: Yeah! I've really enjoyed the Kilo-Five books (still need to read Mortal
: Dictata) because it takes a break from "end of humanity"
: situations, and explores the nitty-gritty of politics and factions among
: the UNSC and Covenant remnants both.

That's an interesting viewpoint, because my ultimate summation of the K5 trilogy as a whole is that 2/3rds of the books were telling stories that Traviss didn't seem as interested in and weren't really the main point. That doesn't make them bad books (I enjoyed all of them to varying degrees, and while I think Mortal Dictata might be weakest from a pacing standpoint it's also the strongest from a cohesive story standpoint) but it's also I think part of the reason why they've picked up more flak from Halo fans. It's not about the nitty-gritty of politics, really, it's a story about a team of solders. They exist in that nitty-gritty world, for sure, but it's more background than anything thematic or directly impactful.

"Post Ghosts of Onyx" trilogy suggested to fans that A) it was going to build off the continuing thread of Ghosts of Onyx/Halsey/the Spartans, which at the time was the only real expanded universe thread that existed, and B) it was going to be fairly big, splashy events that pushed the narrative forward (though of course Nylund was constrained by Bungie's "get the chess pieces to this part of the board" approach to the novels in between games.) 343i and Traviss didn't really set out to do that; I don't think it's "anyone's fault" so much as a mismatch of expectations, and expectations are often a big part of your enjoyment of a work.