Author: Makoto Yukimura
Genre: Historical, Manga
First published: 2009 (vol 4), 2010 (vol 5), 2012 (vol 6)
Vol 4 A King is Born
Quick Description: Pushed to the brink of despair after his father attempted to have him killed, Prince Canute has experienced an awakening, transforming him from a timid, gentle boy into a clear-eyed man with the heart of a king. But a king needs a crown, and Canute now knows that nothing will be given to him. If he wants to rule, he will have to prove his ruthlessness with a plot that will change the fate of the kingdom and spatter the throne with blood! Meanwhile, Thorfinn watches events unfold that could steal away the vengeance he has waited so long to achieve.
Review:
It was quite intense. The tone throughout the entire volume was quite dark and it really added to the overall experience. Despite the heavy themes, I found myself loving every single page. Can't wait to see what happens next in the series.
That's too little information. Be aware some of the following will contain spoilers, I can't talk about this in any other way.
Prince Caanute is finally decided to embrace his "true" self and is willing to take matters into his own hand. He will stand up and fight for power. We will see him descend in a dark spiral. He ends up maturing and turning his heart cold and unfeeling- he is going to try to gain power and in order to do that he needs to make sacrifices. This is where we first start to see him harden.
This specific volume was heart-wrenching in several spots. We got Askeladd's back story, of how he grew up as the son of a slave and his journey to pick up a sword, and the inspiration to become such an astonishing warrior. And then he declares himself the 'Rightful King of Britania' in a wild show of prowess and bravery. He ends up showing us that he is willing to do anything in his power to protect his own people including getting himself killed.
Thorfinn on the other hand, ends up completely devasted. He allows himself to sink into a deep depression now that he has no compelling reason- he is purposeless after he is robbed of the opportunity of vengeance. He now sees that it was a fruitless task, even if he did kill Askeladd he had no idea what to do next. We see the young warrior become a husk of what he once was. He ends up as a slave to a random farmer.
Vol 5: Life Without a Purpose
Book description: After the assassination of King Sweyn and the execution of Askeladd, Thorfinn lost the object of his vengeance, his sense of purpose, and his freedom. Now a broken young man, he labors far from the battlefield, clearing a forest for his slave master’s farm alongside the amiable Einar. But a sudden and brutal tragedy will shock Thorfinn out of his apathy, and force him to answer the question, “Do I still want to live?”
Review:
Thorfinn is living in a farm, for how long we don't really know. But he needs a wake-up call. It comes in the form of another slave Einar. He takes it upon himself to be Thorfinn's first real friend. Together they try their best to become free of slavery by creating their farm and selling it to the land for their freedom. They do have a relatively good master- he is still a slaver- but they view him as a good person as he is allowing them a chance of buying back their freedom. We see a bit of a break from the bleakness and action-packed war sections we had experienced so far.
Thorfinn is plagued by his previous lifestyle and is kind of regretting his violence and mindless murderous streak.
We do get a tiny update on Canute. It has been a few years and he also has changed and matured. He no longer looks like a delicate young man, now he looks like a hardened warrior. He continues to outsmart his enemies and managed to take over England.
The artwork continues to be one of the best I have seen lately. I'm loving it, the artist is able to portray the character's mental state and show a noticeable journey in their appearance. It gives it a very realistic touch.
Vol 6: Within the King's Grasp
Quick Description: As Canute plots to become ruler of the entire Danish world, Thorfinn’s only ambition is to see a harvest profitable enough to buy his own life back. But the fates of prince and slave will come together once again, as Canute plans to seize Ketil Farm from its kindhearted master. What sinister tricks does the have up his sleeve, and could they dash Thorfinn’s hopes for freedom? Meanwhile, Einar’s infatuation with Arnheid takes an unexpected turn when her former husband – an escaped slave – barges onto the farm, insisting she run away with him
Review:
The characters are still very enchanting. We have a few more added to the mix. We start to get to know Snake and Einar a bit more. The master's father is also growing on me. This continuation is still more focused on Thornfinn and his slow but progressive soul search. He continues to struggle with his guilt but his passion is coming back slowly. He wishes to stop war and slavery. An overly ambitious goal, he definitely likes to have hopeless I mean nearly impossible life objectives.
We see more of Canute, his power thirst is pushing him to continue his murderous intentions. Now, he also needs to secure money, the second stepping stone after securing the throne of both thrones is now to have financial aid in order to upkeep his enormous army, without it he wouldn't be able to maintain his control over the two countries.
This book mostly focuses on the events on Ketil's farm. There is indeed quite a bit going on- from an escaped slave to more background on Arnheid. And it does set up the upcoming fight. Thornfinn seems to be unable to run away from violence. I'm looking forward to seeing how the pacifist Thorfinn is going to react to Canute's upcoming force, is he going to find a way to avoid getting sucked back into the life of a warrior or how will he be able to mentally cope if he is in a position where killing his adversaries is his only choice?
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Around the world: Japanese author.
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