what is your least favorite work of Halo lore?

Community Halo Universe
91

> 2535427499121034;89:
> Primordium on the other hand I felt was just kind of dull. I have a hard time reading Greg Bear’s prose sometimes, and the story itself just kind of meandered around for the majority of the book.

I generally agreed my first time reading it, but I reread the trilogy a ways back and I found myself oddly enjoying it now that I wasn’t thirsting for more secrets and revelations. Not as much as Cryptum or Silentium mind you, but its an interesting perspective on the universe and alot of what goes on is really quite interesting once one isn’t too concerned with discovering more about the bigger picture.

> 2535418397123029;90:
> > 2533274805386380;51:
> > Not Halo 5. I like its campaign.
> > I didn’t really enjoy Nightfall all that much. And Contact Harvest is my least favorite novel. I do like it, though.
>
> How on earth did you enjoy fighting the Warden Eternal like ten times? Or walking missions? Or the wonky squad mechanics?

This is probably not the thread to try and defend him, but I’m sort of curious why fighting a multi-bodied enemy 10 times is bad, yet fighting 10 gold elites/brute chieftains/hunters who are identical over the course of the game who are unlikely to even have any names is any better.

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> 2533274975398392;76:
> The comic book was not clear if it lived or not.

Y’know, I thought the comic did just fine. I never read the tweet, and still knew he was composed. Because the Control Room was perfectly intact, and there was a pile of composed ash, not a corpse.

They handled it fine. I would just say that perception is lacking.

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> 2535418397123029;90:
> > 2533274805386380;51:
> > Not Halo 5. I like its campaign.
> > I didn’t really enjoy Nightfall all that much. And Contact Harvest is my least favorite novel. I do like it, though.
>
> How on earth did you enjoy fighting the Warden Eternal like ten times? Or walking missions? Or the wonky squad mechanics?

I skipped the final boss fight. And I LOVED the squad mechanics. I thought they were a brilliant addition. Seeing as they were directly inspired by Star Wars: Republic Commando’s squad mechanics, and the guy that worked on that game, Tim Longo, happens to work on Halo at 343 now, I really liked the change. The Walking missions…yeah they weren’t really missions. But the extra intel you find laying around is fun. Or atleast I think it is.

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> 2533274846307559;44:
> Anything that Karen Traviss has touched. And I’m not even talking just Halo. Just everything in every franchise.

What are you talking about?
Traviss is a great writer. Her Star Wars novels are incredible. I can understand the frustrations with Kilo V, yes…I liked them too…, but really?

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> 2533274964189700;91:
> > 2535427499121034;89:
> > Primordium on the other hand I felt was just kind of dull. I have a hard time reading Greg Bear’s prose sometimes, and the story itself just kind of meandered around for the majority of the book.
>
> I generally agreed my first time reading it, but I reread the trilogy a ways back and I found myself oddly enjoying it now that I wasn’t thirsting for more secrets and revelations. Not as much as Cryptum or Silentium mind you, but its an interesting perspective on the universe and alot of what goes on is really quite interesting once one isn’t too concerned with discovering more about the bigger picture.
>
>
> > 2535418397123029;90:
> > > 2533274805386380;51:
> > > Not Halo 5. I like its campaign.
> > > I didn’t really enjoy Nightfall all that much. And Contact Harvest is my least favorite novel. I do like it, though.
> >
> > How on earth did you enjoy fighting the Warden Eternal like ten times? Or walking missions? Or the wonky squad mechanics?
>
> This is probably not the thread to try and defend him, but I’m sort of curious why fighting a multi-bodied enemy 10 times is bad, yet fighting 10 gold elites/brute chieftains/hunters who are identical over the course of the game who are unlikely to even have any names is any better.

I never said the boss fights were good. I just enjoyed playing through Halo 5, no matter what anyone says.
PS: I found a way to skip the final fight. Its on youtube. And you’re right…the Warden Eternal fights were excessive. Just one or two would have been nice.

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> 2533274805386380;94:
> What are you talking about? Traviss is a great writer.

No, she’s really not. There’s more to being a great writer than writing well, and when Travissty clearly said that she didn’t research anything about Halo to “keep free of bias” (yet was biased as hell,) that makes her a terrible writer.

