Customer Reviews

Ghosts of Onyx (Halo)

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As usual, Eric Nylund delivers.

Lets face it. If you are a huge Halo universe fan, 'Ghosts of Onyx' is a must-read. The games don't give you the full picture of what's going on in the Halo-verse. Without reading the books (of which there are now four), you'll never know the full story behind the genesis of the SPARTAN project, Master Chief's origin, what started the conflict between us and the Convenant or the scope of the Forerunner's domain.

And if you are like me, you were pretty annoyed with the ending of Halo 2 and MC's cryptic statement "I'm finishing this fight, sir."

'Ghosts of Onyx' brings you up to speed with what's been happening to the other SPARTAN warriors whilst MC galavants around the galaxy throwing monkeywrenches in the Covenant's plan for universal suicide. He details the creation of yet another SPARTAN unit (the SPARTAN III) from orphans left behind by our war with the Covenant. He brings back some familiar characters from his previous Halo novels (Dr. Halsey, Col. Ackerman) and continues his penchant for giving these brave SPARTAN warriors overly simplistic names like Tom, Kelly and Kurt.

If yer a Halo fan, you'll be pleased as punch. Maybe its a bad thing that to get the full picture of the Halo-verse, you simply have to read the Halo books. But hey, it'd be kinda hard to cram all of that narrative between every reload of your assault rifle. Me? I'm of the mind that anything that gets you to read is inherently good. Maybe this series will get a few kids to drop their XBox360 controllers and head to a bookstore.

This book whetted my Halo appetite, if only for a little while. Finishing 'Ghosts of Onyx', you feel as if we are one step closer to finishing the fight.

EPIC. yes yes that's the word. This book is packed with action, packed so hard that you'll trip! Picked it up yesterday and could not stop reading it. For those of you who have read the first three books, you will not be disappointed. This book will answer some key unanswered questions. Love the way Eric Nylund describes the battle/fight scenes, the intensity of fire fights and the brotherhood of SPARTANS. Stories of courage, valor and heroism from the farthest reaches of space. Rock on!
Other books you should read first or you'll be lost:
Book 1: Fall of Reach
Book 2: The Flood
Book 3: First Strike
Book 4: Ghosts of Onyx

This book is great. The action and fight scenes come to life in you mind. Eric's mastery of describing a characters emotions and thought is perfect. This is a must read for all Halo and non-Halo fans. Can not wait for the next one!

Honestly what can I say that already hasn't been said about this book? The writing is superb. Anybody remotely thinking about passing on this one because its major connection to a videogame property should think twice.

This is exactly the type of book that after you read you wish you are alive long enough for there to be a movie on the exact same subject matter you just finished reading or if that is too out of reach you atleast want as many people to read it as possible so they can (like you) understand just how great a piece of work it truly is. This is coming from someone that has never touched any of the Halo Novels, but I'm thoroughly impressed and because of this I plan to go back and read the previous entries into the series by Eric Nylund.

You get a take on the story from so many different perspectives its the complete package. You get to experience the story from the perspective of the Spartans, various UNSC ships and troops, Covenant, the genius that is Dr. Halsey.. just there is an all around variety to this book that I love. Now after becoming so impressed with what was happening with a specific group of characters naturally you'll be a bit disappointed when they go away from that group and start concentrating on another group, but as you read it becomes more clear as to why the author chose to present you with their perspective and you'll come to appreciate their inclusion.

This book will get you to care about the characters and what is going on the universe. this book firmly puts Halo up there with the best of them if there were any doubts before. The Halo universe can be just as popular if not more so than the likes of Star Wars. It really does feel fresh, interesting and new. When I say this book will get you care about the characters and everything going on around them I really do mean that. Without spoiling too much there is one character in particular that will leave you in awe and command your utmost respect and that is Kurt.

I may have singled him out, but that doesn't mean there wont be many other characters that you find yourself thoroughly impressed by, but Kurt's character will blow you away. This book is vivid, emotional and full of action. If there is anyone out there that is remotely interested in the games they'd be a complete fool to not read this book. I know there are some people that don't like to read, but I firmly believe that after reading this book it will be the catalyst that convinces you that books are just as entertaining if not more so than television.

This in my opinion is a great book and when a book is very well written there are things that you can get from a book that you can't get from a game or television and sometimes its the very simple practice of seeing how a writer describes what is going on in a scene of their book that really sells the vision to you tenfold and its so well done that at so many critical points during your reading you just have to stop and tell someone around you how great this book is or atleast read a specific part of the book to them.

So again let me finish off by saying you WILL care about the universe of this book, you WILL care about the characters and you WILL be tempted more aggressively as you progress through the book to keep on going even when you think its time to stop, but the book is so good that it gripts you and you WILL most certainly want more.

