Review here: https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-spice-wolf-volume-2-by-isuna-hasekura... ( )

Alas, I'll keep this short.

I enjoyed the heck out of this story. I'm invested in the main characters, and I found the story absorbing. I felt disappointed every time I had to put the book down to do something else.

I'm quite amused by the fact that, apart from one event near the beginning of the story, every bad thing that happened was motivated by the danger posed by government -- even when the government in question was the church. Yes, even the danger in the forest, because it they weren't trying to slip past the tax man Holo would not have been as constrained in how she dealt with the upstart god-wolf.

I eagerly look forward to reading the next book in the series. ( )

Even better than the first one! This story is compelling and fun. (Also very well done in the anime version. This is the 2nd half of season 1.) ( )

The first volume of Spice & Wolf was one of the better light novels I've read. I finally decided to read the second volume. If you've seen the anime: the second half of season 1 covers the events of this volume. It's been long enough since I last saw the show that I'm not entirely sure which details differ, but the general events are the same.

Holo and Lawrence are still traveling together, and, with Holo's help, Lawrence is able to get a really good deal on a wagon-load of armor. Lawrence knows that, at this time of year, armor sells pretty well at their next stop, Ruvinheigen, and the money would bring him one step closer to his dream, settling down and opening a shop.

Then things turn very sour. Lawrence learns that his wagon-load of armor is now worth one tenth what he'd estimated. He has two days to repay his debt to the Remelio Company, which is itself close to bankruptcy because of armor's sudden drop in value. The guild Lawrence is associated with can't lend him money, and neither can other guild members. If he can't repay his debt, he'll be sold into slavery. Holo could transform into a wolf and help him escape the city, but his life as a merchant would be over and he would be on the run forever.

A good chunk of my description could be considered a spoiler, because Lawrence doesn't find out the bad news about the armor until halfway through the volume. That was one of the things I didn't like about this book: the pacing. Although the introduction of Norah, the shepherdess, was necessary, and it was nice to see Holo and Lawrence bickering and flirting, I wish Hasekura could have tightened all that up. The first half of the book was a bit of a slog for me, as I waited for something to actually happen. The second half was much more exciting.

It did not help that the writing/translation (it's hard to be sure which one is the problem) could have used some improvement. Some sentences were a little strange, such as this one, describing Holo's reaction to Lawrence's description of peaches preserved in honey: “Her eyes were moist and blurred with overflowing anticipation” (17). And this, after Lawrence learned the bad news: “Lawrence's hoarse voice was all that tied him to reality” (124). The “him” that sentence referred to was Lawrence, so Lawrence's own voice was tying Lawrence to reality. I understood the general meaning, “Lawrence is deeply upset and in shock,” but it could have been phrased better.

I also noticed that Hasekura had a bad habit of telling readers in the narrative what would have been better communicated via dialogue. For example, there was one bit near the end where it seemed like Lawrence was thinking about ways his group could avoid being taken down by wolves. However, the two paragraphs outlining a possible strategy ended with this: “Lawrence listened to Holo's hasty explanation and saw that Norah moved to do just that [kill one of the wolves]” (224). It wasn't until that point that I realized the two paragraphs of strategy were actually things Holo had been telling Lawrence and Norah. It would have been much clearer if Hasekura had written it as dialogue.

That doesn't mean I hated the book – it just means I'd hesitate to recommend it to someone who wasn't already an anime/manga/light novel fan and willing to put up with less-than-stellar writing. Spice & Wolf is still one of the better series I've come across.

The things I enjoyed about this book: Holo and Lawrence's relationship, the world details and the way they're framed, and the economics stuff. Holo and Lawrence grew a little closer in this volume, and Lawrence actually told Holo that she is special to him. But what I loved even more was Lawrence introducing Holo to his guild master in Ruvinheigen. He warned her that his fellow guild members would probably assume she was his fiancee, so she said she'd be fine with him claiming that they were lovers. Instead, he introduced her as his business partner, and was proud when he described the profit she'd helped him make in the past. Okay, so it doesn't sound very romantic, but this was coming from a guy for whom business is everything. He had pride in her as a partner, and he trusted her as a partner. I loved that.

