Nordlys: Book One

by Malin Falch

Overview

Journey to the magical north in this award-winning and bestselling portal fantasy graphic novel rooted in Nordic folklore.

The night before Sonja’s coming-of-age ceremony, she receives a visit from a mysterious boy who offers to take her across the stars to his home. Traveling on the northern lights, Sonja follows Espen to a Norway unlike any she knows, one full of trolls, pirates, and magic. As she slowly starts to lose her heart to this new land, she uncovers an adventure that might bring both of her worlds together. 

This volume includes Nordlys: The Valley of the Trolls and Nordlys: The Vikings and the Oracle, originally published in Norwegian.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593726914
Publisher:	Random House Worlds
Publication date:	05/13/2025
Series:	Nordlys , #1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Malin Falch was born in 1993 in Trondheim, Norway. She studied and worked in video game concept art in San Francisco for five years before moving back to Norway to be a full-time comic book creator. Nordlys is her debut graphic novel series.

Editorial Reviews

2025-04-07
ReimaginingPeter Pan through a Scandinavian lens, this translated series opener from Norway sends 14-year-old Sonja through a magic portal for encounters with trolls, talking animals, witches, and a Viking earl with a prosthetic hand in the form of a silver hook.

The night after Sonja’s confirmation, a source of unhappiness for the free-spirited, outdoorsy girl, who doesn’t want to settle down, the northern lights dance across the sky above her village. She awakens and encounters Espen, an oddly familiar boy with pointed ears and a tail whom she recognizes from her beloved peripatetic uncle’s drawings. Espen tells her that he’s from another place, somewhere the trolls and Vikings Uncle Henrik draws really exist, and Sonja flies away with him through a portal. But when Uncle Henrik shows up to rescue her, he’s immediately captured and thrown into a dungeon by hostile trolls. The art includes strongly atmospheric forest landscapes and magical characters ranging from magnificently frightening monsters to enigmatic figures in eerie masks. The dialogue has a colloquial flavor with flashes of mischief: Espen is “kind of like a mother,” says one troll. “More like a weird uncle,” says another. The open ending will leave readers anticipating the next volume. Most human and humanoid characters present white; in place of Barrie’s original Native Americans, this world includes a girl who is cued as Sámi.

A spin on a familiar classic that gets off to a strong start. (author’s note, sketches)(Graphic fantasy. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews