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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This is the fourth novel in the Halo series and it overlaps with the first three volumes. This volume is written by Eric Nyland, who wrote the first and third novels in the series so can be counted on to get the continuity right in terms of plot and character.
Like the previous volumes, this novel is firmly focused on rapid, violent action with little in the way of character development. However, we do get some background. For example, we learn about Colonel Ackerson’s secret programme to develop a new generation of Spartans, making use of the veteran trainer, CPO Mendez, and one of Dr Halsey’s Spartans, Kurt, who is posted as missing in action. In fact, he and Mendez spent twenty years on the obscure planet Onyx training the Spartan-III generation. They are similar to the original Spartans but Ackerson sees them more as suicide squads rather than as special forces. In their development they’ve been dosed up with a new cocktail of drugs that make them more like berserkers when the chips are down. They also have different armour from the original Spartans: camouflaged but physically much less robust than the MJOLNIR variety.
This novel was first published in 2006 and you can’t help thinking that the author was influenced by was happening at the time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus we have starships that can jump through space faster than the speed of light. We have AI beings that can process information millions of times faster than a human being. But we also have twentieth-century style guns that fire bullets and vehicles that sound like tanks and armoured cars. Much of the action feels contemporary rather than 26th century. For example, at one point a team of Spartans infiltrate a rebel base. Kurt switches on a monitor and notices that the password needed to log in to the base’s surveillance system is on a post-it stuck to the monitor! That kind of sloppy practice might have been common in 2006 but by 2023 we are so attuned to cybercrime and hacking that only a complete fool would leave put their password on a post-it stuck to their device. Yet we are to believe that this action takes place in 500 years’ time!
In theory, the technology is there to run this war as a proxy war with AI directing drones and robots against the Covenant while the human beings hide out in a bunker somewhere. But that would mean the humans wouldn’t be able to display their guts and determination and the action scenes would all be fairly sterile with no human lives at stake.
I will continue reading the Halo series for escapist reasons, but so far it is not in the same league as my benchmark, The Expanse. It’s exciting though.
Like the previous volumes, this novel is firmly focused on rapid, violent action with little in the way of character development. However, we do get some background. For example, we learn about Colonel Ackerson’s secret programme to develop a new generation of Spartans, making use of the veteran trainer, CPO Mendez, and one of Dr Halsey’s Spartans, Kurt, who is posted as missing in action. In fact, he and Mendez spent twenty years on the obscure planet Onyx training the Spartan-III generation. They are similar to the original Spartans but Ackerson sees them more as suicide squads rather than as special forces. In their development they’ve been dosed up with a new cocktail of drugs that make them more like berserkers when the chips are down. They also have different armour from the original Spartans: camouflaged but physically much less robust than the MJOLNIR variety.
This novel was first published in 2006 and you can’t help thinking that the author was influenced by was happening at the time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus we have starships that can jump through space faster than the speed of light. We have AI beings that can process information millions of times faster than a human being. But we also have twentieth-century style guns that fire bullets and vehicles that sound like tanks and armoured cars. Much of the action feels contemporary rather than 26th century. For example, at one point a team of Spartans infiltrate a rebel base. Kurt switches on a monitor and notices that the password needed to log in to the base’s surveillance system is on a post-it stuck to the monitor! That kind of sloppy practice might have been common in 2006 but by 2023 we are so attuned to cybercrime and hacking that only a complete fool would leave put their password on a post-it stuck to their device. Yet we are to believe that this action takes place in 500 years’ time!
In theory, the technology is there to run this war as a proxy war with AI directing drones and robots against the Covenant while the human beings hide out in a bunker somewhere. But that would mean the humans wouldn’t be able to display their guts and determination and the action scenes would all be fairly sterile with no human lives at stake.
I will continue reading the Halo series for escapist reasons, but so far it is not in the same league as my benchmark, The Expanse. It’s exciting though.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ONI basically sucks
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For a book based on a video game it's not too bad. I'd rank it with some of the better star wars extended universe books. I haven't read the other two in this series, but I understand that they're more focused on Master Chief. Honestly I appreciated getting a view of the world of Halo outside of the main story arc. It really gives some insight to the wider world and game story telling in general.
stealing children from their parents has never been so awesome. so many times i had to remind my self that the actions of these particular spartans were actually completed by minors. also, this opened the universe to possible spin-off games.
wish microsoft would look at the novels and make games with them as inspiration rather than continuing to crap on the franchise ruining it
wish microsoft would look at the novels and make games with them as inspiration rather than continuing to crap on the franchise ruining it
Even after all these years this is still one of the greatest Halo novels ever written. If Microsoft/343I knew what was best for them, they’d rehire Eric to write more novels in the current Halo lore.