Halo 4 Announced (MS Conf, 2012, Start Of New Trilogy)
- Thread starter Sanic
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The idea of the head of ONI taking any kind of moral high ground was the most ridiculous thing I've seen in Halo, and it's a universe that throws around terms like "food nipple" and "nipple academy" without blinking an eye.
Hey, guys, remember that one time we wanted to use The Flood as a biological weapon? Good times.
Future PhaZe
Member
Traviss is a destructive force. She made similar oddball changes in the Star Wars expanded universe if I recall correctly, and her personal bias has destroyed continuity everywhere she goes...
The Librarian
Banned
Not as much as a "frikkin loser" now?
My biggest problem with Glasslands, by far.
Slightly Live
Dirty tag dodger
Slightly Live
Dirty tag dodger
Yes you should. The majority of folks love the book. It's not perfect, and you could nitpick depending on your view of certain characters from previous books but overall it's a good read if you've read the other books.
You'll enjoy getting resolution from one of the previous books, even if the resolution itself isn't the main push of the book.
Slightly Live
Dirty tag dodger
Chronological order:
Halo Cryptum
Halo Primordium (book, tbr jan 3rd 2012)
Sequel to Halo Primordium
Halo Contact Harvest
Halo The Cole Protocol
Halo The Fall of Reach
Halo The Flood
Halo First Strike
Halo Ghosts of Onyx
Halo Glasslands
Halo Evolutions is a collection of short stories each set in different time periods.
The Flood isn't as bad as it is made out to be. Decent read.
thanks guys
Shrennin
Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
I think the only reason people consider it bad is because it retells the events of Combat Evolved (albeit with more detail).
I remember liking it when I read it. Definitely not my favorite of the three original books, but it wasn't bad.
I was pleasantly surprised by First Strike, was a very nice read (and I finished it in like 1 day). Was interesting to see Halsey just
Started Ghosts of Onyx again, as when I was reading it previously I took a very extended break during the middle, so I want to get through it again without stopping in the middle for like 6 months. After that will probably read Glasslands again.
Although I'll have to make room for Primordium in there
Also Skyrim and SWToR are horrible for my art productivity.
knock out a spartan and take off, of course this is how GoO starts, so...
Started Ghosts of Onyx again, as when I was reading it previously I took a very extended break during the middle, so I want to get through it again without stopping in the middle for like 6 months. After that will probably read Glasslands again.
Although I'll have to make room for Primordium in there
Also Skyrim and SWToR are horrible for my art productivity.
I wouldn't say so. It takes a departure from the general style of the other books, and it doesn't really add much to the overall fiction. As a standalone book I would consider it on the lower end of the spectrum of Halo books, but perhaps its sequels will redeem it somewhat. As for is it worth getting, I would say since you have the other books Glasslands is quite worth it from a completionist standpoint. Glasslands does have some good qualities and it does end certain plot strands started in other books.
Like Bananas above me has already enumerated: Fall of Reach, GoO, First Strike, and Cryptum are the bare minimal essentials. I would even throw Contact Harvest into that list, because it has established integral fiction that is crucial to the entire plot structure.
The rest round out the fiction at best, although there is some important fiction in Glasslands. It remains to be seen how important of a book it will become, because there is nothing of outstanding worth in the story presented thus far, merely teases and assurances of what's to come.
The Librarian
Banned
First Strike is so good. What really makes it stand above FoR for me is the cast of characters. Haverson, Polaski, Locklear, and of course Admiral (Motherfucking) Whitcomb. The book gets really good when you have all the Spartans, John, Halsey, and all of the aforementioned characters together.
First Strike is so good.
First Strike is so bad.
First Strike said:
Unlike the Ghosts, Revenants, Spectres, Spirits, Phantoms, Banshees, Shades...
Too bad the Admiral
decided to end himself in a blaze of glory, but at least that was a badass way to go
Glasslands was amazing, imo.
The Librarian
Banned
The good Admiral is so badass,
he took out a planet from beyond the grave
Ghosts of Onyx said:
Definitely worthy a place on the Great Pantheon of Sci-Fi commanders.
Bregmann Roche
Member
Agree, but I thought of Halsey as a weirdo before the book was written, so the issues people have with the way her character is treated in it didn't bother me.
minasodaboy
Member
I don't understand people saying Glasslands adds nothing to the fiction. It sets up a TON of future threads, adds context to the universe and lays the foundations for the rest of the trilogy.
It sounds like some people just wanted a new chunk of the halo bible (which would be awesome, but not exactly what you're going to get from a novel).
It sounds like some people just wanted a new chunk of the halo bible (which would be awesome, but not exactly what you're going to get from a novel).
