Fantasy novel that starts from the perspective of an insect race

Question

The book starts off from the perspective of an insect race (possibly from the queen's perspective) and covers their discovery of humans. They don't understand how the the humans are able to use weapons such as spears and bows. Using things other than your limbs as weapons is unheard of.

The book is probably from the 00's or the 90's.

The setting was ancient or medieval I think. I don't remember the nature of the insects. They appeared, expanded as a colony and finally met and fought humans. I think that during some point in the story an insect has learned to use weapons and is using four of its limbs to shoot with two bows at the same time.

Gods might have played a part in the story.

Answer 1

This is The Younger Gods, book four of David Edding's Dreamers series.

The insects are a hive species and the queen is called Mother in the book. It opens with Mother musing about humans:

And so it was that Mother began to alter the children which would go forth from the nest to search for things-to-eat in the lands beyond the high hills. And many were her alterations, for the man-things that dwelt in the lands beyond the high hills were very clever and they used weapons that were not parts of their bodies.

And this gave Mother great concern, for it is most unnatural for any creature to take up things that are not parts of their bodies to use as weapons. Then it came to Mother that if the man-things could do this, could not her children do so as well? She sent forth more of the seekers of knowledge to find creatures who had unusual parts of their bodies that gave them advantages in the search for things-to-eat.

The bit with the insect using two bows is in chapter two of the part The Last Generation:

"They want—and need—to see everything, Rabbit." Then Keselo gasped. "What is that thing?" he exclaimed.

Rabbit stared at the creature Keselo had just pointed out. "She actually tried to imitate Longbow!" he exclaimed.

"It looks that way to me too," Keselo agreed, "but it has six limbs instead of only four, and it's carrying two bows instead of only one."

"Now this I want to see," Rabbit declared. "If that thing shoots two arrows at the same time, it can kill more of its enemies than any other bug thing could ever manage."

Keselo and Rabbit watched closely, and sure enough, the archer bug was killing two lion-bugs—or beetle-bugs—at the same time. The dead bugs with arrows in them began to pile up.