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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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
3.5 stars (Goodreads give me half stars, you cowards). This is the beginning novel in the 2nd trilogy of Halo novels that 343 supervised after taking over from Bungie post 2007. I have similar feelings as 'Glasslands'--why did 343 choose to flesh out their antagonists in the extended universe instead of the game dialogue/cutscenes themselves? Mind boggling to recruit S-tier talent like Bear for a prequel novel series, which directly ties to Halo 4--a game about characters from ancient history still meddling with the Chief and Co.
Enough complaining--Bornstellar rules, the humans rule. Also this Didact is fun! Completely distinct from H4's "I'm gonna get you" Scooby-Doo villain formula 343 uses (i.e. Villain makes appearance at beginning of game, then waits until final act to do anything and loses). This made me feel like Halo deserves a longer, even denser version of this book that leans more heavily into the 'Hyperion' inspirations. Terrifying natural threats, ancient monsters (that are not the Flood, mostly), and distinct motives for Forerunners. This was already a huge risk in explaining their culture/society after Bungie decided to keep them vague. To me, this book lands and it lands well. Put it in my 'good for Halo fans' pile. The other two piles are 'good for sci fans' and 'good for everyone'.
Final gripe--you fellas just couldn't help yourselves could you? Gotta have the rings make an appearance in everything with the capital H Halo name on it, huh?
Enough complaining--Bornstellar rules, the humans rule. Also this Didact is fun! Completely distinct from H4's "I'm gonna get you" Scooby-Doo villain formula 343 uses (i.e. Villain makes appearance at beginning of game, then waits until final act to do anything and loses). This made me feel like Halo deserves a longer, even denser version of this book that leans more heavily into the 'Hyperion' inspirations. Terrifying natural threats, ancient monsters (that are not the Flood, mostly), and distinct motives for Forerunners. This was already a huge risk in explaining their culture/society after Bungie decided to keep them vague. To me, this book lands and it lands well. Put it in my 'good for Halo fans' pile. The other two piles are 'good for sci fans' and 'good for everyone'.
Final gripe--you fellas just couldn't help yourselves could you? Gotta have the rings make an appearance in everything with the capital H Halo name on it, huh?
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very fun book but only if you are a nerd who knows halo deep lore
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well hot damn this turned out better than I expected. One of the twists I saw coming from pretty early on but I feel like an idiot for not seeing the final one coming. Another essential Halo read if you want to properly understand the universe.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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:
Yes
A history of the earliest era of the Halo universe. Really cool to an aficionado and longtime fan such as myself, but it was pretty dry. If Halo has a Silmarillion, this trilogy is it. It's told in first-person, though.
Takes quite a while to pick up. Took me more than halfway through the book to pique my interest. Even then it's mostly because I was familiar with the lore.
Severely played myself trying to read the Halo universe chronologically instead of by publication year. It made very little sense in a lot of parts, and I had to look up a lot of the deep universe terminology (like species names and stuff). I also can't say it was particularly well-written. Either way, it was interesting and I liked where it was going. I think. Might continue this after I've read some of the books published prior.