Before you start reading...I suggest you play this audio piece...and read while you listen. It will provide great insight
I am going to say this flat out: If you are looking for a review...you are in the wrong place. This is a rant...which makes it even better.
I am FREQUENTLY hounded by fan boys and NERDS about my utter dislike for the Halo Novels. I am always told "you are not a real fan if you hate the books" or "the books are an important part of the franchise" or even the dreaded "you're a fag if you hate the books". The major point of contention on my part is that I think the books are nothing more than cash grabs looking to exploit a game franchise and the fans that support it.
You see...there are four types of fan. They include:
The Fanatics - The guys who go to Comic Con to polish their phallus to Cortana
The Fan - The guys who like the franchise, play the games, and that is it.
The Dude - The guy who is like my brother-in-law Ryan...who has a family, a kid, and plays games once in a blue moon, only caring to kill digital monsters...or Op-For terrorists...
Then we have the most special...and rare kind of fan:
The Realist- Just as potent as a fanatic, but with a more objective eye. The Realist is the fan who looks at a franchise, and knows when to call it on stupidity, praise it on ingenuity, and generally be the voice of reason and logic. These people are typically ignored for their down-to-earth and level headed thinking.
I am the kind of fan who describes himself as a realist. And...as a realist...I think these books have caused irreparable harm to the Halo Franchise.
Let's not forget about fraudulent comic books...
All of these novels are fraudulent cash grabs...and I am going to carefully explain why. I have done a ton of research on these stupid novels as a pet project of mine, in an ongoing crusade to finally get people to understand that Halo IS, WAS, and ALWAYS WILL BE a video game franchise...not a lactating money machine. So...my main issue is what the books have done to the story, which is, in my HUMBLE opinion, the most important aspect of any media. The books have been primarily responsible for continuity errors in the lore, and the books have allowed for lazy and sloppy story telling.
Table of Contents:
What is a Story?
What is Retcon and Why is it Used?
A Few Quotes
The Novels and Their Crimes
1. What is a Story?
So to start, what is STORY? A story is an accounting of events, whether it be fictional or actual, in a structured, competent, fluid, and coherent manner. Story relies heavily on continuity of events, the correct flow of events, and the provision of information at the right times, so as to ensure that anyone interpreting a story has enough information to either draw conclusions or be able to spiritually follow events in a 3rd person.
Stories can take many shapes. They can be in movies, they can be in games, they can be in books, and they can be verbal. However...a story must be able to provide enough information to stand on its own. The more someone must ask "WHY"...the weaker the story is.
Generally speaking, forms of media are like different kinds of fluids; oil, water, vinegar, etc. All of these things are great...but it is when they mix do you get...conflict, they don't mix well, or even at all! This is where the problem is...but we will get to this later...there is something else I want to touch on.
2. What is Retcon and Why is it Used?
Retcon stands for Retroactive Continuity. Basically, it is the ongoing alteration of pre-established facts that have been considered canon. Basically...it is used when not enough planning when into your story telling process. Retcon can be very hard to spot, but generally, it is accepted practice to call it retcon when an established fact has been altered. Retcons do not always include adding information. Adding new information does not always change pre-existing information. New information might provide new insight, but it does not alter the flow of events.
Personally, I do not like Retcon...but heaven knows I have used it from time to time in some of my own written works, but that is besides the point, as the fan work of person who writes as a hobby, does not damage as much canon as say...a game company or book publisher who is holding onto a cherished game franchise. You all know who I am talking about...
3. A Few Quotes
So...that leads me back to the books, and why I hate them. To put it all simply...these novels have done serious damage to the Halo franchise JUST by existing. But...I want to show you something...a quote from Joseph Staten:
Quote:
Everything that Bungie has ever approved is canonical. But even then, certain things trump others. In order of canonical influence: - The games rank first:
- Published materials (books, comics, soundtrack liner notes etc.) rank second
- Marketing and PR materials third
- More recent items trump past items (Reach canon can Trump Halo 3 canon if need be)
Basically this means that games are the be all and end all of Halo Canon, that what they say goes.
