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regicide's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
centauria's review
4.0
I think what I liked most was the deeper look into the Covenant and their interactions between species. The Unggoy are more than mere grunts and cannon fodder, they are an intelligent and crafty species (when need be). I also enjoyed watching Keyes before the version I know in the game. He was rough around the edges but you could see the glimpses of what was to come. Lastly, the rebels only wanted to survive, and they found ways to make the UNSC (and Spartans) aid in their survival. Going from enemies to (forced) allies is always nice to witness. The unsettling distrust and schemes at play make the reading exciting.
nicolh11's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jasimmonsv's review
3.0
Not bad. Everything was a build up to the final battle sequence. The author could have spread the action around to make the whole read a bit more enjoyable.
delequesce's review
adventurous
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
christophercoyle's review
2.0
Halo: The Cole Protocol is a military/Sci-Fi novel set in the Halo universe, being the sixth released novel of the series. Whilst telling the stories of characters from a well-established fictional universe and very much intended as a standalone 'backstory' style entry that could be read at any point in the Halo timeline, it often relies upon callbacks and character references to both the original trilogy of games as well as other novels in the series (mainly 'Contact Harvest' and to a lesser extent 'The Fall of Reach').
Across the 358 page screenplay-like, action-dense series of story arcs are seventy six - yes, 76 - chapters. This makes for a reading experience that initially feels fast-paced and tightly sequenced, but as the character roster grows and arcs draw to their conclusions, the constant switching character perspectives and sometimes single page chapter entries leaves very little for plot points to breathe and play out in any meaningful way. Particularly towards the end of the book, what could be forgiven as predictable action-fantasy writing starts to fall apart at the seems: characters are flung through sweeping plot lines at breakneck speed with little or no development or time for reflection.
The novel succeeds in adding interesting new settings to the world of Halo, exploring new areas across human and alien space alike. The addition of the 'Rubble', a vast asteroid array of interconnected Insurrectionist habitats in the Outer Colonies of human-occupied space is a great science fiction concept, raising questions around how human fears and weaknesses could be exploited by alien opportunists: how, despite an ultimate existential threat looming on the horizon, causing massive human losses, would our militaristic organisations and rebellious freedom-driven splinter groups behave? Unfortunately other than on a surface level these questions are answered little in the way of character decisions and more just by beat-for-beat plot points that make the story overall feel linear and obvious.
Characters and dialogue are where the writing style falls flat and does not lend itself to exploring what is an otherwise excellent human dilemma: how can we safeguard humanity in a losing war against insurmountable odds when we can't even work together towards the common goal of human survival? Instead of exploring this, the novel introduces, follows, then sometimes just outright abandons or kills off one-dimensional character trope-laden caricatures that add nothing but redshirts and one-liners in the mad dash to the finish line of the plot. The Achilles heel of this issue is the sheer quantity of characters that are given point of view narrative positions: too many characters, not enough development. We follow the formative combat year of Lt. Jacob Keyes, a fan favourite at this point, but whose story ultimately carries less stakes with his conclusion set from the first game, as the main through line of the novel. We then have multiple perspective characters from across the Covenant including the Heirarchs, Thel 'Vadamee, multiple Sangheili and a host of Kig-Yar and Unggoy, but are also introduced to a new team of SPARTAN-II's, am ensemble cast of rebels, refugees and 'Insurrectionists', and an entire cast of - what feel like disposable toy soldiers at this point - named UNSC bridge crew, ODSTs, marines, pilots and commanding officers. Perhaps expectations should be managed based on how much is realistically possible to cover with that size of character points, but it doesn't forgive how little there is in the way of diversity. There is a noticeable absence of not just meaningful character decisions but *character* full stop. Often any scant amount of characterisation is only barely carried by a name choice to imply a nationality, or by almost comical stereotypes of military action movie cheese or villainy. The games and previous novels managed to strike a much more nuanced balance between the comical nature of fun, humanised moments in what is action space opera fiction, and the more sombre themes of militarised orphan-soldiers and an alien religious caste system hellbent on machinations and domination. Here, we get surface level. All of the detail, none of the depth.
