Whats everyone reading?

[radiator]

I have also just finished reading the first Saga tpb.  As you say, you can't move around the comics world at the moment without hearing praise for this and I thought it was justly deserved.  The universe that they have built is wonderfully diverse and I really like the mix of science and magic that they have used. 

I don't know what it is, but I just cannot stand Brian K Vaughn's writing. I've read Pride of Baghdad, and the first issues of Saga, Ex Machina and the first tpb of Y the Last Man, and something about his storytelling and dialogue just grates on me.

Wish I could get into Saga, but I just hated it. Lovely art, though.

[shaolin_monkey]

So I finished the last (published) Game of Thrones book last night.  Yeah yeah, late to the party, jumping on the bandwagon etc etc. Whatever. 

Bloody hell it's good stuff though, eh? What a series! It's like the crack cocaine of books.  So easy to read, yet quite complex and layered.  I want more!  NOW GODDAMIT!!!   

[Dark Jimbo]

I don't know what it is, but I just cannot stand Brian K Vaughn's writing...

Wish I could get into Saga, but I just hated it. Lovely art, though.

Nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't get the overwhelming praise for Saga. I tried the first TPB, and while it was enjoyable I really didn't see what the fuss was about, or feel much of an urge to want to read more. As you say Radiator, I think it's the dialogue that annoyed me most - there's absolutely zero attempt to have the characters talk as if they come from alien cultures. None of the nuance of Kingdom, say, or the future slang of Dredd. Instead you've got characters talking about downloading apps to their smartphone (ugh!) and the like - they all sound like present-day Americans.

[radiator]

Interesting.

Pretty much everyone I've spoken to says that the ASoIaF narrative peaks with A Storm of Swords then dramatically runs out of steam, and the books that follow are somewhat turgid and meandering, with few interesting characters to replace the interesting ones that have all ended up dead thus far. I've even read comments to the effect of people wondering how they're going to adapt the latter books into seasons of TV as there are so few 'big' dramatic moments to hang it on. Indeed, with the [spoiler]War of the Five Kings seemingly coming to an end[/spoiler], I'm struggling to see how they're going to maintain the thrust of the show post Season 4.

I haven't read any further than the first half of Storm of Swords myself - I found that reading ahead almost completely ruined the show for me. Now I've reverted to watching the show first, then reading the book after, that way reading the book is like experiencing a vastly expanded director's cut that fills in loads of backstory, and I can still enjoy both.

[radiator]

I don't know what it is, but I just cannot stand Brian K Vaughn's writing...

Wish I could get into Saga, but I just hated it. Lovely art, though.

Nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't get the overwhelming praise for Saga. I tried the first TPB, and while it was enjoyable I really didn't see what the fuss was about, or feel much of an urge to want to read more. As you say Radiator, I think it's the dialogue that annoyed me most - there's absolutely zero attempt to have the characters talk as if they come from alien cultures. None of the nuance of Kingdom, say, or the future slang of Dredd. Instead you've got characters talking about downloading apps to their smartphone (ugh!) and the like - they all sound like present-day Americans.

Yep. So many comics writers try and go for 'snarky' Whedon-esque dialogue, and it always reads stilted, forced and massively unconvincing to me. I even find with Whedon himself a little goes a long way. I couldn't stand Pride of Baghdad, so pretentious and patronising. It was like a really crap, unimaginitive take on We3 with all the animals speaking like American teenagers. It was utterly dire.

With Y the Last Man, I just never found the scenario or world-building remotely convincing, and agin the characters just grated on me. Vaughn seems like a writer who comes up with these great-sounding concepts, but the execution just stinks. Imo.

The whole thing with apps and smartphones in Saga just seemed silly and incongruous in that context, and there was a bit where the lead character says something like "You've never been so beautiful as you are now" to his girlfriend during childbirth. I mean, this is Sci Fi and all, but you still have to make dialogue at least vaguely ring true and sound like something someone would actually say. And it takes more than gratuitous nudity to make something 'mature' - Saga just seemed laughably juvenile and lightweight to me. It just made me cringe more than anything.

[Recrewt]

The whole thing with apps and smartphones in Saga just seemed silly and incongruous in that context, and there was a bit where the lead character says something like "You've never been so beautiful as you are now" to his girlfriend during childbirth. I mean, this is Sci Fi and all, but you still have to make dialogue at least vaguely ring true and sound like something someone would actually say. And it takes more than gratuitous nudity to make something 'mature' - Saga just seemed laughably juvenile and lightweight to me. It just made me cringe more than anything.

