Romance is not my thing

I've never made a secret about not being particularly fond of romance. I don't tend to read romance novels without a rec from someone whose taste I trust and who knows my taste as well. I don't even usually care much for the romance that get shoehorned into many non-romance stories. I've been accused of being a failure to my femininity for that fact, but eh, I don't care.

Still, fond or not, if something is well written, it's well written. I've found some romantic stories I liked very much - Lions of Al Rassan comes to mind, or the Kushiel books. And I found something like that in Saga. (Link goes to Goodreads review. As always, possible spoilers under the cut.)




Brian K. Vaughn is one of those authors who, like Gaiman, I don't always like the work of but always admire the work of. Runaways is a personal favorite, but I found a lot of his other Marvel work hit or miss. Y the Last Man was a solid read, and I liked a lot of what he was doing, I just couldn't personally get into the story (Perhaps partly due to reading it far, far too soon after reading the first 9 or so trades of The Walking Dead and simply growing tired of the particular atmosphere both books seemed to share despite no real connections else)

But with Saga... I think I may be able to unabashedly say I love this book, and I'm looking forward very much to the next one. The love between them feels so believable and real. They're not perfect, and their quick romance had a pretty good impetus - the perils of war, and the desire for a peaceful place in the middle of it. Their world isn't a nice place, but they're trying to make something good in it despite their own failings and baggage. I like and respect that in characters.

Honestly, I was a little afraid this book would feel too rote. There were a lot of aspects that I felt like had an ability to be used in a very predictable way. but I guess it was foolish to worry. The guy who gave us a new spin on teenage superhero groups clearly has an aversion to writing something we've already seen too much.

I look forward to a lot of books in series once I finish one volume. But I've never had a comic book grab me in quite the way this one has.


Hmmm. Perhaps next I'll have to check out Ex Machina...