Nordlys, or Northern Lights, is a Peter Pan retelling fused with Norwegian folklore and fantasy, based mostly on writer Malin Falch’s webcomic, Fjordson. Initially written in English and drawn whereas Falch attended college in the USA, the webcomic was picked up as a print sequence in Norway in 2018 and now comes again to English talking readers with the interpretation of its first quantity.

Fourteen yr previous Sonjia longs to affix her favourite uncle on his lengthy and mysterious tenting journeys and she or he’s captivated by the artwork he creates of fantastical creatures out within the wilderness. She’s awoken one night time to the sounds of a troll boy rummaging round her home. Recognizing him from her uncle’s sketches, she eagerly asks him about his residence. He introduces himself as Espen, asks her to come back again with him, opens a portal and leads her by means of to a different world.

Sonja quickly meets speaking animals in addition to the troll kids Espen cares for, and learns in regards to the magical troll forest she’s been dropped at. She’s launched to dragonflies, tiny dragons with a magic mud that makes a person lighter on their ft when sprinkled with it. She helps the group steal some dinner from a neighborhood troll farmer and his spouse. Because the darkish settles in, the group huddles shut and Espen tells Sonja the story of his biggest rival, the viking earl Hjalmar. Vikings are a wide range of people residing on this magical model of Norway which have a distaste for trolls and different forest creatures. Hjalmar has a selected vendetta in opposition to Espen, after Espen severed his sword hand and fed it to an historical serpent. Now with a hook rather than the hand, Hjalmar sails the waters along with his crew looking for to destroy the serpent earlier than it destroys him.

Risks lurk all over the place for Sonja and Espen. A big and highly effective flesh-hungry troll has been woke up by Sonja’s presence and now appears to be looking her, upsetting all of the creatures within the forest. Hjalmar has struck a take care of a witch providing him respite from the serpent in trade for Espen’s life. She lends him the facility of her apprentice, a younger lady with magic that may kill trolls. Whereas all of this stuff are taking place, Sonja’s uncle makes use of his personal portal to enter the forest, frantically looking for his niece, solely to be kidnapped and imprisoned by unfriendly trolls.

Writing-wise, there’s loads of intrigue with a number of plotlines intertwining, and Falch does a great job world constructing with out bogging the reader down with extreme dialogue or exposition. Nothing on this quantity is more likely to subvert the reader’s expectations, and the connections to tales of Peter Pan are fairly apparent, however the added folklore makes it recent and fascinating.

The artwork of Nordlys is admittedly its sturdy level, with vivid colours and gorgeously crafted landscapes. Characters have vivid eyes and expressive faces, participating the reader and pulling them into the dialogue. The tone of every scene is expertly dealt with by means of shade and lighting, shifting the reader simply between the lighthearted elements of the narrative and the darker, extra terrifying sections. The darker scenes are arguably essentially the most intriguing, however each panel is lush and attention-grabbing.

Whereas Nordlys is a pleasing journey, the magical model of Norway is a harmful place and gentle, largely cold violence happens all through. As talked about beforehand, there are depictions of limbs being severed, in addition to folks being eaten by giant creatures. There may be gentle bodily abuse, animal hurt, and transient depictions of loss of life, all proven in a means that’s acceptable for the writer score of ages 12 and up. This sequence could be nice in a teen assortment and could be excellent for followers of fantasy and journey.

Nordlys
By Malin Falch
Inklore, 2025
ISBN: 9780593726914

Firm Age Ranking: 12 and up 

NFNT Age Advice: Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
Creator Illustration:  Norwegian,
Character Illustration: Norwegian,