Erik Kriek: The Exile

After seven years of exile, battle-hardened Hallstein Thordsson returns home to Iceland, only to find that old wounds haven't healed. His stepmother Solveig and his half-brother Ottar are besieged by wood thieves, directed by her unwelcome suitor, Einar. The Exile's presence disrupts the delicate balance and threatens to tip all of Iceland into violence.

A remarkable decades-spanning epic, Erik Kriek's The Exile is equal parts action "Western" and family drama, with a surprising story of violence and consequences at its core. Told in a naturalistic modern style but with tremendous fidelity to the historical period in which it is set, The Exile depicts the Viking age in all of its conflict, turmoil, and social structure, with every detail depicted vividly on the page.

Hailing from the Netherlands, Kriek is an internationally-decorated illustrator known for his work on In the Pines (2015) and Gutsman. Lushly told with gorgeous traditionally-drawn brush work, and a limited palette illustration style reminiscent of the great three-color illustrators of the 1940s and 50s, Kriek's art is alternately breezy and gritty, but always stunning, whether he's depicting a full-blown Viking battle or a wearying sea voyage.