Another interesting indirect quote comes from Marcus Lehto, the Creative Director of Halo: Reach:
Quote:
The “Halo” games are considered prime canon, and anything outside of the games is supplementary, so if there are contradictions, the game’s events supersede anything else.
Then we have this quote from Shishka, someone of vast importance on Bungie.net, who, by all accounts, has a voice that carries weight in the Haloverse.:
Quote:
The Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike are official books. Yes, Bungie had say in their writing. Yes, the writers did some of their own work nothing was published without first receiving Bungie’s approval.
Now check out this statement made by a Bungie.Net employee, on their forums, by the name of Shishka:
Quote:
However, what you fail to realize is that the books act as flavor for the hardcore. Guess what? Out of the millions that have bought and played the second Halo, only a tiny handful have actually READ these books. As such, it’d be unwise to reference the books directly in the game, as the reference would be obscure and misunderstood by the majority of players.
The books enhance the games, not the other way around.
The mistake in your thinking is that Halo 1 doesn’t “reference” anything that happened in The Flood. It’s the other way around. And, Halo 1 didn’t reference anything that happened during Fall of Reach, just as Halo 2 didn’t reference anything that happened in First Strike.
Joseph Staten also said:
Quote:
The books are, for better or worse, part of the canon. In the future we may choose to revise or flat-out ignore some of the less appealing ideas (Johnson’s biological immunity to the Flood, for example), but folks should treat them as defining elements of the Halo universe.
How can we, as fans, be expected to respect these novels, if the game studio, and the publisher behind the franchise, do not even fuly respect the novels? What it essentially boils down to, is the fact that the books are not respected as a primary source of information, and as such, it is why I hate them...they are not given the same delicate care that is given to the games, and as a result, the books go down in quality.
But really...if I don't read the books, why do I care about Quality? Read on...and you will learn more.
4. The Novels and Their Crimes
That is pretty shocking stuff to read if you ask me. The way I see it...the books are just pointless filler...worth only as much as the holes and blank spaces they can fill. They are replaceable by the games, and Bungie didn't even take them seriously enough to warrant taking them into serious consideration when making a game. What really annoys me is that "The books enhance the games, not the other way around"...but fans seem to think that without the books, there is no Halo franchise left...and if you do not read the books, you are not a "real fan"...despite the low quality of the books themselves.
But do you want to know what will really piss me off? The fact that Halo 4 will have essential tie-ins with the books now. Good job 343...you are alienating everyone except the most HARDCORE of fan...good job.
What kind of stupid decision is that? You are going to have casual gamers looking at the character motivations, the story line, plot characters, and even minor events, asking "what the fuck just happened?" because they did not read the books! Are you SERIOUS? I used to be a MASSIVE critic of Bungie, and I think at one point I expressed my wishes for them to "all be arrested for impersonating good game designers"...but with 343 on the scene...I feel like Bungie was a better care taker of this franchise because at least BUNGIE didn't consider the books to be holy scripture. At least Bungie knew how to trample on the lore of the books, and replace it with video game content.
At least Bungie knew that a game should be able to stand on its own, without the support or the backstory of the books. Shitty books are not needed when a game has proper exposition and story telling. When you put the books next to the games, the books are just FILLED with errors, plot holes, and retcons.
Perfect example: Back in mid 2010, Halo: The Fall of Reach was re-released with 27 extra pages of content. That sounds like something George Lucas would do...release a "new and better version" with "added content". It was my understanding that The Flood and First Strike were also re-released with "added content" and "retcons"
Good Lord, even the books standing by themselves have proven to be filled with consistency errors, resulting in several re-releases for several titles. Fuck these stupid books.
For fun...I will make a list of all the inconsistencies I could find, either through internet searches, or fact checking on Halopedian. Here is a list of every Game to Book canon error I found. Most of it is just copy and paste...so feel free to skip it, but read it for a laugh.
Spoiler:
Quite possibly the largest discrepancy between the books and games: In the book The Fall of Reach, Dr. Halsey does not know about the Spartan III program at all until Reach has truly fallen and she has taken refuge in CASTLE base, when she hacks into ONI's database despite Colonel Ackerson's personal AI, Beowulf, attempting to stop her. In the game Halo: Reach Dr. Halsey communicates with Noble Team multiple times well before Reach is overrun, and Noble Team contains multiple Spartan IIIs. The game portrays her as having complete knowledge of the Spartan IIIs much earlier than the books.
