It’s hard to say too much about the first volume of Saga. Much of the book sets up the relationships between characters and starts what promises to be many larger plots in motion. So while it didn’t grab me by the face like many first volumes do, I’m definitely intrigued enough to continue the series. That’s part of the fun of graphic novels. You can follow along as long as you’d like and abandoned a series that seems to lose its mojo after awhile. Unlike books in which you (or at least I) feel obligated to finish rather than have a half read volume.
The story focuses on a young family consisting of parents Alana and Marko and their newborn daughter Hazel. What makes them unique is that they are from opposite sides of a war between two planets which has been outsourced to the rest of the galaxy. The first volume follows Hazel’s birth to the family’s escape from the planet of Cleave where the two were hiding out until they were betrayed. They are being pursued by factions from Marko’s planet of Wreath, Alana’s planet of Landfall and by multiple bounty hunters. All of these pursuers have conflicting motivations and while none of them could necessarily be called “good,” some of them are less bad than others.
In addition the the various conflicts that are set up in volume one, there is still a lot to be revealed. Alana and Marko’s romance has been brief and, despite being married with a child, they still know relatively little about each other. I’ll definitely continue with a series because, even though I wasn’t completely wowed by it, it sets up quite a lot and doesn’t blow its wad in the opening volume like many graphic novels are wont to do.
