Book Review: Spice and Wolf

I came across this anime while browsing in FYE. And after reading the back, I thought it sounded interesting. Especially the part about Holo the wolf goddess of the harvest. So, the next time I was in the book store I picked up the manga, which inspired the anime.

It was a fun story. Holo, the wisewolf, is the goddess of the harvest in a small pagan town. But she escapes and ends up with travelling merchant, Kraft Lawrence. She and Lawrence become friends, and I love their relationship. Holo may be a wise goddess, but she looks about 15 and sometimes behaves as such. She is very playful and loves to tease her companion.

So, then I found out that the manga is actually based on a series of novels. The first manga basically covers the first half of the novel. So I would assume the second manga will finish the first novel. Isuna Hasekura is a Japanese author. There are currently 14 novels in this series, but only the first two are available in English.

The story was only okay for me. As I said it's about a travelling merchant, so trading goods is a big part of the story. But I love the characters enough that I kept reading. And I can't wait to read the second novel. I love Holo and Lawrence and their relationship. It's worth checking out for that alone.

Synopsis:

Kraft Lawrence has been walking the lonely path of the itinerant merchant for seven years. His life changes forever when he meets Holo, the Wolf-God of the harvest, and the two begin traveling together. Soon they discover a unique opportunity to exploit the depreciating silver currency of the kingdom of Trenni, but their plans go awry when a competing organization captures Holo and threatens to turn her over to the oppressive, monotheistic Church. Lawrence rescues her, but in the course of the rescue, Holo is forced to transform into her terrifying true wolf-form. The two continue their travels with a much better understanding of each other than when they began.