At first I didn't think I'd like this standalone novel from veteran fantasy author Tchaikovsky. There were multiple switches of viewpoint, often poorly signalled, which was confusing, and the characters seemed two-dimensional. But I stuck with it as there were also aspects that were good, and I was glad I did. By about a quarter of the way in things got much better. The viewpoint changes were easier to follow and the characters became deeper and much more interesting, and in the end I hugely enjoyed the book.

The story starts in a forest ruled by that beloved trope of fantasy writers - giant spiders. A bunch of questors on the side of the Light (with a capital L of course) are attacking the arachnids. Amongst the eight legged defenders is Nth (pronounced 'enth'), whose viewpoint we get first as he rushes to defend his mother. By the end of the chapter, the heroes have their weapon - a spider's tooth - and have blackmailed the spider queen into offering one of her children - Nth - as a guide. To disguise his true form, the magician in their company (naturally there is one) transforms Nth into a hideous near-human. The unlikely band set off across the land with the aim of defeating the Dark Lord Darvezian, encountering various perils and adventures along the way as you would expect, but also being forced to question what they think they know about 'Light' and 'Dark'.

The story unashamedly uses plenty of familiar fantasy tropes, but at its heart it is a lot cleverer and more subversive than I at first imagined, and I did not expect the ending at all. Nth is - surprisingly perhaps - a very sympathetic and likeable character, who retains a spider-like quality whilst also being relatable. As time goes on, I also became fond of most of the other questors, even the bombastic but socially inept wizard Penthos. I really loved the roguish thief Lief. The plot developed in a way I didn't foresee - despite the essential elements being familiar from every classic fantasy, the way they are delivered and the development of the characters and their thinking take it in different directions.

Tchaikovsky describes brilliantly how it might feel to be a spider, and then to be a spider in a human body and with human thoughts. The 'spidery' sections are really evocative - shudderingly so if you have degree of arachnophobia - but his depiction is not unsympathetic or designed to shock. From the very beginning as a reader you question why these creatures are 'Dark' when they are not essentially evil, simply animals obeying their nature and trying to survive and live their lives. And that is really the theme of the book, but you aren't bludgeoned with it - by the time the point is being made explicitly in the text, the reader has already had all those thoughts themselves. It's a good example of 'show don't tell'.

If you enjoy fantasy adventures, and want one that makes you think and is original without losing the classic tropes that we all love, this is a very good choice. If like me you aren't sure at the start, do stick with it, as the rest of it is well worth it.

Ever been in one of those doomed D&D adventures, where the fate of the world is in your hands, but you are not sure you are going to survive until the end? This is what Spiderlight felt like to me, which is just about perfect.

The prophercy was a tricky one, how to beat the Dark Lord that was threatening th good people of the land. The Church of Armes has finally brought forward a champion that has figured it out. Now with a group of adventurers ready to bave the dangers ahead, they head into the dark forrest to reach the spider queen. The Spiderway goes through her, but that means going through an army of spiders first.

I loved this book. The characters are brilliantly flawed, no one there for a good reason, not even the good guys. The twists and turns you do not see coming, and I love that. It is a book of epic fantasy that will keep you on your toes, as you watch the adventurers question their own morals the whole way through.

Typical Tchaikovsky, just making everything look amazing and easy.

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..

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!

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.

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.

🕷️🕯️ 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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