Book Review: Halo: Ghosts of Onyx SPOILERS!

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx was Eric Nylund's last Halo novel. It's about the birth of the SPARTAN-III project by Colonel James Ackerson and Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose. Yes, these were the Spartans seen in Halo: Reach. The SPARTAN-II program has gone public. Tales of super-soldiers fending off thousands of Covenant attacks has become the stuff of legend. But just how many Spartans are left? While the Master Chief defends a besieged Earth, and the myriad factions of the Covenant continue their crusade to eliminate humanity, an ultra-secret cell of the Office of Naval Intelligence known as "Section Three" devises a plan to buy the UNSC vital time. They're going to need hundreds of willing soldiers, though...and one more Spartan to get the job done. Planet Onyx is virtually abandoned and the perfect place to set this new plan in motion. When the Master Chief destroys Halo, however, something is triggered deep within Onyx. Action begins to boil and the Ancient Forerunner technology stirs. Armadas of UNSC and Covenant race to claim the Forerunner secrets in order to change the course of the Human-Covenant war. But this reawakened and ancient force may have plans of its own...

The prologue begins with the 300 SPARTAN-IIIs of Beta Company being deployed to the Covenant Planet, Pegasi Delta in 2545. The only survivors are SPARTANS Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091. They are revealed to be twelve years old and Lucy, as a result of loosing all her friends, goes mute. Rewind back to 2531 to a raid by SPARTAN-II Blue Team against insurrectionists on Planet Victoria to recover stolen FENRIS nuclear warheads. Five months later,  Ackerson meets with three ONI officers, Rear Admiral Rich, Captain Gibson and Vice Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky. During the meeting, Ackerson moves forward a proposal for a new SPARTAN program which retains most of the effectiveness of the Series II program without the high costs of the previous project. This becomes the SPARTAN-III program, a more streamlined, "disposable", as well as more numerous, company of SPARTANS that must be trained for high-risk operations. Ackerson is given the UNSC controlled world Onyx with the purpose of training the SPARTAN-IIIs, and is promised one of the SPARTAN-IIs to train them. The next month, Kurt, Kelly and Fred are sent to Station Delphi in the Groombridge 34 system to "investigate" a ruptured Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. When Kurt tries to approach the engine, his T-Pack malfunctions and sends him spinning away into deep space. Kurt awakes a month later and meets Ackerson, who informs him that the events as Station Delphi were staged in order to recruit him. Kurt is told of the SPARTAN-III project and is given orders to train the volunteers of the SPARTAN-III program. Ackerson promotes him to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and assigns him the surname Ambrose to hide his previous service as a Spartan.

Kurt trains the recruits with MCPO Franklin Mendez. The first batch of SPARTAN-IIIs dies completing a mission Kurt vows to do better. The next batch is the one that Lucy and Tom came from. After their mission, Kurt has them assigned to him. A few years later, another group of SPARTAN-IIIs are one a live-fire exercise on Onyx when a sentinel shows up. It begins to attack and, after a few days, Kurt and the rest are warring with the sentinels. In transit to the planet, Dr. Catherine Halsey and Kelly approach and try to make contact. Their ship crashes and Kurt finds them. Kelly is shocked to learn that Kurt is still alive. Halsey wakes up and berrates Kurt and Mendez for what they did to make the SPARTAN-IIIs. Kurt points out that now isn't the best time and that he didn't have to take orders from her as his superior officer is Ackerson. Halsey notes that there's a Forerunner construct where the sentinels are coming from. They go there, but not before Halsey sends word to Admiral Lord Terrence Hood--piggybacked off of Cortana's warning about Halo Installation 05--for SPARTAN reinforcements.

Hood gets the message and sends Fred, Linda, and William to Onyx. They get there and everyone reaches the Forerunner construct and find out that the Sangheili are there. Both sides fight for control with Will ad four of the SPARTAN-IIIs dying. Halsey, Mendez, Ash, Olivia, Mark, Fred, Kelly, and Linda make it through. Kurt, Tom and Lucy attempt to hold them off. Kurt's dying and, in an attempt to save his two proteges, knocks Tom unconscious and orders Lucy to take Tom and enter the portal. The portal seals as Kurt dies killing the rest of the Sangheili troops. Inside the portal, it's revealed that the landmass inside is about the size of Earth orbit around the Sun. Halsey says they're in a Dyson Sphere and that Onyx's surface was false. The novel ends there, but if you read my review of Halo: Glasslands, then you know the ending to that story.

All in all, a decent novel and one of the best by Eric Nylund. Well crafted, fast-paced, and everything a Halo fan could ask for. Oh, and great characters too.

Book Review: Halo: First Strike SPOILERS!

