 Hey guys, it's Liana and I'm here today to talk about the spider, Baileo Karoo. So I posted a review of the wolf last year that I called found perfect book or something like that and in all likelihood, you know more than I do. I've probably titled this video found the perfect book part the second, the spider. I was as always when you have high expectations. I was worried that because I loved the wolf so much that the spider would not live up because when you have high expectations, that's always a concern. The spider not only lived up to my expectations, it exceeded my expectations and once again reminded me why I love this writing and why it's perfect for me. I think perfect for people with similar tastes to me. There are some books that I read that I think they are the kind of thing that pretty much any person that read it would love it. I don't feel that way about the wolf and the spider. There are definitely things about it that I think specifically appeal to me, but that said, I think that this book and these books are brilliant and I think they're better than. It makes it better than a book that I think would have sort of mass widespread generic appeal. So the reason I say this is because I've had people read these books upon my recommendation. People who I wouldn't necessarily have recommended the books to. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to everyone because I don't think it would appeal to everyone. That's just sort of my qualifications say that I think these books are absolutely brilliant and perfect for me and perfect for readers like me. And they deserve a lot more praise and credit and attention. I do think that if everyone in the world picked it up, they wouldn't all like it. I still think they're brilliant, like absolutely brilliant. Okie dokie. So brief recap for the wolf. Then we'll dive into the spider briefly. And then I also just want to talk about some things that when I've seen negative reviews that pissed me off, but when I said I shouldn't say pissed me off, but some of it did literally piss me off. But I want to sort of delve into the the reasons why people did not react well to these books, the reasons why either I disagree or why those are the very things that I liked about it. And that should give you a better sense for whether or not this book would be for you. Because again, I get very stressed out when people pick up books based on my recommendation because just because, I don't know, you have liked other books that I've also liked or you like me as a person. So you think if I liked it, you must like it. That's not true. So it stresses me out when my taste is on the line and I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to everyone. But I want to be clear about what I get out of these books and why if you are as excited as I am about the things that I'm going to describe, then you absolutely 100% should pick up these books and I will be delighted if you do. But if you're not as excited about the elements that I'm going to describe, then this book will not be for you and I don't want to waste your time or for you to be disappointed. So all of those qualifications aside, it's really just because I'm just I gush about these books so much that I feel like that qualification gets lost. So people are just like, well, it's just 100% a good book. So I just I feel like I need to say more about it because I spend so much time gushing about these books that I need to be clear about who they would appeal to to briefly recap the wolf. This is imagined. This is an imagined history for our own earth. So it's a fantasy history or history fantasy or whatever it's called. Alternate history fantasy, I think. So in this imagined past, there are some more than one humanoid species that survived the Ice Age into the Middle Ages to form language and culture and society and whatever. So in a way that in a Tolkien world, you have multiple humanoid species. You have elves and dwarves and whatever. And they can all talk and like have culture and language and society. So our own real world has this going on because you have Neanderthals and and whatever who survived the Ice Age in order to form culture. So in the wolf, we largely follow the young Black Lord Roper, who is one of the Anakim and the Anakim are basically Neanderthals who evolved into having language and culture. Geographically, this takes place sort of the northern part of what we would call Britain. That's where the Anakim are. And it's a very heavily political, war centric story because the Anakim are protecting their territory. They're very much in love with staying in one place and I feel very rooted in the land they're in. They're not really invaders. I've often said the book is very Viking-y, but Vikings are all about leaving their homeland and in raiding. The Anakim are the opposite of that. So they are very Viking-y in terms of just their culture, their habits, the society. It feels Viking-y. But yeah, they're very much in love with staying in one place. They love their land. And the Southerners, who are the human ancestors, they are all about expansion. So they are encroaching on the Anakim territory and they want to take it over and the Anakim. They really don't want to take over more land. They just want to be left alone, so they have to fight back. And we do follow both sides and we examine the differences between the Anakim and people. And by juxtaposing them, those differences become even more apparent. And you get to see the Anakim reaction to how the Southerner is different. And you get to see the Southerner reaction to how the Anakim is different and really get a layered sense of how they are different from one another by seeing them through each other's eyes. And this is so anthropologically done, which is one of the main reasons these books appeal to me so much. Because I studied anthropology and I view the world quite anthropologically. If that's fair to say, I approach a lot of reading and