tomjaeger's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
zfrey117's review against another edition
3.0
Like any short story book, the stories are hit and miss. I read this in my goal to read all Halo extended universe content. Some add point of view stories of moments in the game, some fill in gaps, some follow secondary characters from the games. The Spartan II stories are good, the Covenant based stories needed more depth
mpetruce's review against another edition
2.0
I can see why my son likes this; I read the book tie-ins for the various pop culture fads when I was his age. That said, they aren't bad and while you don't necessarily need to know or play Halo to understand these stories, it helps.
Some of the stories have short sections here and there that read like the author (or possibly the editor) went down a rote list of things from the video game that were required to be in the stories, just in case the drawing of the Spartan on the cover wasn't enough to tell you you're reading a Halo book. I like the inclusion of poems and occasional art. Nice touch.
But if you're into Halo, read these for sure. If you just like military SF, well, some are OK, so give them a look.
Some of the stories have short sections here and there that read like the author (or possibly the editor) went down a rote list of things from the video game that were required to be in the stories, just in case the drawing of the Spartan on the cover wasn't enough to tell you you're reading a Halo book. I like the inclusion of poems and occasional art. Nice touch.
But if you're into Halo, read these for sure. If you just like military SF, well, some are OK, so give them a look.
mattpfarr's review against another edition
3.0
A fairly decent of short stories in the Halo universe. If you love the lore like me than you will likely enjoy them. They are not quite groundbreaking though in terms of literature.
jbmcgraw's review against another edition
4.0
As with any anthology style book the quality varies from one story to the next. Overall it was definitely worth the read though and very entertaining.
sjlee's review against another edition
3.0
Despite the criticisms that get heaped upon video game narratives I think parts of the Halo universe is some of the most interesting science fiction writing in the recent years. The games came out just as I was rediscovering reading and diving into the science fiction genre. The Halo universe is a distillation of a lot of different greater science fiction works. That said there are interesting elements present in the series for major voices in sci-fi to tease out in this anthology.
It is difficult to measure the success of an anthology. For every story and poem that works for you there is one that doesn't. Stories that stood out to me were "Pariah" by K. Evenson, "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian" by Frank O'Connor, "Human Weakness" by Karen Traviss and the "The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J. Cole" by Eric Nylund stand out as interesting stories from the collection. My favourite aspect of the Halo literature is the depiction of the artificial intelligence characters. Stories that feature AI characters prominently work best for me. I also like the peeks inside the Covenant and its culture.
Most of these stories probably only work for those who are fans of the series, or have read some of the previous novels in the universe. Of my favourites listed above perhaps half would work for a reader coming in cold. I debated on 2 or 3 stars for this. Ultimately the parts I enjoyed I felt was worth celebrating. I think these Halo novels could be very useful in introducing young readers to more sophisticated science fiction, which is always a great thing.
It is difficult to measure the success of an anthology. For every story and poem that works for you there is one that doesn't. Stories that stood out to me were "Pariah" by K. Evenson, "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian" by Frank O'Connor, "Human Weakness" by Karen Traviss and the "The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J. Cole" by Eric Nylund stand out as interesting stories from the collection. My favourite aspect of the Halo literature is the depiction of the artificial intelligence characters. Stories that feature AI characters prominently work best for me. I also like the peeks inside the Covenant and its culture.
Most of these stories probably only work for those who are fans of the series, or have read some of the previous novels in the universe. Of my favourites listed above perhaps half would work for a reader coming in cold. I debated on 2 or 3 stars for this. Ultimately the parts I enjoyed I felt was worth celebrating. I think these Halo novels could be very useful in introducing young readers to more sophisticated science fiction, which is always a great thing.
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