"Spartans never die?" she whispered. Dr. Halsey swiveled out of the contour chair and pushed the monitors out of her way with sudden violence. "If only that was true." For those who have never picked up a Halo book before, Dr. Halsey is the person who made the first Spartans. Spartans are literally the best of the best, because they are genetically cloned and are given very severe military training at a very young age. Did I also forget to mention that after that they go through highly severe surgery to help induce bone density, adolescence, muscle strength, and anything else that can make a warrior better. After that, they are also given chemicals that also help in those areas. The military uses Spartans as elite warriors to help fight the Covenant. The Covenant is a mixture of alien species ruled by their prophets and they are technologically superior and their troops are physically imposing. Also, they are intent to wipe out the human race.
But this book is about how the military took a Spartan out of active duty and sent him to the planet Onyx to train the new generation of Spartans with the help of Chief petty officer Mendez, (he also helped train the original Spartans). After the first wave of candidates finished their training, they were sent on a highly dangerous mission and the mission succeeded but only 2 of the 300 Spartans survived. It was considered a victory. So the Spartan in charge then got those two Spartans to help train the new ones. But the same exact thing happened with the next generation of Spartans and this time there were no survivors. So the Spartan in charge changed the chemical mixture slightly so that the third wave will survive.
I personally considered this book one of the greatest books I've ever read. I mean even the boring parts were good. Also the theme of this book I thought was survival. I think this because there were many parts that talked about war and invasion. There were also many separate kinds of perspectives that made it so that you could see just enough of the big picture to be willing to turn the next page. I think that this was best use of money I've seen in a while (the first was Halo 1 the game). I mean I could see no fault in this book. So I give it a perfect grade, five stars, two thumbs up, A+, and any other symbol that means awesome.

Please let me explain. I wish there was a 4.5 star selection. Eric Nylund is one of the best writers out there. He has that "I can't put this book down" touch to his novels. The Fall of Reach was an awesome read, and it had so much information. So did First Strike. You never felt lost, and you always had a grasp of what was happening, where it was happening, and who it was happening to.

Ghosts of Onyx was a good read, with that hard to put down effect. I feel as though the book was a little lacking on the new information, and also stretched out. Sure it gave us new information about "things" (im not going to spoil it for you!!!), but it took those "things" and drew it out too long.

Also, the book was 380ish pages, but the book itself was bigger, and the font was gigantic compared to the other two, so it's a faster read.

Please don't think of this as a negative review, because it's not, I'm just allowing you the luxury of knowing what you are getting when you read it!

Thanks! Chris

OK... you've probably read all the flashy reviews on this one. So I won't bother showering it with overwhelming praise. Let's get down to the dirt:
This title started off strong. The intro [Prologue] takes place in the future, where an orbital drop, ODST style, takes place. A bunch of outnumbered Spartan-III warriors strike a covenant refinery-type structure, in what I'd tag as a fantastic battle. Some kid named Tom leads the pack. Great scenes...but you'd expect the rest of the book--which starts in chapter 1 with a flash back into the past, showing the commissioning /experiences of the Spartan-III program--to be just as strong.
Sadly, the story does not deliver as you'd expect. In my opinion, this intro was the best part of the whole story.

Tom's training days, along with his relationships to a few other kid Spartans is shown as you read on. Good, but nothing in depth there. You can tell he's destined to be an "Alpha-Male" character.

As you read on, a lot of attention is given to a female scientist that worked on the original Spartan program [called Dr. Halsey], and to another guy, named Kurt, a veteran Spartan. But you never get to KNOW them or their true characters, in the 377 pages. It feels like they're standing around, reading a teleprompter or something; and some of the actions/decisions they take are not really "sound".

Cool real time combat strategies, battling with less than sufficient weaponry in comparison to the foes, and lots of self-sacrifice takes place, upon a seemingly uninhabited planet named Onyx. I particularly liked the research data presented on that world and its rich subterranean minerals, which is why bad guys want it. Plus there appears to be buried alien technology there, almost fusing what I'd call Aztec-style constructs and nanotechnology into one lethal sentient entity.

Yes there was a space battle, with Covenant warships vs. UNSC battle cruisers. And that was ok; it almost seemed disconnected from the rest of the ongoing Spartan-III development.
Like others have pointed out, this sort of "random battle thingy" leads to too many plots in one single story line. Feels like you're being dragged off the main course over and over again.

But still, if you want strong character development, high intrigue, and "a balanced tale that does not feel like it is being Forced into the dictated mental constraints of the XBOX HALO property owners", you will not find it in this book.
Its almost like... playing a video game, and the cut-scenes force you to do stuff that seems foolish to your independent mind, but you drag along, and vanquish the obstacles ahead of you... and get to the end, and find out... oh-my-damn, there is no end...

If this where a movie and I saw it, I'd want my money back.
Don't get me wrong, the author, Eric Nylund, is a pro. He has written other outstanding Halo/Non-Halo stuff. But I'm certain he did not have creative freedom to give you and epic sci-fi adventure worth remembering in this one.