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> 2535427499121034;89:
> Halo 5 and the Kilo-Five trilogy. Halo 5 all but killed my interest in the series (from a story perspective at least). Watching 343 piss away an amazing set up for the return of the Didact/Forerunners only to randomly bring back Cortana as the villain, shoe horn in some nonsensical “AI vs Organic” story-line, and try to shove more annoying Spartan IV’s down our throat, broke my soul.
>
> The Kilo-Five trilogy was just plain trash. The almost scary hatred of Halsey and the transformation of Spartans into kids with mommy/daddy issues has already been discussed to death, but what is almost as galling is how boring the books are. Nothing of value happens throughout the entire series aside from getting Halsey and the Spartan III’s out of Onyx. Everything else is just filler. Hell, the final “threat” of the trilogy is just some old dude who tried and failed to get a warship, which never would have gotten close to Earth even if he got it. The main “threat” was never a “threat” at all. This series also started a trend I really don’t like in the overall Halo lore. The depiction of ONI as the center of the Halo universe. I am unbelievably sick of Parangosky and Osman, and all the rest of the ONI shenanigans. What ever happened to Lord Hood and the regular UNSC military? Now every story revolves around shady spy crap and the vilification of everyone not associated with ONI.
>
> Honourable mentions also go to Hunters in the Dark and Primordium. Hunters in the Dark just felt like fan fiction. The Ark activating the rings was the culmination of the entire Halo trilogy, then Hunters just says “yeah, lets do that again”. It just feels so forced. It also doesn’t help that the characters are paper thin, the story is weak, and the enemy is just another Forerunner AI. Primordium on the other hand I felt was just kind of dull. I have a hard time reading Greg Bear’s prose sometimes, and the story itself just kind of meandered around for the majority of the book.

don’t forget the evil tree monster in hunters in the dark.

> **The Ragin Pagan Wrote :**No, she’s really not. There’s more to being a great writer than writing well, and when Travissty clearly said that she didn’t research anything about Halo to “keep free of bias” (yet was biased as hell,) that makes her a terrible writer.

Well that explains why she blatantly rewrote stuff, also I heard something similar happened with the mona lisa (at least they used a halo wikia and did a slight amount of research on the flood from what I heard, but it is still shown with the flood being treated as zombies)

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> 2533274805386380;94:
> > 2533274846307559;44:
> > Anything that Karen Traviss has touched. And I’m not even talking just Halo. Just everything in every franchise.
>
> What are you talking about?
> Traviss is a great writer. Her Star Wars novels are incredible. I can understand the frustrations with Kilo V, yes…I liked them too…, but really?

I’ve never read the Kilo V trilogy due to not being interested in it (and hearing so many valid complaints), but I tried reading the Star Wars: Republic Commando series back when it was out. The first book was interesting, and I did like the focus on the clone troopers…but everything else after that felt like fan-fiction to me. And for being a female author, Traviss really wrote a terrible female character, Etain. From the first moment she appears in the first book, I could tell she was going to be a Mary Sue. The type of MS who seems to be awful at everything (in contrast to the MS’s who are amazing at everything), and then HAS to form a romantic relationship with the main character, and be breaking Jedi rules in the process. It was because of Etain’s role in the story that I couldn’t make it far into the second novel. That’s just one of my complaints about what I’ve read, and by the sounds of it, weak, cliche characters seems to be something Traviss has done time and time again. The Republic Commando books could have been good, but it just felt too much like a teenager’s fan-fic.

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> 2533274887950450;98:
> > 2533274805386380;94:
> > > 2533274846307559;44:
> > > Anything that Karen Traviss has touched. And I’m not even talking just Halo. Just everything in every franchise.
> >
> > What are you talking about?
> > Traviss is a great writer. Her Star Wars novels are incredible. I can understand the frustrations with Kilo V, yes…I liked them too…, but really?
>
> I’ve never read the Kilo V trilogy due to not being interested in it (and hearing so many valid complaints), but I tried reading the Star Wars: Republic Commando series back when it was out. The first book was interesting, and I did like the focus on the clone troopers…but everything else after that felt like fan-fiction to me. And for being a female author, Traviss really wrote a terrible female character, Etain. From the first moment she appears in the first book, I could tell she was going to be a Mary Sue. The type of MS who seems to be awful at everything (in contrast to the MS’s who are amazing at everything), and then HAS to form a romantic relationship with the main character, and be breaking Jedi rules in the process. It was because of Etain’s role in the story that I couldn’t make it far into the second novel. That’s just one of my complaints about what I’ve read, and by the sounds of it, weak, cliche characters seems to be something Traviss has done time and time again. The Republic Commando books could have been good, but it just felt too much like a teenager’s fan-fic.

I really cannot see how her Star Wars books can be like teenage fanfiction. Given its been a few years since I read any RC book, I don’t remember Etain being some Mary Sue. I loved nearly everything about those books, except the cliffhanger ending of book 5.

Seriously…I dont get how people think she’s a bad writer. But whatever.

