This book really blew away my expectations of a fantasy novel and its tropes.

Adrian Tchaikovsky is an incredibly prolific author which I sometimes feel is evident in his standalone works that can be a bit hit or miss compared to his series which are some of my favourite of all time.

Thankfully this seems to be a shining example that subverted my expectations at every turn. It has spiders in it so I should have known!

The highlight of the whole novel is how it explores and plays with morality, conviction and faith and the pitfalls of letting others convince you what is right and correct without forming your own opinions.

The main underlying plot is almost subservient to the characters and their development which are wonderfully explored. I guess this subservience is probably my only real criticism of the overall novel as all the key plot points are fairly rushed and not particularly fleshed out.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillian/Tor for the eARC

Just to clear up any confusion – Spiderlight is a re-release. I was thrilled be able to see this outstanding book get another chance to shine with readers, as it’s one of my favourite Tchaikovsky novels that I read waaay back in 2016.

Essentially, this is Tchaikovsky’s take on the classic ensemble fantasy quest – think Lord of the Rings. The devoted priestess of the Light with her sacred and lethal artefact, Dion, is leading the expedition; there’s a lethal mage, Penthos, who is also arrogantly obnoxious; though perhaps not as obnoxiously arrogant as lantern-jawed Harathes; Cyrene, the other woman on the quest, who is also a highly skilled archer; and finally Lief, the necessary thief who breaks into places and occasionally steals necessary objects. This small group are fulfilling the prophesy that they will be able to travel into the heart of the territory of the Dark, and with an object they will obtain from the Spider Queen – be able to overthrow the Dark Lord.

Obviously, things start to go wrong fairly quickly – no adventure worth the name ever goes smoothly. But Tchaikovsky ensures that this much-loved trope is given a thoroughly shaking. I don’t want to go into too much detail as this is a book you need to experience without any spoilers to get the best effect. But if you’ve read and enjoyed epic fantasy quests – then I think this is a must-read.

In amongst the variety of dangers faced by our intrepid band, Tchaikovsky also takes the time to examine some of the problems encapsulated within the trope. As I mentioned in my first review – what stood out for me were the problems Cyrene faces – and the observation still holds good, so I repeat… Her bitter diatribe that she is always judged as a woman first and a warrior second is a scene that will stay with me for a long time. Tchaikovsky rips away any fond illusions fantasy fans might have that bunging a handful of attractive sword-waving young women into the middle of an adventure successfully evens up the gender power imbalance. I particularly like that Tchaikovsky doesn’t go for the easy option – which is to make her chaste victim, either. Cyrene’s annoyance is that after a fling with Harathes, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that she is now pledged to him and despite her making it very clear she no longer wants anything more to do with him – refuses to accept her decision.

Another ongoing issue Tchaikovsky plays with, is the notion of Light and Darkness, versus Right and Wrong. Dion, the devout priestess, wrestles constantly with this problem – particularly after the group have encountered the Spider Queen and now have the gift she has given them to overcome the Dark Lord. Some of the most objectionable characters in the tale are of the Light, while morally ambiguous Lief is by far the most humane and sympathetic character. According to the Church of Armes, only Man is capable of being of the Light, while other races are predestined to be of the Dark, no matter how they comport themselves.

This ongoing issue gets more thoroughly examined during the denouement, when the group finally confront the Dark Lord in a highly memorable scene. I took something a of risk re-reading this one. I generally won’t revisit books on the grounds that if I’ve had a lovely time with a story – I don’t want to be disappointed the second time around. For not only do I have to cope with said disappointment – I’ve also sullied the memory of the first reading experience. But I figured that Tchaikovsky wouldn’t let me down. And I was right. This was worth re-reading and proved every bit as clever, engrossing and thought- provoking as the first time. Very highly recommended.
10/10

The first couple of chapters of Spiderlight had me worried. Cliche good versus evil? Stereotypical characters in a fight against a Dark Lord? Righteousness always being, well, right? What happened to the originality that makes me adore Tchaikovsky’s work so much?

