Scan barcode
lisloves2reid's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a great story. There was a lot of drama and action, as well as world building. There was character development in the Spartans, especially John-117. The reader learns more about the UNSC, the insurrectionists, and the Covenant. For a game, the world has evolved so much that it feels like Earth's history (even if it is set in the future).
noahreadsome's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
didactsdaddy's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
fieldofhats's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“John had already seen enough from the Covenant to know the UNSC wasn’t going to win the war in a single battle. The aliens would recover from the shock of an attack inside their own space and return with a vengeance. And when they did, the Spartans would be waiting. Ready to do the impossible.”
It’s been a while since I’ve read a Halo novel, and this one has been on my Audible list for a while. There’s something about a story where humanity comes together to defeat evil aliens. It’s a truly humanist story, at its core. There are tensions in this book with the insurrection, which I wish were explored more, but its core is still simply humanist. That sounds completely obvious when talking about Halo, but since it’s been a while for me, it was nice.
John was already an established and well-developed character before this novel, but Denning does a great job of fleshing him out even more. This book is advertised first and foremost as a Master Chief story, and it definitely delivers on that front. While this story is more of an ensemble cast, John is the main character. He goes through a very distinct arc of learning to trust his teammates and comrades, as well as how to lead tactfully by giving dangerous responsibilities to those who are trained to handle them instead of taking them on himself. His development here is relatively minor, but it still fills in some of the gaps that were glossed over in other canon media with him.
I really like the interpersonal politics in this book. The drama between John, Crowther, and Johnson was brilliantly written and very engaging, even before Nyeto came into the picture.I love it when the tables turn in books, so when Crowther started to come around and he and Johnson became a united front I was all in. The drama was done so well.
However, the drama was definitely there to bolster the action. This book is like 60% action, which is great if you’re looking for a story like the Halo video game campaigns, but not if you like dialogue-driven character studies. As a general rule, I don’t prefer action in books. I went into this book expecting action so I’m not surprised or upset, but because the character drama was so good, the action felt doubly distracting.
I liked that Denning included the insurrectionist perspective, it felt very realistic. Their dialogue about how to handle the war with the covenant was especially interesting because it’s clear that they have good reason to hate the UNSC, and their ultimate solution is very logical. Denning doesn’t paint them in a bad light either, which is nice since there’s a lot of nuance when it comes to their story. Later in the story a UNSC officer of all people puts it very well by saying, “To the insurrectionists, we’re the alien invaders, the horde that can’t be stopped. They’ve already been fighting us for thirty years any way they can just like we’re fighting the covenant now!” This is all absolutely fantastic,but throughout the book Nyeto is still portrayed as the bad guy. He’s in the way of the UNSC, he’s the antagonist to John and the Spartans. This isn’t a bad thing, but because there were so little chapters from Nyeto’s perspective, it felt like Denning wanted us to side with the UNSC. And yet, whenever we do get the perspective of the insurrectionists, it’s handled very well… it just seems like Denning wanted to have his cake and eat it too, which I don’t think is very realistic when it comes to this plotline.
In the first chapter from the covenant’s perspective, Nizat briefly condemns humanity for their sexual presentation and stations being unstructured, saying, “it was little wonder why the hierarchs had judged the species unworthy of the Great Journey. With such confusion about their places even in their own society, they would have brought only chaos to the covenant.” I love this for a few reasons. Firstly, it places feminism and queerness in a wholly positive light. The covenant are strictly conformist, and humans aren’t, and since humans are the good guys we’re left with a very queer outlook. Secondly, the covenant seem to be an allegory for fundamentalism. They are a group of religious zealots who do whatever their leaders say, even if it’s awful genocidal actions. Their leaders are prophets and ministers who say they have a direct line to their gods. They use their power and influence to create a theocratic oligarchy. That’s fundamentalism through and through — and since the covenant are anti-queer, it only strengthens the idea that they’re an allegory for modern alt-right christianity.
It’s been a while since I’ve read a Halo novel, and this one has been on my Audible list for a while. There’s something about a story where humanity comes together to defeat evil aliens. It’s a truly humanist story, at its core. There are tensions in this book with the insurrection, which I wish were explored more, but its core is still simply humanist. That sounds completely obvious when talking about Halo, but since it’s been a while for me, it was nice.
John was already an established and well-developed character before this novel, but Denning does a great job of fleshing him out even more. This book is advertised first and foremost as a Master Chief story, and it definitely delivers on that front. While this story is more of an ensemble cast, John is the main character. He goes through a very distinct arc of learning to trust his teammates and comrades, as well as how to lead tactfully by giving dangerous responsibilities to those who are trained to handle them instead of taking them on himself. His development here is relatively minor, but it still fills in some of the gaps that were glossed over in other canon media with him.
I really like the interpersonal politics in this book. The drama between John, Crowther, and Johnson was brilliantly written and very engaging, even before Nyeto came into the picture.
However, the drama was definitely there to bolster the action. This book is like 60% action, which is great if you’re looking for a story like the Halo video game campaigns, but not if you like dialogue-driven character studies. As a general rule, I don’t prefer action in books. I went into this book expecting action so I’m not surprised or upset, but because the character drama was so good, the action felt doubly distracting.
