EXILE HC

After seven years of exile, battle-hardened Hallstein Thordsson returns to Iceland, only to find old wounds unsettled. His stepmother Solveig and his half-brother Ottar face a siege by wood thieves backed by a pushy suitor, Einar. The Exile’s presence unsettles the fragile balance and threatens to plunge Iceland into renewed violence. Erik Kriek’s The Exile is a decades-spanning epic that blends hard-edged action with intimate family drama, and centers on consequences born of violence. Rendered in a naturalistic, modern style with meticulous attention to historical detail, the Viking age unfolds with vivid persuasion—from brutal skirmishes to storm-tossed voyages. Kriek, a Dutch illustrator best known for In the Pines and Gutsman, crafts lush, brush-driven art in a restrained color palette evocative of mid-century illustrators. The Exile HC is a striking, self-contained graphic novel that invites readers to ponder loyalty, power, and the costs of war.

Who might be interested in reading?

• Graphic novel readers who enjoy sweeping historical sagas with deep family drama
• Fans of meticulously drawn, brush-based art and restrained color palettes
• Readers drawn to Viking-age settings, epic conflicts, and stories about loyalty and consequence
• Those who appreciate stories that blend action with thoughtful character dynamics