So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5 (book review)

For those of you who watched the anime first, or are planning to watch the anime, note this before you proceed.  Volume five marks the end of the anime adaptation's first season. 

This volume is structured by two separate conflicts. On Komoko's side, the invasion of Kent in the country of Sariella by an alliance of the nation of Ohts and the Word of God Church. On Shun's side, the assault upon the Elf Village by an alliance of the Renexandt Empire, the Demon Army and the Taratect Army. Part of the fun is seeing how the first influences and builds up to the second. 

I normally don't like shifting perspective novels, but Okina Baba makes it work. It works because the perspectives are always relevant to every other perspective. They provide information and perspective on the same things. 

For Komoko's side, this volume is basically a breather volume. Yes, the Demon Lord Ariel is still chasing her, but Komoko can avoid her with relative ease, and Ariel isn't even actively chasing her for a good chunk of the novel. Instead, Komoko gets to wipe out humanoid bandits easily and without any danger to herself, and be worshipped by a grateful town's population. They place offerings of fruit at the edge of the forest where she's taken up residence. Yes, being worshipped is unsettling for a socially awkward shut-in, but it's much better than constantly fighting for one's life against monsters. 

I'll say that again, for the first time, we get to see Komoko doing something other than Survive-by-fleeing-or-fighting. We get to see how her moral compass functions outside of life-and-death situations. It is really interesting. It's not concerned with either charity or selfishness; neither is her motivation. To put it concisely, the reasoning would be "I don't have a reason to /not/ heal the begging sick person. I'll only eat their cancerous organs, not their whole body, because I don't waste food." 

I couldn't make it more concise than that. On one hand, Komoko performs miracle-level healing upon a stranger simply because they asked her to. On the other hand, Komoko considers eating said stranger's limbs, and tries to justify it to herself by saying she could regenerate them. So she only eats the sick person's cancerous organs, and then regrew those, because she couldn't heal the organs outright. Do cancerous organs taste good? No, Komoko just has a mental block against leaving fresh meat to rot. It really is interesting to watch these ethical questions roll around in her head. 

Now for Shun's side of the story. 

Shun's side takes place entirely in the Elf Village. Like the last volume, we see some good character development going on, especially for Anna. I'm going to focus on her in my review because she has focus in the book. Fei has this great perspective chapter that ties her past as a school bully to the haughty behavior of the elves, but it is built on Anna's development. 

Anna is a half-elf woman who is basically Shun's surrogate mother. She has served Shun's family for several generations, first as a court mage and then retiring from that role to nurse baby Shun. She was born in the Elf Village, but was cast out for being a half-elf. Elves in this world are supremely arrogant and racist, and so they gave Anna a rough time of things when she was a kid. Not only does this give much character development to her but it also, at the same time, gives much development to the Elf Village and the elven people as a whole. It is world building created through character development that is 100% appropriate to the pacing of the story, supporting the here and now and also something that happens later on. 

These conflicts are tied together by numerous factors. The one that I find most interesting is Potimas's involvement in both of them. He is becoming an important character. Indeed, it starting to look like he could be a major villain. In the first volume, he was just "a reincarnation's father". Now I'm thinking he could be the Big Bad of this entire series.  That is an impressive development. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 5" an A+

Click here for my next book review: A Magical Medieval Society - Western Europe - Second Edition

Click here for my previous book review:   So I'm a Spider So What - light novel volume 4

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.