A special treat for you patient viewers. Two books came int he mail last week and I spent my time reading them to review. This is one of them.
On 21 January 2014, Karen Traviss, 343 Industries, and Tor Book published the final installment of the acclaimed, gripping, and well-written Kilo Five trilogy. This time, the gloves come off as Staffan Sentzke attempts to recover a Sangheili shpi to glass Earth, but will Kilo Five stop him, or will Naomi-010 be unable to prevent her father from seeking vengeance? Synopsis: Wars end. But hatred, guilt, and devotion can endure beyond the grave. With the Covenant War over, the Office of Naval Intelligence faces old grievances rising again to threaten Earth. The angry, bitter colonies, still with scores to settle from the insurrection put on hold for thirty years, now want justice--and so does a man whose life was torn apart by ONI when his daughter was abducted for the SPARTAN-II program. Black ops squad Kilo-Five find their loyalties tested beyond breaking point when the father of their Spartan comrade, still searching for the truth about her disappearance, prepares to glass Earth's cities to get an answer. How far will Kilo-Five go to stop him? And will he be able to live with the truth when he finds it? The painful answer lies with a man long dead, and a conscience that still survives in the most unlikely, undiscovered place.
The novel opens with Staffan Sentzke ruminating on his life thus far. Then, it shifts to the past to explore what it felt like to have a child kidnapped, then Staffan's reaction to it, the clone-Naomi that died, and how he was convinced that the UNSC did this. Presently: Naomi-010 and Vasily Beloi attempt to situate themselves into Venezia's captial--New Tyne--when Naomi is recalled for fear that someone will link her and Staffan as family, so Malcolm "Mal" Geffen takes her place. Together, Mal and Vaz manage to gain an entry into the local militia. Meanwhile, Avu Med 'Telcam hires Kig-Yar shipmistress Chol Von to track down Sav Fel--the renegade Kig-Yar who stole Pious Inquisitor from the Sangheili rebels during the civil war on Sangheilios months ago--but she has plans to return the Kig-Yar navy and kick some pride back into her people. Sav Fel, however, sold Pious Inquisitor to Staffan and they tested the ventral beam on a collection of Forerunner ruins; this greatly upsets the aging Huragok Sometimes Lists, and Staffan finds other places to test it out on before parking PI in darkness above Venezia. Staffan invites Mal and Vaz aboard because of their expertise as renegade UNSC marines who've flown Covenant vessels. Black Box (BB) and Admiral Serin Osman keep ONI queen--Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky--up to date. However, Mal and Vaz get picked up by Staffan and a couple of his people--plus Staffan's son Edvin--and BB alerts Port Stanely. Mal and Vaz are interrogated, but Vaz loosely tells Staffan that Naomi is alive and fine. Because of this, Staffan wants to keep them alive so he can learn the truth or meet Naomi.
Naomi and Devereaux rescue the two marines and capture Staffan. Meanwhile Chol Von tracks Sav Fel to Venezia and kidnaps him. They attempt to board PI--now called Naomi--but Sometimes Lists engages Slipspace and flees. Port Stanley gives chase and catches up to them. Staffan, having learned everything from Naomi, BB, and the marines about the kidnapping and being brainwashed and indoctrinated by Halsey into the SPARTAN-II program (though Halsey's name is left unsaid), agrees to help his daughter retake the ship. Naomi, Mal, Vaz, and a portion of BB split from Staffan, Sometimes Lists, and rig PI to self destruct. BB lets Staffan and Sometimes Lists go so long as they vanish completely; Staffan agrees to fade and sends Vaz a holographic imagery display that shows the night time sky of Naomi's glassed homeworld. Chol Von and her crew--plus her plans for the Kig-Yar--are destroyed with the ship. In the end, Serin works up the courage to view her files and learns that her mother was a prostitute and that the only person who cared for her was a teacher--one Mrs. Alkmini Leandro--who's still alive on Cascade. Serin decides the crew needs some down time and goes to meet her former teacher, who's overjoyed that Serin survived and made something of herself. During this, Vaz attempts to help Naomi get over reuniting with and losing her father while Evan Phillips and Lian Devereaux go on a date. The novel ends with a letter to Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky detailing how he can't stand to go on and commits suicide because of the SPARTAN-II Project; the letter belongs to Dr. Graham J. Alban who's brain was preserved for Black Box (BBX-8995-1) a.k.a. BB.
All in all, a wonderful ending to a great trilogy that captures the very real feeling of post-war turmoils and skeletons-coming-out-of-the-closet scenarios. Props to Karen Traviss for braving the Halo universe. A must read for every fan.
