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taberiusrex's review against another edition
2.0
Ten years ago, this book came out, and I hated it with a fiery passion. I gave it a one-star review, put it on my "Shelf of Shame," and bitched about it to anyone who would listen. While I certainly had some specific criticisms of the story, a lot of my reaction was emotional, centered around the fact that the book was not—and this is critical—what I would have written.
At the time, I was writing a series of Halo fanfics centered on the Covenant. I had already been irritated by a lot of the worldbuilding decisions present in a previous book, The Cole Protocol, for essentially invalidating years of work and care on my part. When this book came out and dared to be a different kind of book, I rushed to judgment and condemned it, as well as all its sequels.
A few weeks ago, I decided to give it another shot. I was inspired by Brian David Gilbert's video review of every Halo novel (which is very entertaining) and figured it was worth revisiting. He called it a "Dune-level science fiction novel," so I approached it as such.
My revised opinion: eh, you know what? It's actually pretty okay.
I stand by my specific critiques from my first read-through: Bornstellar is a do-nothing protagonist, and it's really stupid for a species to call itself the Forerunners. The latter was probably a decision made for the author by Microsoft, and Greg Bear gamely writes in an explanation along the lines of, "Hey, we understand we won't last forever, we'll just set the stage for whatever species succeed us." But none of their actions or attitudes back this up, especially since virtually every single one of the Forerunners is a xenophobe.
As for the former, that was a conscious decision on Bear's part, and it hurts the book. I understand what he was trying to do. He wanted to have Bornstellar act as the Watson to the Didact's Holmes. It's a classic narrative choice, but it's best balanced by the Watson-type character nevertheless doing things. Even if he does them wrong and fails and everything has to be fixed by the Holmes-type character, then he's at least making decisions and taking actions.
Instead, Bornstellar is the king of standing there, being judgmental, while other people do things around him. He's the most interesting at the very beginning, when he's pursuing rumors of treasures with Chakas and Riser. But as soon as the Didact appears, his agency disappears. I'll admit that I better appreciated this time how Bornstellar is an unreliable narrator, but it wasn't enough to prevent me from rolling my eyes hard when he goes back to his family's home and acts undeservedly jaded and mysterious.
Any other character would have been a more compelling viewpoint. The Didact himself, obviously, but also Chakas and Riser. (Chakas, who becomes the main character in the very next book.) Hell, Dust or Bornstellar's sister—who was in the book for a whole two chapters—were much more interesting.
Also, the end doesn't make any sense unless you've read the entirety of the Halo 3 terminals already, which requires playing through the most difficult parts of the game at every difficulty level. Without that knowledge, everything that happens from roughly Chapter 38 onwards comes out of left field, entirely too late to cause anything but confusion for the reader.
But with all those gripes out of the way, the writing is good, and if you take the book at its own pace, it's a fine story. A slow, deep read is beneficial here. Nevertheless, I cannot recommend this book to anyone, really, not even my fellow Halo fans.
I will, however, continue with my reread of the rest of the trilogy, and I will remove this book from the Shelf of Shame. Because I would have my readers know that I have changed, and it shall be my example.
At the time, I was writing a series of Halo fanfics centered on the Covenant. I had already been irritated by a lot of the worldbuilding decisions present in a previous book, The Cole Protocol, for essentially invalidating years of work and care on my part. When this book came out and dared to be a different kind of book, I rushed to judgment and condemned it, as well as all its sequels.
A few weeks ago, I decided to give it another shot. I was inspired by Brian David Gilbert's video review of every Halo novel (which is very entertaining) and figured it was worth revisiting. He called it a "Dune-level science fiction novel," so I approached it as such.
My revised opinion: eh, you know what? It's actually pretty okay.
I stand by my specific critiques from my first read-through: Bornstellar is a do-nothing protagonist, and it's really stupid for a species to call itself the Forerunners. The latter was probably a decision made for the author by Microsoft, and Greg Bear gamely writes in an explanation along the lines of, "Hey, we understand we won't last forever, we'll just set the stage for whatever species succeed us." But none of their actions or attitudes back this up, especially since virtually every single one of the Forerunners is a xenophobe.
