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A review by christophercoyle
Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten
4.0
Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten
Non-Spoiler Review
Fans of the Bungie-developed games, of the preceding Halo novels and of the stories behind central characters of the original trilogy games will all find something to enjoy from this story. Being a writer and co-leading in the Halo franchise’s inception as a creative director, what Staten lacks in comparison to Nylund’s (the author of the majority of the previous novels) tighter narrative style and experience in novel structure, he more than makes up for with excellent characterisation and world building in ways that really place the reader in the minds and environments of key characters. Whilst as a stand-alone work of military fiction/Sci-Fi it might leave the more experienced reader wanting more in the way of thematic depth and character complexity, it excels in breathing life and colour into what the games only had the time and scope to leave as suggestions, vignettes or conjecture.
Straten explores the backstories of some of the series’ beloved characters as well as introducing new and interesting ones that come together to detail how the Human-Covenant War began, and while the last act read a little more matter-of-factly than the more explorative previous chapters, I felt satisfied and entertained as a fan by the decisions that were written into the Halo universe canon.
Spoiler Review
The novel is sectioned into three Acts, each building to the climax of the first encounter between the Human Outer Colony of Harvest and the Covenant forces who have discovered one another, as well as the ensuing conflict and immediate consequences that pave the way for the events of the main series games and novels.Act 1 focuses almost primarily on building the character background of Sgt. Avery Johnson, a fan-favourite now fleshed out with relationships and motivations that bring depth to in-game behaviours and dialogue. The Prologue is among my favourite parts of the book, detailing an event that paints Avery’s thoughts and actions for the rest of the novel, and introducing another key character who, while pretty stereotypically written as a military persona, acts as a buffer for painting Avery in a light that the audience can feel for and understand better. The following chapters work to build on this and lead us to the initial contact with some key alien characters of the Covenant. We are also given a wealthy insight into the workings of the in-universe AI characters of Sif and Mack, who, as well as featuring in important plot points throughout, act as an interesting anchor for Staten to explain some of the mechanics of the Halo universe. The development of these characters is probably the best in the novel and provokes the thoughts of the mysteries of AI both in the context of the universe and in our own world. Act 2 introduces the key characters from the Covenant capital city of High Charity, which fans will be familiar with but Staten really flourishes in developing the world space of the gloomy but reverent space citadel. As well as offering a backstory of how the three Heirarches came to power in the Age of Reclamation, the exploration of the Covenant religious structures, caste systems and racial relations was a highlight. Although I do wonder that a lot of my enjoyment of this content was down to Staten having the rich tapestry of sounds, visuals, music and voice acting from the core games, particularly Halo 2. Either way, Staten certainly builds on this part of the Halo universe in a way that made these chapters the most enjoyable and thought-provoking to me. The final Act brings characters to what for the most part felt like logical conclusions but in some cases left me feeling like I wanted more, probably due to lots of the human characters being relatively linear. For a novel that aims to explain the events that would lead to video games that take place the best part of 30 years in the future of said events, I didn’t find this to be an obstacle, or detract from Staten’s clearly solid understanding of the mechanics of a world that he un part created. This is something previous novels lacked so is just a general trend throughout the genre so far for me. But if you’re here for the world-building and the in-universe history, the characters serve as a useful vehicle to navigate the audience through that.
Overall, as a novel, I preferred Nylund’s exploration of the planet Onyx and the more spinoff nature to the previous book, and at times felt the chapters involving the militiamen/marines to be a little flat, the overall story/plot points and exploration of the Covenant environments and characters were great and would certainly recommend the novel to fans of the series.
Non-Spoiler Review
Fans of the Bungie-developed games, of the preceding Halo novels and of the stories behind central characters of the original trilogy games will all find something to enjoy from this story. Being a writer and co-leading in the Halo franchise’s inception as a creative director, what Staten lacks in comparison to Nylund’s (the author of the majority of the previous novels) tighter narrative style and experience in novel structure, he more than makes up for with excellent characterisation and world building in ways that really place the reader in the minds and environments of key characters. Whilst as a stand-alone work of military fiction/Sci-Fi it might leave the more experienced reader wanting more in the way of thematic depth and character complexity, it excels in breathing life and colour into what the games only had the time and scope to leave as suggestions, vignettes or conjecture.
Straten explores the backstories of some of the series’ beloved characters as well as introducing new and interesting ones that come together to detail how the Human-Covenant War began, and while the last act read a little more matter-of-factly than the more explorative previous chapters, I felt satisfied and entertained as a fan by the decisions that were written into the Halo universe canon.
Spoiler Review
The novel is sectioned into three Acts, each building to the climax of the first encounter between the Human Outer Colony of Harvest and the Covenant forces who have discovered one another, as well as the ensuing conflict and immediate consequences that pave the way for the events of the main series games and novels.Act 1 focuses almost primarily on building the character background of Sgt. Avery Johnson, a fan-favourite now fleshed out with relationships and motivations that bring depth to in-game behaviours and dialogue. The Prologue is among my favourite parts of the book, detailing an event that paints Avery’s thoughts and actions for the rest of the novel, and introducing another key character who, while pretty stereotypically written as a military persona, acts as a buffer for painting Avery in a light that the audience can feel for and understand better. The following chapters work to build on this and lead us to the initial contact with some key alien characters of the Covenant. We are also given a wealthy insight into the workings of the in-universe AI characters of Sif and Mack, who, as well as featuring in important plot points throughout, act as an interesting anchor for Staten to explain some of the mechanics of the Halo universe. The development of these characters is probably the best in the novel and provokes the thoughts of the mysteries of AI both in the context of the universe and in our own world. Act 2 introduces the key characters from the Covenant capital city of High Charity, which fans will be familiar with but Staten really flourishes in developing the world space of the gloomy but reverent space citadel. As well as offering a backstory of how the three Heirarches came to power in the Age of Reclamation, the exploration of the Covenant religious structures, caste systems and racial relations was a highlight. Although I do wonder that a lot of my enjoyment of this content was down to Staten having the rich tapestry of sounds, visuals, music and voice acting from the core games, particularly Halo 2. Either way, Staten certainly builds on this part of the Halo universe in a way that made these chapters the most enjoyable and thought-provoking to me. The final Act brings characters to what for the most part felt like logical conclusions but in some cases left me feeling like I wanted more, probably due to lots of the human characters being relatively linear. For a novel that aims to explain the events that would lead to video games that take place the best part of 30 years in the future of said events, I didn’t find this to be an obstacle, or detract from Staten’s clearly solid understanding of the mechanics of a world that he un part created. This is something previous novels lacked so is just a general trend throughout the genre so far for me. But if you’re here for the world-building and the in-universe history, the characters serve as a useful vehicle to navigate the audience through that.
Overall, as a novel, I preferred Nylund’s exploration of the planet Onyx and the more spinoff nature to the previous book, and at times felt the chapters involving the militiamen/marines to be a little flat, the overall story/plot points and exploration of the Covenant environments and characters were great and would certainly recommend the novel to fans of the series.