Reviews

Halo: Silentium by Greg Bear

alexchandler's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

fangsgirl99's review against another edition

5.0

This is my first foray into the sci-fi genre of literature and, I must say, I was overwhelmingly surprised. This book was relatable, yet just mysterious and space-jargon-y enough to keep you interested. I honestly expected not to be able to understand much of the language or technical stuff but everything was well explained without being over the top technical, something I despise in any form of writing.

Being that I play the game Halo more for the storyline than anything, this book answered a lot of questions for me and honestly piques my interest in the game even more.

I have yet to read the rest of the Halo series but so far, its a yes from me!

jazzyjbox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

4.5

daychaser's review against another edition

5.0

I read this book YEARS ago and I remember loving it. I've been a big Halo fan since the early 2000s and to be honest, I still think this is the best sci-fi world I've experienced.

For those who aren't aware (or aren't video game fans) Halo: Combat Evolved was a video game that was released in 2001 and is credited for modernizing the first person shooter genre. Robust lore was created for the game and the storytelling was awesome. Halo is definitely one of the entertainment pieces that most defined my childhood and teen years, and it is what got me into sci fi. It's everything I want in a sci fi story, and I know a lot of people may roll their eyes... "A video game?? Really??" Yes. It's that good.

The lore of Halo is fantastic and it has such a rich backstory that has spawned books and tons of fodder for new adventures and stories to be told. I remember reading Cryptum because I was very much interested in the Forerunners, which you really don't know much about when playing the games. At the time I wasn't a big reader but I couldn't put this down.

Anyway, I don't know if you would enjoy this if you haven't heard of Halo. However I do recommend any sci fi fans to check out the world of Halo because the lore is incredible. I've been obsessed with Halo since I was 7 and I'm now 25 and still love it.

rockeasyrobot's review against another edition

5.0

An outstanding page turner. This book can be read by anyone prior knowledge of Halo not needed. I'd say it has 1% to do with Halo and 99% pure sci-fi alien awesomeness. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of this series from the author.

greenskydragon's review against another edition

3.0

I cannot stand it when books based on anything outside of their literature [aka a video-game series] suddenly shift ridiculously shift in direction or have boatloads of new, unexplained (and not described) content/concepts/characters from the external source. This book majorly suffered from that. The release of Halo 4 completely destroyed what could have been a rather enjoyable series. As it was, the series blew a few engines with this book, is 'listing to starboard', and it will most likely take a literary miracle to save the series [although I believe this was the last book]. If this is the last, then good riddance, I say, and I warn readers to read the summary to save themselves from the heartache of a ruined piece of literature. I was expecting way better, especially with the brilliance I saw coming out of Primordium. Very disappointed. The only good value this book has is the variety and range of vocabulary words used in it. There you have it, this book's one contribution to literature: a list of new vocab words for writers. Other than that, don't pick it up.

neahh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

nooker's review against another edition

5.0

Really cool to read what lead up to the firing of the Halos the first time. Also great background on the Didact and the Librarian and another of Halo's iconic characters. The only thing to complain about is this book did not really suit itself for audio. I think it would have been even better in print.

nicklybear's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

nicklybear's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0