Her journal shows that she did not recognize Noble team and realized they weren't "her" Spartans (aside from Jorge, of course). She still would've assumed they were Spartan-II's, there's no reason she would know of the Spartan-III's or the fact that most of Noble Team were Spartan-III's.
The snag with this theory is that throughout the books she is known to identify every Spartan by name even through his or her armor, because she knows them so well. She would not just blow off a failure to recognize one of her Spartan IIs. She clearly knows about the Spartan IIIs in the game and a conflict in the canon arises as such.
Jackals and Special Ops Elites are said to be on board the Pillar of Autumn in Halo: The Flood. This does not occur during gameplay on any difficulty.
The primary insertion group during the Truth and Reconciliation assault is made up of ODSTs, while in-game there are only Marines. ODST's did appear in Halo: Combat Evolved (contrary to popular belief), although they did not wear ODST Body Suits in that game. These could have been separate insertions, but a singular attack is more likely.
Cortana identifies Halo in Halo: The Flood when escaping the Pillar of Autumn, but it is not identified until the level The Truth and Reconciliation in the game.
Halo: The Flood describes only four Scorpion tanks being retrieved from the Pillar of Autumn, which does not account for the one in Assault on the Control Room. Fire Team Zulu was working out of Alpha Base, so they could have been ordered to bring the tank, which would account for it being near a downed dropship.
Cortana accesses Halo's Control Center by having the Master Chief remove the memory chip from his helmet and place it in the console, while in the novel she broadcasts herself into the system using the suit's transmitter.
UNSC ships use rotating sections to simulate gravity yet no such mechanism is seen in-game. This could be accounted for if the rotating parts were inside the ship. The Pillar of Autumn may also have been using the reverse-engineered Covenant technology called Gravity Plating instead of rotating sections.
The Pillar of Autumn's MAC cannon is depolarized and cannot fire, yet the gun is apparently used, and the loss of fire control still makes headlines in Halo: Combat Evolved's opening cutscene.
The cutscene in Halo: Combat Evolved at the end of the level The Pillar of Autumn clearly shows the Autumn being fired upon with plasma. However, in the novel, the Prophet at the ring forbids the Covenant ships to fire, lest they strike the "sacred relic".[38] However, the order could have been ignored or overruled (perhaps by the Supreme Commander) to stop the Autumn from hitting the surface, as the Prophet's demand was made before the ship was even boarded.
Grunts often overcharge their Plasma Pistols in the books,[39] yet they never do so in the games, with the exception of Halo: Reach.
In the game, Master Chief throws Private Jenkins' Record View away, but he still has it in First Strike. This could be explained by the Chief's suit automatically making a copy of Jenkins' recording as a possible means of gathering intelligence, although this is only a theory.
In the Halo Graphic Novel -- specifically the Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor -- the Flood are shown consuming every possible living creature they can find, yet in the games, it seems that they are only interested in intelligent beings. Additionally, the Halo Array was mentioned as only being able to kill beings with sufficient biomass and intelligence to support the Flood. However, the Flood was in its feral stage, and could have been searching for more calcium to sustain its Proto-Gravemind.
In the game Halo 3, under the Multiplayer Armor Permutations menu, it states that the ODST helmets were used for the Spartans to train in. However, this is never mentioned in Halo: The Fall of Reach. It may have been omitted, however, as large sections of the training are not covered in the book.
In Halo: The Flood, most of the Marines described in the book were female, despite no female marines being in Halo: Combat Evolved at all.
In Halo: The Flood, Captain Keyes comments that a single plasma torpedo is capable of destroying the Pillar of Autumn, though in Halo: Combat Evolved it is struck by several without losing structural integrity and breaking up. This possibly again relates to the Minor Prophet's order to not fire Plasma Torpedoes. The Covenant ships may have chosen to fire undercharged shots to minimize damage caused by stray shots.
In Halo: The Fall Of Reach, Master Chief was at the edge of the system with the rest of the Spartan II's wait to enter slipspace with cortana, where as in the game, Master Chief is in cryosleep drydocked on reach waiting on noble 6 to deliever cortana before fleeing the system, long after the battle of reach had began.
