If there’s one thing that the Halo games really lack, it’s character development.I had no emotional attachments to John, Cortana, or Johnson prior to reading the books. Of course, in Contact Harvest, I stopped seeing Avery as just a funny video game bad -Yoink-, and started seeing him as a human being. Same deal with John. As you read about his internal struggle in First Strike, you begin to see him as a person instead of a green suit of armor. After reading the books, I gained more respect for the Master Chief and Avery Johnson.
Now imagine the Halo games without books. Without the books John would just been another FPS avatar, instead of being his own character. Johnson would’ve just be the comic-relief, his only purpose would be to make the player chuckle. With the books these cardboard cut outs become three dimensional.
“Cardboard cut-outs.” If you’ve ever been to the Halo Reach forum on B.net, then you’ve seen this phase used numerous times to describe the members of Noble Team. Since we are bound to Noble Six, we really don’t know any more about the other members of Noble Team than he/she does. We can’t play as them in a flashback mission like we did in ODST, instead, we have to rely on subtle hints to know more about their character. Of course, many players won’t pick up on this the first, second, or third time playing through the game.
This is precisely why we need a book about Noble Team. If we become more emotionally attached to these characters, then we will actually feel something when they are slain in the Halo Reach campaign. The possibilities for a book about Noble Team are extremely great. We could finally have some back story on Thom, Emile’s skull cravings, and perhaps Kat and Carter’s romantic relationship. Who knows, maybe Jun will crack a bad cooking joke or two.
I had written a decent reply, but for some random reason it wasn’t posted when I clicked ‘submit’.
As I’m too lazy to rewrite it all, I’ll just say I’m against the idea of a book about Noble Team. I want books that propel the Halo universe forward; a book about the Covenant - Human war seems counter-productive.
I have thought about this before.
Just a stand-alone prequel to Halo Reach showing Noble Team.
They could go as far back as the SIII training and some of the missions they went on before Reach with Thom and Rossenda.
The climax of the book will be about the Deliver Hope trailer, where Cat looses her arm and Thom sacrafises himself to destroy the Covenant Cruiser.
It would also be cool if the epilogue was the very first cutscene of Reach, tying it right in with the game.
^^randomrosso93 makes a good point.
Maybe the book could be split (like most of the Halo Books) and would show Noble Teams past, and maybe Colonel Holland’s future in rebuilding the Human empire and encountering the new threat.
(Or maybe Jun’s future…?)
I completely agree. it took three games for the Master Chief and Cortana to really be characters I cared about to any extent, but I still cared very little. The books changed that. IMO the only character who I’ve managed to properly care about through the games alone is the Arbiter. A book following Noble Team before the events of Reach would be brilliant.
The Comic Series - A Fistful of Arrows gives off a artist’s interpretation of the job’s that Noble Team used to do like hunting insurrectionists but this conflicts with their purpose since they were comissioned from 2531 - 2552.
I would really love a book about Noble Team however. I would want to see their origins and perhaps we may be able to delve deeper into their emotional status. SPARTAN III’s usually apply for the position because they want Revenge. I know Jun and Emile most likely were seeking revenge after their parents were killed by the Covenant.
> You’re throwing money into a bottomless pit. Noble Team is a lost cause, it’s all about Halo 4 now.
To be honest, I’m not too keen on having another trilogy about the Master Chief. Especially since it’s going to be Covenant-free.
To me, fighting the Covenant is Halo. The Flood was just annoying to fight against and the Sentinels weren’t much better. Not to mention that fact that the Human-Covenant War lasted for 27 years but we only saw about 5 months of it in the games.
> The Comic Series - A Fistful of Arrows gives off a artist’s interpretation of the job’s that Noble Team used to do like hunting insurrectionists but this conflicts with their purpose since they were comissioned from 2531 - 2552.
>
> I would really love a book about Noble Team however. I would want to see their origins and perhaps we may be able to delve deeper into their emotional status. SPARTAN III’s usually apply for the position because they want Revenge. I know Jun and Emile most likely were seeking revenge after their parents were killed by the Covenant.
