Spice and Wolf, Vol. 1

By: Isuna Hasekura, Paul Starr - translator

Narrated by: J. Michael Tatum

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?

amazing reading!

J Michael Tatum did amazing with the reading, I loved everything about it! The story itself was perfect, but I can here after watching the anime, so I already new I would enjoy this story.

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.

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.

Jay Did Great!

I really enjoy the work that was put into this. I could see the art of the anime in my mind as I listened along. Now, if only Brina could have done a duet reading like how Yen Press did 86, it would be COMPLETE!

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!