Let's not forget about fraudulent Book to Book errors.
Spoiler:
33 SPARTAN-IIs successfully adapted to the augmentations.[40] Kurt-051, Sheila, and Randall were listed as MIA before 2552, as were Jai-006, Adriana-111, and Mike. Samuel-034 and three other Spartans were KIA, and one WIA,[41] but thirty SPARTAN-IIs were present to defend Reach (John-117, Linda-058, James, and twenty-seven of Red Team). Other KIA Spartans include Cal-141,[42] Solomon-069, and Arthur-079.[43] Douglas-042, Jerome-092, and Alice-130 became stranded outside UNSC-controlled space, unable to contact allied forces Maria-062 was stationed at Earth, where she had plans of "starting a family". By this count no more than 19 SPARTAN-IIs, apart from Jorge-052 of Noble Team, could have been present for the Battle of Reach.
The Pelican's maximum operational capacity is listed as 12 Marines; elsewhere as 3 crew, 10 seated, 5 standing; yet still elsewhere they can carry 75 children, 30 Elites, or 27 Spartans. It should be noted, though, that the Pelican in Halo: First Strike has all the unnecessary equipment removed—likely including the seats—and the Spartans are more or less jam-packed into the small craft. It is most likely that there may be different variations of Pelicans, because we see 2 types of them in game, or that these were equipped with some kind of troop bay extension.
During the Battle of Reach, many Covenant ships are destroyed, but not before they can let loose their own lethal plasma attacks. However, later plasma en route to a target merely dissipates as the originating ship and its magnetic controls are destroyed. It is possible that the ships were destroyed when the plasma shots were very close to their targets, meaning that they hit the stations before they could completely dissipate, or the magnetic controls were not destroyed in the former instance, allowing the plasma to continue to its target.
The foreword of Ghosts of Onyx is an excerpt from page 249 of First Strike, discussing the 'MIA clause' of the Spartan-II Programme. In First Strike, part of the quote goes "[Dr. Halsey] touched SPARTAN-034's entry." In the Ghosts of Onyx foreword excerpt, it reads (likely due to a typing/spellcheck error) "[Dr. Halsey] touched Trover wTAN-034's entry."
Halo: The Fall of Reach states that Harvest has a population of 3 million. However, in Halo: Contact Harvest, it is stated to have a little over 300,000.
Lieutenants Hall and Dominique are introduced as members of the command crew of the Pillar of Autumn, but are absent when the ship arrives at Installation 04. It should be noted, though, that Halo: The Fall of Reach states that there was a flutter in Dominique's heart when he came out of cryosleep prior to the discovery of Alpha Halo, perhaps indicating cardiac arrest.
Engineers are supposedly first seen by humans during the Battle Of Sigma Octanus IV in 2552. However, in Halo: Ghosts Of Onyx, when Kurt is reviewing a mission of the SPARTAN-IIIs some years prior to that battle, he saw Engineers. Such information could have been kept classified by the ONI due to the secrecy of the SPARTAN-III program. Engineers are also occasionally seen in the campaign of Halo Wars, which takes place in 2531, although Spirit of Fire is supposedly MIA.
Chronologically, the first time Brutes are encountered by the UNSC was at the Battle of Harvest in 2525, yet the Master Chief has no intelligence on them until the attack on the Unyielding Hierophant in 2552. This could be accounted for by the secrecy of the first encounter with the Covenant, as the ONI could have tried to cover up the failure of the negotiations with the Brutes. Later material, such as We Are ODST, ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A, The Babysitter, The Package, and multiple stories in Evolutions show that Brutes were encountered throughout the war; in addition, UNSC personnel and even civilians in Halo 3: ODST seem quite familiar with the species. Brutes are also seen during the events of Halo Wars, but only on the Shield World, where the Spirit of Fire could not contact UNSC controlled space.
In Halo: First Strike, Dr. Halsey puts four sub-machine guns in a bag. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Kelly found the same weapons, but they were four MA5B Assault Rifles instead.