And that, dear reader, was the point!

Tchaikovsky takes the typical fantasy traits that have made up so many epic sagas and challenges them head on.

Did most of the settings read like they’d come straight out of Lord of the Rings?

Sure.

Were the main players extremes of their character types, especially at the start?

Definitely.

That doesn’t mean its lacking in originality, though. Tchaikovsky once again brings a spider right into the heart of the story. But this is no Children of Time creature, but a thing of supposed darkness, taken and transformed against his will and bound by magic to only do as he is commanded.

And he’s supposed to be the creature of darkness?

On the surface, yes, this plot is good versus evil. But I cannot begin to explain the depth going on here. Is a character ‘good’ simply because they happen to be on the ‘right’ side of the war against darkness? Who even determines which is the right and wrong side? If stories have told us anything, it’s that no matter what world it’s set in, regardless of what powers we’re gifted with, humans have a way of messing things up. Being human doesn’t make us right and certainly doesn’t make us good.

The ‘chosen one’ of this group has a crisis of faith when she realises her means might not justify the ends. The knight, the warrior, is a jerk who thinks he is entitled to a woman’s love and body because she once smiled at him. The all-powerful magician doesn’t particularly care for small matters such as free will. The female archer has excellent aim with her weapon but isn’t quite on target with her attitude and prejudices.

The only character apart from our poor transformed spider who is likeable is the thief, because he doesn’t hold himself to a higher standard other than believing he’s good at what he does. Ironic that the ‘criminal’ is the most righteous of them all? Now you’re getting a sense of how this novel works.

A review can’t do this justice. You must read it to appreciate the mastery with which Tchaikovsky undermines the traditional traits of an epic fantasy. It’s not a spoof or a parody, despite the themes potentially lending themselves to that approach. It’s a challenge to the genre I didn’t realise I needed.

It did take longer to get caught up in this compared to his other novels, though. The characters are given the extremes of their personalities, which made them hard to like until you realise why. The beginning made me wonder where this one was going. It’s that reason alone I wouldn’t say this is a favourite, but a very clever novel from an exceptionally talented author.

⤷ 4.25✩

Thanks to Pan Macmillan for providing me with this E-ARC via NetGalley.

This book explores the borders between good and bad, men and monster, and empathy and disgust really well. It does so in a manner that is easy to follow, but does not hit you in the face.

The writing style in general was greatly enjoyable. I felt a connection to all of the character, how morally questionable they may be. This was the first Tchaikovsky I have ever read and I plan to read many more!

Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favourite Sci-Fi authors, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to read his new fantasy book as part of a book tour with the publisher.

This was such an enjoyable read. Adrian Tchaikovsky has a knack for writing non-human characters in a way that makes them really come alive, in all their uniqueness. Here we follow a ragtag group assembled D&D style (a priestess, a wizard, a thief, a warrior, a knight) seeking to fulfil a prophecy to vanquish the Dark Lord. They end up in a nest of giant spiders (Tchaikovsky clearly loves spiders!) and the wizard turns one of them into a human (or humanoid in any event). Nth struggles to understand the world around him and his behaviour ends up causing those around him to reflect on their human nature and on what it means to be of the Light or of the Dark. It ends with an unexpected twist that turns the whole story on its head.

A recommended read for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky and stories told from a non-human perspective.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookbreak and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Allies will become enemies.
Enemies will become allies.
And the Dark Lord is waiting.

Although Adrian has been writing for decades, it may perhaps be true that his most famous work to date has been the Arthur C Clarke Award-winning novel Children of Time, a science-fiction novel in a future where alien spiders are nicer than humans.

Spiderlight continues this interest in non-human species by having one of its main characters being – guess what? An intelligent spider!

