Tag: Adventure

How to Train Your Devil, Vol. 1

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How to Train Your Devil, Vol. 1 by Tonchi Kataoka
Series Name: How to Train your Devil
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Seven Seas
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-64275-487-2
Rating: 2/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

The last thing Zeno expected when she set off to slay the Devil King was that she’d become his mother. But it was either that or kill a one-year old baby. And Zeno is no baby-killer – even if the baby is a pervert with a very lusty adult’s mind.

Personal & Info

I added this to my to-read list around the same time as My Monster Secret. It’s supposed to be funny, and fantasy manga are huge right now. There are so many of them, it’s hard to tell which ones are worth reading. This one sounded like it might be funny, and I recently got it as a gift.

There appear to only be four volumes in this series, so it’s not a huge commitment.

Characters

Zeno Zebia is the heroine of the story. She may have chosen not to slay the Devil King, but her skills are nothing to sneeze at.

Grull Gurrehl is the baby Devil King. He is one year old, and has apparently been lewdly educated since birth, as it is the Devil King’s job to procreate more monsters.

Nabu Zebia is Zeno’s grandmother. Zeno isn’t fond of her.

Lilia DeLoan is the daughter of a wealthy household. She joins the party after a fairly ridiculous encounter.

Story & Thoughts

I have to say, this manga seems rather controversial. From what I can tell, the perverted baby thing puts a lot of people off to the premise as it is. I figure, if done right, it can be interesting and entertaining, but I’m not sure this story does that. If it did, I’m certain I wouldn’t be thinking, “what did I just read,” upon finishing the volume.

The characters seem interesting enough. I like Zeno and Lilia, though I’m fairly certain Lilia is playing pretend. Zeno is a good ideal hero. She has ethical values and the skills to back them up when challenged.

As far as story goes…I think it’s trying a little too hard. The king, or judge, or whoever he is, is blatantly a creep. I can tell events are trying to be funny, but throughout the entire book, I didn’t experience so much as a giggle.

Most of the lewd parts of the story seem like they are just there for blatant lewdness. Some of it is fine, but it seems like a majority of it is focused on Lilia, which I find kind of suspicious. Not much information is provided about her. In addition to that, I’m positive Grull does not pass the Harkness test. Nothing actually happens to him, but there is a blatant attempt.

Taking all this into account, I do think the story has potential. I just don’t think it is executed well. There are plenty of parts I like, but it’s intended to be funny, and I just didn’t find it funny enough to be considered a comedy.

There’s a cliff hanger at the end. If you enjoy the book, you might want to get the second volume quickly, so you can find out what happens. Personally, I am unsure if I will bother continuing the series. Don’t get any hopes up about seeing more reviews for this.

Spice & Wolf, Vol. 5 (LN)

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Spice & Wolf, Vol. 5 by Isuna Hasekura
Series Name: Spice & Wolf (Light Novel)
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Commerce
Intended Age Group: 15+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-7595-3110-9
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

Arriving in the town of Lenos, Lawrence and Holo take a respite from their travels north – but a true businessman never rests! It isn’t long before an opportunity for profit presents itself to Lawrence, one that could fulfill his dreams of owning his own establishment. But as always, the promise of great reward carries great risk – and risk is never greater than when one plans to use a wisewolf as collateral! As Lawrence and Holo feel the ties binding them stretched thin, has the time come for the pair to go their separate ways?

Personal & Info

It took me a few months to circle back around to this series. My reading schedule is a bit of a mess right now.

Characters

It’s been one week since the events of volume four. Lawrence and Holo are comfortable around each other. Their banter has gotten more elaborate and playful as Lawrence has learned how to keep up better with her wit. I think it’s obvious they both either have a crush on each other, or feel some kind of ownership regarding the other person. Both of them get jealous regarding interactions with the opposite sex. They should just tell each other how they feel, but then we wouldn’t have an interesting story, now would we?

