacked by a team of adventurers on a holy quest to defeat a powerful, evil wizard. A deal was offered – the adventurers get what they need in exchange for not killing all the spiders. And what did they need? A guide. So a spider becomes a man and off they went. Shenanigans ensue.
This book can best be described as an A+ Dungeons and Dragons adventure. Tchaikovsky manages to create a world and characters that are both deeply familiar and feel fresh and different. I’ve read his other books, so I was expecting Tchaikovsky twists and boy did he deliver. Spiderlight asks us what makes a hero. The characters are archetypes, but their journey hews them into individuals, not all heroic. He will not give you a moment’s rest from reassessing your preconceived notions.
Of particular interest is, of course, Enth, our man-spider. I am very fond of first person perspectives of things that seem mundane but are being experienced by someone for the first time. And Enth is experiencing everything for the first time. An absolute dearth of feet, arms and eyes. Speech. Body language. Cities. Laws. And as he experiences these things that his people have never experienced, he also becomes more and more foreign to them, even as the people he was now with did not become much less foreign. An experience of homelessness anyone who has left their home town can likely relate to.
Also there’s a wizard who’s obsessed with setting things on fire and he is me and I love him.
This book also has the trademark wit of Tchaikovsky’s other books, and if you’re into audio, he’s also the one who narrates it and he is excellent.