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chasep's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
revbeckett's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a new Halo book for me. It’s about a small group of high school students named Evie, Dorian, Saskia, and Victor on a colony world called Meridian that gets attacked by the Covenant. It’s a short novel written for adolescents, so it has typical high school tropes like a boy keeping his crush on a girl in the group a secret, and what writers like to do these days by writing stories of an unlikely group of high school savants who somehow manage to save the day against a superior force. As you can guess from the cover, the high schoolers also run into a Spartan during the Covenant attack, who wants to help them and the other refugees evacuate Meridian. But of course, it’s not that easy. And as usual, the Covenant invade instead of immediately glassing the planet because they want a Forerunner artefact that’s on Meridian.
One little annoying thing here, from a Christian perspective, is that the author has Evie tease Victor into having a crush on Dorian when he doesn’t, so it’s just unnecessary LGBT propaganda. Dorian becomes interested in Victor’s online channel and asks him to record his band, so obviously that means the two boys are crushing on each other. Clearly, there’s no other option like two males simply becoming friends through shared interests, right? No, Clarke just makes Evie jump to such a conclusion to “innocently” propagandise the so-called normalcy of homosexuality. It literally serves no purpose in the rest of the narrative other than to pander to the LGBT community, which is bad storytelling.
Otherwise, it was an enjoyable story. I’m not the biggest fan of the typical high school tropes, but the story ran cohesively and it was fun to read. The character development isn’t too complex, but it’s there. And while there aren’t any big lore revelations to the Halo universe, I suspect there might be in the next book of the duology.
My true rating is 4.5 stars.
One little annoying thing here, from a Christian perspective, is that the author has Evie tease Victor into having a crush on Dorian when he doesn’t, so it’s just unnecessary LGBT propaganda. Dorian becomes interested in Victor’s online channel and asks him to record his band, so obviously that means the two boys are crushing on each other. Clearly, there’s no other option like two males simply becoming friends through shared interests, right? No, Clarke just makes Evie jump to such a conclusion to “innocently” propagandise the so-called normalcy of homosexuality. It literally serves no purpose in the rest of the narrative other than to pander to the LGBT community, which is bad storytelling.
Otherwise, it was an enjoyable story. I’m not the biggest fan of the typical high school tropes, but the story ran cohesively and it was fun to read. The character development isn’t too complex, but it’s there. And while there aren’t any big lore revelations to the Halo universe, I suspect there might be in the next book of the duology.
My true rating is 4.5 stars.
casdelvo's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Violence, Blood, and Death
ph03nixreading's review against another edition
3.0
This book started out as an immense disappointment and managed to work its way back to something that has me thinking about reading Book 2. The first 50-75% of the book is underwhelming character development and the introduction of some seemingly second rate spartan that the author does nothing to make us like. That being said the last chunk of the book had me so engrossed that I could have easily stayed up to the wee hours of the morning to finish. The ending of this book is the only thing saving it from a 1-2 star review dragged down by a lack luster opening and a mediocre middle section.
mal_eficent's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As a YA Halo book, this is actually pretty good. There's enough time spent establishing the characters, their wants and desires, and who they care about to give the rest of the book an sense of tension and urgency. Their ages/experiences allow Clarke to introduce the Halo universe technology and enemies slowly, but without characters magically revealing information they really shouldn't know. The story plays out like a Halo game - a teenager's ODST.
But it's very firmly a YA book in how it's written and that's not my personal taste. There's a focus on interior monologues, and the plot focus is pretty simple and action based. Doesn't make it bad, just not what I enjoy the most.
If you're looking for a younger sci-fi book to get your teenagers interested in Halo, or don't like the weird lore in some of the other Halo books and want something that is a bit more like the games, then check this out.
But it's very firmly a YA book in how it's written and that's not my personal taste. There's a focus on interior monologues, and the plot focus is pretty simple and action based. Doesn't make it bad, just not what I enjoy the most.
If you're looking for a younger sci-fi book to get your teenagers interested in Halo, or don't like the weird lore in some of the other Halo books and want something that is a bit more like the games, then check this out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Abandonment
robliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Part of my 2021-2022 Halo Timeline-order read-a-thon series.
A standard YA book with a Halo lick of paint. It's fine, nothing groundbreaking but not awful. A lot of YA tropes carry the book to its logical conclusion: Angsty teens come together to overcome something bigger than themselves.
A standard YA book with a Halo lick of paint. It's fine, nothing groundbreaking but not awful. A lot of YA tropes carry the book to its logical conclusion: Angsty teens come together to overcome something bigger than themselves.
echoes01's review against another edition
4.0
The Halo video game series is one of my all-time favorites and I’ve been reading any novel connected to the Halo universe practically since the original novelization of the first game came out. I think this was a great addition to the multitude of novels that have come out since that first one.
It focuses on a group of teenagers and a Spartan III that got stranded during a Covenant attack on the planet. The author does a great job of keeping the energy and tension high as well as giving each of the major races in the Covenant (except for the Brutes and Prophets) some really good battle scenes. People who have never played the games before won’t have any trouble understanding what’s going on because she also does a great job describing the different species.
