Finally! It’s book six, and our narrator is old enough to make decisions that impact the plot more than just needing a nappy change in the middle of a fight. I’m happy to report that despite the fact that our central character is four years old, the series does not backtrack in the darkness of its themes at all. This story is still just as unsafe for work as ever, and just as strong in the build of its characters.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Saga, it is narrated from the point of view of a lovechild that was conceived by two young lovers on opposite sides of an intergalactic war. Throw into the mix a robot prince with an old style colour TV for a head (and vivid flashbacks to an orgy that display on his screen), a mercenary with a cat that can detect and rat out liars, and a ghostly teenager with her organs hanging out the bottom of her hot-pink form, and you have about half the cast of a truly bizarre series.
Book six mostly follows Hazel and her experience in what seems like a cross between a prison and a refugee camp. On top of that, a pair of closeted journalists are tracking her due to her existence and its huge impact on the war if it is revealed. Hazel’s parents are around too, also tracking her down after being separated from her in a previous volume, and it’s interesting watching how their relationship continues to develop.
Despite being the sixth book, the story doesn’t seem to be winding up at all, with the climax still to come. But the way the story is narrated by Hazel definitely shows that Vaughan has an ending in sight, and I’m excited to see what’s coming next.
I do have one complaint however. Being released at the speed of one chapter a month might be a great way of keeping the art quality high, but it does make it significantly harder to follow the story. There were about three points in this volume where I was wondering things like “wait, they’re dead?” or “when did they get back together?” because even though the story feels fast paced when you read it, it is released so slowly that between volumes (released every six months) it is easy to forget what happened.
Like I said, this story is not safe for work, so I’m going to include a couple of trigger warnings: Watch out for bloody violence and nudity in particular for this book; in earlier books in the series be careful of things like drug use and mentions of paedophilia and rape.
However, as always with Saga, the art is beautiful, the character design is highly creative, and the jokes flow freely even as children discuss the traumas of war.
The volume keeps the things that made me binge read the first three two years ago, but without becoming stale.