Let me preface by saying that I usually do not read books. I never played Halo 1 or 2, but have played Halo 3 and was caught up by the excitement. That being said, I never truely appreciated the story and the need to 'finish the fight'. I decided to buy the 3-pack here at amazon (Fall of reach/flood/First Strike) kind of like a filler to get to $25 to get free shipping. A best buy I have made in a long time. I liked First Strike the best, followed closely by Fall of reach and then The Flood. My suspicion is that since the Flood was a narrative of the 1st game, it followed the flow of the game (lots of fighting) thus perhaps why it was 'not as good'.

I soon got excited to see what happened in Halo 2 (still have not played it), but got Ghosts of the Onyx 1st. This book (again in my opinion) is the best so far. It hardly has Master Chief or Cortana, but fills in a lot of the story (and of course leaves a 'cliff hanger' at the end unrelated to the main Halo story arc, thus having me 'wanting more').

I remember when watching Star Trek, Battlestar galactica, etc. I always wondered what the stories some of the other star ships might of had, or wanting to know what the exploits the 'other' Jedi had in star Wars, as all of them likely had excitig stories. This book is similar in that it follows the 'life' of Kurt as he is the main star. It gives more details on the Spartan program, and particular the Spartan III's. It also re-unites the remaining surviving spartans II's (except for Master Chief and 'Grey team --> Cole Protocol). It also sheds more light on the fore-runners, and the civil war that the covenenant are having.

I know many are 'unhappy' that it is not centered around master chief, but we all know what he is doing in halo 2 and 3. I want to know what else is going on in the Halo Universe and with the rest of the Spartans and this book does a great job in that. I think Cole protocol will be a 'similar' and outstanding book as well giving us stories of the other spartans. I just got Contact harvest in the mail today. can't wait to read it.

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx is the fourth book in the series of Halo novels and it is the third novel in the series written by author Eric Nylund. This story takes place during the events of Halo 2 but the story pulls away from the main story arch following the Master Chief and focuses on another SPARTAN II, Kurt. His death is faked during a mission and he is forcibly recruited to train a new generation of SPARTANS on the planet Onyx alongside his old mentor Chief Mendez. The SPARTAN III's are a new "disposable" type of SPARTAN that underwent the same training and genetic alterations but they use Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor (S.P.I.) in replace of the MJOLNIR Armor worn by the SPARTAN II's. The S.P.I. Armor is not as strong as MJOLNIR Armor and lacks shields but has light bending plates that make the wearer nearly invisible. Kurt is faced with many challenges and tough decisions as he trains his new age SPARTANS. The first batch of SPARTAN III's, Alpha Company, are all killed in Operation PROMETHIUS in an attempt to destroy a Covenant ship yard. During Operation TORPEDO, only two members of Beta Company survive during the destruction of a Covenant refinery and Kurt makes the survivors his right hand man, and women. After the loss of almost two entire companies Kurt makes an illegal addition to the genetic alterations that enhances the SPARTAN III's aggression in order to give them a better advantage in battle. Gamma Company is attacked by an unknown threat during training. Dr. Halsey and Kelly reenter the story when they crash land after arriving at Onyx to investigate the mysterious planet. Meanwhile the SPARTAN II's from the end of First Strike are in route to Onyx in response to Halsey's distress call. Follow Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez, the SPARTAN II's, and the SPARTAN III's as they unlock the secret of the mysterious planet of Onyx.

Nylund repeats his writing excellence again in Ghosts of Onyx. He continues to prove that even though a story is based on a video game it can still be worthwhile. If you have not read the previous Halo novels there may be portions of the story you do not fully understand, but even without the other books this story has the capacity to hold its own and be a fantastic book. You really don't even need to have played the video games to enjoy the story. He takes situations from the game and the other novels and develops them further to help readers better understand the complex and exciting universe that is Halo. His writing captivates the reader and keeps you reading all the way to the back cover. Eric Nylund weaves a tail that gets you emotionally involved in the story, when something terrible happens the cringe and when something glorious happens you cheer. The detail involved in this story makes you feel like you are right there with the characters. You can picture the environments that Nylund creates in the book, every scene down to the very last blade of grass. He brings the characters to life by giving them their own personalities and back stories. You feel like you know them all on a personal level and you start to pick out characters that you like and characters that you don't like with lists of reasons to support them all. The story takes several twists and turns in order to keep you guessing and engaged in the story. It does get a little confusing due to the different number of story lines going on at the same time but they all come together in the end at a satisfying conclusion. If you love the epic story of Halo or the writing styles of Eric Nylund then Ghosts of Onyx will not let you down.

Before reading this book I bought the box set and read the first three in the series. The first book was littered with gross typos, the second book mostly failed to deliver (due to the author's lack of detail at many times), but the third book was better. "Halo: Ghosts of Onyx" is by far the best in the series. It was more professionally done as there were less typos (if any at all) and there was close attention to detail most of the time. I like the idea of the Spartan III program and some new technologies associated with it. However, the one thing with Halo that bores me is all of the "space quest". I'm a fan of Spartan action, so when they're just flying around in outer space, my interest drops a bit. But once again, this book is definitely the best in the series so far.