I'll leave a comment at fanlit too, but I just wanted to say, until I read your review, I would never, ever, ever have considered reading these! I think the covers are generic fantasy--and a world based on insects/arachnids did not appeal, but you've made it sound fascinating!

Marion

But yeah, insects. I like the way Tchaikovsky makes this work out, giving individuals various traits -- there's a Mosquito, for instance (capitalized because that's how the books refer to the races) who is absolutely chilling -- I mean, think about it, this is a human who sucks blood from others, but isn't a vampire (well, not completely, anyway). A nice twist on an old theme.

While the books do come close to the "generic fantasy" category, I think they're a cut above.