I think the thing I enjoyed about Saga was that the dialogue was so real and current.  I'm not sure why every new Sci-fi story would need to develop a new language, keeping it current gives the characters a realistic feel and I didn't have any problems with them downloading apps.  Yes there is corny dialogue like "you have never been so beautiful" but isn't this balanced out with lines like " am I sh*tting, it feels like I'm sh*tting"?

There is a slight twilight teeny feel to it but there is enough life in the characters for me to forgive that.  And, as you say, the artwork is very good.   

[Mabs]

I like Saga. Yes Brian's use of 'colourful' language is not exactly Shakespeare, but what I like about the series is the look and feel of the universe he has created. It feels like the bastard child of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. And the characters are another thing, for e.g, where else can you find an impotent robot prince with a TV for a head? Or a bounty hunter crossed with a spider and a beautiful armless woman? She'd give Aurra Sing a run for her money!  I remember when I first saw The Stalk in the first TPB (after an excellent build up) , I almost had a heart attack! There's something strangely beautiful about Fiona Staples' artwork and the way she renders the images. And one thing is certain, despite its flaws it's one hell of a page turner (like Y before it).

[Link Prime]

I'm with Mabs Block- who you fighting with?

[Theblazeuk]

I've even read comments to the effect of people wondering how they're going to adapt the latter books into seasons of TV as there are so few 'big' dramatic moments to hang it on. .

By cutting out all the ****ing meandering waffle that G.R.R.M can't help indulging in. Most of the big stuff next season will be at the Wall I reckon. They'll push Bran's story forward faster too, rather than forgetting about him for a time as the books do.

[radiator]

I think the thing I enjoyed about Saga was that the dialogue was so real and current.

But that's the thing -  it doesn't read remotely 'real' to me - either line you're referring to. I find it cringeworthy.

I could sort of see what they were going for - I could totally accept the stylistic choice of using anachronistic slang and tech in a sci-fi setting - if done competently, like what I imagine a Tarantino sci fi movie would be like, but it just didn't work for me.

what I like about the series is the look and feel of the universe he has created. It feels like the bastard child of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. And the characters are another thing, for e.g, where else can you find an impotent robot prince with a TV for a head? Or a bounty hunter crossed with a spider and a beautiful armless woman?

See, all that just reinforces my belief that, much like another overhyped bore East of West, it's all just style over substance. Nothing you've said makes me remotely interested in it as a story. Game of Thrones is great because it marries masterful world-building to great characters and makes the fantastical feel believable. I feel like people are comparing Saga to Game of Thrones on the most superficial level imaginable - ie because it has swords and tits in it.

[radiator]

By cutting out all the ****ing meandering waffle that G.R.R.M can't help indulging in. Most of the big stuff next season will be at the Wall I reckon. They'll push Bran's story forward faster too, rather than forgetting about him for a time as the books do.

They've already said that they're planning seven seasons total for the TV series, so yeah it does sound like they're going to do a hell of a lot of revision and cutting going forwards - apparently [spoiler]Theon's storyline will be going into A Dance With Dragons territory in season 4.[/spoiler]

[Dark Jimbo]

And the characters are another thing, for e.g, where else can you find an impotent robot prince with a TV for a head? Or a bounty hunter crossed with a spider and a beautiful armless woman? She'd give Aurra Sing a run for her money!

If yoiu really have to ask that you're on the wrong forum, old chap. 

[von Boom]

Picked up Ocean yesterday so I be reading that in short order. Also ordered Global Frequency.

[radiator]

I haven't read Global Frequency in donkey's years, though I remember really enjoying it. It has a very 2000ad feel at parts, with the subject matter and Steve Dillon, Glen Fabry, Simon Bisley and others on the artwork.

It's probably pretty dated now, mind.

[Mabs]

See, all that just reinforces my belief that, much like another overhyped bore East of West, it's all just style over substance. Nothing you've said makes me remotely interested in it as a story. Game of Thrones is great because it marries masterful world-building to great characters and makes the fantastical feel believable. I feel like people are comparing Saga to Game of Thrones on the most superficial level imaginable - ie because it has swords and tits in it.

I feel there's more to Saga than just 'tits and sword'. Saga also has great world building and interesting characters. One thing we have to remember is that we're more or less just 1/5 of the way into the story, there's bound to be more developments with more characters entering the fray or exiting it. For one, I think the introduction of the grandparents was a nice touch. If you you want great characters then for me, Hazel's grandfather Barr is one of them. The Will also seems like a complex character, we applaud him for rescuing the little girl Sophie from the clutches of her paedophile master, but he himself is also a monster, and on the trail of our protagonists. And the story continues to develope nicely esp. going on that terrific cliff-hanger ending at the end of Vol. 2.

If yoiu really have to ask that you're on the wrong forum, old chap. 

LOL. You're not wrong there, Dark Jimbo!