: 1.) The novel clearly states that the Halos only work on SENTIENT life.
: Presumably this included at least the Gravemind, possibly the whole Flood
: presence. The whole point of drawing the Flood to the Ark wasn't to trap
: them there, because even Guilty Spark thought that was just the first step
: to the Flood leapfrogging to the next galaxy. I don't like that it only
: works on intelligent life - the idea that ALL biospheres had to be
: eradicated, and that the Forerunners could restore them, both heightened
: the scale of the Flood menace and the abilities of the Forerunners.
: 2.) I always thought that was mostly Hood exaggerating. I think it's
: reasonable to say a significant area around Voi was glassed, but not the
: whole of East Africa. And even if it was, with humanity recolonising you'd
: think they'd prioritise repairing the damage to Earth first.
: 3.) Yeah, that part was needless. The Forerunners, even at such vast
: distances, should be able to traverse it as if it was nothing. I think
: part of the problem was the memorial at the end of Halo 3 - why did it
: take so long after November to hold the ceremony? The answer I would have
: picked was politics. The answer 343 have apparently picked is that they
: didn't get back until then.
: 4.) I liked the fauna too, especially the deleted animal from Halo Wars,
: though I wish they'd clarified whether their mammoth was an ACTUAL mammoth
: (possible, within the parameters of how the fauna-collection was defined)
: or Space Mammoths. Or maybe it did and I missed that? Didn't like the
: explanation of why the animals were there - because they had evolved to
: hunt sentient life. Felt a bit too After Earth "everything on this
: planet has evolved to kill humans" to me.
: 5.) I thought the trees were animals? Not Forerunner machines, but some
: plant-like species the Forerunners collected?
: 6.) Eh, they needed to introduce the Armigers before Halo 5, I can't begrudge
: them. And the Forerunners have a humanoid shape, so that too doesn't
: suspend disbelief.
: 7.) I assumed the same - 343 was clearly denied permissions to a LOT of the
: Ark's systems.
: 8.) The Ark had its own AI caretaker. We saw him talk with 343 in the
: Terminals. I just assumed that, as long as the UNSC, Elites and Covenant
: didn't actively damage its systems, it couldn't care less about them until
: Halo activated.
: 9.) We saw the 3d projection in Cryptum.
: 10.) I guessed it was either because Tragic Solitude was too hard-wired into
: the Ark by choice, or because he was routing through those processors to
: control the Retrievers.
: 11.) I didn't like Kodiak either. 343 has a bad habit of trying to make its
: Spartan-IVs XTREEM to make us believe them as supersoldiers. I much prefer
: the traditional stoic image.
: 12.) No disagreement there.
: 13.) Or there.
: 14.) It's hardly the most unrepresentative cover Halo's had. Cole Protocol
: had a Spartan, front and centre, when the story barely even featured them.
: I assumed it was just a cool image to get people to buy the book. I love
: the Blind Wolves, but an entire novel about THEM? Seems a bit much to
: expect.
: 15.) This is what happens when you create sentient tools. You get Lighter
: Than Some killing a Reclaimer with a pebble, and this.
: 16.)
: 17.) We knew there were plenty of Keyships that ferried life to the Ark and
: back, which would have needed a few portals - maybe not on every
: homeworld, but at certain nodal points in the galaxy for ease of access. I
: guess the Ark connects to those other portal generators. And the Stargate
: wasn't built by the Goa'uld, silly, it was made by the Forerunners! I mean
: the Forerunners. I mean the Forerunners. I mean the Ancients.
: 18.) 05, 07, and 03 before it vanished in the Escalation comics. No 04. Three
: of the remaining 6 isn't too bad, and we don't know if the Arbiter's
: Elites have found any themselves.
: 19.) Honestly, I prefer it. Halo Array sounds so...clinical. Remember that
: moment aboard the Truth and Reconciliation when Cortana said "they
: call it...Halo"? I played that a while ago, and it still sent shivers
: of awe up my spine. Awe is something sadly missing these days, starting
: with the demystification of the Forerunners. They handled the Flood a bit
: better, but boy did they squander the Forerunners sense of mystery and
: power.
: 20.) It wasn't the best-written book, but I've read worse. I disliked
: Glasslands, The Cole Protocol, the Universe comics and parts of The Flood
: a lot more. It's not going to be up there with The Fall of Reach, First
: Strike or Contact Harvest in terms of great Halo books, but I don't think
: it was bad either by any means. It was quite serviceable pulp sci-fi.

: I've been a Halo fan since at least 2004, when a friend of mine leant me
: Combat Evolved because the swamp level looked cool and I got lost on his
: computer, and my brother and I rented an Xbox to play Halo 2. I've tried
: to consume as much Halo media as I can, but libraries don't often carry
: that kind of niche material in rural New Zealand, and I can't always
: afford to indulge my every whim. If I could, I'd buy the WETA Warthog.

: I like that 343 has ambition, and that they want to tell interesting stories,
: and I think they've done a lot of good in that regard with the splintered
: Covenant and the resurgent Insurrection and the dynamic those produce. But
: they need to fix the Spartan-IVs, make them less action-heroey and more
: individually nuanced. Part of it, I think, is that they feel like cannon
: fodder now because of their sheer numbers, which they never should. They
: need to be a very small, very specialised force, and making them an entire
: BRANCH just baffles. I wouldn't care if they showed the Chief's face, but
: I so wish they hadn't show the Forerunners' faces, because that killed any
: interest in them I had. The most interesting questions don't need to be
: answered.

I wish they really just focused of a few quality stories, FoR, First Strike, Contact Harvest and H1 had great stories because they showed and not told. As the reader/player we saw situations, saw how things unfolded and learned about the universe through our characters eyes. With H2 and subsequent books the stories were either irrelevant to the characters, or just seemed to be designed to fill in the universe without a grand master plan in mind. The only exception to this I suppose is Buck's New Blood...

FuD Nightfall, Hunters in the Dark, Kilo 5... their purpose just seems to tell you small things about the next game and introduce "minor" characters..... and that's what the draw is rather than a complete story.

First Strike is by far my favorite Halo story. Seeing how the characters from the book interact and make decisions, their sacrifices and struggles was just so awesome. It told a story start to finish you wanted to know (how chief gets back to earth and sets up the Covenant invasion) and every character had a role that impacted our heros. It's honestly one of my favorite stories ever, even if I don't really like that crystal stuff.