a lot of writing that way and things have to make sense to me on that level for me to like it. So I'm usually criticizing when I read books the way that a society is supposedly structured, the way the culture is formed, the way the people are reacting, the way the beliefs inform the way they're reacting. Those things all have to make sense to me and ring true for me to like a book. And Leo Carew, my understanding is, is also a student of anthropology. So that is the lens through which he has viewed his own world and the way that he's telling his story. And that appeals to me. So I'm not saying I'm the only person in the world, but that's one of the main things that makes me love these books so much. And not everyone is placing so much value and importance on that as an aspect to a story or toy a story is told. But that's very important to me, which is another reason why I just think it's pure brilliance. But for people that don't care so much about the anthropological lens through which this story is told, the story does have a lot of war and battle and politics, conspiracy, backstabbing, because Roper has very recently come into his position as the Black Lord, his father just died. And there's a lot of people rooting against him on his own side that want to see him fail because they do not think he should be in charge of the Anakim, that he should be their leader. So in addition to having to defeat the Southerners, he has to figure out how to build alliances and to play the game of politics among his own people so that he doesn't get stabbed in the back and dethroned by those so-called allies who are fighting on his side. So setting the anthropological examination of the Anakim culture, society, language, belief system, all of that aside, but it's brilliant. So I don't want to set it aside, but setting that aside, there's a lot for any reader there who likes what I just described, a heavily battle and politic-centric kind of story because there's a ton of that going on. And again, the reason a lot of that works for me is because I think it's constructed in a way that feels very, very believable. I've read other books where the author wants there to be a conspiracy, so they just sort of invent some kind of an organization or a position or some kind of a magical thing and they just throw it in there because it creates drama and problem. The way that this world and these books are constructed, everything feels like it's very much rooted in and very much a part of a real world. It doesn't feel like plot elements thrown in to create a problem, if that makes sense. So one of the sources of conspiracy is the Kryptea and the Kryptea is this organization that kind of has carte blanche to go around and make changes to the political structure and to assassinate people and this is accepted as they are secretive because people don't know who belongs to the Kryptea but the Kryptea, what it does is condoned by the Anakim society. This is just part of their governing structure is having the Kryptea around. I mean, kind of the way, not exactly but kind of the way that we accept that the secrecy of the CIA and the FBI is necessary. They accept that the secrecy of the Kryptea is necessary. So they are in theory a check on the absolute power that someone would otherwise enjoy because they have carte blanche to take power away from someone if they feel that that's necessary. So that handled by some other author could be this sort of very cloak and dagger and quite cartoonish kind of a threat that the Kryptea is so well explained and developed the history for it existing it makes sense the white people would be okay with this being part of their society and yet the very real potential threat that it represents is very well developed and explained and it's the feeling of realness to everything including that and adds weight to everything that's going on. So again, it doesn't just feel like random plot elements it feels like a thoroughly built out world from the ground up and built into this world are these sources of drama or conflict that again feel truly built into it to where I don't feel like it was tossed in to create drama. So the first book mainly follows Roper as he's ascended now to the seat of power needs to deal with the backstabbers on his side as well as deal with the southern threat so there's a lot of him coming into his own and defeating Southerners in battle and trying to consolidate his own power. Now in the spider there's a lot of seeds that have been planted in the wolf for future conflict like in Roper's consolidation of his power he's had to make a lot of not ideal decisions he's made a lot of questionable alliances because he felt it was necessary which again was so well done in the wolf it makes sense why Roper's between a rock and a hard place and it's sort of be assassinated or make an alliance that is not ideal because it will protect you. So he's made a lot of choices that are now having repercussions and in the spider you have those repercussions and again everything has done so well everything all the seeds that were planted have now really grown into a richly complicated and conspiracy-laden plot and the world building continues to be fabulous the anthropological explanation of the way these people are dealing with things reacting what they believe and how they operate continues to be fabulous but again the conspiracy associated with the cryptaea the backstabbing that has now shifted and morphed and grown is there the threat from the south has morphed and changed there's this brilliant sort of respect between the enemies so that I didn't really talk about him but Belemus the main southerner his approach to invading the Anakim lands is very anthropological because he needs to understand his enemy in order to invade like he doesn't really get this whole attachment to the land thing because that's not how people are the Anakim devotion to a sort of wildness to the land like the Anakim do not really