The Spider by Leo Carew
Book information
The Spider by Leo Carew (an incredible human being, with the ability to be an army doctor and help the world during the pandemic as a doctor), book one in Under The Northern Sky
Published first on the 18th of April 2019 by Orbit
4.5 stars out of 5
Interesting twist on this story: it is a military and an investigation story which enhances the family ties and the use of unsavoury characters to push forward one’s agenda
On the military front, we get to experience a brand new race and their needs and goals (Gogmagoc is a pretty weird character), not to mention the usual cunning interactions against a clever foe as Bellamus
and there is a wonderful friendship that develops between Roper and his foe
We get plenty of city sieges here!
On the political side of things, there is so much that goes into the story, we are sewing the seeds for an even more impactful book 3 and unveiling a few dynamics
A few highlights
Roper, Tekoa, Gray and Pryce are a great council of soldiers and military leaders
women, including Keturah and the Historian, have such an important role, and there are a couple of scenes in which they felt the physical representation of resilience - and it’s epic!
Interesting political discussions around why the Anakim should take the actions they needed to take.
A take on pandemic diseases and how they impact the Anakim specifically - such a dramatic choice and quite painful decision to make, delivered so well and with a lot of pathos.
Tropes/themes that work for me
Duplicity and betrayal are essential themes of this story; Vigtyr is such an interesting person for story purposes
Pryce pays the highest price possible - and this impacted me; it has been a while since I felt so much for a character
Friendship and family are essential pillars of the story and decision making
Powers controlling the power is such a crucial aspect of this story and it is written is such a clever way!
