Spiderlight

This was a strange book.

The characters were straight out of an AD&D campaign - warrior, priest, mage and thief. So was their quest - conquer obstacles, kill the Dark Lord. Nothing particularly unique or even interesting about it. Very little background. 2/5 stars so far.

However, what completely redeemed the book for me were the questions about the fifth member of the group - Enth, a former spider turned into... what exactly? What is the difference between a monster and a man, and how do we treat either? What light and dark is there in such a being as well as in all of us?

These questions were not given a thorough treatment - of course not, in such a short novel - but raised enough to make things interesting, maybe even memorable. And the Dark Lord had an opinion of his own about it all, giving the story a satisfying conclusion as well as room for sequels.

Mostly recommended.