Autumn is finally upon us which means more, hopefully, more Nordic content! Here is our monthly Nordic Spotlight: Best in Screen and Page – September edition.
TV SERIES: Billionaire Island | Netflix (Worldwide)
ALEX: Starting off our picks of the month, Billionaire Island on Netflix delivers a fresh take on the cutthroat world of the Norwegian salmon industry. Created by Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, the minds behind Lilyhammer, this series offers a mix of shady dealings, high-stakes mergers, and eccentric characters. While the tone shifts between comedic and dramatic, the standout performances, especially from Trine Wiggen, bring plenty of memorable, unhinged moments. If you’re a fan of quirky Nordic dramas, this six-episode series is an entertaining dive into a world where business is far from ordinary.
You can read our brief review of the series HERE.
TV SERIES: Taeglia | Viaplay USA & UK
MARY: The tremendously impactful six-part Viaplay series, Taelgia, takes a very different approach to criminality and its impact on the local community. It explores notions of identity and belonging; of the moral grey area in an extremely tense, well-paced manner. Centred around the city of Södertälje (and, specifically, the tower block district of Ronna), we meet a cast of characters whose lives are all interwoven around criminality and “otherness”.
Unlike other crime dramas, Taelgia uses its violence sparingly, maximising the impact of a drive-by shooting or a fist to the face. Instead, it chooses to focus more on the unravelling of a community, the connections between poverty and crime and the generational impact of failed attempts at integration.
With stellar performances, excellent pacing and slick writing, this is a must-watch.
You can read Mary’s review HERE.
BOOK: Dark As Night – Lilja Sigurðardóttir
GLEN: The fourth, out of five, Áróra investigates books, Dark As Night is a fast-moving, rollercoaster of a read that builds on the previous four books in the series.
Sigurðardóttir weaves in some unusual plot twists here that you don’t find in conventional Nordic Noir works. Reincarnation, drag queens, and international arms dealing isn’t your normal world of this genre but Sigurðardóttir crafts an utterly compelling and gripping plot that has us genuinely engaged from the first page to the cliffhanger at the end. Book five, due next year, has a lot to live up too.
BOOK: Blood Ties – Jo Nesbø
GLEN: A new Nesbø novel is always an eagerly anticipated event and Blood Ties is something of a surprise, a sequel to The Kingdom – what initially was thought of as a standalone title.
Nesbo’s skill is taking us to the darkest corners of the human mind and in Blood Ties we see the world through the eyes of a serial killer.
Corporate ambition and deep-rooted family tragedy form the basis of this tale of the Opgard brothers trying to stay one step ahead of the law in rural Norway. It’s a masterpiece of writing that manages to get the reader rooting for a pair of psychopaths, a challenge in itself. Nesbø’s name is everywhere at the moment with a flurry of screen adaptations and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Blood Ties and The Kingdom also adapted for the screen.
What else happened in September?
- Glen gave us a recap on Jo Nesbø‘s The Kingdom and reviewed his next book Blood Ties
- Alex spoke to Anne Bjørnstad, one of the creators behind Billionaire Island on Netflix
- Glen reviewed a number of new nordic novels The Burning Stones by Antti Tuomenon, Death At The Sanatorium by Ragnar Jonasson, and he also reviewed Dark As Night by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, and Fatal Gambit by David Lagercrantz.
- Taeglia star Sara Shirpey spoke to Mary about her role in the Viaplay series
- Tom Bailey spoke to Nordic Watchlist about a 1600km walk in Scandinavia
- Mary checked our Munch which arrived onto Viaplay.
What series did you discover and enjoy this month? Anything we have missed and need to catch?