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> 2533274805386380;99:
> > 2533274887950450;98:
> > > 2533274805386380;94:
> > > > 2533274846307559;44:
> > > > Anything that Karen Traviss has touched. And I’m not even talking just Halo. Just everything in every franchise.
> > >
> > > What are you talking about?
> > > Traviss is a great writer. Her Star Wars novels are incredible. I can understand the frustrations with Kilo V, yes…I liked them too…, but really?
> >
> > I’ve never read the Kilo V trilogy due to not being interested in it (and hearing so many valid complaints), but I tried reading the Star Wars: Republic Commando series back when it was out. The first book was interesting, and I did like the focus on the clone troopers…but everything else after that felt like fan-fiction to me. And for being a female author, Traviss really wrote a terrible female character, Etain. From the first moment she appears in the first book, I could tell she was going to be a Mary Sue. The type of MS who seems to be awful at everything (in contrast to the MS’s who are amazing at everything), and then HAS to form a romantic relationship with the main character, and be breaking Jedi rules in the process. It was because of Etain’s role in the story that I couldn’t make it far into the second novel. That’s just one of my complaints about what I’ve read, and by the sounds of it, weak, cliche characters seems to be something Traviss has done time and time again. The Republic Commando books could have been good, but it just felt too much like a teenager’s fan-fic.
>
> I really cannot see how her Star Wars books can be like teenage fanfiction. Given its been a few years since I read any RC book, I don’t remember Etain being some Mary Sue. I loved nearly everything about those books, except the cliffhanger ending of book 5.
>
> Seriously…I dont get how people think she’s a bad writer. But whatever.

It’s just my personal opinion. Enjoyed the first book until Etain came into the picture. I guess me being a woman myself who likes to write my own fiction, I am extremely picky about how female characters are handled by female authors. But her being the struggling girl who just has to form a romantic relationship with the main character is really over-done in a lot of YA books I’ve read. Just…couldn’t get through the second book, some things made me so annoyed from a reader’s perspective.

I’m just giving one opinion to the greater conversation of why some of us are not a fan of Traviss, that’s all. You did ask why people didn’t like her, you know, so disregarding my post is…eh.

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> > 2533274805386380;99:
> > > 2533274887950450;98:
> > > > 2533274805386380;94:
> > > > > 2533274846307559;44:
> > > > > Anything that Karen Traviss has touched. And I’m not even talking just Halo. Just everything in every franchise.
> > > >
> > > > What are you talking about?
> > > > Traviss is a great writer. Her Star Wars novels are incredible. I can understand the frustrations with Kilo V, yes…I liked them too…, but really?
> > >
> > > I’ve never read the Kilo V trilogy due to not being interested in it (and hearing so many valid complaints), but I tried reading the Star Wars: Republic Commando series back when it was out. The first book was interesting, and I did like the focus on the clone troopers…but everything else after that felt like fan-fiction to me. And for being a female author, Traviss really wrote a terrible female character, Etain. From the first moment she appears in the first book, I could tell she was going to be a Mary Sue. The type of MS who seems to be awful at everything (in contrast to the MS’s who are amazing at everything), and then HAS to form a romantic relationship with the main character, and be breaking Jedi rules in the process. It was because of Etain’s role in the story that I couldn’t make it far into the second novel. That’s just one of my complaints about what I’ve read, and by the sounds of it, weak, cliche characters seems to be something Traviss has done time and time again. The Republic Commando books could have been good, but it just felt too much like a teenager’s fan-fic.
> >
> > I really cannot see how her Star Wars books can be like teenage fanfiction. Given its been a few years since I read any RC book, I don’t remember Etain being some Mary Sue. I loved nearly everything about those books, except the cliffhanger ending of book 5.
> >
> > Seriously…I dont get how people think she’s a bad writer. But whatever.
>
> It’s just my personal opinion. Enjoyed the first book until Etain came into the picture. I guess me being a woman myself who likes to write my own fiction, I am extremely picky about how female characters are handled by female authors. But her being the struggling girl who just has to form a romantic relationship with the main character is really over-done in a lot of YA books I’ve read. Just…couldn’t get through the second book, some things made me so annoyed from a reader’s perspective.
>
> I’m just giving one opinion to the greater conversation of why some of us are not a fan of Traviss, that’s all. You did ask why people didn’t like her, you know, so disregarding my post is…eh.

You know…you’re right. I tend to get fired up over this stuff.
I agree with you on the whole YA romantic sub plot so many novels have nowadays. However…the RC books came out a few years ago. Before some of those YA novels came out. But that probably doesn’t matter. As near 24 year old guy looking back at those books I read in high school, I just fell in love with virtually everything with RC. Traviss’s visual imagery, the conflicts the Clones dealt with, Etain’s death…oh man I cried baby tears when I read that. But I understand your position: YA romantic subplots are really annoying most of the time unless their is a good purpose for it. Etain’s wasn’t as necessary, but it did tell us that while the Clones were created to be emotionless warriors, Dar was different, as were the rest of his squad.