Story & Thoughts

I adore this series, but this volume does not resonate with me. It was a little upsetting to read. A large chunk of the story feels highly melancholy and depressing. They start analyzing things, like how different Holo’s lifespan is compared to humans and whether or not she could feasibly tire of being in someone’s company because of that.

I thought we were past the threats of Holo potentially leaving. The first few volumes all have that as a will she or won’t she. I’m not amused to see it come up again. At this point, I thought they would have no more issue staying together and waiting to reassess until they find Holo’s homeland. It’s starting to feel repetitive with this theme constantly popping up.

Holo seems extra violent in this volume. Granted, for the worst of it, she is angry and frustrated, but that doesn’t necessarily make it okay. Especially when she knowingly targets areas she knows are sensitive. We already know she doesn’t exactly have a shining personality, but part of this book shows off her more abusive side. I find it a little concerning she doesn’t show any concern for Lawrence’s condition at that time either.

The business opportunity in this one doesn’t seem as suspenseful as the others. Everything goes smoothly, and nobody is really in any danger. There is potential danger, but even if things were to go catastrophically bad, it’s implied nobody’s life is truly at risk.

I do like that this book is one of the few times Lawrence works on a deal by himself. It’s important he doesn’t always rely on Holo, otherwise he might lose the practiced merchant skills he had before meeting her.

Kingdom Hearts

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Kingdom Hearts by Shiro Amano
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Volumes: 4
Series Rating: 3/5
See my individual reviews here:
Volume 1 – volume 2 – volume 3 – volume 4
Get your own copies here:
1 – Amazon ThriftBooks
2 – Amazon ThriftBooks
3 – Amazon ThriftBooks
4 – Amazon ThriftBooks
Or get the newer duology versions (published by Yen Press) here:
1 – Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf
2 – Amazon Barnes&Noble

Description

Fourteen-year-old Sora and his friends want to see what is across the ocean and visit other worlds. Everything gets turned upside down when their island home is hit by a storm, ripping them from their home and separating them.

Sora finds himself in a new land where he meets Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy. Together they fight mysterious creatures called Heartless and travel the universe in search of King Mickey and Sora’s lost friends.

Throughout their travels, they make friends in every world, and quickly discover it’s up to them to save the universe from the Heartless, and whomever is pulling their strings. The power of Sora’s Keyblade and the strength of his heart are paramount to succeed.

About

This is a manga adaptation of the popular game Kingdom Hearts. These are the older editions that make it a four volume series. The newer editions are encompassed in two volumes for a duology set. I got these forever ago, so I don’t have the newer editions.

I can’t stress enough that this is an adaptation. Don’t expect it to be super accurate.

Personal

I’ve been a fan of Kingdom Hearts since back when the first game was still new. It’s one of my favorite franchises, so when the manga came out, I knew I wanted to have it.

There are more Kingdom Hearts manga out there for some of the other games, as well as light novels. I’m in the process of collecting and reading them all. I want to do this in tandem with replaying the games to spot the differences, though, so it may take a while to review them.

As far as the manga versions go, I consider each “game” to be its own series, because they are, at the very least, in sets of two or more.

Characters

Sora is the main character. He is exclusive to the Kingdom Hearts universe. Well, except for his Smash appearance. He’s basically your average joe with a heart of gold.

Donald and Goofy are popular Disney characters associated with Mickey mouse. All three of them have been around for several decades, and they’re kind of the face of Disney, so it makes sense they would be main characters for this kind of story.

Mickey is a king in this universe because he is the ever constant mascot of Disney. Donald is his court wizard, and Goofy is his head knight.

Riku and Kairi are also completely new characters specifically for this story. Riku is the cool edge lord loner type. Part of his relationship with Sora is Riku is always better than him at everything, but that changes a bit as the story progresses. Kairi is essentially the girl next door everyone is crushing on.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series. The number of Final Fantasy characters is small, but the Disney quantity is high since pretty much all the worlds are from Disney movies.

