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[siamesedreamer]

I'm obviously trying to get them read before Halo 2 hits on 11/9.

I've got 2 weeks per book. If I get behind I've heard "The Flood" very good or very important to the story, so I might skip it.

Anyone else?

 

[IJoel]

I'm obviously trying to get them read before Halo 2 hits on 11/9.

I've got 2 weeks per book. If I get behind I've heard "The Flood" very good or very important to the story, so I might skip it.

Anyone else?

The books are not really long and quite easy to finish in less than a week, each one.

The Flood is pretty much the first game in narrative form. Of course, there are many more details that the game doesn't explain that show up. But at its core, that's what it is. If you need to skip one, The Flood is the one to skip.

 

[Hournda]

The only really good one was The Fall of Reach, which explains the history of the Master Chief and the basics of where they are now in the Human v. Covenant war. The Flood is just a retelling of Halo 1 and if you've played Halo 1 then aside from some small side plots (the attempt of the Pillar of Autumn's crew to escape from Halo by hijacking a Covenant ship and the capture of the semi-flood Pvt. Jenkins) there's no real point in reading it. First Strike I thought was a real disappointment. Nothing really important happened and it seemed like just an excuse to get the Master Chief back to Earth so the books would be in sync with the games when Halo 2 came out.

 

[Truelize]

Yes I am actually. LoL. I picked up the first one last week and I'm almost halfway through now. Pretty good read. Pretty poor editing sometimes though.
Like how during tranining there were 75 of them that were dropped off by the helicopter and then when they gather at the lake there are only 67 and John makes a comment how everyone made it.

The one thing I would like to know is: how do you pronounce Mjorlnir.

 

[DopeyFish]

mee-ole-near

 

[DJ Demon J]

The only really good one was The Fall of Reach, which explains the history of the Master Chief and the basics of where they are now in the Human v. Covenant war. The Flood is just a retelling of Halo 1 and if you've played Halo 1 then aside from some small side plots (the attempt of the Pillar of Autumn's crew to escape from Halo by hijacking a Covenant ship and the capture of the semi-flood Pvt. Jenkins) there's no real point in reading it. First Strike I thought was a real disappointment. Nothing really important happened and it seemed like just an excuse to get the Master Chief back to Earth so the books would be in sync with the games when Halo 2 came out.

This is true, but First Strike also gave you a nice background on the other 3 SPARTANs that made it out alive (and hopefully will factor in to Halo 2).

 

[Ghost]

I wonder how Halo 2 will handle Chief (and Sarge) getting back to earth, if it will ignore everything that happened in First Strike (which is what im expecting, in a pessimistic kind of a way) or if it will try to summarize it (which i cant see happening because too much went on, and too much else would have to be explained about reach etc), Or maybe even let you play through it (doubt that even more as that would mean theres at least 3 missions before you even get to earth and it would also mean they gave away half the plot of the game over a year ago).

 

[DJ Demon J]

I wonder how Halo 2 will handle Chief (and Sarge) getting back to earth, if it will ignore everything that happened in First Strike (which is what im expecting, in a pessimistic kind of a way) or if it will try to summarize it (which i cant see happening because too much went on, and too much else would have to be explained about reach etc), Or maybe even let you play through it (doubt that even more as that would mean theres at least 3 missions before you even get to earth and it would also mean they gave away half the plot of the game over a year ago).

I don't think they need to explain in-game what happened with the other SPARTANs on Reach..maybe just a brief flashback sequence that there were other survivors. Hell, Reach wasn't even mentioned in the original Halo. I would hope that the other SPARTANs would factor in somehow to the Halo 2 storyline, but I guess that may take away from the "one man against incredible odds" setup they've fostered.

 

[BuddyC]

I don't think they need to explain in-game what happened with the other SPARTANs on Reach..maybe just a brief flashback sequence that there were other survivors. Hell, Reach wasn't even mentioned in the original Halo. I would hope that the other SPARTANs would factor in somehow to the Halo 2 storyline, but I guess that may take away from the "one man against incredible odds" setup they've fostered.

Actually, Reach was mentioned rather briefly in Halo's introduction. I can't recall if they refer to it by name or not though.

Oh, and don't forget that (spoilers for First Strike)

Spoiler

the upgrades the Spatans received kinda correspond to MC's new abilities (higher jump, for example), and that FS ends just as they enter Subspace for Earth, and Halo 2 presumeably begins as they reach Earth (much like how Fall of Reach ended just as Halo began).

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Skip The Flood and just read the other two, with First Strike being last. The Flood wasn't that good, but OK for supplemental reading, I suppose. And you should be able to finish all three very quickly as they read quickly and aren't all that long.

...what Hournda said...

 

[Ghost]

Reach was mentioned in the manual, it says "A supprise Covenant attack on the human military base on the planet reach Annihilated all but one of the SPARTAN-II soldiers."

Maybe the manual will fill in the gaps again (that'd suck).

 

[op_ivy]

i've been wondering that too.

the first game didnt really need a player to read the 1st book that lead into the game, but just playing halo 2 (assuming it starts when MC gets to earth), you'd miss waaaayyyyy to much plot, and i dont think it could really be summed up in a brief couple cutscenes either (or the manuel for that matter).

i'm begining to lean to the idea that halo 2 will have its first level(s) as a retelling of the events of first strike.

 

[ToyMachine228]

I own all three, and I've read all three...I think I read First Strike three times, The Flood twice, and Fall of Reach three times.

 

[Ghost]

i want a 4th book already

 

[Musashi Wins!]

A three-book box set just came out (paperbacks in a slipcase). Don't know much about these books, but some of you might be interested...

 

[crumbs]

I read Fall of Reach and First Strike, but skipped the Flood when I realized it had a different author. They're quick reads, you should get through them pretty fast. I'm curious how they use the info from First Strike in Halo 2, if at all.

 

[Ramirez]

I've read the Fall of Reach,I've got the other two,but reading isn't exactly high on my priority list.