Spider Legs [Hardcover]

Piers Anthony (Author), Clifford A. Pickover (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1998

In collaboration with acclaimed nonfiction author Clifford A. Pickover, Piers Anthony, one of the most popular fantasy writers in America, brings readers a disturbing tale of our own world, and the strange creatures with whom we share it.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Man-made monster yarn written by nonfiction author Pickover and rewritten by Anthony (Faun and Games, p. 1167, etc.) into a school-of-absurdism ecological rant. In the waters off Newfoundland--an island where, according to the authors at least, all four seasons occur simultaneously, and drunken Dutch dwarfs are a notable feature of the population--a sea spider the size of an elephant attacks a boat, ripping a woman to shreds and driving her husband insane. Visiting St. John's, luckily, is Harvard invertebrate-expert Nathan Smallwood, who'll team up with some of the locals--cop Natalie Sheppard, fisheries officer Elmo Samuels-- to investigate. Also on the scene is Elmo's irascible sister Martha, proprietor of a tropical fish store, karate black belt, biology whiz, and secret hater of humanity. Martha and Elmo look scary, having inherited their father's abnormally long teeth and fingers. Anyway, Martha has genetically engineered the giant sea spider as a predator to reduce the human population. Nathan and Natalie take a ferry trip to try to capture the creature, with mayhem the predictable outcome. Meanwhile, cross-country skiers set off despite the absence of snow; more ludicrously still, Elmo (father's name Elmo) was born in Milan, while Martha (Jewish father Ismar) hails from Silesia; other inconsistencies abound. Some promising characters blundering around in a madhouse: a showcase of what goes wrong when writers, editors, and publishers sleepwalk through production. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher

"Quite a change of pace for Anthony.... The characters are sketched in skillfully, but from the outset we know this is going to be mainly about suspense." --Science Fiction Chronicle

"Bucky fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both." --Wired --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312864655
• ISBN-13: 978-0312864651
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,981,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, scary, odd characters, great setting, May 17, 2000

By 

Cougar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spider Legs (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book very much for its odd characters and chillingly scary sea creatures. At times, the suspense was very high and the book hard to put down. The New Foundland setting was haunting and beautiful, and I don't think readers will have ever read a book quite like this! It is strange and absurd, biological, mystical, mythical. Hard to describe. You can't go wrong with this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Strange characters. Frightning monsters., December 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Spider Legs (Hardcover)

The publisher calls this book "the ultimate crustacean encounter," and that it is! The quirky characters and setting enhance the book's appeal. "Twin Peaks" meets "Jaws." The depictions of the sea spiders are among the scariest creature-scenes I've ever read, and some of the attack scenes had me squirming for more. Loaded with fascinating biological facts and oddities.

Strange things are born in the ocean's depths... I can't wait until they make a blockbuster movie from this book. It would be more powerful than "Jaws" because the giant sea spiders are more terrifying, more deadly.

I notice that the West Coast Review of Books remarked: "Pickover has collaborated on a novel with the prolific Piers Anthony, and the combination of Pickover's theory and Anthony's fantasy should yield an intellectual tour de force without precedent."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, Wild, Magnificent, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Spider Legs (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

If I were stuck on an island for a decade and could take only one book with me, Spider Legs would be the one. Funny, disturbing, shocking, apocalyptic, absurd -- lots of action and suspense. The book with its beautiful setting and odd cast of characters ring in the mind long after most books are forgotten. Long live the pycnogonids!