I listened to this on audiobook and must say that the narrator (Thérèse Plummer) did a fantastic job of giving everyone their own unique voice and showing the emotions that they were going through during their adventure. I never had trouble following who was saying what and was actually on the edge of my seat for a lot of the action sequences.
I am hoping that there will be a direct sequel to this because the book ends with some mysteries unresolved but gives the reader plenty of ideas about where things can go from there. I wouldn’t mind reading about these characters again.
It focuses on a group of teenagers and a Spartan III that got stranded during a Covenant attack on the planet. The author does a great job of keeping the energy and tension high as well as giving each of the major races in the Covenant (except for the Brutes and Prophets) some really good battle scenes. People who have never played the games before won’t have any trouble understanding what’s going on because she also does a great job describing the different species.
I listened to this on audiobook and must say that the narrator (Thérèse Plummer) did a fantastic job of giving everyone their own unique voice and showing the emotions that they were going through during their adventure. I never had trouble following who was saying what and was actually on the edge of my seat for a lot of the action sequences.
I am hoping that there will be a direct sequel to this because the book ends with some mysteries unresolved but gives the reader plenty of ideas about where things can go from there. I wouldn’t mind reading about these characters again.
melniksuzuki's review against another edition
4.0
The year is 2548 and the Covenant has been carving a warpath through the colonies of humanity. On the colony of Meridian, four teenagers must learn to survive with the help of Beta Company Spartan-III as their town is invaded by the alien hegemony in search of Forerunner technology buried beneath.
Battle Born follows four Meridian teenagers: Evie Rousseau, the techie of the group and the daughter of a college professor and a Marine; Victor Gallardo, Evie's friend whose parents ran a resort while his older sisters are Marines in the UNSC; Dorian Nguyen lives with his uncle and nephew/cousin (Dorian and the narration calls Remy Dorian's nephew but he is Dorian's uncle's son, which should make him Dorian's cousin; it's weird) due to his parents being deployed and is a member of a local band and is a bit of a hothead who has problems with the UNSC due to feeling abandoned by his parents, the pilot of the group; and Saskia Nazari, the daughter of weapon contractors, she feels like a pariah due to not being native to Meridian.
Luckily, despite being a YA novel about teenagers, we are spared from having to dredge through teenage and school melodrama before the Covenant shows up; from the first chapter we see hints of the Covenant preparing their invasion and it is only a few chapters later that the Covenant invade in full. It also helps that the story starts on the weekend. Really, the only melodramatic thing that I can think of is Victor's crush on Saskia. It is almost mentioned any time a chapter is focused on his narrative, even after the Covenant appeared. Made me want to just slap him upside the head and scream, "Priorities, you idiot!" Though I do feel if that if any romances happen, I would be all in for Evie/Dorian due to how natural their interactions were. Them staying friends and comrades would also work.
I have to say my favorite scene was Evie and Victor's encounter with the Jackel at the onset of the invasion. It truly felt like something from a horror movie. I also like how the Covenant is using Locusts to unearth the artifact. Nice to see something from Halo Wars appear outside the games, especially since another author might have used Scarabs in their place.
Overall, I quite enjoyed Battle Born. It was a nice view of a Covenant invasion from the civilians' view. There were a few places that were a bit contrived, like how the energy shield projector didn't seem to be as defended as you would have thought, but nothing that broke the suspension-of-disbelief for me. Just made me stop for a second and shrug.
Battle Born follows four Meridian teenagers: Evie Rousseau, the techie of the group and the daughter of a college professor and a Marine; Victor Gallardo, Evie's friend whose parents ran a resort while his older sisters are Marines in the UNSC; Dorian Nguyen lives with his uncle and nephew/cousin (Dorian and the narration calls Remy Dorian's nephew but he is Dorian's uncle's son, which should make him Dorian's cousin; it's weird) due to his parents being deployed and is a member of a local band and is a bit of a hothead who has problems with the UNSC due to feeling abandoned by his parents, the pilot of the group; and Saskia Nazari, the daughter of weapon contractors, she feels like a pariah due to not being native to Meridian.
Luckily, despite being a YA novel about teenagers, we are spared from having to dredge through teenage and school melodrama before the Covenant shows up; from the first chapter we see hints of the Covenant preparing their invasion and it is only a few chapters later that the Covenant invade in full. It also helps that the story starts on the weekend. Really, the only melodramatic thing that I can think of is Victor's crush on Saskia. It is almost mentioned any time a chapter is focused on his narrative, even after the Covenant appeared. Made me want to just slap him upside the head and scream, "Priorities, you idiot!" Though I do feel if that if any romances happen, I would be all in for Evie/Dorian due to how natural their interactions were. Them staying friends and comrades would also work.
I have to say my favorite scene was Evie and Victor's encounter with the Jackel at the onset of the invasion. It truly felt like something from a horror movie. I also like how the Covenant is using Locusts to unearth the artifact. Nice to see something from Halo Wars appear outside the games, especially since another author might have used Scarabs in their place.
Overall, I quite enjoyed Battle Born. It was a nice view of a Covenant invasion from the civilians' view. There were a few places that were a bit contrived, like how the energy shield projector didn't seem to be as defended as you would have thought, but nothing that broke the suspension-of-disbelief for me. Just made me stop for a second and shrug.
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