Book Review: The Wess'har saga: City of Pearl SPOILERS!

In March 2004, EOS published Karen Traviss's first novel, The City of Pearl. It's a story of a cop on an alien world, playing politics to keep probing scientists, the human colony, marines, and three aliens at peace, but time is running out. Synopsis: Three separate alien societies have claims on Cavanagh's Star. But the new arrivals—the gethes from Earth—now threaten the tenuous balance of a coveted world. Environmental Hazard Enforcement officer Shan Frankland agreed to lead a mission to Cavanagh's Star, knowing that 150 years would elapse before she could finally return home. But her landing, with a small group of scientists and Marines, has not gone unnoticed by Aras, the planet's designated guardian. An eternally evolving world himself, this sad, powerful being has already obliterated millions of alien interlopers and their great cities to protect the fragile native population. Now Shan and her party—plus the small colony of fundamentalist humans who preceded them—could face a similar annihilation . . . or a fate far worse. Because Aras possesses a secret of the blood that would be disastrous if it fell into human hands—if the gethes survive the impending war their coming has inadvertently hastened.

Environmental Hazard Enforcement officer Shan Franklin, on what's supposed to be her last job, is asked by Foreign Minister Eugenie Perault to lead a joint government and commercial reconnaissance team--comprised of marines and scientists--to Cavanagh's Star to find out something from Constantine colony. She doesn't remember because of Suppressed Briefing. Her mission was crammed into her head and only specific thoughts will unlock the hidden data. Upon arrival in Cavanagh's Star, the spaceship breaks down du to a (as we later learn) wess'har energy barrier. Everything except life support is shut down. Josh Garrod, the leader of the Christian colony of Constantine, allows only Shan to land. They talk and let the scientists and marines land, so long as the scientists don't harm or kill the plants/natives, meaning some non-obtrusive scans and photos and journals. The camp is set up and Shan breaks the news to the scientists. They aren't happy, especially when they learn about the aquatic race, the bezeri, and the wess'har and an invading race, the isenj, are out there. A couple of the scientists see why when out on an excursion. 

The camp accidentally shoots Aras Sar Iussan--a wess'har with c'naatat (a virus that keeps reorganizing its host and keeps them alive--out of the sky. Shan and Josh go to rescue him and Shan helps Aras get out of the downed ship. The camps defenses are taken down. The next day, Shan meets with Josh and Aras. They talk, during which Shan offers Aras food, an intimate gesture in wess'har society and culture. Aras shows Shan the bezeri council, in pods that are underwater. After a couple of days getting to know each other, Aras tells Shan that the bezeri want to meet with her and to have her people build her an underwater suit. Surendra Parekh--one of the scientists--brings a juvenile bezeri back to camp and, after Shan and the reporter Eddie tel her to put it back, experiments on it. The juvenile bezeri dies painfully. Shan restriscts Parekh to quarters. She tells Aras, who tells Shan to give him Parekh because she has to die for her crime. Shan gives Aras her pistol and Parekh. Aras kills Parekh; this causes a rift in the scientists. A second ship, Actaeon, arrives from Earth. They're allied with the isenj. Aras tells Shan. She tells him she needs the farmers food gene bank. She finds out about the c'naatat and what it can do. 

Shan's horrified and tells Aras to stay away from the scientists. Actaeon arrives and Shan confines the scientists and marines to base. Dr. Rayat and Dr. Galvin flee the base, going to the isenj. Shan, Aras, Bennett, and Qureshi leave base and track Rayat and Galvin. Meanwhile, Lindsey confirms that Shan had Parekh executed for killing a kid to Actaeon's skipper. Shan, Aras and the marines find the isenj base. The isenj go to kill Aras and a fight breaks out. Galvin dies from her wounds and SHan dies after a projectile blows half her head off. The isenj die and Aras puts some of the c'naatat into Shan (depsite her hatred of it). Bennett takes a wounded Qureshi and Rayat back to base. Aras takes Shan to Constantine. Shan wakes up and soon realizes that she has c'naatat in her and rages at Aras for breaking his promise to kill her should it infect her. Shan meets with the wess'har matriarchs and they tell her to remove her charges, but Shan may stay as one of the wess'har. Lindsey rages at Shan for refusing to use the c'naatat to save her still-born son. Actaeon's CO demands Shan be brought to justice, but the wess'har relocate her to their moon. The marines, apart from Lindsey, just want to leave; Lindsey wants Shan dead. The marines, scientists, and Actaeon leave with the food gene bank. Shan and Aras look after Constantine colony.

All in all, a decent, well thought out science fiction novel that captures just how alien alien species are. Karen Traviss really proves just how good an author she is and how much attention to detail she dishes out with the world-building. Great character arc and richly detailed story for any sci-fi 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: Contact Harvest SPOILERS!

Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten, reveals how the Human-Covenant War, as seen in the Halo universe, got started. It is the year 2524. Harvest is a peaceful, prosperous farming colony on the very edge of human-controlled space. But we have trespassed on holy ground--strayed into the path of an aggressive alien empire known as the Covenant. What begins as a chance encounter between an alien privateer and a human freighter catapults mankind into a struggle for its very existence. But humanity is also locked in a bitter civil war known as the Insurrection. So the survival of Harvest's citizens falls to a squad of battle-weary UNSC Marines and their inexperienced colonial militia trainees. In this unlikely group of heroes, one stands above the rest, a young Marine staff sergeant named Avery Johnson.

The novel starts with a prologue showing Johnson, as a Marine, with his buddies taking down an Insurrectionist op in a diner. Johnson doesn't kill the target and the operation goes to hell when the Innie detonates the bomb. Next, the book goes to an AI on Harvest as it goes about its normal routine. Johnson, back on Earth, learns his auntie is dead and demands to be let back into service. Sure enough, he is assigned to Harvest and meets a Marine from the failed op, Nolan Byrne. On a Covenant vessel scouting for holy relics, a company of Jackals and one Grunt and Engineer, hijack a UNSC vessel and scavenge the ship. They decide to investigate it's point or origin: Harvest. As Johnson and Byrne settle old scores and being to settle into the routine of training new recruits (Jenkins, Mendoza, Bisenti), the Covenant comes ever closer to Harvest.

The novel deviates to two ambitious San 'Shyuum, the Minister of Fortitude and the Vice Minister of Tranquility learn of the large amount of "relics" found on Harvest and begin to plan a coup of the current Hierarchs using this as a fulcrum. To keep the Sangheili from using this discovery as a way to upset the balance of power, they utilize a Jiralhanae-controlled ship captained by Maccabeus and crewed by his pack of Jiralhanae (including a youthful Tartarus). The two began a secret attempt to seize the planet. This marks the beginning of the powerful alliance between the Jiralhanae and the San 'Shyuum, and the key to their eventual betrayal of the Sangheili leading to the Great Schism later in the war.

Needless to say, shit happens and the Humans and Covenant start fighting. The Jiralhanae glass Harvest while Johnson and the others try to hold them off, allowing the civilians to evacuate. They make a series of random jump and arrive at Earth to tell the UNSC what happened. Meanwhile, the San 'Shyuum perform a coup and rename themselves the Prophet of Truth, Regret, and Mercy and cover their tracks. At one point, they learn from the renegade Forerunner AI Medicant Bias that the Humans are the Reclaimers and thus the true heirs to the Forerunner knowledge.

All in all, a great first novel from a game designer who captures Johnson and the Haloverse as accurately as the games. Great pacing, tight plot, great characters makes a great novel.