Halo: First Strike is written by Eric Nylund, as is his second in the Halo novel series. First Strike picks up where Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood ended. Well... somewhat. Halo has been destroyed, and the threat it posed to sentient life, neutralized. But victory has come at a terrible cost for the UNSC. Thousands of valiant soldiers fell in the battle to prevent the alien construct from falling into the enemy's clutches. Now, everything depends on the Spartan known as the "Master Chief." Yet even with the aid of the artificial intelligence Cortana, the Master Chief will be hard-pressed to rescue survivors and evade the Covenant ships patrolling the remains of Halo in debris-strewn space. Ahead lies a dangerous voyage home, through a gauntlet of Covenant forces. For the sake of all, the Master Chief and his war-torn squad must not only survive, but take the fight to the enemy with a decisive first strike.

The novel opens with the final moments of Reach. No, not the game, the events of The Fall of Reach. Fred, Kelly, William, and a few others not only fought, but survived to make it to a stronghold where Dr. Catherine Halsey is located. The Covenant glasses the planet and power is cut. Fast-forward to the end of The Flood, and the Master Chief, with Cortana, sit in the Longsword, scanning the debris field for survivors. The Covenant armada descends and Cortana identifies a low ping off a Pelican. They slingshot around Basis and Staff Sergeant A. J. Johnson comes aboard first. The Master Chief accuses Johnson of being a Flood victim and Johnson rebuffs this by saying the Flood passed him up. Cortana confirms this but John-117 wants to make sure, but is willing to wait until they get back to UNSC controlled space. The rest come aboard and the Chief tells them they're going to take the Covenant's flagship. They do so and plot a course for Reach, as it is no longer in UNSC hands. The ship is mostly full of Huragoks.

One of the Huragok repairs the MJOLNIR armor for the Master Chief and Lt. Elias Haverson kills it, believing that if given the choice, it'll turn on them and report back to the Covenant. They jump to slipspace and arrive at Reach to find what's left of the human fleet in debris fields with a couple of Covenant cruisers placed above the planet. John-117 overhears a rhythm being played on a com channel and makes preparations to land on the planet. In a meeting, it's almost revealed that Colonel Ackerson has a back up plan for the SPARTAN-IIs. What it is is any one's guess. Ackerson insults the Spartan-2s despite Lord Admiral Terrence Hood telling him to shut up and show them respect. Ackerson says sending a recon team to Reach is pointless as there can be no survivors.  Back on Reach, Halsey finds a file labeled "King Under The Mountain" with contents such as CPOFM and S-III. The ONI base continues to collapse.

Five days later, The Master Chief lands on Reach and stumbles across Admiral Danforth Whitcomb with a couple of Spartans. The Chief tells them everything he knows and Johnson and the others fill in the rest. They find and extract Halsey, Fred, Kelly and the rest and high-tail it off Reach. They rendezvous with Insurrectionist Jacob Jiles and borrow his ships to fight off the Covenant. Halsey says the reason Johnson couldn't be infected by the Flood is because of Boren's Syndrome (which is a cover for his time in the ORION Project, the Spartan-I program). She panics, drugs Kelly and flees for Ackerson's S-III base. Hood saves the day and John-117, Fred-081, Linda-058, and William-043, with several copies of Cortana take the fight to the Covenant aboard the Unyielding Hierophant. They succeed in delaying the Covenant from attacking Earth and the Inner Colonies. The Prophet of Truth summons Tartarus to bring him the one who failed.

All in all, Eric Nylund wrote one hell of a novel and in 2003, it made the New York Times Bestseller list. Well crafted, great characters, good plot, and a fantastic read for any Halo fan.

Book Review: Halo: The Flood SPOILERS!

The one and only novelization in the Halo Universe, Halo: The Flood accurately portrays not only the events in the game, but the Marines and Covenant as they all deal with each other on Installation 04. Written by William C. Deitz, a former Navy and Marine Corps medic, Deitz portrays the Marines with in-depth characterizations instead of the unhelpful idiots the NPCs (non-playable characters) are in game. As the fortress wold of Reach and its brave defenders were bombarded to rubble, a single cruiser fled the carnage with the battle's only human survivors--Captain Keyes, his crew of a few hundred Marines, and the last remaining SPARTAN super-soldier, the Master Chief. With the cruiser's artificial intelligence, Cortana, concealed in his battle armor, the Master Chief crash-lands on Halo in the midst of a massive Covenant occupation. Curiously, the alien soldiers appear to be searching for something hidden on the ring. Built by a long-dead race, Halo harbors many dead secrets, but one overshadows them all. Now the Master Chief must lead the scattered troops in a brutal race to unravel Halo's darkest mystery--and unleash its greatest source of power...