As for the former, that was a conscious decision on Bear's part, and it hurts the book. I understand what he was trying to do. He wanted to have Bornstellar act as the Watson to the Didact's Holmes. It's a classic narrative choice, but it's best balanced by the Watson-type character nevertheless doing things. Even if he does them wrong and fails and everything has to be fixed by the Holmes-type character, then he's at least making decisions and taking actions.
Instead, Bornstellar is the king of standing there, being judgmental, while other people do things around him. He's the most interesting at the very beginning, when he's pursuing rumors of treasures with Chakas and Riser. But as soon as the Didact appears, his agency disappears. I'll admit that I better appreciated this time how Bornstellar is an unreliable narrator, but it wasn't enough to prevent me from rolling my eyes hard when he goes back to his family's home and acts undeservedly jaded and mysterious.
Any other character would have been a more compelling viewpoint. The Didact himself, obviously, but also Chakas and Riser. (Chakas, who becomes the main character in the very next book.) Hell, Dust or Bornstellar's sister—who was in the book for a whole two chapters—were much more interesting.
Also, the end doesn't make any sense unless you've read the entirety of the Halo 3 terminals already, which requires playing through the most difficult parts of the game at every difficulty level. Without that knowledge, everything that happens from roughly Chapter 38 onwards comes out of left field, entirely too late to cause anything but confusion for the reader.
But with all those gripes out of the way, the writing is good, and if you take the book at its own pace, it's a fine story. A slow, deep read is beneficial here. Nevertheless, I cannot recommend this book to anyone, really, not even my fellow Halo fans.
I will, however, continue with my reread of the rest of the trilogy, and I will remove this book from the Shelf of Shame. Because I would have my readers know that I have changed, and it shall be my example.
chasep's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
slingsby93's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ahwellsbury's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
thebadishradish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“I don’t want your sadness.”
“It is the Mantle.”
Who knew the Halo 4 required reading would be so incredible?
diegogh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
thebookslayer's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
For all the wonder and speculation that was around the halos creators; the forerunner. Who would have ever though there back story could be so dry and flaky. Most of the book is also from a young human not a forerunner who is just walking and expationing/intermonologing for the majority of the story. But the other characters a unlikable in the same vain.
revbeckett's review against another edition
4.0
The first of the Forerunner trilogy 100,000 years before the video games’ events, the primary protagonist throughout is an average Forerunner called Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting (aka, Bornstellar). This first book is where we learn the most about Forerunner culture and religion. One of these vital aspects includes their caste system. From highest to lowest, they are Builders, Miners, Lifeworkers, Warrior-Servants, Juridicals, and Engineers. Builders are responsible for constructing architecture and infrastructure, which leads the reader to rightly assume they were largely responsible for building the Halo Array. Miners provide the materials needed for the Builders. Lifeworkers specialise in biology and medicine. Warrior-Servants, as the vocation suggests, make up the military. Juridicals are the legislative body, eminently presiding over cases violating the Mantle, which is the Forerunners’ religious creed of being responsible for all life in the galaxy. Engineers, the lowest class, maintain the infrastructure and machinery. Bornstellar is a Manipular, the Forerunner equivalent to an adolescent, who refuses his father’s wishes to become a Builder. He prefers to research an enigmatic, ancient alien race called the Precursors. With the help of some ancient humans, Chakas and Riser, he discovers a long ancient secret in the Cryptum that could threaten the galaxy. The book is a little confusing to read at first because there’s no Covenant or UNSC, but mostly because there’s a whole “new” alien culture you have to get used to. Bear doesn’t ease you into this new world; he just throws you right in and you have to stumble your way through it. It wasn’t until I had read the entire trilogy a second time that I finally understood what was going on.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
Only read this one for the Endeavour - never even played Halo. I was expecting worse - in fact the first 10 pages were as bad as I expected. But then Bear pulled out a readable book - not a good one unfortunately. I didn't care for the character or setting or idea or technologies or aliens but at least the plot moved along and it wasn't overly thick. 2.5 of 5.
rubooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0