Story & Thoughts

Negatives

Honestly, I don’t think the manga does the story justice. There are so many cuts, and the story feels too fast.

The characters seem to have little to no development. You don’t even get to know the characters the same way you would in the game. In the game, you get time to see what Riku and Kairi are like before everything happens. That experience is missing here. The introduction is rushed, and the lack of proper introductions makes Riku come off as a jerk, instead of the cool loner type that actually cares. The rushed plot doesn’t help this later on either.

Entire levels are missing. Deep Jungle and Halloween Town are not in the manga. I have issue with this, because it goes along with the lack of character development. Donald and Sora are supposed to butt heads significantly at the start of the journey. That is barely portrayed at all. The entire point of Deep Jungle in the game is to sort out Sora and Donald’s differences, so they can actually be good friends. The story feels shallow without those experiences.

There is little action. For an adaptation of a game where you fight things constantly, there is hardly any action to be seen. I think this could have been a little better if it embraced more action scenes and showed off more of the epic boss fights. Show off some of Sora’s special techniques, too.

Positives

In the game, we’re under the impression Sora summons and dispels his key blade at will. The manga does things a little differently. I find this part a little amusing. This adaptation actually has Sora use his belt as a sheath. It does not look realistically stable for use at all, but it’s a detail I enjoy.

The cover art for the chapters in each volume are nice. I like seeing them.

Despite my complaints, the manga isn’t bad. It’s not entirely faithful as an adaptation, but it’s enjoyable. I like to think of it as an alternate retelling, because it’s accurate to a point. All the most important story events are there. The route to them and how they occur are just a little different.

I don’t recommend this as your primary Kingdom Hearts experience. But, if you’re just in the mood for some Kingdom Hearts and don’t want to boot up the game, it might scratch that itch. Or if you’ve never played the game, and you just want to see what the story is like, this is a generally accurate enough outline of it to get an idea.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 4

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Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 4 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 1-59816-220-9
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble
If you are set on getting the same old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Sora, Donald, and Goofy are forced to choose between duty and friendship. Our heroes must follow their hearts if they are to succeed and defeat the growing Heartless menace. But in the world of Kingdom Hearts, choices are never easy!

Personal & Info

This is the final volume of the old four volume edition Kingdom Hearts manga. As usual, I will primarily link the new duology editions, as well as some links to find these older versions if they are your preference.

Characters

Sora, Donald and Goofy are the primary characters in every volume.

Riku and Kairi obviously play big parts in the finale.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series.

Story & Thoughts

This book picks up after the group leaves Never Land. From there, it goes straight into the final two locations of Hollow Bastion and the End of the World. Unfortunately, my favorite level, Halloween Town, does not make it into the manga at all.

I’m surprised they managed to squeeze the whole ending into this one short book. They cut some things and rush others. For example, there is a Maleficent boss in the game here. That is cut entirely for the manga.

100 Acre Wood is missing from the main story, aside from Sora delivering the book, but it gets a chapter at the end of this volume instead of the usual four panel comics.

I don’t think the manga does the series justice. Obviously the game is going to be better. The manga speeds everything up, and doesn’t care as much about the action or character development. It feels like more of a for fun read. Like, if you are craving some Kingdom Hearts, but you don’t want to boot up the game, this might be a quick fix. It gets the most important parts right, and that’s what matters. But seriously, don’t let this be your only exposure to the series. The game is so much better.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 3

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Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 3 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 1-59816-219-5
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble
If you’re set on getting the old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

When Monstro the whale swallows Sora and crew, the world of Kingdom Hearts plunges into an underwater adventure! Deep within the ocean depths, Sora lends Geppetto and Pinocchio a helping hand to fend off the Heartless. Our heroes then dive even deeper under the sea to face Ursula the Sea Witch. But Sora and Riku better surface fast because they have to rescue Kairi from the clutches of Captain Hook! When it comes to dealing with the Heartless, let your conscience be your guide, and don’t forget the pixie dust!

