Review: Saga Vol. 2
The second volume of Saga tackles the ravages of war on communities, families, mental health, and the innocent.
This volume also includes the backstory of how Marko and Alana met. She was his guard and would read to him while he was on work detail. One thing led to another and next thing you know there’s a ton of unprotected sex. It’s actually quite sweet.
Marko’s parents board his ship and banish Izabel to the nearest planetoid. While Marko and his mother leave to rescue her, Alana is left to bond with her new father-in-law. He reveals that he’s dying and just wanted to meet his granddaughter before he goes. Meanwhile, Marko’s mother admits that they sold their house to afford the two crash helms that allowed them to find Marko. They were concerned for his safety after a freelancer, The Will, came to their home looking for Marko and Alana. Early in the first issue we see that the people of Wreath have never forgotten all that they lost in the war so Marko’s mother is less than thrilled with his new bride. Marko manages to convince her that he loves Alana and won’t tolerate any negative talk against her.
Meanwhile, Gwendolyn, Marko’s former fiancé, is trying to track down her ex because he left her and took her family’s rings. She hooks up with The Will and helps him rescue Slave Girl from the brothel. Good thing, too, because she can hear that Gwendolyn’s necklace is calling for the rings that Marko has and she can lead them to where they are.
They arrive just as the egg everyone mistook for a planet begins to hatch and as Marko and Alana’s ship makes its escape, Gwendolyn uses The Will’s to fire on them, killing the alien fetus that hatched from the egg. This is just the latest in a long line of innocents who pay the price for a war that has nothing to do with them. Unfortunately, during his rescue of Lying Cat, The Will got a good look at the retreating spaceship so they know they’re on the right track.
Also, on the right track is Prince Robot IV. He arrives at Oswald Heist’s and once the author says he’s never seen Alana or her family, they get into a discussion about the war. Prince Robot is clearly suffering from PTSD and projects his issues onto Oswald when he learns Oswald’s son killed himself after fighting in the war. After wounding Oswald, Prince Robot decides to wait there until Alana and Mark show. Little does he know: they’ve already been there a week and they’re hiding upstairs.
This volume is even stronger than the first one. Everyone is plagued by regrets and forced to participate in a war they don’t agree with - a war that has dealt each of them immeasurable loss. When The Will thinks they can take Slave Girl back to where she’s from, Gwendolyn points out they’d just be taking her back to the people who sold her to the brothel. Even Prince Robot is haunted by the death of a field medic who died after saving him. He reacts so negatively to Oswald’s son’s suicide because he’s afraid that it could one day be him, and he even goes as far as to give Oswald and opportunity to kill him since it wouldn’t technically be suicide.
I continue to be completely in love with Alana and Marko, but I’m worried that something bad will soon happen. How long before Gwendolyn, The Will, or the war catches up to them?
