Spiderworld

by Richard Bunning

Not even the time-lord, Orlando Oversight, knows everything. But speculation can turn into a real future, and the Lush Star system, where spider-like beings treat humans as we do animals, isn't so very far in the future.
Do Jack Baker, the self-styled 'Spartacus', and his followers have a chance to become more than meat and slaves? Will Athalie have the life she hopes for with her hero? And will the 'spider' Boklung hold his business together while funding and organising the Arcraft's voyage across the Milky Way?
Spiderworld is another of Richard Bunning’s quirky, speculative, science fictions. Other sentient life forms are out there, planning their own strategies for survival. Other sentient species also run short of space and time.

Genres: Science Fiction

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2015

About the author

Most often, I write speculative fiction.
My speculative books are "Another Space in Time", the originally titled "Another Space in Time, Returns" and "Spiderworld"
I have two collections book of flash fiction out, out that despite their titles have absolutely nothing to do with cooking- "Fifty Egg Timer Short Stories" (Mixed genre) and the originally titles "Fifty More...
My latest book is "In Two Hundred Squared Words", which is a book of Double Drabbles, ie 200 word stories. This is suitable as a gift book. Another work is totally unsuitable as anything other than a gift item, a very silly novelty one. It is "Understanding Women: A guide for male survival" by Jennings, Bunning and Lebel.

I have some earlier works, which are reworked neoclassical plays. These will be of interest to those who wish to read Jean Racine in prose English. Not everyone's cup of tea, but handy if one's French is lacking.
I am an advocate of independent, vanity, and small press authors, and with this in mind I regularly review.

Above all, I like to be read. Even if my works don't attract your interest I hope that you look at my GR reviews to find books you are interested in.
Thanks for wading through this.

Reviews

[Massimo Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

AIA Publishing has just released its fifth book, and in line with previous fiction titles, the book has a unique voice and a metaphysical bent.

Spiderworld by Richard Bunning turns the tables on humans and spiders, and makes you think about humankind’s relationship with animals and with each other.

Not even the time-lord, Orlando Oversight, knows everything. But speculation can turn into a real future, and the Lush Star system, where spider-like beings treat humans as we do animals, isn’t such a distant dream away.

Do Jack Baker, the self-styled ‘Spartacus’, and his followers have a future as more than meat and slaves? Will Athalie have the life she hopes for with her hero? And will the ‘spider’ Boklung hold his business together while funding and organising the Arcraft’s voyage across the Milky Way?

Spiderworld is another of Richard Bunning’s quirky, speculative, science fictions.

Is it any good?

Of course it is. It’s published by AIA Publishing, a selective publisher with high standards in quality control. It’s also Awesome Indies Approved and has been nominated for an Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence in fiction.

Will I like it?

Here’s what also the Awesome Indies review says:

This is a unique read in so many ways, and I loved it. Eight-limbed “spiders” rule the Multiverse. Humans (yeng) are an enslaved species, and also provide delicious meat to the Aranians. This was a book that pulled me into its pages. If you love sci-fi, alien worlds, even a bit of romance, then you’re bound to love this book.

[Charles Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Spiderworld, a quirky sci-fi novel by Richard Bunning, Orlando Oversight, a time-lord, space historian, and adventurer, using Bunning as a vehicle, tells us of a future that is yet to happen. In Orlando’s version of the future, Earth has been invaded by an octopedal species, the Aranian ungolian, who have transported most of the planet’s humans to their home planet as slaves—and a food supply.
Through the author, Orlando tells how an escaped breeding yeng, which is the Aranian word for the human slaves, Jack Baker, manages to maintain his freedom against the physically superior spiders. Central to the story is Bokung, an Aranian slave breeder, who is maneuvering to get a special project launched, a project that has the potential to change the destinies of homo sapien and octoped alike.
The author does a masterful job of describing an eerie alien environment in which humans must struggle against aliens and each other. As fanciful as it is, it also paints a fairly accurate picture of what happens when a relatively unsophisticated race encounters a technologically advanced group. Spiderworld has a bit of everything: religion, slavery, romance, greed, and advanced technology, along with the interpersonal and social dynamics that exists between different groups. Despite some gory descriptions of Aranian eating habits, it also has a touch of humor, so you have here a story that should appeal to a broad range of reading tastes. That’s shorthand for, you’ll like this book.

[Awesome Indies Book Awards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include SPIDERWORLD by RICHARD BUNNING in the library of Awesome Indies' Seal of Excellence recipients.

AIBA Book of the Day: 11 June, 2021: 142/42228

Original Awesome Indies' Assessment (5 stars):

Spiderworld is not written by the author, but by Time-lord Orlando Oversight. He put the story into the author’s head. Also, what happened, hasn’t happened yet. This is a unique read in so many ways, and I loved it. Eight-limbed “spiders” rule the Multiverse. Humans (yeng) are an enslaved species, and also provide delicious meat to the Aranians.

