Summary: A Japanese Manga story about Viking history.
A Facebook friend runs a comicbook/graphic novel review blog. He has been doing a series of daily recommendations and I have been trying to pick up about one a month.
The Vinland Sage was very highly recommended, not only by him but by virtually everyone that I know that has read it. But it is also long, 9 collected volumes so far, each of over 400 pages. I picked this up through interlibrary loan because it is not particularly cheap or easy to find.
This is my first magna. It took a little while to switch to reading right to left (this was originally published in Japan and uses the original art with English translation.)
The story is fairly historically accurate look at early Viking world. This book moves back and forth in time to set up the background for the rest of the series, so while there is a story and while it is engaging, by the end, it is clear that you have only just gotten started. (Which makes sense since you are really only about 10% into the complete arc.)
Thorfinn is a young man has been raised by the Vikings that murdered his father and seeks revenge. His father was a hero and warrior that rejected war and moved to the edge of the Viking world to escape the culture of violence. But he was forced back into war as a means of saving those around him.
The themes of this initial set up are not particularly unique, but they are well done. The art matches the story telling well. But there is a lot of violence. It is interesting how art about the evils of violence are often so violent themselves (the movie Logan has a similar complaint.)
I have requested the second book in the series.
Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura (#1) Purchase Links: Hardcover, Kindle Edition