Scan barcode
A review by bhall237
Halo: The Flood by William C. Dietz
1.0
“The Master Chief killed his external com system, and spoke directly to Cortana. "So, any idea what this thing is?"
"No," Cortana admitted. "I managed to slice some data out of the Covenant battle network. They call it 'Halo, and it has some kind of religious significance to them…”
Oh, God! This book was atrocious. I am so regretful for having read this and stunned as to how such an amazing story turned into this. The only other book that I have given 1/5 stars to was Wyrd and Other Derelictions by Adam Nevill, and I never imagined that another book could even come close to rivaling how bad that book is, but this is a close contender, if not worse. In the defense of Wyrd (a sentence I would have never thought I would ever state), that book was at least 100% description, so you couldn’t fault it for having horrible characters and laughable dialogue.
The Flood has no excuse, everything in it is bad. There is not a single redeemable sentence in this book, and the entire time I was reading this book I kept asking myself, “who was this written for?” Fans of the game will be horrified and angry at how bastardized the story of Combat Evolved is, and people who haven’t played the game before will be confused and bored throughout the book, wondering how anyone could find the game fun at all. I just think the biggest sin the book commits is that it’s not just a retelling of the story, it’s a retelling of the gameplay as well, which doesn’t translate.
Besides that point, the entire story of Combat Evolved was that of Master Chief’s. Sure, other characters were featured and were explored, but there wasn’t a fucking side plot that followed an Elite, a Grunt, an ODST troop, and 100 other useless fucking characters that added nothing to the fucking story. Even when the book is just following the game, it doesn’t flow well because while the core script of Combat Evolved is told here, what makes Halo such an incredible series (at least the Bungie games) revolved around how the player explored the sandbox, and approached each and every firefight in their own unique way. Having each bullet shot and grenade thrown explained in excruciating details, made me want to punch my head against a wall.
Whether you’re a Halo fan, a book fan, or a fan of anything that isn’t shit, stay as far away from this book as humanly possible. Dear Jesus, do not read this book. I followed this up directly finishing The Fall of Reach, and from experience, skip The Flood and jump straight into First Strike. Nothing will be lost, only anger and regret added.
"No," Cortana admitted. "I managed to slice some data out of the Covenant battle network. They call it 'Halo, and it has some kind of religious significance to them…”
Oh, God! This book was atrocious. I am so regretful for having read this and stunned as to how such an amazing story turned into this. The only other book that I have given 1/5 stars to was Wyrd and Other Derelictions by Adam Nevill, and I never imagined that another book could even come close to rivaling how bad that book is, but this is a close contender, if not worse. In the defense of Wyrd (a sentence I would have never thought I would ever state), that book was at least 100% description, so you couldn’t fault it for having horrible characters and laughable dialogue.
The Flood has no excuse, everything in it is bad. There is not a single redeemable sentence in this book, and the entire time I was reading this book I kept asking myself, “who was this written for?” Fans of the game will be horrified and angry at how bastardized the story of Combat Evolved is, and people who haven’t played the game before will be confused and bored throughout the book, wondering how anyone could find the game fun at all. I just think the biggest sin the book commits is that it’s not just a retelling of the story, it’s a retelling of the gameplay as well, which doesn’t translate.
Besides that point, the entire story of Combat Evolved was that of Master Chief’s. Sure, other characters were featured and were explored, but there wasn’t a fucking side plot that followed an Elite, a Grunt, an ODST troop, and 100 other useless fucking characters that added nothing to the fucking story. Even when the book is just following the game, it doesn’t flow well because while the core script of Combat Evolved is told here, what makes Halo such an incredible series (at least the Bungie games) revolved around how the player explored the sandbox, and approached each and every firefight in their own unique way. Having each bullet shot and grenade thrown explained in excruciating details, made me want to punch my head against a wall.
Whether you’re a Halo fan, a book fan, or a fan of anything that isn’t shit, stay as far away from this book as humanly possible. Dear Jesus, do not read this book. I followed this up directly finishing The Fall of Reach, and from experience, skip The Flood and jump straight into First Strike. Nothing will be lost, only anger and regret added.