Although the story starts in media res, and can be a bit hard to follow in the beginning for that reason, it solves itself quickly in the usual style of self-contained vignettes, and ends up being interesting the longer it gets. It's fantasy, but not overwhelmingly so, in the sense that the impression of "real history" is kept throughout, and we're barely made to recall this isn't all pure history. I think I'm going to like this, although I have the feeling the magic will increase in later volumes because of how this first one ended.
I liked Thorgal, very mysterious Viking, this one. And looking at him, he doesn't have a typical Northern appearance but would fit better amongs Southern Europeans. I'm wondering where he is from, because nobody knows whence he came and he has no patronymic nor known place of birth. Instead, he's called Aegirsson, son of the Aegir, the elements. Is he supposed to be divine, as in the child of some god and a mortal or a plain god that somehow ended in Midgard by meddling from some other mortal when he was a baby? Gods know, I'm really curious.
And lastly, the art! Polish artist Grzegorz Rosinski is one of the best artists out there, whatever he does will be impressive, and fortunately for his fans (me amongst them), he's always paired up with excellent scriptwriters! Thank Odin for that. And this old-school style has for once been beautifully coloured as well.