Personal & Info

This is volume three of the four volume old editions of the Kingdom Hearts manga. I assume most, if not all, of this volume is probably included in volume two of the newer duology prints.

Characters

Sora, Donald and Goofy are the primary characters in every volume.

Riku and Kairi both appear in this one.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series.

Story & Characters

This volume starts where volume two ends, however, the resulting boss battle is anticlimactic. They kind of overdo the whole Herc weakening Cerberus thing. Aside from that, the volume covers the Monstro, Atlantica, and Neverland levels from the game.

Like the other volumes, this one is fast paced. It blends some events together, or changes them a bit to make the story progress faster. Monstro seems particularly short.

It’s at this point I notice the manga entirely skips over the Deep Jungle level. I highly doubt it would be in the last volume since it’s an early level. The way things are going, there might be one or two other levels missing from the manga by the time it’s done. I think those parts of the story are significant for character development, but the manga seems to try to keep a more cheerful and funny vibe, so the characters don’t have much development, or at least none that is blatantly obvious. I’d say the most character development I’ve seen so far is learning skills, and that’s not usually what people mean when they talk about character development.

There’s a part in this one where they finally get to read Ansem’s report. I often didn’t read that while playing the game, so I can’t say if it’s similar. I would have to turn on the game to check.

There are more four panel comics in the back of the book. The one titled Farewell Gift is my favorite out of this batch.

I still love the chapter cover art, and highly recommend playing the game or to watch someone play the game if you read this. It should not be your only exposure to the series.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 2

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Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 2 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 1-59816-218-7
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf
If you are set on getting the same old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Sora, Goofy and Donald Duck continue their magical journey. Along the way they discover new clues about Maleficent’s preparations to conquer all the worlds. The fate of all beings lies within the power of Sora’s Keyblade – and the strength of his heart!

Personal & Info

This is volume two of my old copies of the Kingdom Hearts manga. These can only be found used now a days, so I will be linking the newer duology reprints as the primary shop links. I believe this volume is part of volume one of the duology. I don’t know for sure if they end in the same spot, because I don’t have those editions, but it’s probably close.

Also, I said it in the review for the first volume, but I’ll say it again here. This series reads left to right instead of the usual right to left like the average manga.

Characters

Sora, Donald and Goofy are the primary characters in every volume.

Riku appears in this volume, but we do not see any of Kairi aside from a hallucination.

Various Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series.

Story & Thoughts

This volume covers Agraba, Traverse Town, and The Olympus Colosseum. Based on how I play the game, the manga does the levels out of order. One could play the levels in the order of the manga, but that’s not my preference.

The story is still mostly accurate. By mostly accurate I mean it’s kind of an alternate retelling. Events are usually blended together instead of separate instances to make the flow faster. Details or minor events that never happen in the game are added to help the flow and keep things going or make them make sense, while other things are cut entirely.

This volume has a cliff hanger. It ends at the start of a boss fight, so volume three is going to start with that.

There are some funny four panel bonus comics at the end of the book.

I still love the chapter cover art, and highly recommend playing the game or watching someone play the game if you read this. It should not be your only exposure to the series.

Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 1

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Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 1 by Shiro Amano
Series Name: Kingdom Hearts
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
Intended Age Group: All Ages
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-59816-217-2
Rating: 3/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble RightStuf
If you are set on getting the same old four volume editions, you can check here:
Amazon ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

When a strange storm hits his island home, 14-year-old Sora is separated from his friends and swept into a mysterious new land. There he meets Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy, who are on a mission to find their king, Micky, and return him to his throne at Disney Castle. When the three learn of the Heartless, ominous creatures who feed off the darkness in the hearts of others, they join forces to recover Sora’s friends, return the king to his rightful position and save the universe from the Heartless!

