A young half-mortal boy grows up without knowing his real parents, in the care of a master blacksmith, Mime, from the underworld of the Nibelungs. The only way to truly discover his human heritage is to slay the great beast, Fafnir, and take the gold which will give him all knowledge. Odin has declared that no one can help Siegfried on his quest, and the blacksmith Mime is full of treachery. But one Valkyrie seems determined to help from the shadows.

I did not like the violence and blood in this one, but I guess I should have expected that considering the cover. I liked the story about the gods and goddesses and the dawn of the world. I was interested in how Siegfried grows up as a young boy full of anger, and becomes a man full of anger. Siegfried's character is very intense, but not as complex as I had expected. Perhaps he will have some further character development in the rest of the volumes in the series. He spends most of this book arguing with his guardian and fighting wolves.

The artwork is really beautiful and uses colors and shadows to show the emotions and action in the panels. I loved the designs of the characters, their facial expressions, clothing, and general appearance are full of energy and emotion. There are some gorgeous backgrounds and the setting of the forest is exquisite.

I was disappointed that only half of this book is the actual graphic novel, and the other half is an interview with the author and some sketch art. I was expecting a much longer story, giving the size of the book.