do organized agriculture the way that southerners do so he doesn't really get it like he's trying to understand how Anakim think and operate so that he can defeat them but he also is sort of fascinated with them so you get to see a lot of Belemus in the first book as well as the second investigating and questioning and learning about the Anakim he also he he's also fascinated with roper the black lord because he does recognize in roper while there's still this this otherness about the Anakim he's not a brute or a monster he Belemus recognizes in roper a very strategic thinker and he recognizes something of himself in roper but at the same time roper is Anakim so the way that he approaches problems is necessarily different from how Belemus would approach them which is fascinating to Belemus Belemus was introduced to roper in the first book and in the spider he really really has this respect for him and is fascinated by him because again he's he feels like they're kind not necessarily kindred spirits but recognizes a mind equal to his own when it comes to strategy and and that sort of thing but because he's Anakim he will approach it differently and that difference is very fascinating for me as the reader and for Belemus the character and so through his fascination we learn about it there's like a assassination conspiracy also going on in the background in the spider which is new so in addition to the issues that roper is dealing with and that Belemus are dealing with we have this sort of third plot where there's been an assassination so we have these new characters that are investigating whether or not this was an assassination who is behind it and that whole thing is fascinating so to me these books deliver on every level because it has everything I could want now the things that I saw criticized a lot or I shouldn't say a lot but sort of stood out to me as reasons why people disliked the wolf I would imagine continued to be the criticism of someone if they went on to read the spider who disliked the wolf people were saying that the characters were unemotional that there was a lack of feeling among the Anakim in particular and I disagree well I agree and I disagree so the Anakim are painted as being much more controlled in their emotions which is another reason why I kind of liken them to Vikings they they don't go in for huge shows of emotion in fact they have a word for this kind of emotional state and they call it possession and it's very negatively regarded by the Anakim that you should not be ruled by your emotions they have a word for it and it is not a good word and if you are accused of falling victim to possession meaning that you are possessed now by emotions rather than rational thought that's a bad thing so of course the Anakim would come off perhaps as cold and distant and yet they're not unemotional it's in fact that this constant play of them believing wholeheartedly in rational thought being the way to live that's what should govern them they obviously do feel things and so they have to actively suppress these stronger emotions and Roper is constantly being coached by his elders or the people he regards as mentors to not give way to feelings of hatred especially for these people that are stabbing him in the back of course Roper feels betrayed by it and he feels keenly the desire for vengeance and his mentors are constantly telling him not to feel that way because it's destructive and it's not the Anakim way and if he's going to be a good leader he can't allow himself to be ruled by something like that so by its very nature that conversation that discussion that problem is an emotional one so don't tell me they're not emotional and then the fact that the Anakim have three different words for friend which again is gone into that they and each one means something a little bit different that they have a word for somebody that they admire and respect but they don't really talk with that much they don't really have they don't really make jokes with they don't really hang out with that's one kind of friend then they have the opposite of that somebody that they don't really necessarily respect that much but they have a good time with them that's a second kind of friend and then somebody who is the embodiment of both of those things somebody that you admire and respect and also enjoy and a fun rapport with that's a third kind of friend and the best kind of friend the fact that they would have this breakdown of different kinds of friend that is a very emotional thing to have your people thinking and and approach their approach to to other people is emotional they have a word for the feeling that something good is about to come to an end so again that's a very emotional thing to have a word for their attachment to the land is very emotional so even though they counsel against possession and being guided by emotions their attachment to their land is at times irrational and is emotional because being willing to stay in your house on your land despite this invasion that you know that you cannot defeat when you could easily run away and save your life but you will not do that because you love your land that is irrational and that is an emotional decision but that's the Anakin way and then this also comes into play I think in Roper's relationship with his wife which I personally adore I'm the kind of person that doesn't really like when there's huge displays of emotion and oh I love you and oh I can't live without you and I'm going to do anything in the world to save you even if it's irrational when that happens in books I usually don't like it so I really actually appreciate Roper's relationship with his wife Katura who's very smart in her own right and she knows how to play the game of politics slightly better than Roper Roper's very good with battle strategy he's very intelligent when it comes to battle strategy she's much better with politics at home and she points this out to him and tells him