At the beginning, Spiderlight reads as if it is straight out of the Dungeons & Dragons rulebook. There’s a troop of characters – Dion, a priestess of Armes of the Light, Penthos, a bad-tempered mage looking for people to value his efforts, Harathes, a gruff shieldsman and warrior who has the hots for Cyrene, a vicious ranger with skills in archery. Lastly, there’s Lief, a rogue and thief.

It perhaps goes without saying that this band of oddities are all determined to fulfil a prophesy; to use the power of Armes of the Light to destroy Darkness – namely the Dark Lord Darvezian, the latest man-god slaughtering in his name and bringing evil to the world. (What else would a Dark Lord do?)

The first part of the prophesy involves collecting a spider’s fang. When doing this, they find that they have to enlist the help of a giant spider, named Nth (or Enth) who is given the knowledge of ‘the spider’s path’ to get to Darvesian’s fortress quickly and then kill him. Even with this help, the journey would not be easy, especially with one of the Creatures of Darkness (Nth) in tow. So, as a result Penthos uses magic to transform Nth into human form, although he is still rather grotesque – lots of eyes, for one thing. The group then set off on their quest to dispatch Darvesian.

The complication to this is that although the group all have the same goal, they are very different personalities. This means that the assemblage is a massed rabble of ill-mannered, grumpy misfits, barely kept in control by Dion. Much of their journey is characterised by them bickering amongst themselves at times and then barely speaking to each other at others.

As you might expect in a Tchaikovsky novel, Nth is the most likeable character of the lot, despite his odd appearance. Some of the group see Nth as a monster, others as a tool to get the job done, and some by the end as a friend.

The ending is typical Tchaikovsky in that it is perhaps not what you expect. To say more would be a major spoiler, but suffice it to say that it is sensible and logical, bearing in mind what has happened up to that point.

There were some nice surprises with this book. Firstly, it is one of Adrian’s shorter novels, although not lacking thought and depth at times, which makes it memorable. The travel described is also unexpectedly direct, with enough detail to carry the plot without swamping t in detail. Similarly, the characterisation is enough to make them interesting without overwhelming the plot with lots of back story.

Of course, the book is more than an homage to D&D or even Tolkien. Along the way there is commentary about religion, war, the importance of light and darkness, of loyalty, faith and friendship.

Despite this being an older Tchaikovsky novel, I was also pleased that those strengths seen in Adrian’s more recent work are also on display here. Spiderlight still has those elements that make his more recent books eminently readable - humour, great characterisation, pleasing world building. If nothing else it reminds me that Adrian is just as at home writing Fantasy as he is his now-better known SF.

And if you’ve not tried Adrian’s Fantasy writing before, this is a great place to start. Recommended.

