Spice and Wolf Volume 1

After passing through a rural town, traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence discovers a nude stowaway in his wagon. But Holo's not just any furry-eared wolf girl, she's a harvest goddess. Together, the pair crisscross the countryside making deals and flirting with each other along the way.

Before Spice and Wolf, who'da thunk that currency trading could be sexy? Sure, this story is educational, but does Holo need to pose like a stripper all the time? Maybe she does, because no amount of pouting and preening can hide that this tedious tale lacks the substance necessary to keep readers engaged for the long haul.

While traveling through the countryside, Kraft Lawrence visits a village in the midst of its annual harvest festival. But when this itinerant merchant leaves, he finds a stowaway in his cart – a young woman with furry ears and a tail – and on top of that, she's nude too.

But Lawrence's stowaway is not just any girl – Holo is a wolf deity and the village's harvest goddess. After years of ensuring that the village's wheat fields grow and thrive, Holo has decided that the village doesn't appreciate her anymore. She asks Lawrence to help her return to her original homeland in the North, and in return, she'll share some of her worldly (and wolf-ly) wisdom to help him with his business dealings.

As Holo and Lawrence travel from town to town, they sell goods, make deals and explain the ins and outs of currency trading. In between making trades and chatting up fellow merchants, Holo flirts with Lawrence, winking, preening, and of course, showing off her 'assets,' sans clothing.

If you were wondering why a book about a wolf girl and a traveling merchant warranted a "mature" readers rating and shrink-wrapping, look no farther than the second chapter of this first volume of Spice and Wolf, as a nude Holo awakens from her slumber, arches her back, thrusts her perky breasts forward and howls to the moon, leaving Lawrence slack-jawed with awe. He'd best get used to that, because that's pretty much what he'll be doing for the rest of the book… that is, when he's not explaining the more tedious points of bartering and currency trading.

Spice and Wolf is essentially a sugar-coated Econ 101 pill. It tries to make the basic (and bland) tenets of capitalism a little easier to digest by spicing it up with some sex appeal. While it's admirable that Hasekura and Koume tried to make their story educational and entertaining, it's annoying because it's all done in such a crass and calculated way.

Essentially, Spice and Wolf is capitalism porn. In practically every chapter, wolf girl Holo preens and pouts like a stripper, just minus the pole. Holo misses few opportunities to arch her back and thrust her breasts out, or wag her tail (and her bootylicious bottom) at the reader. If she's not naked, she's making "aren't I sweet enough to eat?" looks at Lawrence. Just to make sure that readers don't miss her meaning, Holo licks her fingers, slooowly. Come on… is this necessary?

Well, maybe it is – because if you take away the Holo's sashaying, Spice and Wolf doesn't have a whole lot of spice. The art is nice and the characters are pleasant, but Spice and Wolf lacks a compelling story beneath its economics lessons and wolf girl burlesque. What will happen to Lawrence and Holo on their travels? Will they cross paths with danger? Will they fall in love? Sad to say, by the end of Spice and Wolf Volume 1, I realized that the answer for me was "I don't know... and I don't care."

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.