that he should rely on her because they're a partnership they are husband and wife they're in this together and that she's never going to be the warrior that he is but he needs to trust her instincts when it comes to politics at home and when she tells him that he's doing something that will not go over well he needs to believe her and when she feels that she can win people over for him he needs to trust her to do it so I think their relationship is painted as very reserved and yet I feel like it's stronger for that reason so when they do actually say something related to emotions how much they care for one another or that they're worried about the other one I feel like it's so much more powerful because they're not constantly moaning on about how much they love each other and can't live without each other no, they have a job to do they're very important figures with a lot of power politically and militarily and that is the main focus of their conversation but they work well together we observe their relationship as being actually built on trust and discussion and they are a true partnership so I honestly I hated it in books where it's just constantly I love you, I love you, I love you well my question to that is usually why the fuck do you love each other like I've never seen a reason why so the fact that we've seen these characters rely on each other and prove to each other how helpful they can be to the other that they can trust each other they can help each other Katura has a good sense of humor she puts Roper in his place a lot but it's not a snarky, catty like cartoonish kind of relationship they're in dire circumstances and she can be witty about it so when she does say something earnest to Roper it's that much more potent and that much more emotional and so when I read books that are constantly throwing emotions in my face I feel very little and yet in this story where these characters are kind of painted as reserved and unemotional when they do display emotion it is that much stronger because of the way that it occurs sparingly so to people who say these characters are unemotional I understand why they're saying that but I would argue that there's far more depth to the emotion because of the way that this is painted the way it's portrayed the way it's described so I disagree and then last but not least just because I want to mention it in The Spider Leo Carew used the word reciprocity which I haven't heard since my days studying anthropology which I used to we used to talk about it all the time and the moment that I saw that word it was I was like fangirling for a word I can't describe it any other way because reciprocity is something that is discussed so often in anthropological texts and in discussions that are anthropological so the fact that there's a moment where Elemis observes that the one constant that he has noticed between Southerners and Anakin between every kind of humanoid culture is this the overarching power of reciprocity that people sort of abide by the rules of reciprocity unspoken rules of reciprocity and he uses this knowledge to his advantage because he's very intelligent that's why it comes up but the fact that he's observed this and commented upon it and used it in the plot they made this anthropology fan very happy once again this video is more gushing than anything else I if that is not clear to you adore these books I think they are brilliant and I feel very emotional reading them there was a moment in the spider that I was not expecting that I was crying I was like ugly crying which that never happened in the wolf I felt a lot of high stakes emotions and was very much into it but there was a moment in the spider that I was crying and when I started crying I was like I'm crying right now I was not expecting this and again the moment when this happened I don't want to give anything away no spoilers but the instant that made me cry this much was another example of how the reserved nature of these characters made the emotions of the situation that much more potent because they're not being dramatic they're not wailing about something they're not weeping about something they're not going on and on and being overly dramatic and emotional because they're not doing that because they're not saying all those things but this the situation it's very clear how dire it is and the way that they're reacting to it with the sort of stiff upper lip it just made it so much more emotional to me to read about and I was displaying all the emotions that they were not I would never cut it as Anakin if you like the things I like if what I've described to you sounds fabulous then you should read the wolf and you should read the spider and it's brilliant and it's amazing and it needs more praise and attention I don't understand why these books are flying into the radar but if what I just described to you sounds like the worst then don't read these books because you'll be disappointed and be doing no one any favors these books are everything I could want in books and I need book three now like immediately there isn't even an untitled listing on Goodreads for me to obsessively click want to read for so I'm really just going to go back and reread the wolf and the spider probably very soon I love these books I think they're pure brilliance I am gobsmacked by the level of attention to detail that is present in them and the world building and the character building and the culture and the politics ugh it's brilliant it's just brilliant and I love it but don't just take my word for it read them if you feel the way that I do about these things so let me know in the comments down below if you've read these books if I've inspired you to pick them up if I did inspire you to pick them up before and you hated them because it turns out that you don't like the things that I like and which gives I'm sorry let me know all the things I post videos on Saturday so like and subscribe and I'll see you next Saturday bye