Wow, what a fun ride this book was!
We are immediately launched into the depths of bloodshed as we follow a seemingly rag-tag team of misfits, a mage, a diviner, a warrior, a thief and an archer, as they bravely storm the nest of an ungodly species of giant spider. We witness our ‘hero’s’ ambush, conjured deadly fire and godly light ablaze, through the eyes of one of the brood, a spider called Nth. After a somewhat bolshie tet-a-tet with Nths’ looming gargantuan mother, Nth joins the gang in their ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ style adventure to eradicate the dark, though not before our cocksure mage turns him into an even greyer version of a Nosferatu monster.
Our journey across the land is filled with unpredictability, combat, magic, monsters and beer. Lots of beer! And all of the poor human choices that usually come with it 😂 Even with such little backstory on the main characters, I was still fully invested and enamoured with them. The banter and whit that they hurl at one another constantly, along with sibling level ribbing and bullying, had be chuckling constantly. Tchaikovsky is incredibly talented at writing fluid, comedic dialogue in a way that feels completely natural as a reader, and I adored every hilarious moment of it. The levels of sarcasm, in particular, were top tier!
As the quest continued, I began to realise that Tchaikovsky had managed to engineer something truly special. Hidden deep within the depths of the comedic dialogues, ruckus tavern fights and brutalised battles, Tchaikovsky manages to weave in some incredibly deep themes and questions surrounding the human condition. Very clearly, doubts begin to arise over what was once a clear, rigid line between ‘Light vs Dark’, or ‘Good vs Evil’. The characters slowly, and uncomfortably, begin to acknowledge that their indoctrinated belief system is visibly flawed. That naively following ‘the good guys’ doesn’t actually mean that they are, in fact, morally ‘good’. It’s an interesting, and albeit controversial, debate. Simply blindly following religion, without recognition of it’s potential flaws, without the preservation of a sense of self, with the likely inflated sense of superiority and the danger that come with this, can actually cause others to perceive you as ‘the bad guys’. Such concept was beautifully highlighted by the scene in which sociopathic monks almost robotically cause harm ‘in the name of Armes (the lord)’, and even more so in the final scene (though I will avoid detail so as to not spoil the major twist). I think at one point or another, each of the main characters goes through a pivotal moment of ethical crisis, before coming through the other side with their philosophical perceptions of the world, blurred.
The blending and greying of what is to be considered ‘good vs evil’, is then further cleverly highlighted in the unyielding divide that has been created between those in the ‘us’ category of the lands, and the ‘them’. You have the humans that are seen as beings of the ‘light’, and anything that does not fully resemble them, is a monster, and thusly a part of the ‘dark’. I truly loved how Tchaikovsky has brought attention to societies predisposition to see anything/anyone slightly different to what we consider to be ‘normal’ as wrong, and did so superbly through the character of Enth/Nth. The empathy you build with Enth/Nth is staggering, following from his naively pure beginnings, to his emotionally raw and devastating realisation of his inferior place in the world. He is seen as an ‘it’, a means to an end, nothing more. As the story progresses, so too do our characters develop, with many of them questioning and rearranging their belief systems as they spend more time with Enth/Nth, gradually coming to the realisation that simply looking different does not make someone a ‘monster’ in nature.
My only gripe with the story was that, as much as I loved the character build and development, and the story was engaging enough, as an epic quest I would have liked to have been provided with a little bit more detail of the road and its potential perils. Instead of a full detailed journey across the land, we were seemingly village (or more to the point, tavern) hopping. And yes, whilst this did save on potential pacing issues from ‘waffling’, it did instead cause a level of repetition that could have otherwise been avoided. Personally, I believe the tale could have been made more engaging if the ‘perilous journey’ section was given a little attention. But even without this small addition, I still feel the pacing and world building still succeeded in making the tale truly engaging.
Stunning book, thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you so much to Tor Books for granting me the absolute pleasure of reading this as an arc 🫶🏻

A prophecy has foretold that the Dark Lord will be vanquished by a band of misfits wielding a dark weapon – the fang of a giant queen spider, who will also provide ‘the path’. And so our intrepid band, comprising a cleric, a mage, a rogue, and a swordsman and archer, go a-questing. We join them as they succeed in obtaining that dark, nasty weapon – and also a new party member, who may or may not be a giant arachnid, at least until the party mage tries his hand at a spot of transmogrification… o.O

It all sounds very D&D, doesn’t it? And indeed, it very purposefully starts off that way before veering off more than a little and in doing so producing something much richer and more thought-provoking and definitely griping to read!

First, though, a note on Nth. So, I am a huge arachnophobe. I requested this book based on the author, and then thought “Oh, maybe the title doesn’t mean…” Oh yes, it means. Spider. Lots and lots of them in general, and one in particular. However, somehow it didn’t totally freak me out. There are scenes very reminiscent of Mirkwood, and Shelob (for Tolkien fans) that weren’t exactly comfortable reading, but they weren’t amped up to deliberate shudder-levels. And Nth… well, he’s also an uncomfortable character, in more ways that one, but it wasn’t enough to ‘trigger’ me. Ymmv, of course, but if you are also an arachnophobe then please don’t automatically rule this out.