>
> I want to see what origins they all began with.
Not to be a buzz kill, but ‘A Fist Full Of Arrows’ is a fan comic, not canon.
I’d love to own a book or THREE about Noble. I’d like to see how they came together, but more importantly where they came from before they became a squad. How in the world did Jorge a SII get hooked up with a squad of SIIIs.
It would seem of the SIIIs that Carter, then Kat, would have the most history as they are higher rank and have been in the squad the longest.
I’d like to read how Jun became an “expert” sharpshooter (though he can’t shoot for crap in the game…
Also how Emile is supposed to be such a bad -Yoink-.
We won’t get another game with this squad (much to pleasure of some-though I for one would love it). So a book or two or three would be a nice way to develop them as characters and flush out the story more so you do end up feeling at least something for them and their sacrifice how ever big or small you see it.
I’m not opposed to any story. There was almost 30 years of solid war (not to mention the insurrection before that), and that’s ripe for the picking still. But I do agree I want to see the universe moving forward as well. I’m looking forward to the sequel to Glasslands and Halo 4.
Okay, Okay 343i, you don’t need to pull my leg… I will write this book. I know, I am a martyr, but somebody has to do it. (They act as if it were my dream to write for them… work, work, work!) But for all of you, I will make the sacrifice!
I want to move foward with the story, not back. Things leading up to Halo 4/the Forerunners should be the main focus of the series now. Like Glasslands.
> Eh, I hated Noble Team.
>
> I want to move foward with the story, not back. Things leading up to Halo 4/the Forerunners should be the main focus of the series now. Like Glasslands.
Actually, despite my (unrealistic) rant, I do love everything that has to do with the Forerunners. I really love the shroud of mystery surrounding them. I hope (and feel with relative confidence that 343i will do so) that 343i will focus on the larger scope of the Halo universe; the scope that was the major draw of the first three games.
Don’t get me wrong, the characters have to be humanized and given three dimensional personalities. To over do this, however, and to focus solely on that and not the sweeping grandeur that is Halo is a mistake.
I love every Halo game, and I really believe that they are great. However, I did find myself feeling a little underwhelmed with the story lines of both ODST and Reach.
Both had great stories, yet neither really felt like Halo stories to me.
Hey, look! My first novel published here on the forums. 343i, I expect royalties on this beast of a post
> Eh, I hated Noble Team.
>
> I want to move foward with the story, not back. Things leading up to Halo 4/the Forerunners should be the main focus of the series now. Like Glasslands.
Why can’t we have both?
Why we can’t we learn more about already existing things, and have new ones introduced at the same time?
Yes, yes, SO MUCH YES. Before Reach came out, I was really looking forward to getting to learn about and love all these new characters. I thought there was loads of potential for them and their relationships as a team, and their backstory and such. And then the game was released and… I really didn’t get any of what I wanted. I didn’t gain any emotional attachment to the characters at all, and consequently I really didn’t care that they died. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the story to an extent, but I still feel like the whole thing was just one big mess of wasted potential.
So, yeah, basically concur with everything the OP said. DO WANT NOBLE TEAM NOVELS PLEASE.
A lot of answers in this thread shares the same desire they were quite 1 sided and would love a book of origins missions even jun/Halsey after the break off how and why noble 6 was chosen
A good course of action to build upon the story of Noble Team would be a graphic novel series with different story arc dedicated to each character. Each story could be several issues long, thus giving us more back story on each character, but also building on the team’s story as a whole.
I personally would love to see back story on Noble 6 before he ‘left that lone wolf stuff behind.’ He used to be an assassin, so it would interesting to see him hunting down Insurrectionists.
And of course, anything else with Emile would be great.
I personally would prefer it if 343 just made the Fistful of Arrows graphic novel Canon and printed it. Not only would it cost them next to nothing because it is already made, but it is also really well made.
