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imsam's review
5.0
Fantastically fun Halo book that is just as good as First Strike. Picks up where it left off and is a lot of fun.
xerosolar's review against another edition
4.0
Still very enjoyable as a re-read (I read this first 10 years ago), it packs a punch and delivers an enjoyable story behind the Spartan-IIIs and Blue team, of course, maybe only enjoyable for Halo fans, but for such audience, this is a must read
billyhopscotch's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book the most out of the Halo novelizations so far. The characters and moral dilemmas seem real and important, and Nylund's style fits the pacing and tone of the Halo universe.
chasep's review
adventurous
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
rosebrooklynn21's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
thebadishradish's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Brainwashing kids is okay as long as they don’t have parents anymore.
revbeckett's review against another edition
3.0
If the reader is familiar with the game, Halo: Reach, they are aware that Noble team consisted of SPARTAN-IIIs but are left confused as to where the heck they came from if they haven’t read this book. ‘Ghosts of Onyx’ was published four years before the release of Halo: Reach and tells the tale of the SPARTAN-III programme. We come across Blue Team again, Dr. Catherine Halsey makes an appearance again, and an old, familiar character returns: Chief Mendez, whom we haven’t seen since the first (published) book, ‘Halo: The Fall of Reach,’ the man who trained the notorious SPARTAN-IIs, including the Master Chief.
There are a LOT of spelling and grammatical errors, which seems to be the hallmark of almost every Halo book. Maybe it’s at the fault of the publishers for wanting to push out these books so quickly, so the editors do a poor job of doing what they’re hired to do. I don’t know. But because of these errors and the anticlimactic ending, it makes it quite difficult to read at times, making it a lukewarm read despite the appearances of beloved characters like Mendez and Blue Team. If you can suffer through all this, it is still worth reading about the origins of the SPARTAN-IIIs as well as the emergence of “shield worlds” that I found to be confusing in the game, Halo 3.
There are a LOT of spelling and grammatical errors, which seems to be the hallmark of almost every Halo book. Maybe it’s at the fault of the publishers for wanting to push out these books so quickly, so the editors do a poor job of doing what they’re hired to do. I don’t know. But because of these errors and the anticlimactic ending, it makes it quite difficult to read at times, making it a lukewarm read despite the appearances of beloved characters like Mendez and Blue Team. If you can suffer through all this, it is still worth reading about the origins of the SPARTAN-IIIs as well as the emergence of “shield worlds” that I found to be confusing in the game, Halo 3.
navin_thomas's review
5.0
It has been many years since I have read the previous Halo books. At least more than a decade, for sure. I was wondering whether I should read them again, since I wasn't sure whether I remembered enough of the finer details of those books. But, after some encouragement from fellow Halo fans on Reddit, I decided to just jump into this one.
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx has been, in short, a fantastic reading experience for me as a Halo fan. If you are one, I highly recommend you to read this book. For a change, the Master Chief is not the main protagonist in this one. It is Kurt-051. I don't remember much about Kurt from the previous books, but Ghosts of Onyx has elevated him to one of the most memorable characters in this universe.
The book starts of very strongly. It hooks you in immediately with the SPARTAN-III Beta Company's mission on Pegasi Delta. In Halo, it is very rare to see a firefight of that scale involving so many Spartans. Then we get a deep dive into what the SPARTAN-IIIs were created for, and how they were created. Even though Kurt is the main protagonist in this book, other characters also get the spotlight occasionally. We see the return of Blue Team, Dr Halsey, a Covenant shipmaster, some UNSC personnel, etc., and get to experience the story from their perspectives as well. There are a few plot lines that happen in parallel, and ultimately we find them converge together for a really intense ending. The last few chapters were action packed, and even nerve wracking for me.
Before you get into this book, I strongly recommend reading the books before this, and maybe even play the first two games as well. The order that I followed is this:
1) Played - Halo: Combat Evolved (game) - Link to Wikipedia
2) Read - [b:Halo: The Fall of Reach|60229|Halo The Fall of Reach|Eric S. Nylund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436746591l/60229._SY75_.jpg|1881174]
3) Read - [b:Halo: The Flood|797094|Halo The Flood|William C. Dietz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388298645l/797094._SY75_.jpg|783064]
4) Read - [b:Halo: First Strike|615921|Halo First Strike|Eric S. Nylund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320418133l/615921._SY75_.jpg|602356]
5) Played - Halo 2 (game) - Link to Wikipedia
6) Read - [b:Halo: Ghosts of Onyx|94798|Halo Ghosts of Onyx|Eric S. Nylund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317792529l/94798._SY75_.jpg|1267619] (this book)
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx has been, in short, a fantastic reading experience for me as a Halo fan. If you are one, I highly recommend you to read this book. For a change, the Master Chief is not the main protagonist in this one. It is Kurt-051. I don't remember much about Kurt from the previous books, but Ghosts of Onyx has elevated him to one of the most memorable characters in this universe.
The book starts of very strongly. It hooks you in immediately with the SPARTAN-III Beta Company's mission on Pegasi Delta. In Halo, it is very rare to see a firefight of that scale involving so many Spartans. Then we get a deep dive into what the SPARTAN-IIIs were created for, and how they were created. Even though Kurt is the main protagonist in this book, other characters also get the spotlight occasionally. We see the return of Blue Team, Dr Halsey, a Covenant shipmaster, some UNSC personnel, etc., and get to experience the story from their perspectives as well. There are a few plot lines that happen in parallel, and ultimately we find them converge together for a really intense ending. The last few chapters were action packed, and even nerve wracking for me.
Before you get into this book, I strongly recommend reading the books before this, and maybe even play the first two games as well. The order that I followed is this:
1) Played - Halo: Combat Evolved (game) - Link to Wikipedia
2) Read - [b:Halo: The Fall of Reach|60229|Halo The Fall of Reach|Eric S. Nylund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436746591l/60229._SY75_.jpg|1881174]
3) Read - [b:Halo: The Flood|797094|Halo The Flood|William C. Dietz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388298645l/797094._SY75_.jpg|783064]
4) Read - [b:Halo: First Strike|615921|Halo First Strike|Eric S. Nylund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320418133l/615921._SY75_.jpg|602356]
5) Played - Halo 2 (game) - Link to Wikipedia
6) Read - [b:Halo: Ghosts of Onyx|94798|Halo Ghosts of Onyx|Eric S. Nylund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317792529l/94798._SY75_.jpg|1267619] (this book)