Halo: The Fall of Reach Book

Ha! A book about Halo?! ROFL.

I was wrong.

Expected this: "Grenade, headshot, headshot. Two grunts down. More grenades. 360 no scoped an Elite." etc. A book about mindlessly shooting things up.

Got this: A book that doesn't focus on wars or engagements, but the thoughts and emotions of the Spartan's (yes, they have emotions!). You place yourself in their shoes and they are no longer dudes who are just good at shooting things. You see the painful life of brainwashing and conditioning they've gone through. They are not dumb, they think and feel. Most of all, you see how conflicted they are.

The video game never showed this. You never "felt" what happens behind the mask. Eric Nylund did a great job of bringing these characters to life and making you "believe" in what the Spartan's believed. You feel their passion, you want them to win, and are pained by their loss.

Instead, it reminded me of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and the idea of how you *create*, rather than recruit, elite soldiers. The books were way better than the game. I bought Halo 3 and barely played it because of the Halo book trilogy!

To wrap up, the book also takes place before the events in the Halo video game and explains the origins of the character you play. The game made a lot more sense after reading this book. It used lots of Navy jargon and tried to sprinkle military tactics in to most of the battle situations.

Verdict: I loved Ender's Game, and I'd place this right along side it. Solid read with some great character development. You will be a Spartan when this is over.

Disclaimer: I played Halo 1 before reading this series which may have helped me develop a relationship with the general story and characters. Also, I didn't like the 2nd book as much (The Flood). It was written by a different author who seemed to be more of a scribe for a gamer just playing thru the game. Basically it sounded like he never played the games himself and just watched someone play them and wrote down what they did. I didn't feel the emotion nearly as much. I'd recommend playing the first Halo in place of reading The Flood as it is virtually the exact same story.