Personal & Info

I’ve been a fan of Kingdom Hearts for a long time. I’ve fallen behind a little on the newer stuff, but the series, no matter which format, will always have a special place in my heart. The version of the series I have in my collection for Kingdom Hearts is out of print. It’s four volumes. I have all of them, so I will be reviewing all four.

Reprints were done for this series sometime around 2013, in which they compiled them into two books instead of four. Those will be the primary versions I link, but I will include a couple links where used versions of the old editions can be found. The 2005 print that I have, would be less convenient to find.

I can’t say for the reprints, but the editions I have read left to right instead of right to left. I still consider it a manga because that’s pretty much the only difference from the norm.

Going into this, it’s been a couple years since I played the game, but I have played it several times, so I have a solid grasp of the plot. This is technically a reread, because I have read it before. It has, however, been several years, possibly over a decade, since the last time.

Characters

Sora is the main character. He is like your stereotypical average kid thrust into fantastical save the world scenarios.

Kairi and Riku are Sora’s friends from the island. Riku is basically the cool guy, who is also a tad mean. Kairi is like the girl next door that Sora and Riku are both crushing on. The manga doesn’t make the crush very clear compared to the game.

Donald and Goofy are well known Disney characters. For this series, they are Sora’s traveling companions and allies in combat.

Various other Disney and Final Fantasy characters make appearances throughout the series. I will not list those for people who might not have any exposure to the series. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise appearances.

Story & Thoughts

This volume covers Destiny Islands, Traverse Town, and Wonder Land. The beginning of the book has a slightly different introduction where the game tutorial would be. There’s a page that tells a story about a broken world. I’m fairly certain this piece of lore is not part of the games. I can’t say if it’s part of the light novels, though, because I have not yet read them. Those will be read and reviewed at a later date.

The island section, which would be the start of the game, where we meet Sora and his friends, seems rushed. We don’t get a solid feel for the characters before everything takes off. Some jokes and interactions from the game were cut, probably to save on time and pages. This is shorter than the average manga, though, so I think they could have made it work.

The story overall seems mostly accurate. I think the fluidity of the panels in some parts is a little jank. With the extra fast pacing of the story, someone who hasn’t played the game might not get the full experience from just reading the manga. It definitely doesn’t have the same feel to it as the game either. The manga seems to try hard for a loony type of comedy that you might see in old Disney cartoons. I get why, but I’m not sure it helps the quality.

The cover art for all the chapters looks really nice. The art throughout is decent, but I think everyone seems to have a case of the baby faces. Sora looks much younger than fourteen. Leon, oh my gosh, Leon looks twelve.

I wouldn’t recommend this as your only Kingdom Hearts experience. You should definitely play the game, or watch someone else play it.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Series Name: Extraordinary Voyages/Captain Nemo
Genres: Adventure, Sci-Fi 
Intended Age Group: 8-12
Publisher: Rand McNally & Company
Edition: Hardcover (Windermere Readers)
ISBN: NA
Rating: 1.5/5
Amazon Barnes&Noble

Description

In one of the earliest sci-fi novels, Professor Aronnax and two friends are swept away on a deep sea adventure on board the Nautilus. They receive a tour of the ocean’s depths filled with fish and rare sights.

Personal & Info

I generally have no interest in classic novels. I’m only reading this because it is recommended before Rick Riordan’s Daughter of the Deep. Although, based on his writing style, I assume you can probably read Daughter of the Deep without reading this.

I got this from the library since I likely have no interest in buying a copy. This particular copy appears to be very old. There is no dust jacket or cover art. No synopsis anywhere on or in the book, either, and I can’t locate an ISBN of any kind. I’m not sure they even used those at the time this particular edition was printed. I filled out my usual information to the best of my ability, threw together my own synopsis, and the store links will lead to more modern copies.

