Reviews

Silentium by Greg Bear

algorithminflux's review against another edition

5.0

Gives a fantastic insight as to the origins of this story, and to the Halo universe as a whole.

fieldofhats's review against another edition

So much exposition. That’s all this story is. To be fair, having it from the Librarian’s perspective this time around is VERY interesting, but I just can’t stand Bear’s writing. Having to read this book felt like a chore, and the last entry was so terrible that Bear no longer has my trust. I’m a little sad to give up on the third book, but exciting to dedicate my reading time to other books instead.

coopercodes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

2.25

I dragged myself through these books, I do not like the story. 

jareddelcamp's review against another edition

5.0

5 stars for the Halo fans that like the universe. 3.5-4 stars for the general Sci-Fi fans. It feels more like a history book when reading it, but it is very interesting to Halo fans.

f41c0n1337's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

My favorite in the whole trilogy, diving more into the history that got the characters to this point juxtaposed with the actions they were in the midst of taking. I felt like I was able to really connect with the characters for the first time in the whole trilogy. I particularly enjoyed the approach to storytelling through different perspectives and a mix of reporting mediums. 

mightythor460's review against another edition

4.0

Is the Forerunner Saga great literature? Not nearly. Is it a fascinating read for Halo diehards? Absolutely! Silentium was my favorite of three. I enjoyed the log-like style of the prose and expansion of the Diadact and Librarian’s story. It also fills on some interesting holes in Halo lore. I can’t wait to get back to replaying the series armed with this backstory!

thurminator's review

3.0

This whole trilogy was quite the convoluted journey. I wanted to like it a lot, and there were certainly many standout parts, but overall I don't think it does a great job of landing well as a standalone story, including this book. These books try to cover so much ground in order to provide a reason to exist on their own as a story, not just in the context of the Halo universe. I was able to get immersed in the world as a result of that and think of it as something separate, but it didn't do a good enough job for me to think it'd be any good if I didn't understand the references and foundations of the rest of the Halo universe at its core. It's hard to call these books a trilogy even, because all three are so completely unrelated except for at a macro level.

I liked most of the characters, and I enjoyed seeing the events of the Halo games set up, but those specific references were covered in about 30 pages, exclusively in this book - I think I expected the entire trilogy to be more of that, not mostly weird subspecies of furry humans and an angsty teenage Forerunner who turns into a nicer version of the villain from Halo 4 interacting with each other and walking across Halos and having weird fever dreams because the Librarian had implanted voices in all of the humans' minds while Forerunners make vague references to Precursors and go around having Ent-level thousand year conversations and investigations to discuss their plans to deal with the Flood. Don't get me wrong, I like Halo because it isn't just a story about the "Green Guy" shooting aliens. There's a lot to it, and these books, especially Silentium, convey that well. I was very interested to learn more about Forerunner culture and politics, but I was left with only a vague, confusing blur where I wanted concrete answers and a tragic story I already knew the ending to. I think that there was a lot of interesting backstory that I'll come to appreciate more in time, but for now, I'd only recommend this series to the most dedicated of Halo fans who want to take as deep a dive into the lore as possible.

chiefmcclane's review against another edition

4.0

Finally, the efforts of reading the first two books in the trilogy click into place.

I'd recommended just going to Halopedia if you were (like me) looking for the deepest, oldest lore of the Halo universe

charlieglynn's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

sonofatreus's review

4.0

Flood! Didact! 343 Guilty Spark! It all adds up. Ring composition at its finest (because they’ve made these Halo rings, you see...).

But really, it ends this trilogy well and gives good backstory to the games without being too expository. I can’t imagine reading these without game-knowledge but I doubt many people have tried.