The next installment in the new blog series “Halo’s Place in Science Fiction” by our member Dildev at the Halo Archive. This time she goes over the novel: First Strike
The first thing I need to note here is that it has been years since I last read First Strike, and I was more partial to rereading portions of the other novels due to the characters involved. So what I am about to say is a testament solely to Nylund’s writing abilities and not my own nostalgia.
Even more so than in Fall of Reach, Nylund has an incredible ability to define the camaraderie between the Spartans and between other characters. By the end of chapter one, I knew exactly what Fred, Kelly, and the rest of the Spartans meant to each other. It was small touches, like Kelly and Fred volunteering to take the more dangerous mission, Kelly covering for Fred when he makes a communications blunder, and Fred grabbing Joshua as they leap from the doomed Pelican. These sorts of gestures extend throughout the book, as we see snippets of how individuals from varying military branches interact within the new ragtag team assembled here.
Many times we hear that a sequel should build off the previous tale – not just in terms of plot, but character development. Nylund does a rare thing in that in his second excursion into the Halo Universe; it’s not just the plot or the characters, but the theme itself builds off of his previous installment. The Fall of Reach was defined by character growth; First Strike, though a plot-driven story, is defined by character relations. The development of these thematic relationship statuses between characters is a combination of rapid establishment and Nylund’s distinctive style of repetition.
Beyond the close-knit community of Spartans, we see this theme when the crew of the Pelican is pulled aboard the Longsword fighter. The relationships between the incoming characters and the Master Chief are defined within moments.
“With a lightning-quick motion, [the Chief] drew the newcomer’s pistol and aimed it squarely at the man’s forehead.
‘You were dead,’ the Chief said. ‘I saw you die. On Jenkins’s mission record. The Flood got you.’
The black man smiled a set of perfect white teeth. ‘The Flood? Hell, Chief, it’ll take more than a pack of walking alien horror-show freaks to take out Sergeant A. J. Johnson.’” (pp 63).
“‘At ease, Corporal,’ the Master Chief said.
The Corporal’s eyes finally locked onto the Chief. He shook his head in disbelief. ‘A Spartan,’ he muttered. ‘Figures. Outta the friggin’ frying pan – ’” (pp 65-66).
“He wore the black enameled bars of a First Lieutenant.
‘Sir!’ the Chief snapped off a crisp salute. …
The lieutenant settled to the floor and lazily returned the salute.” (pp 66).
“She saluted the Chief. ‘Petty Warrant Officer Polaski, requesting permission to come aboard, Master Chief.’
‘Granted,’ he said and returned her salute.” (pp 67)
After this five page introduction of major characters and their relationships, Nylund puts his use of repetition to work. Unlike the over-exposure of this style in Fall of Reach, First Strike hits just the right balance, especially in the connection shared between Cortana and the Master Chief.
First Strike, though set between Combat Evolved and Halo 2, could be seen as a precursor to Halo 4 in terms of Chief and Cortana’s interactions. After absorbing a massive amount of information on Alpha Halo, Cortana finds herself overwhelmed by the data that she’s constantly cataloging and analyzing. This in turn makes her short-tempered and absent-minded. While it’s not actual rampancy, it does set both John and Cortana on edge.
Cortana has concerns about being able to do enough, and do it fast enough, to keep her crew and the Master Chief safe. John in turn worries about Cortana’s wellbeing, having admitted to himself that he could not consider her expendable equipment. These themes are defined in far more depth in Halo 4, but they have their roots all the way back in this novel.
In a further indication of how this book is defined by inter-character relations, even one-scene wonder characters of the novel are placed in settings acutely defined by how they connect and interact with others. When Lieutenant Wagner returns to Earth to bring the news of Reach’s fall, he sets the stage to showcase the calm and collected Admiral Hood butt heads with the aggressive Colonel Ackerson. In turn, Ackerson relishes in the assumed demise of his rival.
When Kelly, Fred, and Joshua are sneaking past the Covenant front lines in stolen Banshees, it’s the strained relationships between the Sangheili and Unggoy that allow this un-scheduled flight plan passage.
When we get our first glimpse of our villains for Halo 2, the Prophet of Truth and Tartarus, this sets up the changing relations between the races of the Covenant that we would see a year after the game’s original publishing.
And here you must forgive me for grafting a portion of my Arbiter Watch piece into this reading journal, because this aspect of relationships is absolutely fundamental to the claim I am about to make.
Thel ‘Vadamee is in First Strike.
I don’t mean the mention that Tartarus gives at the end, complete with his own pet name for the future-Arbiter. I mean that we actually see Thel ‘Vadamee on the bridge of the Ascendant Justice, pages 91-96, fighting hand-to-hand with the Master Chief and getting chucked out in an escape pod.
I know that this is an old theory that was considered debunked when Halo: The Graphic Novel came out and Seeker of Truth was revealed to be the fleet’s flagship. However, the updated canon actually supports this theory, as well as Nylund’s deliberate use of relationships here in First Strike.
To continue reading here is the original OP - http://www.haloarchive.com/halos-place-in-science-fiction-first-strike/