Spider Island

By T.C. Duck

As a rule, I don’t do ARC reviews. However, I was offered a free pre-release copy of Spider Island after a discussion about secondary world contemporary fantasy, and I couldn’t resist.

That description is a bit of a mouthful, but it essentially means that the story takes place in a fantasy world, but instead of playing out in something vaguely similar to “medieval Europe” it takes place during a time-period similar to the real world of today. This is the same genre as my own books, and it’s also quite rare, so I don’t often get the chance to see what other authors do with it. 

The idea of putting traditional fantasy concepts such as magic and monsters in the context of modern-day society fascinates me, and I find it a bit odd I don’t see more of it. Yes, I know it exists, but why isn’t it more common?

To be clear, I consider that this is separate from Urban Fantasy. Not only is there no particular significance to the urban aspect of the setting, but the fantastic is also not hidden (and that’s just scratching the surface). 

Yes, again, I know a “masquerade” is not a requirement, but it’s the de facto standard.

Anyway, that’s a lot about why I decided to read a pre-release version of Spider Island and very little about the book itself. _{(spoiler: I enjoyed it and you should read it)}

In brief, Spider Island is about a reality TV show that gets phased into a different plane of existence due to the magical equivalent of a nuclear meltdown. The story follows the contestants on the misplaced island and the people back in the real world trying to figure out what happened and set it right.

It’s an ambitious project.

The setting has definite similarities to our own world, but there are notable differences, too. Much needs to be introduced and explained, and there’s a lot to take in – cultures, people, mythology. I wasn’t able to keep track of all of the details, but the big picture came through loud and clear, and I had no issues keeping up with the story. 

The idea of putting the main characters in the context of a reality TV show an interesting one. It allows the story to introduce conflict and tension right away from the beginning, and it’s a familiar enough concept that it needs no explanation of its own. 

Reality TV show. Deserted island. Vote someone off the island. You get the picture.

It’s not complicated, and it gives the author a lot of room to build up the world and the secondary complications brewing in the background.

Most of the world building happens in the first half of the book, while the second half is more about action and adventure. Here’s where the book picks up the pace. It wasn’t ever slow, but once it gets going, it really gets going. 

I’m pretty sure Spider Island would make for a spectacular action movie. The kind that straddles the line between awesome and silly. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and fun, and there are a lot of scenes that absolutely would look amazing on the big screen.

Often, this kind of action doesn’t translate well into written form, but in the case, it works. The action isn’t overly detailed but focuses on getting the idea across and then moves on to the next thing. The author doesn’t try to impress me, and I’m grateful for that. It’s so much easier to be impressed when I’m not told I should be.

What I’ll whine about

Technicalities. One of my pet peeves is when the activities of a group of people are written as if the group is a single individual of its own. As far as grammar and spelling goes, there’s nothing wrong with it, but I still don’t like it. I feel like whenever a group is written like this, it erases the individuality of the people that make it up, and all that remains is their bodies, acting in unison. This is, unfortunately, fairly common in Spider Island, but while I’ll gripe about it, I suspect it’s a minor detail or a non-issue for most readers.

Characters. We’ve got three Point of View characters in the story, and those are fine, but there are a lot of supporting characters. Where this becomes an issue is on the island where the reality TV shows takes place. There are too many contestants, and I was not able to keep all of them apart.

References. There are plenty of references to real world pop culture throughout the story. For the most part, they’re amusing, but some of them are a little too on the nose.

What I’ll gush about

Ideas. Obviously, I’m delighted to read a book of this genre (secondary world contemporary fantasy), and I really enjoyed the ideas the author put into the story. It’s not just elves with cellphones in Totally-Not-New York, but an entirely new world with its own history, cultures, and mythology. The mythology, in particular, turns out to be very important here.

I also really enjoyed the idea of framing the entire story around a reality TV show. One of my core beliefs when it comes to world building is that in order to make the fantastic shine, you need a solid foundation of easily believable mundanity to build upon. It’s how the story eases the reader into its world, and it helps make the fantastic feel more real.

Fun. Spider Island is an ambitious story, but it also doesn’t take itself too seriously. Once the action picks up in the second half of the story, it’s a romp, and more than once, plausible goes out the window in favour of enjoyable. Had that happened even once at the start of the story, I probably would have gotten grumpy about it, but the way it was handled, I was able to take it in stride and just roll with it.

Final Words

Spider Island is a fast paced adventure story in a world similar to our own, but with its own magic and mythology.

Find Spider Island on Goodreads (expected release: June 1, 2026).