Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Saga, Vol. 1

I think the mark of a favorite book is wanting to immediately reread it. Granted, this would be an easy reread because it’s a graphic novel but it just love these crazy kids. I’m a sucker for a found family story. For hot badass people in love.

I really enjoy following the different characters so far and am excited to see when and how they all intersect with one another. The multiple POV really gets into the different facets and perspectives of an ongoing war. So many questions left open beyond just how Hazel and her parents make it out alive.

Like, wtf is going on with Prince Robot IV and what seem to be outburst glitches on his screen/face? Will The Will keep his promise to kill the Prince? Will he be able to save the little girl and how? Will Brian K. Vaughan really make me sympathize and root for a mass murderer in The Will? How will Marko’s parents react to their granddaughter, especially considering it seems they didn’t know Marko was alive? Does Izabel survive the blast from Marko’s parents (God, I hope so)?

This is how you get hooked on a series. I want so bad to know the answers to all these questions and just continue this journey with this family.

Also the gradual world-building made this much easier to digest. I’ve never been a big sci-fi or fantasy reader, but I think I’ve been more attracted to those genres if they’re grounded in some way to the real world (magical characters that exist peripheral to our real world, advanced nonexistent technology used in present day or a future Earth). While there are otherworldly creatures and magic in Saga, they’re really just aliens from presumably far off celestial bodies. I can believe that our Earth might exist far away from this galaxy.There’s also a familiarity to the relationships and characters that come through more for me because they’re not competing with the requisite long explanation of how this world works (something that’s necessary in a high fantasy story). I think that makes it easier for me to follow along with and enjoy.

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onthesamepage's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It's really impressive the way this volume manages to introduce so many different characters, races, worlds, and relationships, but somehow does it without feeling like utter chaos. I really like the magic system, where different spells need different things (for example, at one point Marko required a secret to perform magic). The art is stunning, the storyline is compelling so far, and I'm excited to see where this series will go.

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bumblemee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This ist the third time I started reading this - the first two times I didn't make it past the first chapter. I didn't immediately connect with the characters and mixed with the violence, sexual content and a lot of swearing it just was too much for me (I knew these things would be included, but I have to be in the right mood to read something like this, which I wasn't apparently). This time around I made it past the first chapter and started really liking it. The conflicts have a lot of potential in the longrun, the characters started growing on me and the art it really stunning. I am very interested to see how the story evolves because I think it can explore the consequences of violence and war in a meaningful way.

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