There's a certain simplicity and clarity to the text that has been missing from Halo novels since Nylund stopped writing them. He (and now Forbeck) had a way of writing dialogue and universe descriptions that made it easy to piece together a strong visual in your head, because it didn't rely on overly flowery dialogue or needless analogies. Nylon's writing was almost militaristic in a way, reflecting that clear-cut clarity that the military's rigid organization is supposed to convey. While I love reading Halo through the lens of different writing styles, it's really refreshing to have some of that clarity back again.

Forbeck also does a fantastic job of finally introducing us to the Spartan-IV program in a way that helps us to understand exactly how it evolved (technologically and bureaucratically) out of the preceding programs, in ways that a comic just couldn't do. There was one particular passage in the book where the three different Spartan programs were summarized using comparisons to Titans, gods, and demigods, and I think that's the clearest and most concise (official) description of the differences between the programs that we've gotten to date, and I really appreciated it. Forbeck's writing showed an understanding of the Spartans that I found to be refreshing after so long with the Traviss Spartans (which I also enjoyed, in spite of focusing overly much on their vulnerabilities).

I also think he managed to nail Buck's voice really well. I could absolutely hear Nathan Fillion as I was reading, barring a few non-conversational bits that are of course inevitable in a first-person story of this length.

More than anything, I think New Blood felt like a true sequel to ODST with the way it brought all the characters back into play and expanded upon their relationships, but it also helped to tie in to the new post-war universe. Things were explained much more clearly and concisely here than in the Kilo-5 trilogy, to the point where I think I would recommend this short novel as a follow-up to Halo 3 moreso than the aforementioned (although Glasslands is of course necessary for getting everyone out of the dyson sphere).

The only real difference I noticed was that Forbeck didn't excel at action sequences as Nylund did, and some of his stretched on overly long. The recap of ODST was nice for people who might not have played that game (I think this novel actually stands amazingly well on its own), but was indeed a little bit too long, as others have said.

Mickey's betrayal didn't feel right, although I could certainly see it working if there was a little more explanation given to his thought process prior.

Vergil and Sadie were not necessary and felt pointlessly shoehorned.

"Noble Six was a good Spartan"

Other than those and some other minor complaints, I think New Blood has felt the most like the original Halo novels of anything I've read since Ghosts of Onyx. I certainly missed the clarity that Nylund's writing brought, and I hope that we can see more of this style from the franchise in the future (although certainly keep the new stuff coming too!). I for one would be glad to welcome Forbeck back for a second outing. :)