I haven't read Glasslands yet but was planning on doing so sometime soon. This has me very, very disappointed. Halsey was by far one of the most interesting characters in the Halo universe. Turning her into a caricature has an excessively negative impact on how we should view her greatest achievements, as well as how Cortana is supposed to shadow her in certain ways.
I expressed my skepticism on whether Traviss would be able to do justice to the Halo universe judging by her work in the past, as well as how she admitted her approach to writing and not playing the games. It almost seems as if she doesn't realize that Halsey's questionable morality was a sort of necessary evil required for humanity to prevail. The heroism of the Spartans is a testament to that, and was properly expressed through playing the games. Again, I'm just taking your word on it since I have not yet read the book.
Slightly Live
Dirty tag dodger
On the subject of Glasslands Forward Unto Dawn's latest podcast is about the book and we go into it in some detail. Whilst the book wasn't perfect, there was plenty to chew on for any lore fan wanting to see the post Halo 3 universe.
For the Halsey part, I don't think any of us considered it canon breaking at all - and still don't. We do cover the subject though and my own opinion does differ from the others.
For the Halsey part, I don't think any of us considered it canon breaking at all - and still don't. We do cover the subject though and my own opinion does differ from the others.
After Glasslands we know:
There's an entire planet filled with a variety of races that are working together to some (probably hostile) end.
There's a cold war brewing between humanity and Sanghelios. Shit just got real at the Arbiter's crib.
The S2 details are going public; S4s are confirmed to exist and are comprised of adult volunteers entirely.
The Dyson Sphere is now a planet named Trevelyan and its huge. There's ONI research ongoing.
A radical and hostile Elite is currently in ONI custody.
There's a human ship with Forerunner gear.
Halsey is locked up in some stealth ship and is officially made KIA; the S2 project will fall entirely on her.
There was a pretty big reason the Engineers didn't want to return the Dyson Sphere to realspace. Foreshadowing, perhaps.
There's a cold war brewing between humanity and Sanghelios. Shit just got real at the Arbiter's crib.
The S2 details are going public; S4s are confirmed to exist and are comprised of adult volunteers entirely.
The Dyson Sphere is now a planet named Trevelyan and its huge. There's ONI research ongoing.
A radical and hostile Elite is currently in ONI custody.
There's a human ship with Forerunner gear.
Halsey is locked up in some stealth ship and is officially made KIA; the S2 project will fall entirely on her.
There was a pretty big reason the Engineers didn't want to return the Dyson Sphere to realspace. Foreshadowing, perhaps.
I wouldn't say a ton of plot threads are kicked up by the spoilered. Two to three major ones, which is enough for the next book if it's handled better than the cold war plot was handled in Glasslands. I don't quite know what you meant by "'adds context to the universe" and the foundation is still very much in conception.
Moral issues in war & sci-fi settings pretty much sums up Traviss' work, no surprise here.
Hypertrooper
Member
About this point I thought it was foreshadowing too. But after some thoughts
I think the Engineers didn't want to return the Dyson Sphere because they didn't know if the ONI ship is a friend or foe. They refer to the ONI Ship that was looking for Halsey and Onyx.
It's such a shame his name didn't happen to be Kurt Sillytits...
ONI Research Facility Sillytits.
Monocle objected to one perspective of Halsey in part one of a trilogy. Now he has every right to react like that to it, it's a subjective medium, but I suggest reading the characterization for yourself with that in mind.
Hypertrooper
Member
The Halo: Primordium excerpt is online! The prologue and Chapter 1 are available at Tor.com and if you want to continue reading, you can check out chapter 2, 3 and 4 at HaloWaypoint.
I think it is time that we open a separate thread for Halo: Primordium(or using the Halo: Cryptum thread.), right? I'd do it.
*this post tries to be ironic. Or it is a attempt of irony.
I think it is time that we open a separate thread for Halo: Primordium(or using the Halo: Cryptum thread.), right? I'd do it.
Oh c'mon. You know that there are just 20 Elites in the Halo Universe, only 50 humans who all are working for ONI and everyone hates Halsey. The Halo lore is fu**ed up because of you guys. *
*this post tries to be ironic. Or it is a attempt of irony.
minasodaboy
Member
awww yeah.
Exactly. Since when did one (or even a few) character's opinion of someone have to agree with your own opinion? And since when did their opinion(s) become THE ONE AND ONLY TRUTH?
Ultimately, you have to decide how you feel about the character. In fact, I would say that if you have such strong disagreements with their opinions of Halsey, the fiction is doing its job of giving you good characters and provoking thoughtful analysis.
Oh man I'd better get more coffee before diving into this...