So I Googled some opinions from other Star Wars and Halo readers, and many say a similar thing about Traviss’s writing. That saddens me, as I never knew about those problems when I read the RC and Kilo V books. But I still enjoy them.

Due to this thread being about Halo lore, if you’d like to continue this conversation, we should do it via PM.

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> 2533274964189700;91:
> > 2535427499121034;89:
> > Primordium on the other hand I felt was just kind of dull. I have a hard time reading Greg Bear’s prose sometimes, and the story itself just kind of meandered around for the majority of the book.
>
> I generally agreed my first time reading it, but I reread the trilogy a ways back and I found myself oddly enjoying it now that I wasn’t thirsting for more secrets and revelations. Not as much as Cryptum or Silentium mind you, but its an interesting perspective on the universe and alot of what goes on is really quite interesting once one isn’t too concerned with discovering more about the bigger picture.
>
>
> > 2535418397123029;90:
> > > 2533274805386380;51:
> > > Not Halo 5. I like its campaign.
> > > I didn’t really enjoy Nightfall all that much. And Contact Harvest is my least favorite novel. I do like it, though.
> >
> > How on earth did you enjoy fighting the Warden Eternal like ten times? Or walking missions? Or the wonky squad mechanics?
>
> This is probably not the thread to try and defend him, but I’m sort of curious why fighting a multi-bodied enemy 10 times is bad, yet fighting 10 gold elites/brute chieftains/hunters who are identical over the course of the game who are unlikely to even have any names is any better.

The “golden” enemies were mixed in with different squads and vehicle types, the fights were different.

The big thing is that they’re not bullet sponges that take 5 minutes to kill (unless you’re bad), and they don’t take the story to a screeching halt like the Warden does. They actually fit in the sandbox.

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Halo Escalation

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Halo: Initiation. Not because I found the story or writing terrible, its just that it didn’t add anything to the Halo series. It was just filler.

105

Well, I haven’t read all of the books yet. I’ve read fall of reach, first strike, the flood, and Ghosts of Onyx.
Of these, I liked First Strike the least, Fall of reach the most, and Ghosts of Onyx as a close second behind FOR.

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> Halo Escalation

Right there with you. Didact being composed after multiple accounts stating cleary that it wouldn’t work on his new form.

Didact and Chief shouldn’t have been forced into conflict again so soon after Halo 4, it’s just so stupid. And then we have Black Team… In a believable story, Didact would have killed Chief after taking the knife to his eye.

107

Halo Nightfall was just awful.

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> 2533274810001991;106:
> Didact being composed after multiple accounts stating cleary that it wouldn’t work on his new form.

The only source that I remember this being stated in was Halo 4 Terminal 5: Knights. In where the Didact said that it would not work on his new form. A statement which, I imagine, could be wrong.

> In a believable story, Didact would have killed Chief after taking the knife to his eye.

And he was about to. Remember him crushing Chief’s helmet? Before Blue Team intervened?

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Halo Reach.

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> The only source that I remember this being stated in was Halo 4 Terminal 5: Knights. In where the Didact said that it would not work on his new form. A statement which, I imagine, could be wrong.

I swear I read it in the Forerunner Saga, but even if it’s only in the game it wasn’t an afterthought, so there’s no reason why they should have messed it up. I would say it’s just Brian Reed doing what he does best, ruining good fiction.

> And he was about to. Remember him crushing Chief’s helmet? Before Blue Team intervened?

Yeah, then after already declaring that he was just going to finish Chief, he then decides to pause and let Fred shoot him in the face, further stalling so that Carillon had a chance to float on over and give him the angry eye.

In a more believable story, Didact would have stomped Chief’s helmet in before dealing with Fred. Didact is a tactician and a warrior with more experience than all of Blue Team combined, I find it utterly incomprehensible that after resolving to end someone, that he’d just continue to play mind games.

But hey, it’s just Brian Reed’s cheesy comic book writing, antagonists are just plot devices to him. Let’s look at how Black Team were given one frame for all their glory, because Reed was done with them and wanted to “prove” that the Didact is super brutal or whatever (same trick he pulled with Locke and Jul) rather than actually write it into a much more satisfying or clever conclusion.

It’s even more ridiculous because the Didact absolutely murderfied Black Team, who he had no prior qualms with, then probably less than half and hour later, decides to act like a giddy child playing games with Blue Team.

Forgive the rant, but I hate Brian Reed’s Halo work. I have nothing against the guy, he seems pretty cool, but he writes garbage Halo material if you ask me.

My kingdom for a Schlef.