Spice and Wolf, Vol. 1 (Light Novel)

By: Isuna Hasekura

Narrated by: J. Michael Tatum

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The life of a traveling merchant is a lonely one, a fact with which Kraft Lawrence is well acquainted. Wandering from town to town with just his horse, cart, and whatever wares have come his way, the peddler has pretty well settled into his routine - that is, until the night Lawrence finds a wolf goddess asleep in his cart. Taking the form of a fetching girl with wolf ears and a tail, Holo has wearied of tending to harvests in the countryside and strikes up a bargain with the merchant to lend him the cunning of "Holo the Wisewolf" to increase his profits in exchange for taking her along on his travels. What kind of businessman could turn down such an offer? Lawrence soon learns, though, that having an ancient goddess as a traveling companion can be a bit of a mixed blessing. Will this wolf girl turn out to be too wild to tame?

©2006 Isuna Hasekura (P)2022 Yen Audio

Good but need female voice for Holo

I enjoyed the novel and anime, glad now audiobook.

A bit to costly for the length of book. Also need a female to do Holo lines. Tatum good but Holo lines missing impact.

A Great Listen

Wow, this was cool! When I heard that Yen Press (Yen Audio for audiobooks) was going to produce their light novels as audiobooks, I was interested in the concept. The execution of this was excellent, I've never seen the anime or read the manga so this novel was entirely new for me... So hearing J. Michael Tatum reprise his role of Lawrence from the anime to this audiobook was so sweet! Half the time I couldn't tell if I was enamored with the story or J. Michael Tatum's fantastic narration.

OK, outside of me gushing over the narration – the actual story was really interesting. We've got Lawrence who is a traveling merchant who stumbles upon Holo a "wolf goddess" for lack of a better term. They began traveling & working together as financial partners and friends. I loved the banter between the two of them, along with the implied flirtation & romantic vibes. What really won me over is Lawrence's strong pursuit of business obligations, he constantly talked about being a merchant and how different aspects of trade work in this world. At first, that might sound dull, but it was a great opportunity to get a better look at the world through Lawrence's eyes and I enjoyed him not only teaching Holo about trading but also getting her insight into certain deals.

Can't wait to see where their travels take them next & I hope Lawrence gets enough money to open that coveted shop he wants with Holo by his side.

A true classic!

This first volume of the Spice & Wolf series is truly on of the most iconic light novels ever written. Having an audio version of it narrated by the English localization voice of Lawrence makes it all the more enjoyable!

Something is missing...

I love Spice & Wolf and I was very excited to know that it is getting the audiobook treatment. Having Michael Tatum being the narrator is excellent, My personal problem with the same any narrator is when trying to voice the female lines.

Tatum is an amazing talented narrator but he can not replace the iconic voice of Holo's voice actress Brina Palencia.. I sure hope that Yen Audio add Brina Palencia in future releases.

Other than that, the book is amazing. 9.5/10.

Great listen

I would like to reccomen this light novel to anyone who was a fan of the animation. The narrator reading this is the same person who voiced Lawrence in the English dubbed version so reading this book became quite easy to get into as his voice acting is great. What I also enjoyed about the book was that it gives you Laurence’s point of view quite well so I felt like i was more invested in the character here as compared to the animation. It was also nice to see the similarities and the differences between the novel itself verses the animation.

I want more! But I know I shouldn’t…

This was the first light novel I have had the pleasure of experiencing. It did NOT disappoint.

The narration was excellent! The world building and story were very gripping (if a little convoluted), and the romance was great.

5/5 - would listen again!!

love that it's finally here

love to find be able to listen to this great series.
performance was good

From the pages, to the Anime, to my ears.

This audio book was a huge must to have for me on day one. J. Michael Tatum's performance was one top notch and hearing him reprise his role as the main character was beyond a treat. The lite novel is already a best seller and a classic that has brought excitement to a topic that most would have found boring in the time of it's release. Economics! The series puts a emphasis on it being a key topic and keeping the listener enthralled with the plot while learning without even knowing it. The character development is slow at first but starts to progress with every chapter.

The first of hopefully many more!

For fans old and new to Spice and Wolf, this is the definitive audiobook experience. I renewed audible to get this one and I was not disappointed. The story is one of clever dialog and a unique relationship between two fantastic characters. My ONLY problem? Brina Palencia, the English Voice actor for the original series much as J. Michael Tatum is for Lawrence MUST be brought in for future books! If there are any excecs reading reviews, I would pay the extra price for having her take the role of Holo!

I loved the anime. I think this is even better.

When people say, "The book is so much better than the movie." I often think, "Maybe, but I don't want to spoil it, have already seen it."
Well, this is definitely a case of the book being better.
Maybe it's just that so much time has separated my viewing the anime, and listening to this audio book. But I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I was honestly sad when it came to an end.
Oh, but wait, there are more! I'm off to buy them and listen.