Good fiction novels featuring arachnids as main characters

Gogyeng

Arachnobaron
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I've read Children of Time recently, a novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Arthur C Clark award 2016) featuring the evolution of a fictional society led by Salticidae (Portia and Scytodes mainly). Quite a speculative read, but interesting nonetheless, in particular the former which features quite some . Have you read it, or any other similar novels?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25499718-children-of-time
 

The Snark

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There are hundreds, more likely thousands of 'spiders' in mythology, legends and folklore. From allegory to fanciful tales. One of the better known would be Shelob and Ungoliant in J.R.R, Tolkiens works The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. These were borrowed from one or more mythological deities of the ancient Norse which is somewhat analogous of the lore of ancient Egypt's spider god Neth.
In Celtic mythology the spider Sucellus is revered as a beneficial entity mentioned in several tales. The spider entity is also found in numerous American native tribe legends and folklore and pre-Colombian cultures and mythos. A spider is depicted in the Nazca lines. Of course the spider is prominent in ancient Greek lore and has mention in tales from Byzantine empire the Sumer civilization. Japan and China also have spider entities or deities mentioned throughout their mythologies.
My interest in spider mythos is what initially brought me to AB. Web search time. :rolleyes:
 
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Gogyeng

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Anansi, the collector of stories and trickster of the Akan people in West Africa (currently Ghana, in particular Ashanti, Ivory coast) which made their way to the Americas, West Indies, Jamaica, Suriname, Antilles and Curacao. Treated in many folktales and retold in many ways, with same stories to the known Br'er Rabbit of the southern US, and most recently present in the novels and tv adaptations of Neil Gaiman: Anansi brothers and American Gods. Good stuff :happy:
 

Gnarled Gnome

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The Arachnids in Starship Troopers were pretty cool although left mostly to the reader's imagination.
How was Children of Time? It's been on my radar for a while and the world building seems interesting for the series
 
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EtienneN

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There’s the Forgotten Realms novels by R. A. Salvatore where the dark elves worship spiders and keep them as pets.
In my own novel I have a half human character whose totem spirit is a tarantula.
Once I saw at the book store a sci-fi novel about giant spiders flying a space ship.
 

Smokehound714

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im tired of spiders being associated with darkness. thats all i ever see in literature- evil mean spiders to keep the fear of arachnids going strong in your mind so you'll hate them and buy poison.

in other countries this fear is entirely non-existent because tarantulas are important forage for natives. in fact, children in south america routinely hunt giant theraphosa species for breakfast. aint no corner store, the jungle IS the corner store!
 

The Snark

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@Smokehound714 The farther people get, are removed from the natural world the more they act like the world is their zoo and personal playground. Entertainment to which they attach fanciful tales and sometimes ludicrous attributes to animals. Spiders are toys in S.E. Asia; the big sparassids. Ts are stashed away to toss in the fire in the evening then fish out quickly - a treat and delicacy.

In mythology the spider is all too often represented as some sort of evil. What is almost universally missed is the spider is associated with Shiva, the destroyer, which is in fact also the rejuvenator of the trinity of life cycles. Without death and decay the next cycle, birth and growth, cannot come about.

But what people miss the most is the animals fit within nature, are a part of a balance attained by evolutionary experimentation. People assume the role of gods over the animal kingdom but not the responsibility and foresight required when playing such a role.

"Stupid is thinking ammonium nitrate and other chemicals will replace the the base foundation, the factory floor of organic life of everything living and growing in the world." - Dr. Enari, emeritus in hortlcultural botany.
 
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Gogyeng

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The precolumbian americas and more concretely the mesoamerican civilizations had the cycle of death and renewal as one of their central pillars. The cycle duality can be seen in the great goddess of Teotihuacan (Tepantitla murals, 1944). The relentless warrior is the spider-woman, and wife of Tlaloc, but is also Xochiquetzal the maiden harbinger of fertility. It would seem that ancient civilizations which were considered barbaric in their rites by the first conquistadors, were at the very least more in touch with nature than we are in the our sophisticated present. I invite you to check the origins of the Spider-rock in Arizona (Canyon de Chelly, Hopi people) for a particularly benign account of spiders in american mythology.
 

The Snark

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The precolumbian americas and more concretely the mesoamerican civilizations had the cycle of death and renewal as one of their central pillars.
The cycle of death and renewal is found in dozens of "mythologies" around the world. These supposed myths are in all intents and purposes simple science, explained in a poetic or otherwise fanciful tale which is easily remembered and accurately re-recited on down through the ages as in the Edda chain. Essentially, analogies of both life sciences and cosmic principals.
The three cycles of life is probably best known from 'Hindu' texts regarding Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva though the origin of the trimurti predates the present interpretation of that religion.
 
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pannaking22

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Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Shadows of the Apt" series is excellent and features all sorts of arthropod groups (including spiders and scorpions).
 

Gogyeng

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Oh yes, I read the first book of the series. Loved it. Although it is a bit centred on Hymenoptera, :cyclops:, we find Mantis/Spiders hybrids, moths with mystic powers, daring dragonflies, heavy beetles, industrious ants ;)...
 

Gnarled Gnome

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(Not arachnids, but worth a mention anyway) Cant believe I didnt think of this sooner, but Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber is a book told from the perspective of a Formica rufa wood ant. One of the top 5 novels I've EVER read! I cannot suggest it highly enough. I was heartbroken when I later learned it was part of a trilogy, but the other books haven't been translated from French. There are some interesting sci-fi turns in the human-perspective story that's running parallel to the ant's story. The author does a great job putting you in the world of small invertebrates.
 

pannaking22

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Oh yes, I read the first book of the series. Loved it. Although it is a bit centred on Hymenoptera, :cyclops:, we find Mantis/Spiders hybrids, moths with mystic powers, daring dragonflies, heavy beetles, industrious ants ;)...
I agree, very Hymenoptera focused, at least early on. Plenty of other groups get introduced later (isopods, various Diptera, phasmids, grasshoppers, etc.), which kicks up the excitement.
 

Reezelbeezelbug

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I'm just gonna necro this thread to say that I just picked up Children of Time and it's so good! I'm maybe 100 pages in, but the descriptions of the spiders and their actions is so spot on. Can't wait to see where it goes, and excited to see there are more in the series
 

Arthroverts

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I read The Last of the Sandwalkers by Jay Hosler and thought it was a fairly good representation of invertebrates. And then I found out it is written as an allegory to modern-times, and the allegory is rather spiteful and derogatory. Since then I've lost interest in it.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

schmiggle

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The Alchemist series by Michael Scott has a minor character who's a spider god. Other than that I got nothing. There is a video game where you play as a whipspider, but it's really only nominal, as far as I can tell, because in actuality you essentially just slide a whipspider sprite around a map to find food for the colony.
 
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