The BR55 (Battle Rifle) is said to be a prototype weapon on the planet Harvest for Captain Ponder's militia in Halo: Contact Harvest. However, in Halo: First Strike, some thirty years later, it is implied that the SPARTAN-IIs saw the weapons for the first time. More recently, though, Halo Wars, The Cole Protocol, Helljumpers, and Evolutions indicate that the BR55 was in service for the duration of the war.
Jai remembers being abducted and brought to Reach along with seventy-five other children, when there should have only been seventy-four other children. This is probably just a typo though.
Prior to 2525, UNSC ships used rotating sections to simulate gravity, and the Spartan-II's were surprised to discover artificial gravity on the Covenant ship they boarded.[52] However, since then, multiple human facilities and ships are shown to have artificial gravity capability. It is possible that this technology was adapted from the Covenant, but that is unlikely due to the difficulty in capturing intact Covenant ships, much less reverse-engineering them. The most likely possibility is that the writers used anti-gravity technology for convenience purposes. It is also possible, though, that the rotating sections exist between the walls and outer hulls of UNSC vessels.
The Covenant has had knowledge on the Oracles for a long time, but in Halo: The Flood, 343 Guilty Spark was regarded as an enemy to the Sangheili.
When Lieutenant Keyes is warned of the incoming Covenant fleet and asks what UNSC ships are nearby in Halo: The Cole Protocol, the book first states that three destroyers are picketing, but immediately counters that the UNSC Midsummer Night and three frigates wouldn't be able to repel a Covenant assault. However, they are later confirmed to be destroyers, one of which is the Do You Feel Lucky?.
Chief Petty Officer Mendez remarks that some of the Alpha Company candidates were orphaned at Jericho VII. His speech takes place on December 12, 2531, yet Jericho VII was not glassed until February 2535.
In Halo Wars: Genesis, Ellen Anders mentions the planet Onyx in passing, while giving a talk about an alien presence. However, in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Kurt reads a file that says Onyx has been classified since 2511. Genesis takes place in the spring of 2531.
In Halo: The Flood, it is stated that lowering ones eyes is a sign of respect among the Sangheili. However, in Halo: The Cole Protocol, it was said that refusing to meet one's eyes or lowering the head was a sign of shame.
In Halo: The Flood it says Captain Keyes killed his first human with a pistol; however, Halo: The Cole Protocol states he used a plasma rifle.
The Halo: Evolutions story, The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, it is clearly stated that Preston Cole had one hundred seventeen ships under his command during the Battle of Alpha Aurigae. Halo Wars: Genesis states he only had one hundred seven in the same battle.
In various books the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon is also referred to as the Mass Accelerator Cannon. This is most likely a typo.
How can a source of lore that contains this many errors, and this many retconned pieces of information be considered a valid source of lore? Halo 4 and 343 is trying to put more emphasis on the books...but as we can all see...the books are total shit...but fan pressure and fan adoption has most likely been the reason reason that 343 has decided to make the books so important to Halo 4 and the upcoming trilogy.
What really makes me sick is that some fans prefer the books over games like Halo Wars. Yeah...it is true. People like poorly written contradictory books more than they like an enjoyable Halo game. Yes, it may be true that Halo Wars did not come from Bungie or 343...but the fact remains the same, there was more care and love poured into Halo Wars than there was with the books.
Alas...I guess I am clearly annoyed by how much emphasis is noiw being placed on the books by 343, the now caretakers of the Halo franchise. I swear to God...if 343 alienates the casual fans, or the fans who give no fucks about the books...then I think that counts as one foot in the grave of a dying franchise.
The last thing I want is to see Halo go down. I love Halo, I think it is a great sci-fi franchise,a great space adventure...but I am of the strong belief that we have morons conducting the affairs. But despite everything I JUST SAID...you will still meet the moron who says the books are FANTASTIC and GREAT ADDITIONS to the lore.
These are possibly the same people who like The Star Wars prequels. They must have George Lucas syndrome.
Last edited by Naked Crook; 08-19-2012 at 08:49 PM.
