---

You know how sometimes you, for whatever reason, put off reading the second book in a trilogy for a really, really long time? And then it’s like, the longer you put it off, the more you worry that you won’t remember anything about the story, so you just keep putting it off and you get caught in this endless, ridiculous loop?

Yeah, that was definitely my concern (finally) heading into Leo Carew’s THE SPIDER, the second book in his trilogy, UNDER THE NORTHERN SKY. I remember having some slightly mixed feelings about THE WOLF, but overall being really impressed with the book, particularly with the characters & the battle scenes.

With the third book, THE CUCKOO, out in just a little bit, I really wanted to dive back into this trilogy, and I’m so glad I did. Oddly, I didn’t have much trouble at all getting back into this story, even though I reviewed THE WOLF all the way back in July of 2019. Which, again, I think really speaks to the strength of the characters in this book…to be able to dive back into this story a few years later & not feel like I was missing much was a really cool feeling!

Now in total command of the Anakim in the North, Roper Kynortasson, the Black Lord has really one clear objective: conquering every last inch of Suthern land & its people.

Fucking yikes. This is especially daunting for a couple reasons. One, while the average Anakim towers over the average Suthener, and is equipped with a solid layer of bone plating beneath their skin, the Sutheners vastly outnumber the Anakim.

Additionally, it goes against everything the Anakim love and stand for to leave their home for such an extended period of time in order to conquer all this land.

While Roper is an increasingly gifted strategist, he desperately needs allies in the coming fight. He also needs to be able to trust those around him, which is going to prove to be a struggle.

On the other side of things is Bellamus, using his knowledge of the Anakim to help the Sutherners maintain control of their lands. This is such a fun character to be around, someone who is witty & cunning & sneaky…Bellamus gets into some really dark shit in THE SPIDER, engaging in battle tactics that literally had me stopping for a break like “what in the fuck did I just read here”… yeah, not a conventional antagonist by any stretch of the imagination, but these aren’t exactly conventional fantasy books.

This one is structured differently from THE WOLF, and I’ve come to realize that Leo Carew is just going to let the story dictate things in a way that some authors may not. I kind of struggled with what I saw as a huge imbalance between the Roper sections and and the Bellamus sections in THE WOLF, but here in THE SPIDER I thought things flowed a little more easily. That said, the chapters can vary in length, and there are stretches where we spend quite a bit more time with one POV character over another.

There’s also some new/additional POV’s in THE SPIDER, with a really intense murder mystery-type subplot that factors into the story in a big way!

This is a brutal story in so many ways, full of harrowing battle/siege scenes, backstabbing, and featuring an army up against seemingly impossible odds. But as grim as things occasionally feel in THE SPIDER, there’s always this thread of hope running through things, and a decent amount of humor to balance things out. Roper is such a charismatic lead character…we watch him make some pretty shaky decisions again & again in this series, but he’s a character that truly learns from his mistakes & actively tries to become a better leader for his people.

I’m so glad I jumped back into this series…Carew is a really phenomenal storyteller, and these books are beautifully written. A lot of detail is given to the natural world, and we get so much cultural insight into the different people in this story. Really looking forward to seeing how things end with THE CUCKOO soon, and wow…I’m looking now and THE CUCKOO is around 200 pages longer than THE SPIDER! It’s gonna be epic!