: I don't see the story as being "dark" or contrived, though (but if
: you got me started on the Power Rangers…) That would imply something to
: the effect of a gritty reboot, and there's none of that going on here. The
: war has changed its face a bit, but it's continued. And Mickey can't deal
: with that, so he sells them out. I understand and sympathize with him,
: even if I wouldn't make that decision even with the extra knowledge I as a
: reader know about current events.

I found it hard to buy that Mickey would betray the team he's served with for years just like that. Yo, I didn't sign up to kill other humans so imma gonna join the guys who kill other humans and killed the Rookie too because I failed to save the Rookie from getting killed by the guys I'm now defecting to...

To me this, coupled with the Rookie's death, made it read like a grimdark deconstruction that starkly contrasts with ODST's more lighthearted tone.

: It was nice Dutch gets a happy ending with his wife. I thought that
: character's introduction was one of the best parts of Helljumper and
: glad to see it got followed up on.

Agreed.

: I also disagree about your estimation of Musa. For one, he *is* right that
: Halsey found the age of the children to have benefits beyond the
: augmentation process.

He is right about that part, but what I take issue with is the way he goes on to suggest that the kids' age didn't really matter in the augmentations (implying that they could've always used adults in the first place). To be fair, we only hear this claim from him while earlier in the novel it's said that you couldn't augment adults before the S-IV program's technological advances made it possible.

: And while I'd disagree about the actual
: effectiveness of "soldiers" versus "humans", I
: understand where he's coming from—that he thinks the Spartan program he
: was a part of removed some of the humanity of its members, to the
: detriment of their effectiveness. As you say, that's coming from the
: perspective of a washout, so it's definitely influenced by his experience.
: As the Chief shows, there's plenty of humanity in him.

No matter his bias, I still can't help but see Musa as a some sort of 343i avatar with his continuous parading of the Spartan-IVs.

On a side note, that's two more entries to add to the rapidly growing list of defected Spartan-IVs. I'm sure all those UEG taxpayers appreciate their money going to a good cause.