Halo: Contact Harvest Book

So of all the pieces of "Halo" canon that I've dug into thus far - books, games, comics - this is the first thing that I've consumed that I haven't 100% loved. It's not that "First Contact" is bad - it's certainly not - but it doesn't have that same magic that Eric Nylund brought to his trilogy of novels, that same great balance of character work with fast-paced storytelling and deeper mythology. Granted, as a prequel novel, showing the early days of the Human-Covenant war, it does answer a few long-lingering questions about the "what" and "why" of how certain things came to play out…but the actual journey through those answers? Unfortunately, it's just a smidge bit dull.

It helps that our main character is fan-favorite Avery Johnson, who gives the proceedings a nice bit of levity. What DOESN'T help is that pretty much every other character here aside from Johnson is flat and one-note. You can tell that Joseph Staten - making his novel debut here - is really interested in digging deep into the broader lore and history of Halo, which I can absolutely appreciate - it's one of the best things about the franchise. But you have to also remember to tell a compelling story, and unfortunately, it just doesn't feel like Staten either a.) cared or b.) remembered to do that. The result is a book that hits all of the necessary checkmarks in terms of structure, but ultimately doesn't ever make you FEEL anything. And that's a real bummer.

Is "Contact Harvest" worth a read? If you're a die-hard Halo fan, or someone who - like me - is progressing through the entire canon in order of release, then absolutely - questions are answered, Covenant are gunned down, and it's fun enough spending 400-some pages with the Sergeant Major. But if you're looking for a great one-in-done sci-fi novel? Eh, you can probably do better.