This book is technically part of a series, but from what I hear, you can read it as a stand alone novel and be perfectly fine. The Captain Nemo series is a trilogy, which is part of a larger series called Extraordinary Voyages. I have no plans at this time to delve into the trilogy nor the extended series.

Characters

M. Pierre Aronnax, professor from the museum of Paris. Based on the writing style, the book appears to be his journal.

Counseil, the assistant to Aronnax. He is approximately ten years younger than his mentor, which the book states puts him at about thirty. Counseil is a calm individual and rarely ever leaves his master’s side.

Ned Land is a meat obsessed Canadian harpooner. The book never lets you forget he is Canadian. He is constantly referred to as the Canadian.

Captain Nemo, commander of the Nautilus submarine, and a recluse from the land world.

Story & Thoughts

Right off the bat, I do not recommend this book. I can see how it would be appealing around the original publish date, but it does not appeal to modern day. It’s probable that maybe people interested in geography, ocean travel, or marine biology, MIGHT enjoy it. As just a book to pick up and read, though, I doubt most people would find it interesting.

A majority of the book is fish descriptions. These descriptions often use the latin and/or scientific names. Most of the time, I find these hard to follow, because I’m not familiar with the terms for marine life, and I’m certainly not going to look them up every time I don’t know something when a book has so many. The same goes for the locations.

The locations in which they travel, and the routes they take, all use nautical terms. They are constantly using compass directions as well as longitude and latitude. I don’t have the effort to bother using a map to follow the story. I can see how it might be cool to follow along by pinpointing locations on a map, though. It could give a visual representation of where and how far they travel.

Speaking of story, there is little to none. If you cut out all the technical things regarding the functions of things, the geographical travel, and descriptions of the fish, you would be left with a rather short novella instead of this five hundred page novel. Granted, the tiny bit of story is at least a little interesting. That’s the only reason I rate this a one and a half, instead of just a solid one.

Again, I do not recommend this book. I got several headaches from reading it. I only read the whole thing because I was determined to. Normally I would have abandoned it at fifty or one hundred pages at most. It took me a long time to read compared to normal because of how boring and technical it is. Unless you specifically enjoy the types of technical this book is, don’t bother.

Spice & Wolf, Vol. 4 (LN)

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Spice & Wolf, Vol. 4 by Isuna Hasekura
Series Name: Spice & Wolf (Light Novel)
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Commerce
Intended Age Group: 15+
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-7595-3108-6
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

Continuing their journey north, Lawrence and Holo stop in the village of Tereo in hopes of finding a local abbey where they might uncover more information regarding the fate of Holo’s ancient home, Yoitsu. Soon after their arrival, though, the companions are caught up in a local dispute between Tereo and the neighboring town of Enberch that could cost Lawrence and Holo both their fortunes and their lives! With the Wisewolf’s help, can Lawrence devise a way to save an entire town from ruin – and his skin and that of his traveling companion in the process?

Personal & Info

I think this is the first volume to dip in rating, which is pretty good, if you ask me. One through three are solid fours, and any series is bound to have a dip eventually. Honestly, I expected a dip much sooner.

Characters

The book starts approximately six days after the events of volume three. Lawrence and Holo seem to be getting along better than ever. They have a more solid and trusting relationship than before the catastrophic events involving Amati. However, at this point, they seem to be hyperaware of other couples. I think the implication of Holo and Lawrence liking each other, or looking like a couple to outsiders, is getting more emphasis.

Story & Thoughts

I don’t think the story for this one is quite as strong as the others. It isn’t nearly as much of a nail-biter, because it’s made clear Lawrence and Holo are truly in no danger, unlike every volume, so far. It’s actually extremely disappointing how quickly the option to flee comes to mind.

This volume deals more heavily with the status of religion while in the village of Tereo. The religious aspects of the story are more of a background thing until now. The affairs of a church and the desire to protect the village are a main theme of the story, probably not how you would think, though.