It's some good stuff. A lot to think about from four short chapters.
My issue isn't so much what the view is, but rather that when I heard mentions of Halsey from Traviss before the book was released I was pleased and thought this would be a good chance to explore her character when she is faced with some situations we haven't seen her in before. Instead we got one very limited disagreeable perspective. Of course that doesn't mean it can't happen in the future, but I see it as a missed opportunity. And I'm really just nitpicking, since I'm still going to pick up Glasslands and enjoy the hell out of it. That was just me talking as someone who is sort of... a fan of Halsey.
I liked Halo Wars. It was made for dudes like me who aren't big into RTS's. The CG stuff at the time was great too.
I liked it so much I almost went online with it. Almost.
Halsey, even before Glasslands, was constantly questioning her own actions and morality in what she had done in the past. Of course, most of the time, she feels perfectly justified with whatever she does, or rationalizes it to the point of it being justified, even if its not.
Glasslands just brings her questionable morality and practices into a brighter light, and the consequences of them.
Halsey never feels bad for what she has done, she just wonders if it was the 'right' thing to do, or if her means justified their ends.
And really, read the book, there isn't just one perspective on her no matter what all the Halsey lovers seem to think.
One thing you should know, the sound effects in Halo 4 are going to be AMAZING if they are anything like the CEA sound effects.
I'm not too worried.
Dang quoted by Frankles about story stuff, /joy confirmed.
And of course ultimately you have to weigh her crimes, which are demonstrable, against SAVING THE GALAXY. Which we will get into. In time.
If you take a look at what I added to my post that you quoted, you'll see that I do plan on taking your advice and it's not that huge of an issue for me as I made it out to be. But I'm really hoping that in one of the next two Traviss books we get a chance to know Halsey better on a personal level than just asking if her actions were wrong or right and how she feels about that. There's more to her, and I want to see that on a level greater than we did on Reach. If she's going to be a character that we focus on, then we have no reason to do any less than get inside her head and extract as much genius as possible.
Some things this game must do:
1. Let me look through scopes while getting shot. You would think that not hampering the players view at the one time they need it most would be basic logic, but apparently Bungie wasn't capable of that. Hopefully 343 is.
2. No Flood, no enemies even remotely like the Flood.
3. No Armor Lock.
1. Let me look through scopes while getting shot. You would think that not hampering the players view at the one time they need it most would be basic logic, but apparently Bungie wasn't capable of that. Hopefully 343 is.
2. No Flood, no enemies even remotely like the Flood.
3. No Armor Lock.
frontieruk
Member
went online with a couple of mates with it... such a good experience
Slightly Live
Dirty tag dodger
Halsey didn't save the galaxy, one of her former child abuse/medical experiment victims did. =P
I'm full expecting Halsey to be vindicated in the long run but Glasslands was refreshing precisely because everyone didn't treat her like the second coming of a Jesus-infused Einstein.
Bought Cryptum when it first released and i'm just now starting to read it cause Primordium is coming next month
Cryptum Chapter 1 and 2 spoilers(?)
Bleh... I don't even know what i'm talking about...
The AI Translator Note in the VERY beginning of the book blew my mind... I love that little paragraph. It got me thinking about every little description that is in the book. Everything described isn't what we think it is... unless I completely misunderstood it.
Cryptum Chapter 1 and 2 spoilers(?)
Off the bat, i really dislike that there are Precursors... I'm going into Cryptum with the idea that we're getting a look into the beginning of everything (Halo related). We're starting at the beginning with the Forerunners and a couple of pages in, they're already talking about the beings before the Forerunner. HUGE nit pick but whatever. I wasn't thinking Forerunners were where life began but I also wasn't expecting to be introduced a whole "new" race and from the first couple of pages they're playing a big role...
The AI Translator Note in the VERY beginning of the book blew my mind... I love that little paragraph. It got me thinking about every little description that is in the book. Everything described isn't what we think it is... unless I completely misunderstood it.
Z
ZombieFred
Unconfirmed Member
I thought Travis did a great job and does she do best with her writing style; she actually brings the most human aspects out of her characters (Especially with human nature), going into things that can be easily overlooked by general novel writers when they tend to ignore the "dirt" and how they tend to base characters on a mere few perspectives. Reading the Elites in glasslands was very satisfying for me to engross in Halo's universe, especially how it's gone for a cold war touch with humanity. It was almost to the same levels as Nyland's war tactics. Cole better make a return in this trilogy, I've not had that sense of awe with how he outdoes himself every time in Halo's space battles since his short story in Evolutions. Now that's a man who is stubborn enough to look at the face of death with impossible odds against him and come out in roses.