Adrian Tchaikovsky is known for liking both bugs and sympathetic non-human characters, and that is a large part of what we have here. The story told from Nth’s point of view is done very well, but we also get parts from the rest of the party – I didn’t love the constant switching at the beginning (and, although it might just be the formatting in my copy, these changes weren’t well signposted) but it does make sense with the D&D theme, as well as calming down a lot (or, I got used to it!) as the story progresses.

As to that story, well at its heart it is that D&D-type quest, as the gang try to follow the prophecy and defeat the Dark Lord. But it’s also so much more. Questions of how far it’s acceptable to bend the rules of the holy Church of Armes, if it’s for the greater good, plague at least one character, alongside concepts of good and evil in general. Comradeship in several forms gets examined, from accepting the ‘other’ to gritting teeth to work with useful, in many ways ‘good’ party members, who are actually awful people in other ways. And Tchaikovsky hits the right character arc with all of them.

And then there’s the denouement… and, oh – oh my! Yes, this is a part you definitely want to hit without spoilers – enjoy! 🙂

Overall: a classic fantasy questing tale gets a spin or two, weaving a far more complex web (pun intended!) than the opening belies. Amazing how much is covered in such a short tome, frankly, and a great twist on the genre.

3.5 stars. Was a bit disjointed and it took me out of the story a couple of times. I like the ideas present but the execution wasn't as good as I expected.

Nth, my dear sweet baby, ignore whatever names Penthos is throwing at you!

I finally had the chance to read something by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and he did not disappoint. If I hadn’t been in the middle of packing, unpacking, and living out of boxes when I started Spiderlight, I probably would’ve finished it in under a week. Tchaikovsky’s style is smooth and easy to sink into; the story flows beautifully, making it the perfect read at the end of long, stressful days.

Now, confession time—and this one’s entirely on me. Imagine me, an arachnophobe, picking up a book literally called Spiderlight. My brain just refused to do basic math. Even so, despite one of the main characters being a literal man-spider, I still found the book incredibly engaging. Whenever the word “spider” popped up, my brain did me a favor and translated it into “fluffers", so everything worked out fine.

The plot moves quickly and with purpose, the cast is diverse, chaotic, and entertaining, and my favorite character, if it’s not obvious already, is Nth. His POVs were adorable, refreshing, and often heartbreaking, especially when certain characters (looking at you, Penthos) treated him cruelly. He’s easily the emotional center of the story for me.

The only drawback for me was that the worldbuilding and magic system felt a little underdeveloped. The scope of the characters’ powers didn’t seem to have clear limits, which pulled me out of it now and then. But between the heist elements, side quests, political twists, and sharp banter, I was more than happy to keep turning pages.

Thank you, NetGalley and Pan Macmillan, for the ARC!

🕷️🕯️ BOOK REVIEW 🕯️🕷️

Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky - easiest ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ever given.

I can't even bring myself to be a silly billy in this review I just want to rave about how much I enjoyed this book.

Firstly thanks @netgalley and @panmacmillan for the eARC in exchange for a review.

Spiderlight takes your classic fantasy story of a band of heroes on a journey to defeat the Dark Lord, and asks: "how would these heroes deal with an "evil" spider joining their party?"

I think this is my new favourite book (sorry Piranesi, you've been dethroned!), which is good because I ordered the @thebrokennbinding edition before reading it.

What's so good?
🕸️ The characters are so well developed for such a short novel (~300 pages). You're invested in their journey from chapter one, and the trials and tribulations they face, on both a personal level and at a high-stakes good versus evil level, keeps you turning the pages. I particularly enjoyed Lief, the loveable rogue type, and his relationship with the rest of the party.
🕸️ Tchaikovsky's humour hits the right spot for me. I often struggle with humour in books. It feels like the author is trying too hard, and ends up feeling overly silly and often out of place. The humour in Spiderlight toes the line perfectly, with any witty remarks used in the dialogue feeling true to the personality of the characters.
🕸️ The book asks interesting philosophical and societal questions and explores them in depth, without turning into an essay. Is there such a thing as good and evil, light and dark? How do we treat people that are different to us? Again this is something that I have seen authors fail to achieve time and time again.

