Spice and Wolf, Vol. 9: The Town of Strife II

This was a Christmas gift for my son. He loved the spice and wolf anime and wanted to read the light novels. So far he is enjoying the series. Great buy and fast shipping.

Slow start, but after the mysteries begin to emerge I got hooked! love the narrative of the story, and of course the lovely Holo, Lawrene and Col.The shepherd will give you a new view of this world of marvels that spice and wolf offers! read and enjoy!

Spice and Wolf volume 9 Town of Strife part 2. The second part of the first two-part adventure in the series.I must say upfront that I did not enjoy this volume as I did the others. Despite being two volumes long, not as much appeared to happen in comparison to previous volumes. If there were many events and commotion going on I certainly didn't follow them. Lawrence acts as though he is in terrible danger right from the start, and that Kieman is a direct and immediate threat. This is before Lawrence does anything that could upset him. In fact, in the previous volume, he had affirmed his loyalty to Kieman and the Rowen Trade Guild, as though it were a matter of course. That is one of the things that confused me.I got the feeling that there was a lot more going on between the lines and off the page than what the reader was presented with. Lawrence had a greater understanding of the situation, but did not share this information with the reader even though he shared his thoughts and feelings. So I didn't understand why he was so nervous the whole time, and why he was so afraid of his guild's sub-leader asking him to be a messenger. Eventually, I got an inkling that Kieman was plotting a coup to usurp the leader of the Rowen Trade Guild, and that he would make life difficult for Lawrence if Lawrence refused to cooperate, but I don't think that this was ever made explicit.What I saw was all about how intimidated he was by Kieman and Eve being administrative merchants, heads of their own companies, in comparison to the traveling merchant who makes all his deals on the spot and with immediate goals. So I guess keeping the reader in the dark was supposed to help them emphasize with how out-of-his-depth Lawrence feels in this situation. I get that. It worked. However, I didn't understand the danger he or Eve were in, and that really deflated the tension of the story for me.Another thing that I didn't understand was all the fuss about Eve. I was under the impression that she was a traveling merchant like Lawrence back in her introduction a couple volumes back. I understand that she has a lot of connections, and that the "Bolan Company" is basically just her and these connections, but what's the deal with her in this town, and why is knowing her such a big deal. Kieman acted as though only Lawrence or a local trading company head could serve as intermediaries in his shady deal with her.There are other things that I didn't get about this particular story, but that would make this review longer than it already is.I still enjoyed this book. The out-of-his-depth experience Lawrence feels is well executed, and shows a different side of him than in previous stories, so it is good character development. His banter with Holo was as good as usual, and she seems to have become comfortable enough to express her jealousy more openly. I just didn't understand the economic angle this time.Trickster Eric Novels gives "Spice and Wolf volume 9 Town of Strife part 2" a C+

Spice and Wolf is my favorite anime and I have read all the novels to date so far and have enjoyed them all. This book was interesting and continues on about the precarious state of the city and the situation into which Lawrence and Holo have stumbled. Storytelling wise, this is a great Spice and Wolf book with many great moments (especially if you're a fan of Eve).Why the 3 star review? I think the economics discussed in this latest book were just plain silly. It's not that it's hard to understand - it just doesn't make sense. The author does not explain why things are proceeding the way they are. I will not give any spoilers but it constantly makes you ask questions which are never fully answered. The lack of context at times makes it equally confusing. At times you just wonder "why don't the just do this?" or "how and why is this person so important to what's going on?" Some events happen and the author wants to just hop on board without asking questions. The economic principles in the earlier books were great but this last one is severely lacking. The worst part was a resolution that seemingly came out of nowhere. A huge plot was building up and at the climax something just flies in and everything just solves itself.It lacks the old flair of Lawrence trying to outsmart Amarti, plotting with Milone trading, or even his original conspiring with Eve in the fur trade. Alongside the witty dialogue and interpersonal relationships of the characters, Spice and Wolf is known for and prides itself in the logical economic scenarios that challenge both Lawrence and the reader. The first books almost always present certain trading techniques and put Lawrence in a puzzling situation, giving the reader the tools and suspense to solve the riddle. The solutions were satisfying too. This book had none of that and instead just had a fairly incoherent sequence of events which you were expected to just accept. Stuff happened. Dont ask why it's happening this way. Just wait for the solution to come.This book is great for the emotional and storytelling ride. Classic Spice and Wolf dialogue, tone, and atmosphere you would expect. However, the logical sequence of events leaves much to be desired as it leaves many questions without answers. The flow of events just wasn't fully explained and seemed improbable and strange. For this reason, I am not fully satisfied with this book in comparison to the rest of the series. Definite must read for Spice and Wolf fans, but it lacks the creativity and ingenuity of the older books.

So far, this is my favorite of the series. While it still has the same problem of not always being able to follow who's talking, the story is well written. It has many plot twist without getting convoluted with an ending for the sake of having one. It ties up everything nicely in a way that feels right. The breaks in time are easy to follow and are quite necessary to move the story along. If the author labeled who was talking a bit better, this one would easily be a five star review.

Binge read all of the Spice and Wolf books

For Christmas and her birthday I've been getting this series for my best friend and she loves these books.

....crap i cant even talk cause i dont want to spoil it.lets just say the series continues on as amazing as ever.not relying on fighting to keep people enthralled but rather the plots, schemes, and character interaction.the one thing i will spoil is that having Col in the group really seems natural now.can't w8 for book 10!

Diese Serie ist einfach zum verlieben.Es ist einfach spannend und die Charaktere sehr sehr liebenswürdig.Man sollte allerdings ein gewisses Maß an Interesse für die mittelalterliche Wirtschaft haben.Die Spannung wird vor allem aus der Lösung von wirtschaftlichen Außeinandersetzungen bezogen.Ich kann diese Serie wirklich nur empfehlen!

Hi,I bought these books as a gift, they arrived very quickly and I was able to present them on time, despite my ordering late. The service is terrific, the books arrived in excellent order - and the recipient was delighted. Thank you Amazon.

If you enjoyed the anime but were left wanting more from the non-conclusive ending that it had then I can't recommend the Spice&Wolf light novels enough. Continue the adventures of Holo and Laurence and enjoy the journey!

It's a Spice and Wolf book. What's not to love!

Eine großartige Geschichte mit sehr interessanten Charakteren.