Spice and Wolf Discussion

So you guys know that psychological salesman trick where you first name a ridiculously high price, and then significantly drop it to something slightly more reasonable to make the sucker feel like they're getting a great deal?

Well, I fell for it, and bought the anniversary collection for 130 euros, forever ensuring that I'll never trust myself with a credit card again. Guess I'll be living on ramen for a bit.

Got quite a nice tome for that money, though. It's huge, hardcover, and got some decent quality paper pages. Not a big fan of the double column layout, but the enlarged pictures seem to make up for it.

Also really, really heavy. If I ever manage to finish it, it would also serve as an excellent zombie slaying implement. Not much good for light reading in bed when you're arms are tired.

At the very least, it will look absolutely bitchin' on my bookshelf

Get one of those arcane stands or podiums that witches love to use to put it on. I feel like Dianne might have had one.

Also, for shame. This is a series all about economics and merchants and you fell for something like that. Lawrence could take you for everything you're worth and then some.

Yeah, let's face it though, if some guy who's good at faking affability came up and offered a sweet deal, it'd be hard to turn him down, especially if he had any idea how modern trends worked.

If there's nothing wrong with the product, it's really up to you yourself to decide whether it's worth the offered price.

Well, the fact that I could sell it again for double/triple the price if I choose so does sweeten it a little bit.

Well screw the store i brought mine from.

They finally messaged me today to tell me they're not getting any copies. And by this point the reasonably priced Canadian copy is out of stock...

It's looking like if i want to order it elsewhere it'll​ set me back approximately $40 more now...

EDIT: Canada Amazon still had stock thankfully when I got home. Not sure why it didn't show up before. It actually only cost me 120~ for the book itself. The shipping was 50~. I could have gotten it a little cheaper. But I'm at the point an additional $9 feels worth getting it in 10-15 days instead of >6 weeks.

I briefly considered just buying the novels I haven't read (8-17) instead, but Kayeka sounded so happy with his copy :P.

edited 11th Apr '17 3:11:52 AM by 32ndfreeze

Double posting to bump the thread since this is a fantastic deal for those in the US.

Right Stuf Anime currently has a deal for 33% off Yen Press stuff.

It's very pricey with international shipping, but for those in the US / Canada if you order more, you can get the LN's for about $6~ each.

My copy came today!

Two days early even. I'm very surprised they delivered it on Easter Monday since its a public holiday.

I was a bit surprised they only half wrapped the book in brown paper and didn't add any cushioning since I paid $50 for the shipping. But it didn't really get damaged aside from a little bit of an indent in the bottom right corner.

So I'm very happy with it.

EDIT: Aside from an annoying sticky stiker residue on the back. Might try ethanol and paper towels later to remove it

EDIT 2: Yep, that fixed it.

edited 16th Apr '17 11:12:50 PM by 32ndfreeze

Apologies for the double post, but I think this news is worth sharing.

For some inexplicable reason I've just found out Amazon Canada where I got my copy of the Anniversary Edition has dropped their price very very substantially.

Down to 53 CAD or about 41 USD.

I'm guessing for those in the US shipping won't be that bad either.

Yep. It's $40USD and for me at least is showing free shipping. It's basically $100 cheaper to import a copy from Canada than to buy one off the American site so... I might actually go for it since I've never read the series and I hear it's very good.

edited 4th Jul '17 9:48:18 AM by Chariot

Uuuuuuuuhg. Why does money have to be so tight right now?

Bumping. The sequel series focusing on Cole and Myuri is out. I haven't actually read Spice & Wolf itself but I did pick up a copy of Wolf & Parchment and I'm thoroughly enjoying it thus far. The world is interesting and the characters are likable at the point that I'm in.

There's a sequel series?! Is Myuri the child of Holo and Lawrence?

EDIT: Oh my goodness, she is and she's adorable.

edited 4th Dec '17 12:12:24 PM by Zelenal

There is yeah. I haven't read the original but I enjoyed what I've read of the sequel. Speaking of which, per the afterword you can jump in with the sequel and not have too worry. The first book itself also reflects this.

Finally finished Volume 17.

I was really slow in reading it since I tended to read large chunk of several volumes at once and then stop.

Probably because the Anniversary edition is just kind of hard to carry around, so I can't read it casually.

Also:

We only really got to see the start of it, but Holo and Lawrence's life together was great to read. Most heartwarming part was the confession at the end of 14 or 15 I believe. Also I loved it that Holo was the one to propose.

Although my most unexpectedly liked parts of the novels were the Side Stories.

I thought they were all really interesting to read.

With my favorites being the Holo POV one and the Col POV one in Volume 17.

I'm glad I got to my goal I set a week ago to finish the series. Or well, I've still got Spring Log on my shelf.

But that's easier to read since its much more portable.

I'll also probably pick up Wolf and Parchment as well at some point.

edited 31st Dec '17 12:06:11 AM by 32ndfreeze

I'm soon there, just started on chapter 16, but it depends on how much I take time to read. I usually just read when I can't do one of the several other things I have on my schedule. But if I read faster, then I won't have anything more to read, and that's sad...

I just discovered that Hasekura has finally gone back and continued Spice and Wolf so we now have three whole volumes detailing Lawrence and Holo's married life. This is the best of all possible newses.

Also, you can get every volume of the LN on Kadokawa's Book Walker for about 8 USD a piece.

There's also a sequel series about their kid and Col. I haven't read the original Spice & Wolf but the author says you can read the sequel without doing so and be just fine. There's only two volumes out for it with the third coming at the end of the month but I'm enjoying it so far.

I should really catch up with the last few releases in the series.

I've read 1-17 in the collection, plus Volume 18. I've yet to read Spring log II, or the Sequel series. Despite owning Volume I of Wolf and Parchment.

I'm a little nervous about Spring Log Vol III though. Given the themes in the series, I'd say Lawrence dying is a strong possibility. And I'm really invested in the characters, so I'd be really sad to read that.

So, I created a 30-minute loop of Hashiru. I'm surprised at how well it turned out and how easy it was to do.

I'm currently catching up on Wolf and Parchment and I'm really enjoying it! It feels both like a continuation of the original books and its own thing, a difficult line to toe when creating a spin-off. My main gripe is the fact that Haskura seems to have jumped on the imouto bandwagon. He tackles that particular subplot with far more awareness than some of his contemporaries, but I could've lived without it. :")

I'm currently going through the series' work page. My goal is to get the page's main focus to be on the light novels with some mentions for notable changes found within the anime and manga. Any help would be appreciated, especially with fleshing out some of the borderline or straight up ZCEs.

Edited by Oratel on May 2nd 2024 at 6:51:37 AM

That's good to hear!

I actually had the 5th volume of it arrive in the mail today. Which is a nice coincidence.

Oh, nice! I've got the first three vols and am currently halfway through the second.

Going through the Spice and Wolf page and found this gem:

• Faking the Dead: The 2016 sequel to the Light Novels opens with Lawrence and Holo faking her funeral. Trope is both averted and played straight in the sense that all the characters involved know Holo isn't dead, and are just playing along as an eccentric way of showing their affection for the deceased while they're still alive to hear it. The poor readers, on the other hand, are wholly led to believe the funeral is legit until the explanation near the end.

I just... you can't avert a trope and play it straight.

A new anime is coming!

We don't know if it's a sequel anime, remake, or something else!