So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4
It's safe to say that I am a major fan of this series by now. Okina Baba writes an amazing voice for "Komoko", but the way the story is structured is also amazing. It's like there are two stories that, when taken together, create a larger narrative, and thus a composite third story. For instance, this volume has Komoko's ongoing war with Mother, the Queen Taratect who laid her egg, as the first story. The second story is Shun's group traveling to the Elf Village. The composite story between them is the experience of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, and how it is effectively a microcosmos of the word itself.
First, let's talk about Komoko's story. She is engaged in conflict with her mother, a Queen Taratect. She feels that Mother is a threat to her existence because of the influence that Mother has on her mind through Kin Control. It is this influence that led Komoko to finish off Fire Dragon Rend after Mother had weakened him. Komoko doesn't want to be a solider in Mother's army, so she sent her Parallel Minds to eat away at Mother's soul. She knows that she doesn't stand a chance against Mother in straight-forward combat, so she's taking this long-distance damage-over-time approach. As long as she stays alive long enough, her trio of Parallel Minds will eventually consume all of Mother's soul, killing her.
Of course, Mother isn't going to let that happen. She knows all about tricks, traps and ambushes, and is far more experienced with them than her wayward daughter. She can monitor Komoko's position through Kin Control, and send out her army of taratects to move Komoko into vulnerable positions. And if that isn't enough, she can call in her own mother.
Thus begins a game of cat-and-mouse to determine the superior taratect. It is super fun. There are many twists and turns, and not artificially so either. I've watched shows where there is a shifting of advantage every five seconds, as predictable as a pendulum, so that it becomes exhausting and trite, not clever. This is clever. It is based on established skills and traits.
Second, let's talk about Shun's story. In this volume, Shun and his party are traveling to the Elf Village. Hugo seeks to destroy it out of petty vengeance on Mis. Oka, so Shun's party is going there to reinforce it and ideally settle their score with Hugo. This trip leads to a lot of character development. This is Shun's first outing as the official Hero, and so he has a lot of learning to do about what that means in practice. He gets advice from older veterans, and experience fighting monsters in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Yes, the only way his party can travel to the Elf Village is through the Great Elroe Labyrinth, where Komoko was born and raised. We get an extensive look at what it is like for non-natives to travel through this place. It is dangerous. Even for competent warriors with a knowledgeable guide, it is dangerous. The perpetually dark and seemingly timeless environment causes a kind of psychological affliction that wears humans out. In addition to normal monsters, The Nightmare of the Labyrinth (i.e. Komoko) and its Remnants are one of the labyrinth's hazards, and they are one of the most feared of all, due to their dangerous abilities and their strange behavior. This is one of the elements that create the larger narrative. In Komoko's time, for instance, the prevailing advice was "burn any webs you see as a matter of course", and in Shun's time that advice has changed to "whatever you do, do NOT burn any webs."
We also get to see how all the reincarnations have been doing. Since early on, Miss. Oka has been talking about how her village has been sheltering the reincarnations in this dangerous new world. Now we see that the situation is not quite so simple. This is what leads to the composite storyline.
The third storyline is the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Both stories involve traveling through and surviving in this underground den of monsters. We see it from the perspective of the monsters who live here, killing and eating each other to survive. We see it from the perspective of humans traveling through it, avoiding conflict when possible and killing monsters when necessary. When viewed through the "Dark Secrets of the Other World" (chapter title), one sees that the Great Elroe Labyrinth is not exceptional in the world. It is fundamentally the same as the rest of the world. This shouldn't be too surprising, after all, the head administrator for this world is a self-proclaimed "evil god".
Trickster Eric Novels gives So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4 an A+
Click here for my previous book review: Today's Menu at the Emiya Household volume one
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
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