This is the second Tchaikovsky book I've read, and both have been about human-animal mutant hybrids (which is apparently my favourite genre as they've both been 5 ⭐ reads). He is fast becoming a favourite author of mine, and I am looking forward to reading more.

❓ Have you read any Adrian Tchaikovsky books? If so, what's your fave? ❓

#bookreview #fantasybooks #AdrianTchaikovsky #Spiderlight #BrokenBinding #bookstagramUK #ReadersOfInstagram #CatsOfBookstagram #catmom #catdad #FiveStarRead
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A perfect fantasy novel under 300 pages??

What really grabbed me about Tchaikovsky’s approach was how effortlessly he builds the world. There are no heavy-handed exposition dumps, no encyclopedia/diary entries awkwardly stuffed into the narrative. Instead, we’re dropped right into the thick of it, and the world unfolds naturally as the characters move through it. We only learn what actually matters to the story and the quest at hand, which keeps the pacing tight and engaging.

Rather than trying to spin up some sprawling, epic sense of scale, the book keeps its focus on a small cast of characters. And that decision pays off, as despite the short page count, the characters feel layered, compelling, and surprisingly deep.

The real standout for me was the non-human POV. Tchaikovsky nails the challenge of writing a character who doesn’t just look different from a human but genuinely thinks differently. Those chapters feel fresh, believable, and unlike anything you’d get from a standard human POV.

I’ll definitely be diving into more of Tchaikovsky’s fantasy catalogue after this.

Thank you to Tor for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars!

I have really got into Adrian Tchaikovsky lately and this book was intriguing like his other books.

Spiderlight is centred around a quest to defeat the dark but is actually so much more. There are themes or power, racism(speciesism), faith and human nature.
I enjoyed the humour throughout the book and it added some much needed lightness to the story.
I did get slightly annoyed with the receptiveness of the 'ew monster' vibes even after Nth did something helpful. Also some spelling mistakes between Nth and Enth.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent, fast-paced fantasy adventure, full of sword, sorcery, humour, and humanity.

On the face of it, this should have been riddled with cliché - a band of misfits on the side of the Light set off on a quest to fulfil a prophecy to defeat the evil Dark Lord. There’s a priestess, a mage, an archer, a swordsman, and a thief. It would be easy to feel like you should roll a 20-sided dice to find out how many hit-points each character has.

But I found the storytelling anything other than clichéd. There narrative is fresh and engaging, and the characters are diverse and have depth and a real emotional presence. It covers issues of faith and friendship, of loyalty, motivation, and belonging.

The main character, the priestess Dion, is driven by her faith and the certainty of the truth and justice represented by the Light. (In bearing, she had a gravitas and conviction that reminded me of Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones… a comparison which I enjoyed, but will be meaningless to anyone who hasn’t seen that). But this conviction is tested as the choices and compromises that she has to make become morally ambiguous, and she struggles with her belief in the absolutes of Light and Dark.

There is a vein of humour, based on the interactions between the characters, that runs through the whole story. In many ways, the combination of humour and fantasy quest felt like a grown-up cousin of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels - but Pratchett’s novels feel like a cheap animated cartoon next to the live-action richness and depth of character in Spiderlight.

The observations about humanity, friendship and loyalty are often powerful, coming from characters and situations that aren’t obvious. And the plot builds to a conclusion that is both satisfying and unexpected.

This is the first of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s fantasy novels that I’ve read, but I will definitely be reading more.

Thank you #NetGalley and Pan Macmillan / Tor for the free review copy of #Spiderlight without obligation. All opinions are my own.

