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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As one who has played through the Halo games without memorizing the cut scenes, this is a pretty good piece of science fiction. Since it is authorized by Microsoft, it must be the official version of things, but regardless it is pretty good and I'll continue to read the series.
This definitely wouldn’t make sense to someone who has not played any Halo games but was a fun read for me (a big fan of the games). It begins filling in backstory to Halo 4, which I found rather confusing without the story provided here. It helps that this is all Forerunner story so it feels totally new and unbounded by the Human-Covenant war (and characters).
Wow, that's really all I have to say. Even as a fan of the games since Halo 2 back in 2004, I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. I've never been a big lore guy, and to be honest I mainly only remember big moments from some of the games (Halo 3, Reach, and a bit of 5). But if I knew it would have been as cool or as deep as this, I would've jumped in much earlier! What starts as a somewhat non-sci-fi story quickly becomes much grander in scale, and slowly reveals the deeper Halo lore without overwhelming you with too many details too early. The characters are unique, and experience great growth over the whole story. Some of those characters are actually the most interesting part of the book, if you've played the games you'll have some preconceived notions going in, but you see a different side of some of the characters you're familiar with that make them more dynamic. The story went in a way I wasn't expecting and it was cool to see the lore I am familia with poke it's head throughout. I would say my only two real complaints are that the pacing meanders a bit in the 50-60% mark, and the start can take some getting used to. I know many recommend to start in release order and not chronological but since I already owned this, I started here. As a newbie, a took a bit in the beginning to get used to the terminology and descriptions. But if you push through, there's real quality here. I'm looking forward to reading the larger universe! 4/5 stars.
Quick hits:
+ Characters are interesting.
+ The story starts small and slowly becomes larger and more complex over time.
+ The world is built slowly but surely and really pays off towards the end. I'm officially hooked!
- The pacing meanders a bit in the middle.
- The beginning can be a bit overwhelming at first (story of much fantasy and sci-fi, but that's the fun!).
I'm really looking forward to continuing this series, and I'm definitely hooked. If you're a fan of the games, I'd highly recommend. Even if you're not, there's a lot to love here, and Halo is amazing so get into the games too nerd! 4/5 stars.
Quick hits:
+ Characters are interesting.
+ The story starts small and slowly becomes larger and more complex over time.
+ The world is built slowly but surely and really pays off towards the end. I'm officially hooked!
- The pacing meanders a bit in the middle.
- The beginning can be a bit overwhelming at first (story of much fantasy and sci-fi, but that's the fun!).
I'm really looking forward to continuing this series, and I'm definitely hooked. If you're a fan of the games, I'd highly recommend. Even if you're not, there's a lot to love here, and Halo is amazing so get into the games too nerd! 4/5 stars.
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Can be a tough read, especially if you're mainly into the main Halo series and not extended. Otherwise it provides fantastic insights into the Didact.
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.
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:
Complicated