The narrative is written in third person, and shows the POV shifts clearly most of the time. Occasionally, Orlando Oversight will add commentary. Some of the dialogue can be a bit long in the tooth, but that is what Spider Aranian Boklung is famous for. The character development, world building, plot, and pacing are all done well, and this was a book that pulled me into its pages. The ending is open, and I can see the possibility for a sequel here. There are lessons to be learned within this fun read, and more than a little allegory.

If you love sci-fi, alien worlds, even a bit of romance, then you’re bound to love this book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars, and look forward to seeing more from this author.

[A.O.K. Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the premise. Anyone with a passing interest in etymology, anthropology or evolutionary biology will be thrilled. It turns the food chain on it's head, reducing humanity to little more than chickens at the mercy of giant, hungry, horny(!) spider overlords.

It's a thrilling story about a human slave uprising on an alien planet. It's really short and punchy, too much so at times, I felt perhaps the author could have taken a little more time to craft the character arcs - I found myself less interested in who they were and more into what they were doing, and I think for a book to be great you need both. The ending especially felt rushed, and jarred a bit with the rest of the book. You get the impression that Bunning doesn't want to commit to a sequel so is tying up loose ends, but also doesn't want to completely rule out a follow-up, so has left himself just enough wiggle room, which gives the ending a slightly hollow, lopsided feel.

Interestingly, at times the spiders seem to have more humanity than their slaves: they're petty, greedy, grasping, hierarchical, paranoid social climbers, as well as murderous monsters - truly beautifully conceived.

It's really entertaining and I'd definitely recommend - I feel much richer for having read it. Here's hoping for that sequel.

A. O. K.

[Tahlia Newland · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if spider-like creatures were the top of the food chain and used humans as slaves and for entertainment and meat? Would you be selected as a buck, or would be join the majority of males as a castrate? And if you're a woman, would you be selected for breeding or sent to the arena to fight for your life against an assortment of deadly alien animals. It's a chilling vision and one that, in 'Spiderworld' by Richard Bunning, Timelord Orlando Oversight assures us will one day not be fiction.

I read so many books that it's hard to find any that really excite me, but this one does. The characters are a mix of humans and spider-like aliens. There's Boklung, a verbose rather pompous spider chap, and an assortment of humans, the primary one being Jack who is determined to keep the Spartacus myth alive. The story revolves around Jack's efforts to gain freedom and Boklung's education of a neigbouring alien on the finer points of human breeding as well as his political maneuvering to ensure a better future for the human race. Thank goodness for enlightened spiders!

Readers who enjoy a bit of metaphysics in their fiction will particularly enjoy it. And if you like off-beat sci fi or any kind of speculative fiction, I'd say you really should read it. 5 stars.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book where the spider-race was more interesting than the humans. While I found the politicking and personalities of the aliens entertaining, the humans seemed a bit one-dimensional. It was still a fun read and would recommend it to anyone looking for something different in the speculative fiction genre.

[Susan Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” Stephen Hawking
Richard Bunning’s speculative science fiction Spiderworld explores a future where Hawking’s ominous prediction comes true in ways few could imagine and completely shatters the clichéd expectation of humanoid invaders.
In the prologue, narrated by time-lord Orlando Oversight, we learn that in addition to humans, there are two other highly intelligent, sentient species: the eight-legged Aranians, who resemble giant spiders, and the ten-legged, roly poly Cheetans. Both species are hermaphroditic, and the gender neutral terms ‘ze’ and ‘zis’ are used when referring to them. Waterball (Earth) has been invaded by Aranians, who transport captured yeng (humans) back to their home planet Ungoliantis. Those yeng not fortunate enough to become house slaves are doomed to a cruel subsistence as experimental test subjects, gladiators, hunted prey, or livestock.
Jack Baker is the escaped house slave stud who has evaded detection for several months in the jungle. A yeng posse ́ commissioned by Jack’s Aranian owner, Boklung, recaptures him along with his pet Pugwash, the boy Anton, and the woman Athalie. Boklung punishes Jack by sending him to the arena to become a gladiator, where he becomes the embodiment of Spartacus, adopting both the name and the dream of freedom of his idol.
As far as Aranians go, a yeng could do no better than Boklung for a master: ze is a believer in the rights of all species and trusts that a formless God includes all sentient beings among zis flock. However, the yeng reader must compartmentalize Boklung’s repugnant attributes, such as zis love of hunting yeng, zis interest in Mengelesque yeng breeding experiments, and zis serving of yeng casserole to esteemed guests. In spite of this, Boklung is a unique visionary in that ze can see the big picture and is the driving force behind the Arcraft project, a deep space one-way colonization journey that will take over a century to complete and depends on hundreds of yeng crew along with robots. Aranians and Cheetans are ill-suited to such a lengthy, dangerous, and (likely) suicidal mission, while yeng would jump at the chance to have a semblance of control over their own destinies. For the project to be a success, Boklung understands that ze needs yeng like Jack, who have shown a fierce streak of independence and ingenuity, as robots would be unable to respond to situations requiring complex logic to be applied.
Will Boklung be able to conceal zis true intensions for the Arcraft from the Council? Will the yeng chosen for the journey be more cunning than Boklung could imagine? Will Jack and Athalie have a future together? Spiderworld kept me in suspense over these questions.
Fans of the Dr. Who series will immediately recognize Orlando Oversight’s home world of Gallifrey, and perhaps Oversight and the Doctor have an untold past that will come to light in a future Bunning novel.
Spiderworld is not about laser battles and mutants going berserk, but is instead a science fiction novel for the thinking man, designed to make the reader question the nature of alien life and human philosophy.