What a brilliant surprise this was, I'm so glad it's getting a UK release!
Spiderlight is a book that was originally written in 2016 and, presumably because of this, the UK release has had relatively little fanfare outside of NetGalley and The Broken Binding special edition (which I absolutely need to get my hands on) which upsets me because every fantasy reader needs to read this book so I can talk about it more!
Spiderlight has a relatively simple premise: a group of adventurers seek to defeat the 'Dark Lord' and his reign of terror by following a prophecy. But this is given a brilliant Tchaikovsky twist. In order to complete the prophecy, the adventurers must use the 'spider's path' and for that they need a spider! In comes Nth, a giant spider given (more or less) human shape by a powerful wizard. But Nth never wanted to be a part of this quest, is a creature of Dark in a group fighting for Light and struggles to reconcile with his new humanity.
The cast of characters (as other reviewers have said) initially seems very much like your typical DnD party: there's the noble paladin, the mischeivous rogue, the eccentric wizard, the tough ranger and the brutish fighter. I was intially a bit doubtful that I'd end up caring for any of these characters as they seemed so stereotypical, but the character work was just so good. Everyone (with perhaps the exception of the fighter Harathes, but he was fun to hate!) was multifaceted and layered and genuinely human and likeable. Dion the paladin could easily have become the boring stereotypical noble warrior, and she was noble but in a really human and flawed way that I just loved so much, and it was the same with all of the other characters. Adrian Tchaikovsky is also a master of nonhuman POVs and Nth was just such an interesting character. I just wanted to reach in and give him a hug throughout the story, his unique dynamic with each other character was brilliant.
The plot, as I said above, was quite simple but really worked because of the hidden depth and clever twists interwoven within it. The writing was fast paced and sharp, but with lovely moments of beauty and introspection. I also really liked the humour throughout. Humour is a difficult thing to balance in a story like this because it runs the risk of coming off as insincere and ruining the rest of the story, but that balance was struck really well in Spiderlight and I had so much fun without the emotional parts of the story being compromised. A particular scene where Dion and a priest argue over interpretations of theology had me grinning so much!
Spiderlight also serves as a deconstruction of the 'noble adventuring party goes and fights evil monsters who are evil just because they were born that way' and I really enjoyed that, I wish we got more of it in fantasy! The way the Dark Lord and his minions were handled was really clever, and I really appreciated how nuanced the handling of the 'Light' and 'Dark' was. Everything was shades of grey and at no point did Tchaikovsky talk down to his audience- moral questions were often left unsanswered and for the reader to mull over which honestly needs to happen more. I want to be prompted to think, not told what to think. Part of me wanted a little more exploration of the treatment of nonhumans or those considered 'of the Dark' by the party (it felt like the group didn't quite face the consequences of their wanton murder) but I'm still really satisfied with the book as a whole and can't reccommend it enough!
Adrian Tchaikovsky is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, how he puts out so much of such great quality is beyond me. I can't wait to try more of his work! Go and pick up Spiderlight when it comes out in September (or pick it up now if you're in the US) if you're a fan of fun yet introspective and unique epic fantasy. Even arachnophobes will find something to love!

As a long-time fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s work, Spiderlight was a refreshing and wildly entertaining change of pace. I love his Children of Time and many others. Tchaikovsky shows in this standalone novella that he can also deliver a compact, punchy, and deeply enjoyable fantasy adventure that doesn’t sacrifice depth for speed.

Reading Spiderlight reminded me of playing Baldur’s Gate, with all the party infighting, cryptic NPCs, and moral decisions that never quite have a clean answer. That sense of nostalgic, high-fantasy adventure is captured brilliantly.

Very much enjoyed this fun, fast paced story. Another great piece of work by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

@ReadsGavin

A great standalone fantasy adventure that deals mainly with the subjects of faith, racism and human nature, all the while providing some really funny and exciting moments. I know Tchaikovsky is mostly known for his sci-fi books but here he proves he is a more than competent fantasy writer. He plays with some tropes (prophesies, romance) and manages to create something different enough in the genre.
Not a very long book, great pace and story and some unique and memorable characters (especially Nth). Sure not all of the protagonists are equally developed and the ending felt a bit overexplained but those are minor issues, when the rest of the book was of a very high standard.
Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an arc.

