Minna Sundberg

I hate to have to be this "mean", but, this is honestly garbage?

Minna Sundberg claims this is "made for both Christians and non-Christians" but the only degree to which this targets non-Christians is in a weak attempt to convert them, and I frankly can't even imagine this does a good job on that front either. It's not even written well in terms of dystopia stories with an ever-present, ever-intrusive government — it feels like I'm reading something by someone who has never read any other show more similar works by anyone else, who has never had any interest in said types of writing. It's like baby's first big government dystopia story. It doesn't do anything interesting, and the only thing "new" it does is try to push a "buh, guh, Christians oppressed?!?!?" narrative.

At the point where the story grows to be particularly heavy-handed with its narrative, the World Council (this story's big scary world gov't) starts demonizing Christianity specifically and promoting forms of spirituality that, in our world today, would often be considered "alternative spirituality". It is entirely unrealistic to me to imagine that any government of this type would shit on Christianity (a religion with a rather set doctrine and way of thinking, ESPECIALLY the type of Christianity Sundberg seems to be so fond of) while promoting "alternative spiritualities" where you can choose your own path. There is no way a government that promotes one rigid way of thinking as being "correct" to the point of unpersoning people who disagree would be okay with something as free-thinking as, "There are multiple ways to God! Choose your own path!", like are you kidding me? A government of this type would only be okay with themselves taking the functional role of a god. This is the thing that really pushes it from "boring and uninventive" to being absolute schlock that's clearly meant to be read by people who already are the rather hardline brand of Christian that Sundberg is, for them to see their own views reflected in the story and be able to pat themselves on the back for thinking the Right Way. show less

Ville the talking dog is afraid of moths!
The discovery of this webcomic came about from starting to read The Cosmic Tourist, where the authors mentioned "revontulet", the Finish myth of the aurora borealis. Having already read (and loved) the Kalevala, I realised there must be more Finish mythology I had missed...Minna Sundberg was a brilliant find, a beautiful story entwined with mythology; snakes marked by lightning waiting for Ukko the sky-god to strike them with lightning so that they go show more to heaven; Kokko, the second most powerful bird of the Bird's Path; The Swan of Tuonela; Hannunvaakuna, Seal of Hannu, a sign bringing good luck and wards off evil; and the (evil) moose of Hiisi.
I loved the illustrations, the culture, the characters, and most of all learning about the myths, even little explanations on the pages, such as Fallen into an avanto (meaning Finish for a hole in the ice). show less

This is religious propaganda (apparently a chick tract?) and it's really disgusting how it's being advertised as anything else. I'm sorry Sundberg went through such a dark time. I hope things get better. But if you don't like being literally told by the author multiple times that you're a sinner if you don't accept Jesus, maybe skip this.

Really sad to see from an author I've liked since college. "A Redtail's Dream" was the first thing I ever crowdfunded. If you like Sundberg's art show more (particularly the cute animals) minus the evangelism, give that a shot. show less

I liked the characters and art a lot in this one, and the little informative interludes about post-apocalyptic Scandinavia were very cool. I loved the spread with the language comparisons.
My poor eyes could barely handle the font size (author trivia—she designed her own font, which was neat but so so small in this format). I may have to switch to the web comics after this. Speaking of web comics, this 300-something page book was mostly world-building, characterization, and stage setting. show more I wonder if the pacing is because it was adapted from a web comic. I still enjoyed it, but it took most of the book just to assemble the team. I did really like the characters, setting, and the author’s sense of humor, though, and I’m eager to see what happens next. show less