Spice and Wolf, Vol. 8 (light novel): The Town of Strife I

This is an unusual volume for many reasons.

For one, it is the first two-parter. I will say right now that it ends in a cliff-hanger. Normally, I do not like this but I am willing to give Hasekura-sensei a pass on this one because he addressed it in his author's notes. He tried to fit it all in one volume, but the story was too big for this to work. He would have to remove so much the story would not make sense or have the same impact. As an author myself, I totally understand that.

This volume is also unusual is that it has more than one plot thread. Previous volumes had one economic thing with Holo's search being in the background. Here, the two of them are on more equal footing. The trio of Lawrence, Holo and Cole are following a rumor of wolf deity bones primarily but are also dragged into a local economic thing, which has a lot more facets than I am used to. To be frank, I couldn't follow this one as well as the previous volumes.

I think this is because the volume's economic plot is bigger and more complicated than previous plots. It involves the town's administrative leaders, the HQ of the Rowan merchant's guild, of which Lawrence is a member, at least two other trading companies, Eve the fallen noble, the church as an intra-continental organization, and a mystery party that supposedly has already obtained the wolf deity bones. Making this all the more complicated, the town is split twin-cities style into north and south, with pagans dominating the north and non-pagans the south.
Indeed, I get the felling that Lawrence himself is having trouble following this particular economic adventure because he is caught-off guard more than usual and a good chunk of the plot is him collecting information and sending Holo and Cole out to fetch more separate from him, all so that he can determine what is going on. In that case, my confusion is a Intended Audience Reaction.

There is greater lore here than in previous volumes. I feel I have a better mental image of the town of Kerube than I did of earlier towns because there is more scenic detail of the town itself and its delta. The surrounding countryside, too, is filled in with details like the Roam River (which was the setting of volume 6) and the Roef Mountains that it flows down from, and where Cole was born. We also get to see the trade guild that Lawrence belongs to, and his relationship to it is unexpectedly non-friendly.

For those seeking the usual banter between Lawrence and Holo, fear not! for in that way this volume is not unusual. There is plenty of verbal jousting here, particularly in the first chapter. The addition of Cole gives Holo additional means to tease and provoke.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Spice and Wolf: Town of Strife 1 - v 8" a A+

This is an unusual volume for many reasons.

For one, it is the first two-parter. I will say right now that it ends in a cliff-hanger. Normally, I do not like this but I am willing to give Hasekura-sensei a pass on this one because he addressed it in his author's notes. He tried to fit it all in one volume, but the story was too big for this to work. He would have to remove so much the story would not make sense or have the same impact. As an author myself, I totally understand that.

This volume is also unusual is that it has more than one plot thread. Previous volumes had one economic thing with Holo's search being in the background. Here, the two of them are on more equal footing. The trio of Lawrence, Holo and Cole are following a rumor of wolf deity bones primarily but are also dragged into a local economic thing, which has a lot more facets than I am used to. To be frank, I couldn't follow this one as well as the previous volumes.

I think this is because the volume's economic plot is bigger and more complicated than previous plots. It involves the town's administrative leaders, the HQ of the Rowan merchant's guild, of which Lawrence is a member, at least two other trading companies, Eve the fallen noble, the church as an intra-continental organization, and a mystery party that supposedly has already obtained the wolf deity bones. Making this all the more complicated, the town is split twin-cities style into north and south, with pagans dominating the north and non-pagans the south.
Indeed, I get the felling that Lawrence himself is having trouble following this particular economic adventure because he is caught-off guard more than usual and a good chunk of the plot is him collecting information and sending Holo and Cole out to fetch more separate from him, all so that he can determine what is going on. In that case, my confusion is a Intended Audience Reaction.

There is greater lore here than in previous volumes. I feel I have a better mental image of the town of Kerube than I did of earlier towns because there is more scenic detail of the town itself and its delta. The surrounding countryside, too, is filled in with details like the Roam River (which was the setting of volume 6) and the Roef Mountains that it flows down from, and where Cole was born. We also get to see the trade guild that Lawrence belongs to, and his relationship to it is unexpectedly non-friendly.

For those seeking the usual banter between Lawrence and Holo, fear not! for in that way this volume is not unusual. There is plenty of verbal jousting here, particularly in the first chapter. The addition of Cole gives Holo additional means to tease and provoke.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Spice and Wolf: Town of Strife 1 - v 8" a A+

This is where things are truly getting interesting. The plot is thickening, lessons are being learned, schemes are being made, plans are in the works, and people are being used. It's set a great foundation for the next book I believe. But as with all the other books so far, it's still a little hard to follow who's talking sometimes.