I would like to thank Pan Macmillan and Adrian Tchaikovsky for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story starts familiarly with Tchaikovsky’s trademark zoological background and spiders taking the lead. I always love understanding more about the natural world and how they live. Through his eyes I see each species a lot differently.

The story sets its own pace and has action, magic, and some humour in there too to keep it interesting. It’s not a light-hearted tale by any means, but it doesn’t drag, and avoids becoming too dark. I love a story with a fantasy quest and an unconventional band of characters and here again Tchaikovsky doesn't disappoint. He writes it passionately and uses the adventure to ask questions about right and wrong, loyalty and most importantly light and dark, I prefer to use the term shade as nothing is really black and white..

The writing is clear and easy to follow, and the world feels well thought out and detailed without needing long descriptions. I like how it flips fantasy traditions on its head; instead of simple good versus evil, it asks whether those labels really mean anything at all.
The characters each got a chance to shine and show off their personalities which were very different no matter which side you’re rooting for. I enjoyed the flipping between perspectives of certain characters it added a new layer to the story. And of course let’s not forget the bickering what a great time I had reading through that..

Overall it’s a sharp, fun and engaging book that at first reads like a standard fantasy quest on the surface but ends up being much more. It's well worth reading if you like stories that break the rules a bit and make you think. The ending I especially thought was very sneaky and was pleasantly surprised.
It's safe to say I had great fun reading this and am wondering if there's any subject Mr Tchaikovsky doesn’t excel at? It seems not..

I really struggled to read this book. Partly because of how it was set out on my kindle. I'm pretty sure that's not something you can control though and I understand why it was like that. Secondly because I felt I had read it or something very similar before. I checked Goodreads and it seems it was published in 2016? I haven't got it marked as read on mine though. Because if this similar feeling I felt like I didn't get out of the book what I could have. I knew I would end up thinking the spider Nth wasn't a monster and that it would make me reconsider what it is to be monstrous. I liked the world building but Adrian Tchaikovsky books are always really well written so I was expecting that. Overall though not my favourite. I didn't particularly dislike it but I didn't find anything to make me like it either.

So this is one of Mr T's earlier novels, first published right after Children of Time boosted him into high orbit. And yes, texts stand on their own, The Author is dead and we have killed him, I know, I know, but it's really hard to understand this book except through that lens. Because on the whole, it's just...fine. Not awful, but just tongue-in-cheek fantasy pastiche that's not in the same league as any of the Tyrant Philosophers novels, or even (whisper it), the rather similar Dark Lord Dani books.

The pastiche is pretty obvious from the media res get-go: the human-chauvinist forces of The Light are falling back against the mighty Dark Lord and his subhuman ranks of Darkness, you see, and a motley band of outcasts is about to risk everything to fulfill the prophecy that points the only way to victory. And yes, this is an absolutely threadworn, hackish premise. and Tchaikovsky clearly knows it, the problem is he Just. Won't. Stop. Telling. You. he knows it. Wink wink, nudge nudge, wonder if everything's going to be as simple as it seems by the third act.

And to be fair, he does colour between the lines with many of the little grace notes that illuminate his later works: almost every time Tchaikovsky looks like he's about to "complicate" his premise with a stock grimdark trope — both sides are horrible, the vicious wheel of history can never be broken, all that — the actual reveal comes out a little bit slant and nuanced. It's not as deep as the more affecting sleight-of-hand of say, And Put Away Childish Things, but you can see how he gets there.

Still, the voice isn't quite firm enough, the twists actually surprising enough, the catharsis burning enough to forgive all the meta trickery — readers not familiar with his more recent works (or who haven't really seen fantasy tropes deconstructed before) might justifiably love Spiderlight, but you're better off going straight to the good stuff.