foxo_cube's review
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.
gandalftheugly's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Book is very much DECENT.
The whole Story definitely gets better in the second half.
Halo The Flood had the hard task of adapting a game and it is also the only time this happened in the series. The book just skits over the surface of both the story and the characters only digging deeper on very rare occasions.
The Master Chief and Cortana did not feel line complete characters and were just a vessel to get the plot along. All the other humans and storylines in general were much more interesting though.
I am already looking forward towards the third in the series :))
The whole Story definitely gets better in the second half.
Halo The Flood had the hard task of adapting a game and it is also the only time this happened in the series. The book just skits over the surface of both the story and the characters only digging deeper on very rare occasions.
The Master Chief and Cortana did not feel line complete characters and were just a vessel to get the plot along. All the other humans and storylines in general were much more interesting though.
I am already looking forward towards the third in the series :))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
arisch6's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
malumatire832's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
taberiusrex's review
3.0
This book has gotten a lot of hate from the Halo fandom over the years, and I think it's mostly unfounded and undeserved. It might not stack up well to Eric Nylund's contributions, but the fact is that William Dietz was given an impossible task: novelize a first-person shooter in a matter of weeks.
He did a wonderful job, and I'm not sure how much work he put into the universe himself, but I find the Covenant as portrayed in this book to be much more believable than their canon counterparts. But how much of that is due to his own work or Bungie committing vicious retcons, I don't know.
He did a wonderful job, and I'm not sure how much work he put into the universe himself, but I find the Covenant as portrayed in this book to be much more believable than their canon counterparts. But how much of that is due to his own work or Bungie committing vicious retcons, I don't know.
gingerreader99's review
2.0
Aside from some portions of The novel adding depth being from other characters Points of view. This novel was scene for scene what happened in the original Halo video game. I could play the game again rather than read it all in the exact same way.
sageofthe6pack's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
despite this just being a bar for bar recount of halo CE, i was still enthralled the whole time. hints of body horror and mind control were sick
chasep's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25