This volume spent a fair bit of time setting things up for the climax with no significant hints of what was to come, and the result was very little action or economic drama until rather closer to the end than one might expect after reading the preceding four volumes. Surprisingly, this did not in any way detract from the quality of the tale, because this freed the author to spend much more time than usual focusing on the biggest strength of the series: character development.

The evolving relationship between Lawrence and Holo has been established as caring and, in some ways, quite solid, after the four previous volumes -- but fears about the future come into play in a manner more believable than they might seem if I simply explained them here (and I'd have to mark spoilers if I did that anyway). Other characters, particularly another merchant who becomes increasingly important as the story goes on, get their own developmental treatment, too, and a couple of them stand out from the page as vividly realized by the author's representation.

After five books, one might be tempted to think that the ongoing series is losing some of its susceptibility to suspension of disbelief, which might lose some of a reader's interest, as a result of the improbable frequency of Big Problems rearing their ugly heads in volume after volume. This is a significant danger in long, ongoing novel series, as the author must find some way to keep things interesting, to serve the demonstrated interests of all the people who have been buying new additions to the series over the years, and still keep things fresh.

Luckily, the author of Spice & Wolf seems cognizant of these challenges, and helps the reader's suspension of disbelief in small ways. The most obvious is where the characters themselves have begun to recognize, and remark upon, the unusual frequency of major economic crises in their lives. Another -- and often more difficult to pull off if the author does not write character development very well, though Hasekura Isuna does possess the requisite talent -- is to slow the pace of action and devote more time to sounding out the depths of the characters, which plays very well in this volume.

If I have any complaints at all in this volume, they are as follows:

First, I think I may have detected some clumsy language in the narrative as a result of the translator's work, though it was not significant. The most notable incident was a character's use of the term "like", which people familiar with anime at least should recognize as the translation of a common Japanese term employed (especially in anime about teenagers) as a stand-in for romantic feelings, but in the context in which a character uses it in this book the better translation would have been "love". To many native English speakers I would expect the use of the term "like" to be either confusing or overly trivial, in context.

Second, Lawrence makes a business decision (at Holo's prompting, at one point) regarding Holo's own circumstances that I found highly suspect -- that is, even if I imagined myself feeling a similar level of avarice to Lawrence's, I would never have even considered it. Having considered it long enough to discuss it with Holo, though, the author's portrayal of her does an excellent job of making the decision much more believable because of the manner of her support for it.

Neither of these substantially detracted from my enjoyment, and they have no notable effect on my ultimate decision of how to rate the book. ( )

Isuna Hasekura's light novel series Spice & Wolf has actually turned out to be a really nice series. I am very pleased that Yen Press continues to publish Paul Starr's translation of the novels, the fifth volume of which was released in late 2011. Originally, the fifth volume was published in Japan in 2007. Jyuu Ayakura works as the illustrator for the novels. The Spice & Wolf series has an anime adaptation which is also quite enjoyable, but I still think I prefer the original novels. I have been enjoying Spice & Wolf much more than I had initially anticipated. The series is an interesting and sometimes odd mix of economics, light romance, and fantasy, but Hasekura makes it work. The real highlight of the story is the two leads, Lawrence and Holo. If you don't like them, you won't like Spice & Wolf. I happen to adore the two, so it was an easy decision for me to pick up the fifth volume.

Although they have been traveling together for a relatively short period of time--Holo, being a wolf spirit, has lived for centuries, after all--Lawrence and Holo have come to enjoy each other's company. Lawrence's life as a traveling merchant may have become much more eventful after meeting Holo, his very life being put into danger on several occasions, but it has also become much less lonely. Both Holo and Lawrence are beginning to dread the end of their journey and neither one of them really wants to talk about it. But Lawrence is resigned to fulfilling his promise to Holo to find and accompany her to her homeland in the north, Yoitsu. Their path has led them to Lenos where they hope to discover clues to Yoitsu's whereabouts in the town's histories and chronicles. And although it isn't the point of this particular trip, as a merchant Lawrence always has his eyes and ears open for a profitable trade.

I've mentioned this in every review that I have written for Spice & Wolf, and will probably continue to mention it, but my favorite part of the series is Lawrence, Holo, and their relationship with each other. From the very beginning of Spice & Wolf, Hasekura has let their bond slowly, believably, and naturally develop. Well, as naturally as could be expected when dealing with a human and a near immortal. Lawrence is just beginning to realize the implications of that particular situation while Holo, with more years and more experience, has been quite aware of them since the time she first met Lawrence. Similar to the third volume in which Lawrence had to come to terms with how important Holo had become to him, in the fifth volume he must now come to terms with what that exactly means. Their relationship has deepened and matured nicely, but it is still not without its problems.

Compared to some of the previous volumes, there is very little action that happens in the fifth volume of Spice & Wolf, at least externally. Lawrence still has his personal inner turmoil to deal with. (He does still manage to come to bodily harm, though.) He is starting to get used to Holo's company more and more, which means he isn't flustered by her quite as easily. But when he is, it is incredibly endearing. I enjoy their mutual banter immensely. Overall, I think Hasekura's writing and Starr's translation work continues to improve as the Spice & Wolf series progresses. The narrative and speech in the fifth volume is not nearly as stilted as those in the earlier books and are generally much less confusing. I still find myself puzzling over the meaning of a line of dialogue on occassion, but for the most part conversations are much easier to follow. I continue to enjoy Spice & Wolf and look forward to the next volume in the series a great deal.

Experiments in Manga ( )