I'm barely going to mention the game-stuff as anyone familiar with the game is all ready familiar with it. I'm going to talk about the rest of it. So, the novel opens up with a tech officer unsealing the Master Chief while Keyes and Cortana fight the Covenant Task Force in orbit above Halo. A Sangheili warrior is tasked with capturing Keyes for information that may lead them to Earth. Needless to say, Foehammer, the rest of the pilots and Marines and ODSTs exit the ship. The Master Chief and Keyes also exit and everyone ends up stranded. Keyes is captured by the Covenant by a betrayal from a fellow officer. Major Silva takes a Covenant base and converts it to the humans headquarters. The Master Chief and Cortana rendezvous with Staff Sergeant Johnson and pick up the remaining stranded Marines. Back at base, Silva berates the Master Chief for being a freak and shows hatred for the entire SPARTAN-II program. Then, they form a plan to rescue Keyes. It's a hit and the Covenant react slowly to stop the Master Chief and a squad of Marines from their task.

The next day, The Master Chief and Cortana try and secure the Silent Cartographer while Keyes, with Johnson and his Marines attempt to take a weapons cache. It turns out to be home to something horrible and it kills everyone but Johnson, Keyes, and Jenkins. Cortana and the Master Chief find the Cartographer and head to a terminal on a snowy mountainous level where Cortana informs the Chief that Keyes is in trouble. The Master Chief arrives to find the half-dead Marines which try and kill him. With the help of 343 Guilty Spark, the Master Chief manages to retrieve the Index. Major Silva, meanwhile, is pissed with the Chief because a lot of Marines died when a Sangheili named Zuka 'Zamamee and his team of special operations Unggoy and Sangheili infiltrate the human's base and kill them while looking for the Master Chief whom they call the Demon. Zuka's Unggoy friend, Yayap, are the only survivors from that attempt and head to the remains of the Pillar of Autumn to wait for the Master Chief.

After taking down three energy pylons, the Master Chief heads for the Truth and Reconciliation's remains to rescue Keyes. They're too late and the Chief takes his neural relays to find the Autumn. Meanwhile, the humans have captured the Flood-form of Jenkins. Jenkins keeps trying to kill himself because he knows he's a threat. Silva wants to bring back a live member of each Flood-form for Earth to study. Another officer, after the Chief cleared out Truth and Reconciliation, arms a frag grenade and blows up the ship, killing all the Marines. The Master Chief destroys the Autumn's engines, much to the displeasure of 343 Guilty Spark, and kills Zuka along the way to the docked Longsword. Halo detonates and the Master Chief and Cortana sit the explosion out in the safety of space.

All in all, a very well crafted novel from William C. Deitz. He writes believable characters and situations that could very easily have been cut-scenes in the game. Reading this novel always makes me want to replay the game.

Book Review: Halo: The Fall of Reach SPOILERS!

The very first Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund tells not only the Battle and Fall of Reach, but how the Spartan-2 project came into existence, how Jacob Keyes became a Captain, and how Cortana was created into being. While the brutal Covenant juggernaut sweeps inexorably through space, intent on wiping out humankind, only one stronghold remains--the planet Reach. Practically on Earth's doorstep, it is the last military fortress to defy the alien onslaught. But Reach's defenders have another, higher priority: to prevent the Covenant from discovering the location of Earth. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers seem to have little chance against the Covenant, but Reach holds a closely guarded secret. It is the training ground for the very first "super soldiers." Code-named SPARTANs, these highly advanced warriors, specially bioengineered and technologically augmented, are the best in the universe--quiet, professional, and deadly. Now, as the ferocious Covenant attack begins, a handful of SPARTANs stand ready to wage ultimate war. They will kill, they will be destroyed, but they will never surrender. And at least one of them--the SPARTAN known as the Master Chief--will live to fight another day on a mysterious and ancient artificial world called Halo...

The prologue beings with the Battle and Fall of Jericho VII. The Master Chief and Blue Team prevent Covenant forces from getting a fortress up and running, but lose the planet to the Covenant's glassing. Back in the past, Lt. Jacob Keyes and Dr. Catherine Halsey land on Eridanus 2 where Halsey looks over a boy called John. For the next few years, John and the other children, trained by CPO Franklin Mendez and an AI called Deja to fight against the Insurrectionists. Halsey has them bioengineered for super strength and speed. Not all make it through. A few months later and their first mission against the Innies goes well but dark times approach soon.

Admiral Stanforth, in a private meeting, reveals that Harvest has fallen to an unknown alien race. John-117 and the rest of the SPARTANs are being accelerated to Project MJOLNIR. During a fight against the Covenant, the SPARTAN known as Sam dies. In the Sigma Octanus Star System, the Covenant appear and attack. Jacob Keyes, now a Commander, fight the enemy. Admiral Stanforth arrives with the second largest space fleet ever seen and help retake the system while the Master Chief and three teams of SPARTANs retake the planet. During the battle, Keyes is promoted to Captain. The Covenant retreat, but not before placing a tracing beacon onto Keyes' ship. It leads them to Reach.

John-117 is given the MJOLNIR armor and tests it out with the AI Cortana. They pass with flying colors. A new mission is assigned the entire SPARTANs and Keyes. They are to take Pillar of Autumn and perform a hit in Covenant Space and capture a Prophet. Just as they are about to leave, the Covenant show up and being to destroy the planet. The Master Chief sends all of the SPARTANs down to defend Reach except Linda. Johnson and his strike team are disabling every vessel that's been damaged, wiping data so the Covenant can't find Earth. Linda and John end up in cryo. (This whole ending part of the novel takes place over the events of Halo: Reach, which shows the SPARTAN 3's waging war against the Covenant). Pillar of Autumn flees Reach and ends up in the Threshold system, where a mysterious ring is balanced between Threshold and its moon Basis.

All in all, a very well crafted and fast-paced novel from Eric Nylund. Despite being an 11-year-old novel, it's still one of the best in the Halo franchise.

Book Review: Halo: The Cole Protocol SPOILERS

The novel Halo: The Cole Protocol by Tobias S. Buckell continues the fight between the humans and the multi-species Covenant.

In the first, desperate days of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC has enacted the Cole Protocol to safeguard Earth and its inner colonies from discovery by a merciless alien foe. Many are called upon to rid the universe of lingering navigation data that would reveal the location of Earth. Among them is Navy Lieutenant Jacob Keyes. Thrust back into action after being sidelined, Keyes is saddled with a top secret mission by ONI. One that will take him deep behind enemy lines, to a corner of the universe where nothing is as it seems.

Out beyond the Outer Colonies lies the planet Hesiod, a gas giant surrounded by a vast asteroid belt. As the Covenant continues to glass the human-occupied planets near Hesiod, many of the survivors, helped by a stonghold of human Insurrectionists, are fleeing to the asteroid belt for refuge. They have transformed the tumbling satellites into a tenuous, yet ingenious, settlement known as the Rubble--and have come face-to-face with a Covenant settlement of Kig-Yar. . . yet somehow survived.

News of this unlikely threat has spread to the warring sides. Luckily for the UNSC, this uneasy alliance is in the path of the Spartan Gray Team, a three-man renegade squad whose simple task is to wreak havoc from behind enemy lines in any way they see fit. But the Prophets have also sent their best, an ambitious and ruthless Elite, whose quest for nobility and rank is matched only by his brutality. . . and who will do anything to secure his Ascendancy and walk the Path.

All in all, a good read on a nice spring day. Tobias has demonstrated an ability to clearly define the action and set the stage for further war stories.

Book Review: Halo: Glasslands SPOILERS!

I've recently read the novel Halo: Glasslands by bestselling novelist Karen Traviss. Set between the flight from the Ark at the end of Halo 3 and the memorial scene in Halo 3, Glasslands and Traviss draw you into a world dealing with the after effects of war.

On Earth, the Office of Naval Intelligence sends out a team lead by a failed SPARTAN II candidate with a mixed-bag team compromised of a Spartan II named Naomi, two ODSTs called Val and Maz, an AI named BB, and a Sangheili (Elite) linguistics expert to sell weapons back to the Elites hoping they'll start a war with The Arbiter Thel 'Vadam. They do this all while killing Brutes and Jackals and planting fake footage of them attacking Elite ships.

Meanwhile, in the Dyson Sphere that used to be Onyx, the remaining Spartan 2s and 3s with their trainer Franklin Mendez and Spartan creator Catherine Halsey explore the world they were trapped in during the events of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund. They're trying to find a way out as well as new Forerunner technology while thinking that the Flood have overrun the galaxy or that the Halos have all fired and wiped out all life. They find a way out eventually with help from three original Forerunner-made Engineers.

On Sanghelios, the homeworld of the Elites, a group of Elite terrorists have started making plans to fight the Arbiter for dismissing the Forerunners as gods and for promoting peace with the humans. The three plots come to a head when one of the Elites is kidnapped by the ONI group before they race off to arrest Halsey for stealing war assets.

Admiral Hood invites Vadam to attend the memorial where they agree that The Master Chief is dead (as of the trailer for Halo 4, we know that's not true, but the characters believe this). The novel comes to a close as Halsey is shipped off to work with others on the Spartan-4 project while the captured Elite helps human technicians with acquiring Forerunner technology from the now open Dyson Sphere. The linguistics expert goes to Sanghelios as a guest of the Arbriter and the Elite Terrorists strike, signaling the end of the book.

A good book that provides enough detail and character moments as well as recaps of the storyline from the other Halo works for the average reader to easily follow along.