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Giving this volume that 4th star because I thought the writing was better here than v2 and I enjoyed the series in its entirety. Plague Widow conclusion had been done before and was not done cleverer here.

[a:Brian Wood|20493|Brian Wood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413750561p2/20493.jpg]'s Northlanders is meant to render half a century’s worth of Viking history into packed vignettes dealing with the struggles of the Angles, the Saxons and eventually the Christians.

Even though this is the second volume of Northlanders, it would be the 3rd chronologically.

We are treated to a concluding story to the Sven of Orkney saga (from [b:Northlanders, Vol. 1: Sven the Returned|3328828|Northlanders, Vol. 1 Sven the Returned|Brian Wood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309583103l/3328828._SY75_.jpg|3366816]) with “Sven the Immortal”, with an older Sven defending his island against Viking pillagers who wish to test their mettle against a retired legend.

However, if you are coming to Volume 3, it is for the Icelandic trilogy: 300 years of generations of mainlanders migrating to Iceland to find a refuge from the King of Norway. Enmities between families start to flare up and we find ourselves following the Hauksson lineage and their multigenerational rivals, the Belgarssons. Eventually Christianity starts to drive its way into Iceland, polarizing each side further.

Through the trilogy we meet Ulf, Brida and Oskar – Haukssons of their respective eras.



The themes of sons exiling fathers to wrest control , as well as the argument of slowly gaining power for the Haukssons versus the abrupt wresting of it through warfare are repeated over generations.

The Icelandic Trilogy is clearly the best storytelling in all of the Northlanders series.

Stories in this volume
1 The Girl in the Ice
2 Sven the Immortal
3 Icelandic Trilogy

** Review for all three volumes of this collection **

Well-drawn graphic novel with original setting. Very promising premise, somewhat disappointing execution. All the characters are essentially modern people put in Viking era. They speak, think and behave like modern people. Some degree of historicity here and there, overall much more fiction than history.