Getting on the Saga Bandwagon

I’ve seen friends and others rave about the amazingness of the Saga series for some time now. After finally getting around to reading volume 1, I can now say I get it, I finally understand what the fuss is about. The world of the story is interesting and makes you want to know and understand more of the history and various races and planets involved, the characters are unique and engaging, and the different plot threads being set up all each intriguing but clearly somehow intertwined.

Since I’ve only just finished volume 1, there’s a lot of questions I have that are likely going to be slowly revealed throughout the rest of the series such as what is up with the old timey tv head robots, why does the robot prince think Alana is such a threat, why is Hazel’s existence so unique and of interest to everyone, and the history of Landfall and Wreath. More than likely, it’s all related, but still, I would like to know more. That’s all probably a sign of either good pacing and use of suspense, or just plain old reader baiting. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing more.

There’s a level of realism with some of the characters, especially Alana and Marco’s relationship, that I like, and it also works pretty seamlessly with the fantasy and sci-fi components like the existence of ghosts, Lying Cats (more of her hopefully in later volumes), smart space ships, and general social commentary that comes with most good sci-fi and fantasy.

The whole thing is narrated by an older Hazel, although I’m still a little unclear about how she gets her name since her parents spend a good bit of the volume debating that very subject. Some of her commentary is easy to miss though since it’s often in a lighter script in a dark background not in the center of a given frame, so it can be easy to miss. On the one hand that makes reading things a little slower, but it’s also got some interesting teases including future heartbreak (given that the volume opens with her birth, that’s probably a ways off).

Overall, I’m kind of glad there’s several more volumes out there, but since the series is ongoing I have to decide if I want to blast through all of the ones out and then have to wait, or pace myself and spread out over time so I don’t’ have to wait as long between volumes. An interesting dilemma….