I liked that Denning included the insurrectionist perspective, it felt very realistic. Their dialogue about how to handle the war with the covenant was especially interesting because it’s clear that they have good reason to hate the UNSC, and their ultimate solution is very logical. Denning doesn’t paint them in a bad light either, which is nice since there’s a lot of nuance when it comes to their story. Later in the story a UNSC officer of all people puts it very well by saying, “To the insurrectionists, we’re the alien invaders, the horde that can’t be stopped. They’ve already been fighting us for thirty years any way they can just like we’re fighting the covenant now!” This is all absolutely fantastic,
In the first chapter from the covenant’s perspective, Nizat briefly condemns humanity for their sexual presentation and stations being unstructured, saying, “it was little wonder why the hierarchs had judged the species unworthy of the Great Journey. With such confusion about their places even in their own society, they would have brought only chaos to the covenant.” I love this for a few reasons. Firstly, it places feminism and queerness in a wholly positive light. The covenant are strictly conformist, and humans aren’t, and since humans are the good guys we’re left with a very queer outlook. Secondly, the covenant seem to be an allegory for fundamentalism. They are a group of religious zealots who do whatever their leaders say, even if it’s awful genocidal actions. Their leaders are prophets and ministers who say they have a direct line to their gods. They use their power and influence to create a theocratic oligarchy. That’s fundamentalism through and through — and since the covenant are anti-queer, it only strengthens the idea that they’re an allegory for modern alt-right christianity.
Overall, the character stories were top notch; the political commentary was good, but kept at a too-safe distance; and the action was fine but much too present. A very solid Halo novel. For the sequel I’d love to see more development with the rest of Blue Team and more from the insurrectionists’ perspective.
richard_mzk's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
chasep's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
revbeckett's review
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As the cover tells us, this is an untold Master Chief story. Before this book and its sequel, Oblivion, all we had about the Master Chief’s story before the first Halo game was The Fall of Reach. In that book, after the Spartans make first contact with the Covenant, the book skips 27 years into the Human-Covenant conflict in 2552. This book gives us more of John’s story just one year after first contact, 2526, as a 15-year-old Spartan.
If you’re like me and want to read the Halo books in chronological order, there are two ways you can begin reading this book. The first way is reading The Fall of Reach through chapter 14, then reading Contact Harvest, Silent Storm, Oblivion, and then finishing The Fall of Reach. Or you can do my preferred method: read The Fall of Reach in its entirety, then Contact Harvest, Silent Storm, and Oblivion. For me, I like the idea of going back in time a bit to learn more about the Master Chief before jumping to the book, The Flood.
In this book, the goal of John and others is to gather as much intel as they can on the Covenant through desperate counterattack measures. At this point in the timeline, the UNSC doesn’t know much about the Covenant, so this is probably one of the most pivotal operations in the entire Halo universe. As operation SILENT STORM develops, they formulate a plan that could turn the tide of the Human-Covenant war in humanity’s favour in an grand way. However, there are rebel Insurrectionist spies who want to see the Spartans fail in their mission because the Insurrectionists think allying with the Covenant will ensure humanity’s survival. Of course, they are sorely mistaken in their naïveté.
My favourite thing about this book is that you experience the Master Chief before he becomes the Master Chief we know from the games—not just literally by his rank, but also his character. He and the other Spartans do have super elite military training with the preponderating support of their MJOLNIR armour, but he’s still an inexperienced 15-year-old. He doesn’t behave like a hormonal 15-year-old—and I’m glad Denning didn’t write him that way because the augmentation the Spartans underwent negates all that—but he’s still quite inexperienced as a military leader. He has a lot to learn from UNSC veterans, and you see some character development in him regarding that. This truly is “a Master Chief story” because this book—and it’s sequel, I’m sure—truly shows the growth of the Master Chief before we first met him in the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved.
One critique I have is a somewhat minor discontinuity in the lore. In this book, the names for some of the aliens come from what John calls them based on their appearance or behaviour in combat—for example, Drones because they look like drones (which is a stingless male bee) and Elites because they have elite combat skills. But in other books, they’re given those names because of ONI’s best translation efforts of the Covenant’s language. I think that was in one of the Battle Born books. The former makes the most sense because the actual names of the species don’t translate into anything. So, if I were to go with any explanation, it would be how John comes up with their names since that makes the most sense.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood and War
taberiusrex's review against another edition
3.0
Won this in a Goodreads giveaway.
This was a real nostalgia trip, for those who have been reading these books from the beginning. A lot of it, from the format to the storytelling to the characters, was grounded in the early Halo expanded universe. It's a great look at the early career of the SPARTAN-IIs.
It comes off as a little too fanservice-y, though. Could have used a little more substance, especially when it came to exploring the Insurrectionists. There was a prolonged scene involving several rebel groups meeting, and... nothing came of it. In the end, everything is rather neatly tied up, and the dangling plot threads seem to just be forgotten.
So I'd say it's worth your time if you're already a fan, but it won't do much to draw new readers in.
This was a real nostalgia trip, for those who have been reading these books from the beginning. A lot of it, from the format to the storytelling to the characters, was grounded in the early Halo expanded universe. It's a great look at the early career of the SPARTAN-IIs.
It comes off as a little too fanservice-y, though. Could have used a little more substance, especially when it came to exploring the Insurrectionists. There was a prolonged scene involving several rebel groups meeting, and... nothing came of it. In the end, everything is rather neatly tied up, and the dangling plot threads seem to just be forgotten.
So I'd say it's worth your time if you're already a fan, but it won't do much to draw new readers in.