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A review by bhall237
Halo: First Strike by Eric S. Nylund
4.0
“And I'II take this plan to Admiral Whitcomb---make him see that it's the only way. We're going to take this fight to the Covenant. We're going to launch a first strike.”
Oh to be able to love a Halo book again after the abhorrent endeavor into The Flood killed any momentum in future books. This book was luckily written by the immensely talented Eric Nylund, who previously helmed The Fall of Reach. His talents are on full display once again, and I could tell from the first sentence of this book how much stronger and descriptive Nylund is compared to Dietz in The Flood.
Once again, Nylund captures the camaraderie of the Spartan soldiers better than any of the Halo games are able to accomplish, let alone any of the books. Nylund’s tight knit group of a skeleton crew felt like Halo’s version of “The Empire Strikes Back.” Following Master Chief and his crew, along with Blue Team on Reach after the planet was glassed was phenomenally executed. Returning characters were a delight to be able to follow again, and I felt that a hindrance of the games that the books excel at is having a group of Spartans as opposed to Chief being the only Spartan. Giving him a full crew and more than just Cortana to interact with and care for is something I’m realizing very much limits the games in retrospect.
I think this book is damn near perfect, I think The Fall of Reach blew me away with the limitations imposed on Nylund and how well he was able to deliver despite that. In quite a similar manner here, how Nylund sets up the events of Halo 2 is perfectly illustrated here, and how seamlessly the story flows from book to game format is impressive to say the least. Highly recommended, especially if you suffered through the drag that was The Flood.
Oh to be able to love a Halo book again after the abhorrent endeavor into The Flood killed any momentum in future books. This book was luckily written by the immensely talented Eric Nylund, who previously helmed The Fall of Reach. His talents are on full display once again, and I could tell from the first sentence of this book how much stronger and descriptive Nylund is compared to Dietz in The Flood.
Once again, Nylund captures the camaraderie of the Spartan soldiers better than any of the Halo games are able to accomplish, let alone any of the books. Nylund’s tight knit group of a skeleton crew felt like Halo’s version of “The Empire Strikes Back.” Following Master Chief and his crew, along with Blue Team on Reach after the planet was glassed was phenomenally executed. Returning characters were a delight to be able to follow again, and I felt that a hindrance of the games that the books excel at is having a group of Spartans as opposed to Chief being the only Spartan. Giving him a full crew and more than just Cortana to interact with and care for is something I’m realizing very much limits the games in retrospect.
I think this book is damn near perfect, I think The Fall of Reach blew me away with the limitations imposed on Nylund and how well he was able to deliver despite that. In quite a similar manner here, how Nylund sets up the events of Halo 2 is perfectly illustrated here, and how seamlessly the story flows from book to game format is impressive to say the least. Highly recommended, especially if you suffered through the drag that was The Flood.