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A review by foxo_cube
Halo: The Flood by William C. Dietz
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Sadly, this was a slight let-down after <i>The Fall of Reach</i>. It's not a terrible book, but it is essentially just a written version of Combat Evolved, which wouldn't be a crime in itself if only it added a little more to it!
John doesn't feel as fleshed-out as he did in TFoR, although his dynamic with Cortana is as sweet as ever. God, he has no idea how down bad Cortana is for him, bless him.
There is a little bit of background regarding machinations within UNSC that we don't see in-game, most notably, Silva being a salty fucker for no good reason. ODSTs, honestly. Saying that, Lt. McKay is a good character: a tough, no-nonsense woman who I found very likeable.
One thing I did really enjoy, though, was the storyline of Zuka 'Zamamee and Yayap. Ugh, Yayap is so cute, I wish I could give him a big hug. He's a Grunt who manages to fall up the social ladder by insisting on saving 'Zamamee so that he and his friends can get out of combat. 'Zamamee is an Elite who is absolutely set on defeating John after he is felled by him in battle, saved only by Yayap trying to get the hell out of danger.
This gives us a bit more insight into the structure of the Covenant, which is extremely hierarchical and pretty bureaucratic. Seeing 'Zamamee's struggles to be listened to on his very sound worry that the Spartan poses far more of a threat to the Covenant than the average human soldier makes it both tragic and comic when we see him through John's eyes: that is, as completely indistinguishable to any other Elite.
You know, I think that's the ultimate issue with this book: John's perspective is the least interesting one, and he IS <i>the</i> John Halo! I so wish Dietz had done more with him - his thoughts, his interactions, etc., because as is I may as well have just replayed CE and had a lot more fun than I did reading a play-by-play of, well, a playthrough of CE.
John doesn't feel as fleshed-out as he did in TFoR, although his dynamic with Cortana is as sweet as ever. God, he has no idea how down bad Cortana is for him, bless him.
There is a little bit of background regarding machinations within UNSC that we don't see in-game, most notably, Silva being a salty fucker for no good reason. ODSTs, honestly. Saying that, Lt. McKay is a good character: a tough, no-nonsense woman who I found very likeable.
One thing I did really enjoy, though, was the storyline of Zuka 'Zamamee and Yayap. Ugh, Yayap is so cute, I wish I could give him a big hug. He's a Grunt who manages to fall up the social ladder by insisting on saving 'Zamamee so that he and his friends can get out of combat. 'Zamamee is an Elite who is absolutely set on defeating John after he is felled by him in battle, saved only by Yayap trying to get the hell out of danger.
This gives us a bit more insight into the structure of the Covenant, which is extremely hierarchical and pretty bureaucratic. Seeing 'Zamamee's struggles to be listened to on his very sound worry that the Spartan poses far more of a threat to the Covenant than the average human soldier makes it both tragic and comic when we see him through John's eyes: that is, as completely indistinguishable to any other Elite.
You know, I think that's the ultimate issue with this book: John's perspective is the least interesting one, and he IS <i>the</i> John Halo! I so wish Dietz had done more with him - his thoughts, his interactions, etc., because as is I may as well have just replayed CE and had a lot more fun than I did reading a play-by-play of, well, a playthrough of CE.