Speaking of Lawrence and business – his identity as a merchant colored pretty much everything. It was how he viewed the world, and it was even part of his small talk. There was a bit, early on, dealing with the role the Church had in the formation, development, and ongoing existence of one of the towns Lawrence was passing through, and the focus was all on trade, the flow of currency, and taxes. The Church was just one more thing with the potential to affect his business. Lawrence's mindset, and the economics in general, really worked for me in this book. I even got a chuckle out of Lawrence's revenge by way of loan near the end.

All in all, it was an okay book that would have been improved by a shorter first half. The ending was pretty satisfying, aside from the unanswered questions about Norah and Enek's future. She irked me early on in the book, mostly because of Lawrence's reaction to her (he liked how sweet, gentle, and quiet she was compared to Holo, never mind that she'd have bored him to tears in the long run). However, she later proved herself to be an awesome shepherdess, well-partnered with Enek, her dog. I wanted to know if her dream worked out, and what she decided to do with Enek. I wouldn't mind a cameo appearance in a future book.

Extras:

Eight color pages (five color illustrations), seven black-and-white illustrations, and a short afterword written by the author.

Rating Note:

I never know how to rate light novels. Had the writing/translation been better, I might have given it 4 stars. The second half was exciting, and I was thrilled to actually be able to understand all the economics stuff. Or maybe 3.5, because the beginning was so slow. I'm settling on 3.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

The second volume of Isuna Hasekura's Spice & Wolf light novel series was published in Japan in 2006, four months after the first volume. English readers had to wait a little longer--the second book was released in June 2010, six months after the series' English premiere. Once again, the English translation was executed by Paul Starr and the original illustrations by Jyuu Ayakura are retained, including a few color pages. I read the first award-winning volume of Spice & Wolf a few months after its initial release in December 2009 and while I wouldn't say I was blown away by the book, I did enjoy it as a lighter read and very much liked the characters of Kraft Lawrence and Holo the Wisewolf. In fact, I liked it well enough to want to read the second volume of the somewhat unusual series; I was interested in seeing what other hapless adventures Hasekura had in store for the traveling merchant and his cunning companion.

The second volume of Spice & Wolf picks up a few weeks after Lawrence first met Holo, almost immediately after where the first light novel ends. Lawrence is traveling with Holo to Poloson after a fiasco involving the purity of silver, having somehow come out ahead financially if a bit battered physically. His cargo is a single sack of pepper, a valuable commodity on which he expects to turn quite a profit and come closer to realizing his dream of owning his own trade shop in a town and permanently settling down. It seems that traveling with a harvest goddess has its benefits, even if she does spend a lot of his money on food. But when a business deal goes horribly wrong, Lawrence faces his worst nightmare--bankruptcy. Desperate and with nothing to lose, he devises a dangerous plan with Holo's aid to save himself. Even if he succeeds and comes out of this situation alive, it's still not going to be easy.

One of my favorite things about the Spice & Wolf series remains its characters. Lawrence isn't some exaggerated hero, he's just a regular guy. In fact, he's often the one who needs rescuing by Holo. And while he is softhearted, much to the delight and dismay of Holo, he is also a merchant and money and profit are usually at the forefront of his mind. Lawrence is not perfect--he can get greedy, and he makes mistakes and poor decisions. Except for her wolf tail and ears, Holo looks and acts much like a mature fifteen-year-old girl. Frequently however, her knowledge and experience earned over centuries shines through. Her loneliness, too, is readily apparent, just as is Lawrence's. Their growing attachment to one another is understandable and I love their constant teasing and banter. Poor Lawrence is usually the one on the losing end though; even a successful merchant is no match for a Wisewolf in most cases. He really does put up with a lot.

I think the second volume of Spice & Wolf is even stronger than the first novel. Dialogue is still heavily used to move the story along, which can actually be quite effective although occasionally there's a jump or a turn in a conversation that I don't quite follow. However, I also didn't find myself glazing over at some of the heavier economically involved details like I did during the previous book. I will admit that I wasn't entirely convinced by certain elements of the smuggling scheme, but I was completely convinced of Lawrence's desperation and willingness to try anything that might work no matter how unlikely. He and others were thrust into a life or death situation and I felt that. I really am enjoying this series and look forward to reading the third volume when it is released. Who would have thought a story about economics could be so absorbing and entertaining?

Experiments in Manga ( )