On 21 January 2014, Karen Traviss, 343 Industries, and Tor Book published the final installment of the acclaimed, gripping, and well-written Kilo Five trilogy. This time, the gloves come off as Staffan Sentzke attempts to recover a Sangheili shpi to glass Earth, but will Kilo Five stop him, or will Naomi-010 be unable to prevent her father from seeking vengeance? Synopsis: Wars end. But hatred, guilt, and devotion can endure beyond the grave. With the Covenant War over, the Office of Naval Intelligence faces old grievances rising again to threaten Earth. The angry, bitter colonies, still with scores to settle from the insurrection put on hold for thirty years, now want justice--and so does a man whose life was torn apart by ONI when his daughter was abducted for the SPARTAN-II program. Black ops squad Kilo-Five find their loyalties tested beyond breaking point when the father of their Spartan comrade, still searching for the truth about her disappearance, prepares to glass Earth's cities to get an answer. How far will Kilo-Five go to stop him? And will he be able to live with the truth when he finds it? The painful answer lies with a man long dead, and a conscience that still survives in the most unlikely, undiscovered place.
The novel opens with Staffan Sentzke ruminating on his life thus far. Then, it shifts to the past to explore what it felt like to have a child kidnapped, then Staffan's reaction to it, the clone-Naomi that died, and how he was convinced that the UNSC did this. Presently: Naomi-010 and Vasily Beloi attempt to situate themselves into Venezia's captial--New Tyne--when Naomi is recalled for fear that someone will link her and Staffan as family, so Malcolm "Mal" Geffen takes her place. Together, Mal and Vaz manage to gain an entry into the local militia. Meanwhile, Avu Med 'Telcam hires Kig-Yar shipmistress Chol Von to track down Sav Fel--the renegade Kig-Yar who stole Pious Inquisitor from the Sangheili rebels during the civil war on Sangheilios months ago--but she has plans to return the Kig-Yar navy and kick some pride back into her people. Sav Fel, however, sold Pious Inquisitor to Staffan and they tested the ventral beam on a collection of Forerunner ruins; this greatly upsets the aging Huragok Sometimes Lists, and Staffan finds other places to test it out on before parking PI in darkness above Venezia. Staffan invites Mal and Vaz aboard because of their expertise as renegade UNSC marines who've flown Covenant vessels. Black Box (BB) and Admiral Serin Osman keep ONI queen--Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky--up to date. However, Mal and Vaz get picked up by Staffan and a couple of his people--plus Staffan's son Edvin--and BB alerts Port Stanely. Mal and Vaz are interrogated, but Vaz loosely tells Staffan that Naomi is alive and fine. Because of this, Staffan wants to keep them alive so he can learn the truth or meet Naomi.
Naomi and Devereaux rescue the two marines and capture Staffan. Meanwhile Chol Von tracks Sav Fel to Venezia and kidnaps him. They attempt to board PI--now called Naomi--but Sometimes Lists engages Slipspace and flees. Port Stanley gives chase and catches up to them. Staffan, having learned everything from Naomi, BB, and the marines about the kidnapping and being brainwashed and indoctrinated by Halsey into the SPARTAN-II program (though Halsey's name is left unsaid), agrees to help his daughter retake the ship. Naomi, Mal, Vaz, and a portion of BB split from Staffan, Sometimes Lists, and rig PI to self destruct. BB lets Staffan and Sometimes Lists go so long as they vanish completely; Staffan agrees to fade and sends Vaz a holographic imagery display that shows the night time sky of Naomi's glassed homeworld. Chol Von and her crew--plus her plans for the Kig-Yar--are destroyed with the ship. In the end, Serin works up the courage to view her files and learns that her mother was a prostitute and that the only person who cared for her was a teacher--one Mrs. Alkmini Leandro--who's still alive on Cascade. Serin decides the crew needs some down time and goes to meet her former teacher, who's overjoyed that Serin survived and made something of herself. During this, Vaz attempts to help Naomi get over reuniting with and losing her father while Evan Phillips and Lian Devereaux go on a date. The novel ends with a letter to Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky detailing how he can't stand to go on and commits suicide because of the SPARTAN-II Project; the letter belongs to Dr. Graham J. Alban who's brain was preserved for Black Box (BBX-8995-1) a.k.a. BB.
All in all, a wonderful ending to a great trilogy that captures the very real feeling of post-war turmoils and skeletons-coming-out-of-the-closet scenarios. Props to Karen Traviss for braving the Halo universe. A must read for every fan.
