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Spider Trilogy #3
The Web of Spider
Could Romanan warriors and Directorate technology halt the devastating advance of interstellar holy war?
The Sirian rebellion had proved the catalyst for the rise of two powerful new forces in the galaxy. Ngen Van Chow, leader of the failed rebellion, had fled to a distant world from which he would launch an interstellar holy war of destruction, a war fueled by the discovery of a long-hidden technology which can transform ordinary men and women into fanatical soldiers of Deus.
While on the long-lost colony planet of World, the Romanans, known as the Warriors of Spider, and their Patrol allies—formerly part of the military and police force which kept order among the worlds and stations controlled by the computer network of the Directorate—prepared for civilization’s final stand against this seemingly unstoppable conqueror.
The Sirian rebellion had proved the catalyst for the rise of two powerful new forces in the galaxy. Ngen Van Chow, leader of the failed rebellion, had fled to a distant world from which he would launch an interstellar holy war of destruction, a war fueled by the discovery of a long-hidden technology which can transform ordinary men and women into fanatical soldiers of Deus.
While on the long-lost colony planet of World, the Romanans, known as the Warriors of Spider, and their Patrol allies—formerly part of the military and police force which kept order among the worlds and stations controlled by the computer network of the Directorate—prepared for civilization’s final stand against this seemingly unstoppable conqueror.
656 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1989
7 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
W. Michael Gear
181 books730 followersW. Michael Gear was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the twentieth of May, 1955. A fourth generation Colorado native, his family had been involved in hard-rock mining, cattle ranching, and journalism. After his father's death in 1959, Michael's mother received her Master's degree in journalism and began teaching. In 1962 she married Joseph J. Cook, who taught tool and die making, and the family lived in Lakewood, Colorado, until 1968. At that time they moved to Fort Collins so that Joe could pursue his Ph.D.. During those years the family lived in the foothills above Horsetooth Reservoir.
It was there that Mike developed a love of history, anthropology, and motorcycles. They would color his future and fill his imagination for the rest of his life. During summers he volunteered labor on local ranches or at the farm east of Greeley and landed his first real job: picking up trash at the lake and cleaning outhouses. It has been said that his exposure to trash led him into archaeology. We will not speculate about what cleaning the outhouses might have led him to. On his first dig as a professional archaeologist in 1976 he discovered that two thousand year old human trash isn't nearly as obnoxious as the new stuff.
Michael graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University. Upon completion of his Master's - his specialty was in physical anthropology - he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs as a field archaeologist.
It was in the winter of 1978 that he wrote his first novel. Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. He was "taking retirement in installments," archaeology being a seasonal career, in the cabin his great uncle Aubrey had built. One cold January night he read a Western novel about a trail drive in which steers (castrated males) had calves. The historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning, still incensed, he chunked wood into the stove and hunkered over the typewriter. There, on the mining claim, at nine thousand feet outside of Empire, Colorado he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel. Yes, that first manuscript still exists, but if there is justice in the universe, no one will ever see it. It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!
Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982, and, although Michael sold his interest in 1984, to this day the company remains in business in Casper, Wyoming. During the years, Michael has worked throughout the western United States doing archaeological surveys, testing, and mitigation for pipelines, oil wells, power lines, timber sales, and highway construction. He learned the value of strong black coffee, developed a palate for chocolate donuts, and ferreted out every quality Mexican restaurant in eight states. He spent nine months of the year traveling from project to project with his trowel and dig kit, a clapped-out '72 Wonder Blazer, and his boon companion, Tedi, a noble tri-color Sheltie.
That fateful day in November, 1981, was delightfully clear, cold, and still in Laramie, Wyoming. Archaeologists from all over the state had arrived at the University of Wyoming for the annual meetings of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. It was there, in the meeting room, way too early after a much too long night, that Mike first laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the world: Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The BLM State Archaeologist, Ray Leicht, introduced him to the pretty anthropologist and historian, and best of all, Ray invited Mike to lunch with Kathleen. It was the perfect beginning for a long and wondrous relationship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/wmicha...
It was there that Mike developed a love of history, anthropology, and motorcycles. They would color his future and fill his imagination for the rest of his life. During summers he volunteered labor on local ranches or at the farm east of Greeley and landed his first real job: picking up trash at the lake and cleaning outhouses. It has been said that his exposure to trash led him into archaeology. We will not speculate about what cleaning the outhouses might have led him to. On his first dig as a professional archaeologist in 1976 he discovered that two thousand year old human trash isn't nearly as obnoxious as the new stuff.
Michael graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University. Upon completion of his Master's - his specialty was in physical anthropology - he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs as a field archaeologist.
It was in the winter of 1978 that he wrote his first novel. Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. He was "taking retirement in installments," archaeology being a seasonal career, in the cabin his great uncle Aubrey had built. One cold January night he read a Western novel about a trail drive in which steers (castrated males) had calves. The historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning, still incensed, he chunked wood into the stove and hunkered over the typewriter. There, on the mining claim, at nine thousand feet outside of Empire, Colorado he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel. Yes, that first manuscript still exists, but if there is justice in the universe, no one will ever see it. It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!
Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982, and, although Michael sold his interest in 1984, to this day the company remains in business in Casper, Wyoming. During the years, Michael has worked throughout the western United States doing archaeological surveys, testing, and mitigation for pipelines, oil wells, power lines, timber sales, and highway construction. He learned the value of strong black coffee, developed a palate for chocolate donuts, and ferreted out every quality Mexican restaurant in eight states. He spent nine months of the year traveling from project to project with his trowel and dig kit, a clapped-out '72 Wonder Blazer, and his boon companion, Tedi, a noble tri-color Sheltie.
That fateful day in November, 1981, was delightfully clear, cold, and still in Laramie, Wyoming. Archaeologists from all over the state had arrived at the University of Wyoming for the annual meetings of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. It was there, in the meeting room, way too early after a much too long night, that Mike first laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the world: Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The BLM State Archaeologist, Ray Leicht, introduced him to the pretty anthropologist and historian, and best of all, Ray invited Mike to lunch with Kathleen. It was the perfect beginning for a long and wondrous relationship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/wmicha...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 28, 2018
Review of the web of the spider
By Michael Gear
Sometimes when we read epics and mythology we forget the cost of being a hero. I see this trilogy as an epic. Joseph Campbell described Star Wars as the modern myth. But the majority of the reading public have not looked into the following books, other than those made into movies. They don't look into the cost of being heroes. The Spider trilogy looks at the anthropomorphic ideology of lost, heroics, and cultural change in a new and exciting way. The aspect that a vulnerable culture can influence the dominating society. Like Star Wars there are heroes, trying to save the universe, they have a great evil to overcome, and the evil they thought they were fighting was not the true evil. Like Luke Skywalker thinking that his enemy is the Darth Vader, as leader of the Empire, to find it was the emperor Palpatine. The characters in Spider think at first it is the Doctorate that is enemy, only to find the more villainous Ngen Van Chow, is a more devastating and diabolical evil. They have to join forces with those that would have destroyed them outright to win the war for the greater good.
Michael Gear said that Ngen's character cost him a friendship, as I read through this book I can understand how someone could fear a person who imagines an evil so great. I can see how your trust would be shaken by the villainy, destitute personality that is Ngen. But as I looked close to the terrifying character that is the antagonist for this book I found that Michael Gear's character showed his perception of the depth and worth of the human soul. How can you thoroughly destroy something if you can not see its full value. If you smash a pot, not knowing it's from the Ming Dynasty and worth so much to history, of an economic value, your would not understand its lost. And its destruction would be from ignorance. Ngen was a corrupt, insane, unstable personality born from poverty and perversion, that shaped him into a monster that thought he was God. He lost the value of a human life, of a human soul. Michael Gear himself shows his appreciation in these books by his heroes risking everything to combat his most evil character. That they would risk everything they love and their own sanity to provide the galaxy the ability have free will.
The story brings the characters from the light through the dark and out the other side, they lose all they know, and understand, only to learn something they can teach Spider (god) about themselves and about life. Tested by horrors and terrors that make even the reader cringe away from the page, as you read in desperation that your beloved character could survive something so devastating.
The story line goes along with the multiverse that the prophets partake in.. at least what i get from Mike.... That cusps of man is provided by God (spider) to allow free will. The hindus believe that we live life over and over again just to learn. Physics have come up with the question if the universe does not expand, explode, compress, expand, explode, compress again and again as i understand the research.
I find myself drawn to the main characters, from the books, the love of Iron Eyes and Leeta, Iron Eyes and Rita, but most of all Susan. It was so hard for me to face Ngen and his room of terrors because I saw the story more from Susan's eyes than any other. Maybe because I can understand the depth of pain, and haunted memories is not far from my own life.
James Birch Review
Well, I finally finished the Spider trilogy! In contrast to the “People of the..." books, the Spider trilogy, credited to Michael Gear, is science fiction and takes place in a distant future dominated by interstellar faster-than-light travel. The "primitive” planet World is inhabited by Native Americans who worshipped a god known as Spider, and Hispanics, who worshipped a god called "Haysoos." Both groups had been exiled from Earth by the ruling Soviets many hundreds of years before and, unknown to the rest of civilization, had crash landed on an inhabitable world. The two groups were in constant battle with each other. In contrast, most of known civilization has been peaceful and docile for many hundreds of years. Because their weapons were old and their armies untested, they fell victim to the schemes of a diabolical and merciless renegade who claimed to be a deity, but who used advanced mind-control techniques to turn most of his subjects into mindless automatons. Although the back and forth battles were sometimes a bit too brutal for me, in the end the followers of Spider were able to instill enough courage and battle tactics into the rest of civilization to defeat the evil.