[Amit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one mark of a good book is that it forces you to read it, and leaves you thinking about it after it is done, then Spiderworld certainly excels. As a novel, it falls between what would be classical science fiction and classical science fantasy. In terms of science fiction, Bunning does a good job at describing social interactions of a fictitious future, and the tensions that arise due to those interactions, almost at par with, for example, some of the Foundation novels by Asimov, or works by Clark.

I am not a particular fan of science fantasy, unless it’s on the big screen (Start Wars?). In that genre many aspects are forced without much explanation. For example, and only as an example, in the Hunger Games series, it is not very obvious why a city-state with such advanced technology, with all the social and cultural setups that are needed to produce and sustain such level of civilization, would engage in a meaningless blood sport. Similar questions arise in Spiderworld. At multiple points in the novel, one can sense Bunning struggling with addressing questions of this nature. The obsession with gladiator-type events is, I assume, universal to this genre. That said, within the science fantasy genre – comparing apples to apples – the author again does an excellent job.

The writing is granular, with multiple styles, some descriptive, some direct, which fits a novel like this very well. Transitions from one style to another are largely seamless. It is not very easy to undertake this effort and get away without any slip-ups.

The strongest aspect about this work is that it strongly, and very bluntly, pulls the reader into examining his/her relationship with food. There is a way to make this topic unpalatable, or treat it in a cavalier way. Not here. It is perhaps the first work I have read that makes a point in the way it does – blunt and tactful at the same time.

Bunning certainly shows the mark to be a very strong influencer in the science fiction genre. Spiderworld is testament to it.

[James Bizzell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! Usually in most sci-fi books, we see humans being the assertive, innovative species, flying in spaceships or visiting alien worlds. Spiderworld flops that on its head. Instead, giant, intelligent spiders are the more advanced race. And in many ways one spider in particular is the main character of this book.

When we start the story the spiders have already travelled to Earth and brought humans back to their homeworld as slaves. Actually, a lot of times the humans end up in fates that are worse than slavery: most become livestock for food, some become feral and are hunted, some are gladiators, and some are used for more salacious purposes.

The primary human hero is an escaped slave named Jack. Jack becomes a sort of Spartacus figure—also, he’s kind of like John Carter of Mars, wandering around in Spiderword’s weird and dangerous wilderness. Usually when Jack appears, the story becomes a rollicking adventure, although sometimes the action turns very dark. Despite ‘SpiderWorld’s’ grim premise, there are usually flashes of hope from the maltreated humans and from the spider overlords. It’s fascinating to see how the hermaphroditic, 8-limbed, egg-laying spiders view our species. And the book is a thought-provoking rumination on free will, on human society, and on what it means to be human.

[Steph Bennion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. With shades of Planet of the Apes, this is a tale where humans are treated as slaves or cattle (or worse) by a dominant species; in this case, giant spider-like aliens from another world. As such, there's a lot of moralising on the part of Boklung, the eight-legged politically-savvy business mogul who drives the story. Jack, an escaped slave who is drawn into Boklung's schemes in a Sparticus-inspired plot, carries the flag for the downtrodden cast of humans. Ironically, the alien characters seemed more complex and 'human' in their follibles than the often two-dimensional enslaved Earthlings. I also wasn't sure about the narrator being a Time Lord from Gallifrey; the reliance on a Doctor Who trope seemed out of place given that the rest of the book is so original. (I also found the use of bold text for the narrator's sections very annoying, as on my Kobo this leapt off the screen like someone yelling at me!) Whinges aside, the book's originality is something indie publishing was meant to encourage but is so rarely seen. Spiderworld is one of the few books I've found that I think defines what indie publishing is all about.