It’s unfortunate how foolish the villagers of Tereo are. They seem like a hive mind of distrust, except for a small number. They seem to be living on ignorant luck until Lawrence and Holo come to visit. I find it surprising a village that small would even have any secrets. Shouldn’t the whole village know everything about everything involving what goes on?

I always hear gossip spreads like wildfire in places like that, yet nobody seems to know anything about the Father Franz deal except the village elder Sem and Elsa. The deal gets high praise in the story, but when you think about it, it actually seems flimsy. It’s no wonder this problem occurs so shortly after the arbitrator dies.

I know what a miller is, but I guess I never thought they would be distrusted. It makes sense when you look at it from a more primitive and less educated perspective, though. I doubt the villagers in this book have much of an education. They seem rather superstitious and paranoid. I hope Evan’s life gets better.

Notable Issues

I see in this volume, they overlook the details about Holo’s ability to transform. The first few volumes make it clear she needs to either ingest wheat, or fresh blood, to trigger the change, or have enough energy for it, or something along those lines. She seems to change form without any of that in this one. It never says she eats any wheat to do it, nor does she bite anyone for blood. I’m not sure why it’s different here.

Spice & Wolf, Vol. 3 (LN)

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Spice & Wolf, Vol. 3 by Isuna Hasekura
Series Name: Spice & Wolf (Light Novel)
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Commerce
Intended Age Group: 15 & up
Publisher: Yen On/Yen Press
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-7595-3107-9
Rating: 4/5
Amazon Barnes & Noble RightStuf ThriftBooks

Description from the Book

Having narrowly escaped financial ruin, Lawrence turns his attention to helping Holo find her ancient homeland in the North. But how long can a traveling merchant afford to wander the countryside looking for a village that he suspects may have ceased to exist long ago? When a rival merchant sets his sights on Lawrence’s beautiful companion, though, can Lawrence truly be confident that Holo will remain by his side? Has the time come when Lawrence must ask himself whether his relationship with the Wisewolf is business or pleasure?

Personal & Info

I read this one almost two months ago as of typing this. This review catches me up on where I’m at in the series. I’ll be circling around to volume 4 soon.

Characters

It’s been a few weeks now(one week since volume 2) since Lawrence met Holo. By now, Lawrence is confident in his ability to read Holo and trusts her implicitly. However, that gets put to the test in this volume.

I get the impression Holo’s personality makes communication difficult. Despite trying to learn how to read Holo since day one, Lawrence can’t always be sure when she’s serious, or how to interpret her intent. She often says the opposite of what she means, but that’s not always reliable either. He can’t speak outright with her, because in most cases, she would mock him. It makes for good banter, but I don’t think it makes for a healthy relationship. Despite this, I’m interested in seeing how their relationship progresses.

Story & Thoughts

I can safely say I love the series, so far, and I plan to continue reading it for as long as I can.

This volume has the same structure as the first two, as expected. I also noticed a running theme of something being a potential risk for causing Holo to leave in each. That might get old fast. I can excuse it for the first few, because Lawrence and Holo are still figuring out their compatibility, but I hope it’s not a constant as the series goes on.

Holo has an admirer. It was bound to happen eventually. She’s constantly described as pretty, and she always draws attention. This, as well as a series of interactions between Holo and Lawrence, lead to some hefty tension and drama.

A large chunk of the story for this volume hinges on Lawrence making decisions without Holo’s assistance. It was interesting to see how he handled himself after relying on her for weeks. She’d clearly become a crutch for him, so something even as simple as bouncing ideas off her, and suddenly being unable to, was a huge change. It gives his character growth a chance to shine as he is tested with an important business deal. He even uses some previous experience with blunders to his advantage, which makes me happy.

This one was a nail-baiter right up until the end. I think it picked up quicker than the first two, and held the tension longer. There was no gradual resolution. I literally had no idea if things would work out until the end of the last chapter.