I enjoyed the books, i always thought the flood came out after halo 1. I enjoy reading stuff that attempts to detail what happened during major events , reading the books did not ruin my halo gaming experience. The people who say you are not real fan for just disliking the books are stupid. I clearly have a opposite opinion on the books but i don't go "your opinion differs from mine so suck my dick" like those haters.
then theres me.... the poser Ive played through them once but am very good when i do play againzt others online but not in mp on your console now sayithing this I know a thing orvtwo about halo but most history i know is iffy. I love storyline but cannot bring to the table thes other types as i do not own a Xbox. Yet i edit on halopedia and they quote The books like a friggin holy bible
I've read the books in the top row. They're very interesting and ad possibilities to the stirrings. Like Halo The Flood for example. It tells the events on the first halo ring from the view of the Marines, ODSTs, Ccovenant, and the Master achief and beautifully weaves them together. You see things in Halo CE that are there but unexplained, and Halo The Flood gives a possible explanation. When you find the helmet with JENKINS on it in the game, you don't know how it got there. The Flood tells the story of how Jenkins was selected with Cpt Keyes and Sgt Johnson to go on a mission. Then the Flood supposedly kill everyone. But in Halo 2, SGT Johnson is back without explanation, although he was engulfed by infection forms in the video in halo CE. However, Halo First Strike goes on to tell of how SGT Johnson managed to survive the incident. I view those novels as more of a patch to comedy and smooth the story between games.
As for Cole Protocol and Contact Harvest, they deal with the first encounters against the Covenant and stories of events that take place before And during the Halo games. I haven't had a chance to read the others though.
Now, I do admit that many of the books do contradict the games, you made that very clear and said it very well. I read the first three books before Halo: Reach came out on Xbox and I loved them, the books were great.
However, with Halo: Reach, Halo Wars, Halo 3: ODST, the books are very contradictory and my feelings have changed over time. Hell I even wrote this thread about the Games vs. The Books so I see where you are coming from.
I do agree with a lot of things you said, but to say that the books were "poorly written," I have to disagree with. The books were "poorly planned," in my opinion, they made mistakes, and then the games made even more mistakes to the people who have read the books, I know that, I read them. And with Halo 4 being connected to the books, I have to say the the books they are talking about are all Post-2552, so technically when it comes to cannon for that era, the books are triumphant because they're the only ones.
The books I am talking about, The Forerunner Saga and Glasslands, are being related to the game, as the other books are Pre-2552, the games take the cake. Many of the contradictions and retcons are Pre-2552 era....and in that regard, games trump the books.
Yes, Bungie and 343i are a little vague (and stupid) in this regard, most Halo can understand that the books should come first. I mean, Halo was one of the first games I played (and loved) so I will always be a dedicated fan to the franchise. Yes, they made mistakes, yes, they screwed up in some regards. But, they were made and these contradictions will be around.
To be honest, I was just explaining my opinion on the issue. The games will always be better than the books, it's such a different feeling of getting involved in the story, than just reading about it. However, I do believe, even with the issues, the books are good, not great, but good.
I totally see where you are coming from SNiper, well said...but my distrust of paper and ink is even more deep-seeded than that.
To think that the gamers are going to possibly suffer and see a reduced quality of story because 343 plans on having tie-ins with the books (when according to one Bungie.Net employee, only a small fraction of the fans read the books) then we are going to have a serious problem.
I don't want to HAVE to read Glasslands and all this expanded universe to fully enjoy the game. I want a full story, I want things to be explained, and the game should be able to stand by itself. It seems to me that, without the books, some things just don't make sense, like, how Master Chiefs armor changed in cryo sleep. In the books you find out that it is some schlock about nano-tech, that only seems to work in temperatures that are cold enough to reduce human physiology to a near halt.
This all stems from the fact that Halo 4 cannot stand by itself as a video game, without the books propping it up. Without the books...shit doesn't make sense...or there are enough leaps and bounds to make people ask "why?".
However, I think, and this is a big think, that many of the things related to the books are going to be like "Easter Eggs," things that won't effect the story in the long run, but gives the reader that extra kick.
I believe that even if you did not read the books, you can understand the story.
Hell, after Halo 4 comes out I'll ask my friends if they understood it or not, and we'll see what the non-readers say.
But yes, I do agree that you shouldn't HAVE to read the extended universe to understand.
Why I Utterly Hate the Halo Books
08-19-2012
Linear Mode
