Saga, Volumes 1-9

Instead of reading The Goldfinch in December like I was supposed to, I found myself revisiting Saga. I read the first nine volumes more or less as they came out over the years, which really spread the story out. While I enjoyed the later volumes, I was occasionally confused by who a character was or why they were doing something. Then the ending of the ninth volume left me hurt and angry and then the whole story went on hiatus for what was supposed to be a year, but which the pandemic dragged out to closer to three years.

In those three years, a lot happened. And I came to appreciate the ending. I found myself growing more and more curious about where the story would go next. I wanted to know what would happen to Hazel in the wake of her most recent losses. So I went back and re-read the whole story over the course of about two weeks.

The compressed schedule worked really well for this story. Everything flowed much better than the first time through. I was able to hold all the characters and arcs and strings in my head. The absence of characters in an issue or two didn't feel nearly as lacking.

Hazel's life is filled with loss and grief and hope and love. She and her family keep moving forward, finding new friends and family members along the way. I loved it when I first read it. But having gone through some of that same loss and grief and hope myself, I now love it even more. I'm excited to see what happens in the second half of the story.

And I'm glad, in a weird way, that the story ended up taking a 3 year break. It gave me time to process and forgive the recent events of the story. I feel like I'm returning to the story much more mature. And it's right there to meet me in this new season of life. Which is rare and special for a story.

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