One thing I especially liked about this series is the strong female characters. They weren't just window dressing. I also liked that not all the "good guys" lived happily ever after. Sorry if this is way too long…
By Michael Gear
Sometimes when we read epics and mythology we forget the cost of being a hero. I see this trilogy as an epic. Joseph Campbell described Star Wars as the modern myth. But the majority of the reading public have not looked into the following books, other than those made into movies. They don't look into the cost of being heroes. The Spider trilogy looks at the anthropomorphic ideology of lost, heroics, and cultural change in a new and exciting way. The aspect that a vulnerable culture can influence the dominating society. Like Star Wars there are heroes, trying to save the universe, they have a great evil to overcome, and the evil they thought they were fighting was not the true evil. Like Luke Skywalker thinking that his enemy is the Darth Vader, as leader of the Empire, to find it was the emperor Palpatine. The characters in Spider think at first it is the Doctorate that is enemy, only to find the more villainous Ngen Van Chow, is a more devastating and diabolical evil. They have to join forces with those that would have destroyed them outright to win the war for the greater good.
Michael Gear said that Ngen's character cost him a friendship, as I read through this book I can understand how someone could fear a person who imagines an evil so great. I can see how your trust would be shaken by the villainy, destitute personality that is Ngen. But as I looked close to the terrifying character that is the antagonist for this book I found that Michael Gear's character showed his perception of the depth and worth of the human soul. How can you thoroughly destroy something if you can not see its full value. If you smash a pot, not knowing it's from the Ming Dynasty and worth so much to history, of an economic value, your would not understand its lost. And its destruction would be from ignorance. Ngen was a corrupt, insane, unstable personality born from poverty and perversion, that shaped him into a monster that thought he was God. He lost the value of a human life, of a human soul. Michael Gear himself shows his appreciation in these books by his heroes risking everything to combat his most evil character. That they would risk everything they love and their own sanity to provide the galaxy the ability have free will.
The story brings the characters from the light through the dark and out the other side, they lose all they know, and understand, only to learn something they can teach Spider (god) about themselves and about life. Tested by horrors and terrors that make even the reader cringe away from the page, as you read in desperation that your beloved character could survive something so devastating.
The story line goes along with the multiverse that the prophets partake in.. at least what i get from Mike.... That cusps of man is provided by God (spider) to allow free will. The hindus believe that we live life over and over again just to learn. Physics have come up with the question if the universe does not expand, explode, compress, expand, explode, compress again and again as i understand the research.
I find myself drawn to the main characters, from the books, the love of Iron Eyes and Leeta, Iron Eyes and Rita, but most of all Susan. It was so hard for me to face Ngen and his room of terrors because I saw the story more from Susan's eyes than any other. Maybe because I can understand the depth of pain, and haunted memories is not far from my own life.
James Birch Review
Well, I finally finished the Spider trilogy! In contrast to the “People of the..." books, the Spider trilogy, credited to Michael Gear, is science fiction and takes place in a distant future dominated by interstellar faster-than-light travel. The "primitive” planet World is inhabited by Native Americans who worshipped a god known as Spider, and Hispanics, who worshipped a god called "Haysoos." Both groups had been exiled from Earth by the ruling Soviets many hundreds of years before and, unknown to the rest of civilization, had crash landed on an inhabitable world. The two groups were in constant battle with each other. In contrast, most of known civilization has been peaceful and docile for many hundreds of years. Because their weapons were old and their armies untested, they fell victim to the schemes of a diabolical and merciless renegade who claimed to be a deity, but who used advanced mind-control techniques to turn most of his subjects into mindless automatons. Although the back and forth battles were sometimes a bit too brutal for me, in the end the followers of Spider were able to instill enough courage and battle tactics into the rest of civilization to defeat the evil.
One thing I especially liked about this series is the strong female characters. They weren't just window dressing. I also liked that not all the "good guys" lived happily ever after. Sorry if this is way too long…
February 13, 2021
satisfying conslusion of the trilogy, with a rather harmonious end, somehow unexpected after all that violence
June 28, 2014
Great end to a trilogy of blended Anthropology and Science Fiction of the sort you dont see often or at all, really?! Several 'Hans Solo-ish' Characters aboard large vessels in a future where ALL the human(SPOILERS)poplation's controlled by the linked thoughts of 3 'embryonic Brains' to describe roughly...watching the one of three become 'more human' thru a Shamans Teaching is almost funny (the character, not the teaching, that's done well)but also, sad.
The other characters are almost out of a westeren, hence the Han Solo Reference. The Authors great knowledge of Anthropology IS what Makes the books, all three, teriffic. Worth a good long relaxed read for the summer.
The other characters are almost out of a westeren, hence the Han Solo Reference. The Authors great knowledge of Anthropology IS what Makes the books, all three, teriffic. Worth a good long relaxed read for the summer.
May 14, 2008
Gears ends this series well, making it worth the many pages of reading. A lot of folks die throughout it, too.
Want to read
November 11, 2011I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10269460
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10269460
December 16, 2013
Compelling discussions about faith and belief along with some horrific torture scenes and billions of deaths wrap up the trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews