That was the beginning of the book, right? I enjoyed that bit, too.
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Halo Lore Thread
- Thread starter Korten
- Start date
That was the beginning of the book, right? I enjoyed that bit, too.
My issues with the ODSTs is i felt like they just blurred together in Glasslands. In The Thursday War they were differentiated a lot more.
Having gone through the entire trilogy I feel like at least Devereaux could have been cut; she never got enough time for me to feel like she was a rounded character.
The additions of the Huragok, BB, and Phillips were the best characters in the trilogy I think.
Having gone through the entire trilogy I feel like at least Devereaux could have been cut; she never got enough time for me to feel like she was a rounded character.
The additions of the Huragok, BB, and Phillips were the best characters in the trilogy I think.
I'm impressed. Traviss books lacked on the character front compared to her other works that were a lot better.The sexiest redhead in the Halo Universe is from Halo 2, IMO. ;-p
l Zealot l
Member
Yeah, reading those first few sections I was like wow this books going to be awesome. I really wanted them to go in depth, how much does humanity really have left?
I didn't realise it was probably the peak of the trilogy IMO.
Regret Upon Approval
Member
Evolutions was quite a good read.
Some of the stories actually quite impressed me with how well written they were.
Favourite ship names? I quite like some of the ship names, they're quite well chosen.
Forward Unto Dawn.
Aegis Fate
All Under Heaven
Long Night of Solace
Some of the stories actually quite impressed me with how well written they were.
Favourite ship names? I quite like some of the ship names, they're quite well chosen.
Forward Unto Dawn.
Aegis Fate
All Under Heaven
Long Night of Solace
It covers Palmer's story and the storm splinter group. Here's a review by Juices.
It's a fun game, but largely irrelevant insofar as the greater story. It's your standard Human-Covenant-Forerunner macguffin plot.
Not_A-Cop_Maybe
Member
Yep. That being said it also makes sense to how much humanity's understanding of the Forerunners have increased or what not. Palmers encounters probably helped the scientists understanding of the Composer in H4 or at least the UNSC's.
True, hadn't thought about that. I guess it also helps explain a little more of why the Storm suddenly seem to be a threat, despite four years between when Jul starts his show and the events of Halo 4--these spliter groups of Covenant sort of folded into each other after their leadership was killed.
Ein Bear
Member
Cool, thanks guys!
That review makes it sound like it's worth a punt, got it downloading now
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
The Arbiter will once again appear in a Halo game some day, and that's not counting H2A. And when that day comes I will be so frikkin ready.
Testify.
Keith David or bust
LordOfChaos
Member
I really hope him and his voice actor are back in 5, I'd love to see and play in Sanghelios during the civil war.
l Zealot l
Member
Arbie in Halo 5 or bust. Hopefully we get to fight brutes again as well (or at least put them in firefight/SOps)
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
I hear ya.
I also want some Precursor info in-game. I don't expect to actually see them (we're d00med!) but would be nice to know more about them and maybe get an idea what they looked like during their bout with the Forerunners.
I imagine from that teaser that we see a Sphinx.
What's the deal with Halo 2 Anniversary? Any recent info on that?
l Zealot l
Member
Waiting for E3 I believe.
LordOfChaos
Member
The Brute/Elite war would also be interesting to cover. Arbiters deal with one of the more influential Chieftains is coming up in the books I believe. It could lead up to that.
I just want to see what Sanghelios looks like on 8th gen glory.
mcz117chief
Member
Did you guys enjoy the story "Heart of Midlothian" ? Probably my 2nd favourite short story from the Halo verse (1st being Babysitter).
The only short stories I recall from Evolutions clearly is the Preston Cole joint, Cortana's "I wanna be a real boy" encounter with Gravemind, the Flood horror piece on the Mona Lisa, and the one where an S2 washout went rogue.
Time to reread Evolutions.
Oh, and the short story where the Arbiter comes back to Sanghelios (shit, might've been earth) like 17 years after the conclusion of Halo 3.
LordOfChaos
Member
They should start a fake TV show called Chief and Arby in the Morning, and do the bro clap
Though, I wonder how Thel will feel about Chief if/when he finds out that the ONI is behind the civil war. Will he blame all humans, or just the ONI?
Caayn
Member
Pulling a lucasart on a franchise that was created by a different studio?
343i needs all the positive attention it can get after Halo 4. Declaring Bungie Halo as non-cannon is just not okay. If 343i want to do that they should've created their own IP instead of transforming Halo and calling themselves the caretakers of Halo.
Twin Tails
Member
The arbiter appeared in some comic set post halo 4 right? or am i thinking about something else. (i like the arbiter)
He appeared in Issues 1 - 3 of the recent Escalation comic.
Memorabilia
Member
Not sure if this counts, so apologies if not but I just watched Forward Unto Dawn and aside from a couple quibbles I really enjoyed it. The pacing was too slow in the 1st half so it took too long setting everything up and somehow still generally didnt do a good job helping us get to know or care about any of the supporting cast all that much. That said, there were shades of an underlying desire to juxtapose an internal threat of a hyper-patriotic, fascist military society a la Starship Troopers vs the need to stay vigilant against an external (alien) threat. The 2nd half was really impressive action-wise, especially considering the meager $10 mil budget.
So, the upshot is it makes me want to dive into the Halo universe and stories beyond just the games. I googled the Halo wiki timeline to read up a bit and see where FUD fits in the lore, but thought I'd ask GAF I should start.... Thanks in advance!
So, the upshot is it makes me want to dive into the Halo universe and stories beyond just the games. I googled the Halo wiki timeline to read up a bit and see where FUD fits in the lore, but thought I'd ask GAF I should start.... Thanks in advance!
I would say start with Halo: Fall of Reach, it's one, if not the best book in the series (although I would argue Ghosts of Oynx, but w/e. XD) Do you want to get an entire break down or just what book to start with first?
Memorabilia
Member
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll give it a read. I really was impressed with FUD's script (and the cast of unknowns were all excellent). It did a good job selling me on the bigger picture and making me want to jump into some books.
A breakdown would be cool too!
If you liked the first contact element of FUD, the book "Contact Harvest" is the story of how the Human-Covenant War started, and details the motivations of either side.
But I think no book sets the fiction as its known in the games (original trilogy especially) better than "Fall of Reach". I always recommend reading that book first.
But I think no book sets the fiction as its known in the games (original trilogy especially) better than "Fall of Reach". I always recommend reading that book first.
Havoc2049
Member
Why the negativity?
Did Halo Reach (game) and The Fall of Reach (book) contradict each other? I thought they complimented each other really well, much like how Halo CE and The Flood complimented each other. The Fall of Reach followed the Spartan II's on Reach, while Halo Reach followed Noble Team. I also loved that even though it was brief, you got to see the Master Chief. It was years between reading The Fall of Reach and playing Halo Reach, but I didn't notice any glaring errors. Did I miss something?
l Zealot l
Member
A lot of people were initially annoyed at Reach as it contradicted the book a fair bit by messing up the dates and the whole fact that the Covenant were already there (there's other stuff I just can't remember.) look up some of the old forums and you might find them. I believe the newer copies of the book have revised dates and stuff.
Havoc2049
Member
Thanks. I always thought that the first few skirmishes on Reach were against advanced recon teams of Covenant forces, before the main strike force launched it's attack against Reach. Made sense to me anyway, at the time. Like a said, years between reading Reach and then playing the game, so I had a good base of general knowledge about how events played out on Reach. It seems like "completely contradicting the book" is a slight exaggeration.
Here you.
First I would say read Halo: Fall of Reach, then play Halo 1 (or watch cutscenes of Anniversary), then read Halo: First Strike, then read Ghosts of Onyx after Halo 2 and ODST and Reach (Reach this late due to having S-III's which are introduced in Ghosts), I would then take a step back in time and read Contact Harvest and The Cole Protocol.
Once you do that, I would say watch the cutscenes or play Halo 3. Afterwards before going into Halo 4 you should do:
Read both the Forerunner Saga and Kilo-Five trilogy together, or read one and then the other. It doesn't matter either way, however they're essential for Halo 4's story. Once you finish those watch or play Halo 4 (and then Spartan Ops.)
Once your done with that you can move onto Halo: Escalation (comic.)
OPTIONAL: Before going onto Halo 4, read Halo: Initination (comic), and then play Spartan Assault ($5 on Steam, good port.) This gives a bit more backstory of Palmer and also details the Spartan-IV program.
Hope this helps!
Game cannon supersedes novel canon pre 343 so fall of reach doesn't really have much of relevance to the story I think.
Caayn
Member
The game Reach creates a few problems.
- Halsey doesn't know about Spartan III till she's on Onyx, this happens after Reach has fallen. Yet in the game Reach she is talking with a group of Spartan IIIs multiple times.
- Pillar of Autumn never touched the ground of Reach, yet in the game Reach it's sitting around waiting for you to deliver Cortana.
- The Cole Protocol is neglected in the game Reach. If it was enforced the ONI prowler Circumference wouldn't have problems with its nav database. Meaning that the Chief and a couple of other Spartan IIs would've never been separated from the rest of the Spartans that were protecting the ground generators for the OD platforms. Resulting in the Chief death and the events of Halo CE and forward never happening.
- The existence of Spartan IIIs that are combat capable during Reach. Alpha company was destroyed during an attack on a covenant feuling station. Meaning that Carter, Jun and Emile shouldn't be alive. Same goes for Beta company that was also wiped out with the exception of Lucy and Tom meaning that Cat and Noble Six also should be dead. The other Spartan IIIs (gamma company) were stationed on Onyx.
- There shouldn't be a Spartan II in a cryo tube on board of the Pillar of Autumn during the last mission of Reach. Master Chief isn't in cryo till he returns from the ONI prowler Circumference and the same goes for Linda. And directly after they return from the ONI prowler Circumference they flee the system on course for installation 04.
You know? I wouldn't mind it if 343i were to declare the game Reach non-cannon.
mcz117chief
Member
Why not the books ? I consider the Halo Reach campaign as one of the best if not the best in the Halo series. The Halo series is mainly about the video games so I think the games should be the primary source of cannon.
LastGamer84
Member
Because Fall of Reach tells the story much better than Reach does. Reach invalidates 2-3 books worth of canon, which you would have to eliminate for the story to make sense. Eliminating Reach is much simpler.
As far as the best campaign goes - I'd give that to either Halo 3 or Halo Wars (whose story was written by Nylund - who also wrote Fall of Reach).
l Zealot l
Member
Yeah I couldn't remember all the finer points.
I was really annoyed with Reach, one of my favourite books had been completely over looked in favour of a story that didn't fit the known canon.
As much as I loved Fall of Reach, I really didn't care one bit for how the events in the game played out.
For me the games take precedence over the books, especially during the Bungie era. But that shouldn't be a problem anymore with 343i running the fiction across the board. Just not in the way they handled Halo 4.
For me the games take precedence over the books, especially during the Bungie era. But that shouldn't be a problem anymore with 343i running the fiction across the board. Just not in the way they handled Halo 4.
Holy crap, I thought the only issues were with the dates and Halsey meeting Spartan III's on Reach before Onyx. I didn't know about all that other stuff. The contradictions and that 343 supposedly state game stories supersede the books makes me wonder why I should care about the stories at all, honestly.
Fall of Reach is foundational and canonical.
Even with the contradictions? Or is that it just being two different stories of the same events from differing perspectives?
Caayn
Member
Because the books that are in conflict with the game Reach set the foundation for the Halo lore. Also in my opinion the books tell the story better than the game Reach does.
It wasn't 343i who said that. Bungie said that games have a higher cannon priority than books.
- The games rank first
- Published materials (books, comics, soundtrack liner notes etc.) rank second
- Marketing and PR materials third
If I'm correct 343i puts books, comics and games on the same level. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
-- Pretty much. This presentation can put the 343I system into some context.
Huh, never saw that video before! I think I should link that in the main post. Thanks!
l Zealot l
Member
Pretty sure that's the same canon ranking system as the Star Wars universe, but I think you're correct.
I think bungie set out to make their last tale in the Halo universe their own, without any interference with past canon. However it's left it all a bit confusing and unclarified.