Overall - this is an enjoyable, fun, Sci-Fi action story that adds interesting new settings and introduces many new faces to the already rich side- and backstories of the Halo canon. It does a good job in offering a different point of view on the Human-Covenant War from the perspective of reluctant heroes and a politically rebellious group. However for all that it adds, it either kills off shortly after or functions as a backstory to a foregone conclusion from another part of the Halo media. Only the characters of Gray Team seemed to walk away with any sense of setup for a future instalment which is unfortunate because the overarching feeling from the final chapters of The Cole Protocol was very much... was that it?
Across the 358 page screenplay-like, action-dense series of story arcs are seventy six - yes, 76 - chapters. This makes for a reading experience that initially feels fast-paced and tightly sequenced, but as the character roster grows and arcs draw to their conclusions, the constant switching character perspectives and sometimes single page chapter entries leaves very little for plot points to breathe and play out in any meaningful way. Particularly towards the end of the book, what could be forgiven as predictable action-fantasy writing starts to fall apart at the seems: characters are flung through sweeping plot lines at breakneck speed with little or no development or time for reflection.
The novel succeeds in adding interesting new settings to the world of Halo, exploring new areas across human and alien space alike. The addition of the 'Rubble', a vast asteroid array of interconnected Insurrectionist habitats in the Outer Colonies of human-occupied space is a great science fiction concept, raising questions around how human fears and weaknesses could be exploited by alien opportunists: how, despite an ultimate existential threat looming on the horizon, causing massive human losses, would our militaristic organisations and rebellious freedom-driven splinter groups behave? Unfortunately other than on a surface level these questions are answered little in the way of character decisions and more just by beat-for-beat plot points that make the story overall feel linear and obvious.
Characters and dialogue are where the writing style falls flat and does not lend itself to exploring what is an otherwise excellent human dilemma: how can we safeguard humanity in a losing war against insurmountable odds when we can't even work together towards the common goal of human survival? Instead of exploring this, the novel introduces, follows, then sometimes just outright abandons or kills off one-dimensional character trope-laden caricatures that add nothing but redshirts and one-liners in the mad dash to the finish line of the plot. The Achilles heel of this issue is the sheer quantity of characters that are given point of view narrative positions: too many characters, not enough development. We follow the formative combat year of Lt. Jacob Keyes, a fan favourite at this point, but whose story ultimately carries less stakes with his conclusion set from the first game, as the main through line of the novel. We then have multiple perspective characters from across the Covenant including the Heirarchs, Thel 'Vadamee, multiple Sangheili and a host of Kig-Yar and Unggoy, but are also introduced to a new team of SPARTAN-II's, am ensemble cast of rebels, refugees and 'Insurrectionists', and an entire cast of - what feel like disposable toy soldiers at this point - named UNSC bridge crew, ODSTs, marines, pilots and commanding officers. Perhaps expectations should be managed based on how much is realistically possible to cover with that size of character points, but it doesn't forgive how little there is in the way of diversity. There is a noticeable absence of not just meaningful character decisions but *character* full stop. Often any scant amount of characterisation is only barely carried by a name choice to imply a nationality, or by almost comical stereotypes of military action movie cheese or villainy. The games and previous novels managed to strike a much more nuanced balance between the comical nature of fun, humanised moments in what is action space opera fiction, and the more sombre themes of militarised orphan-soldiers and an alien religious caste system hellbent on machinations and domination. Here, we get surface level. All of the detail, none of the depth.
Overall - this is an enjoyable, fun, Sci-Fi action story that adds interesting new settings and introduces many new faces to the already rich side- and backstories of the Halo canon. It does a good job in offering a different point of view on the Human-Covenant War from the perspective of reluctant heroes and a politically rebellious group. However for all that it adds, it either kills off shortly after or functions as a backstory to a foregone conclusion from another part of the Halo media. Only the characters of Gray Team seemed to walk away with any sense of setup for a future instalment which is unfortunate because the overarching feeling from the final chapters of The Cole Protocol was very much... was that it?
tallahasseefloyd's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
captaincommunism117's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
cellardoor10's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The Halo series delivers again, managing personality, warmth, courage, and action, even within the confines of the various militaries involved here. Keyes is a good character, and I enjoyed getting to know him more.