Stephen's Reviews > Spiderlight
Spiderlight
by
by
Spiderlight follows the same high level script as Lord of Rings and every other quest to defeat the Dark Lord. Party is assembled. They travel across dangerous ground and through secret passages. Problems/conflicts arise. Eventually they reach the Dark Lords tower and confront him. What's different in Spiderlight is Tchaikovsky subverts these tropes to produce something darker and more worthy of your time.
Subversion 1: The Questing Troop. Tchaikovsky's band is not a group of likable would be heroes. Most are unlikable. There's Dion, the prissy, judgmental High Priestess of The Light; Harathe, misogynistic asshole warrior (you'll root for him to be first to die), Penthos, incredibly powerful egotist wizard who mostly wants to show off, Cyrene, Amazon archer with the most interesting story arc of the bunch, and Lief, the only traditional quest character, a thief for comic relief. Forced to join the group, Nth, transformed, inhuman, and struggling to understand who he has become - the gollum and catalyst for the story.
Subversion 2: In most fantasy, the heroes have flaws, but their struggles are largely individual and internal - the doubting priest, the warrior/sorcerer who skills have diminished, etc. Spiderlight's characters have flaws, some large, but they manifest as conflicts between the characters vs internal conflicts. Their interactions are at times shockingly dark. TRIGGER WARNING - There is a discussion of rape. The result: a team always on the edge of imploding. Violently. Often more dangerous to themselves than the Dark Lord.
Subversion 3: There is very little world building. Spiderlight is not a cross-country epic like Lord of the Rings with cultures and environs described in exquisite detail. It is presented as a series of vignettes - a scene in a forest, a scene in a town, a scene in the Dark Tower - much like a play with the world building only as painted backdrop. The focus is on the characters and how they relate to each other vs the world around them. This focus requires good dialogue and weighty subject matter to sustain a story. Tchaikovsky delivers. Really, really well, yielding much to debate and ponder.
Subversion 4: The Dark Lord is not just an evil bogeyman like Sauron et al. He is far more complex. One of the more imaginative villains I've read. The dilemma he presents at the end is terrific. A great way to end the tale.
I'll avoid giving away the story - I think it's best to enter without too much information - and say only that in the end Spiderlight is not really about defeating the Dark Lord. It's about bias, division, labels, and worthiness to be a hero. About demons internal vs external. And about how many dark deeds can Light do and still claim to be good, true, and not Dark?
Previous to reading Spiderlight, the only other Tchaikovsky I'd read was Walking to Aldebaran. I hated it. Had no interest in giving him another chance. A sale on Spiderlight and offer of a buddy read with friends changed my mind. I'm glad I did. Spiderlight is one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year, fun and full of big ideas and moral dilemmas. On my buy, borrow, skip scale: I bought it and am glad I did. If you've any interest in good fantasy, you should too.
end notes:
Buddy read with Carol and Nataliya. Thanks ladies. Their reviews here and here present different takes on the book, but we're aligned that it's a great read.
Some quibbles with Spiderlight:
1. Abrupt tonal changes. It opens like a D&D script from an episode of The Big Bang Theory, so sophmoric that I almost dropped it. It then grows increasingly serious and dark, culimnating in a mind-blowing exchange between Cyrene, Enth and Dion - the best part of the book. One of those wow moments readers live for. The ending moves from a serious battle in the caves, to too many Pratchett-like yucks in the tower assault, back to serious business when the troop faces the Dark Lord. Almost as if different authors wrote parts of the book. The tonal changes detract from the book in my opinion.
2) The Dark Lord's too modern speech. "Magic man," "You in the mail," and the silly "It's on" at the start of the Penthos, Dark Lord battle read like smirky winks to the 5th grade gaming crowd. A bit too Bro on ocassion for a Dark Lord.
3) Harathe survived.
Subversion 1: The Questing Troop. Tchaikovsky's band is not a group of likable would be heroes. Most are unlikable. There's Dion, the prissy, judgmental High Priestess of The Light; Harathe, misogynistic asshole warrior (you'll root for him to be first to die), Penthos, incredibly powerful egotist wizard who mostly wants to show off, Cyrene, Amazon archer with the most interesting story arc of the bunch, and Lief, the only traditional quest character, a thief for comic relief. Forced to join the group, Nth, transformed, inhuman, and struggling to understand who he has become - the gollum and catalyst for the story.
Subversion 2: In most fantasy, the heroes have flaws, but their struggles are largely individual and internal - the doubting priest, the warrior/sorcerer who skills have diminished, etc. Spiderlight's characters have flaws, some large, but they manifest as conflicts between the characters vs internal conflicts. Their interactions are at times shockingly dark. TRIGGER WARNING - There is a discussion of rape. The result: a team always on the edge of imploding. Violently. Often more dangerous to themselves than the Dark Lord.
Subversion 3: There is very little world building. Spiderlight is not a cross-country epic like Lord of the Rings with cultures and environs described in exquisite detail. It is presented as a series of vignettes - a scene in a forest, a scene in a town, a scene in the Dark Tower - much like a play with the world building only as painted backdrop. The focus is on the characters and how they relate to each other vs the world around them. This focus requires good dialogue and weighty subject matter to sustain a story. Tchaikovsky delivers. Really, really well, yielding much to debate and ponder.
Subversion 4: The Dark Lord is not just an evil bogeyman like Sauron et al. He is far more complex. One of the more imaginative villains I've read. The dilemma he presents at the end is terrific. A great way to end the tale.
I'll avoid giving away the story - I think it's best to enter without too much information - and say only that in the end Spiderlight is not really about defeating the Dark Lord. It's about bias, division, labels, and worthiness to be a hero. About demons internal vs external. And about how many dark deeds can Light do and still claim to be good, true, and not Dark?
Previous to reading Spiderlight, the only other Tchaikovsky I'd read was Walking to Aldebaran. I hated it. Had no interest in giving him another chance. A sale on Spiderlight and offer of a buddy read with friends changed my mind. I'm glad I did. Spiderlight is one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year, fun and full of big ideas and moral dilemmas. On my buy, borrow, skip scale: I bought it and am glad I did. If you've any interest in good fantasy, you should too.
end notes:
Buddy read with Carol and Nataliya. Thanks ladies. Their reviews here and here present different takes on the book, but we're aligned that it's a great read.
Some quibbles with Spiderlight:
1. Abrupt tonal changes. It opens like a D&D script from an episode of The Big Bang Theory, so sophmoric that I almost dropped it. It then grows increasingly serious and dark, culimnating in a mind-blowing exchange between Cyrene, Enth and Dion - the best part of the book. One of those wow moments readers live for. The ending moves from a serious battle in the caves, to too many Pratchett-like yucks in the tower assault, back to serious business when the troop faces the Dark Lord. Almost as if different authors wrote parts of the book. The tonal changes detract from the book in my opinion.
2) The Dark Lord's too modern speech. "Magic man," "You in the mail," and the silly "It's on" at the start of the Penthos, Dark Lord battle read like smirky winks to the 5th grade gaming crowd. A bit too Bro on ocassion for a Dark Lord.
3) Harathe survived.
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Reading Progress
October 16, 2021
–
Started Reading
October 17, 2021
– Shelved
October 19, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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I’m glad that you found a Tchaikovsky book that you liked. The guy has written so much that there really is quite a choice when deciding where to go next. He’s quite good, it seems, at taking a trope and going with it to unexpected and deep places.