Customer Reviews

Halo: Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe

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Seeing as no one has voiced an opinion on this new item and I just finished, I have written this review. To give some backround on my knowledge of this subject I have read/played all Halo related products since 2001. I'm going to be blunt and say if your intrested in the universe bungie created this is a great read.

Halo evolutions is comprised of 11 short storys in no chronological order with many different characters (new and old#. Some of the authors involved in this project such as Eric Nylund and Tobias S. Buckwell #Both former Halo authors) sealed the deal.

Pros
- Very spread out storys with varying situations and perspectives
- Majority of Stories are good
- More Halo

Cons
- A couple of stories I found unintresting
- Wish there was more!

Regarding all highly knowledgeabale Halo fans like myself, The story: The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J. Cole is a real treat and considered my favorite of the lot.

All in all this book had a small taste of everything I loved about Halo making a hard to put down book. This was my first review and I'd gladly appreciate feedback. Good or Bad. Thankyou.

I'm not "good" at video games. I've got the reaction time of a sleepy 83 year old on opiates and will always, ALWAYS be put down by the hordes of basement dwelling folk that populate the online, multiplayer landscape. Still, I stick with gaming because nowadays that's where a lot of the good stories are, mostly because games aren't restricted to any hard and fast time limitations they way film and television are. Along came "Halo" a little while back, and all of a sudden one of those great stories was taken from the hands of Japanese RPG characters with goofy hair and giant swords. With "Halo 2," the whole thing got even sweeter, with what is arguably the first FPS storyline that treated its viewers like adults...without a drop of blood, coarse language or any other supposedly "mature" content. Instead it relied on a post-modern telling of the Human/Covenant war that no longer allowed for black and white interpretations of good and bad. Players were forced to steer the Master Chief and the Arbiter through seas of grey, only to see the two intersect at another point of confusion: the eons-old Gravemind, both monstrous and beautiful in its timeless brilliance, abilities, and moderation between the warring races of the Covenant and Humanity.

Then there was "Halo 3." Due (apparently) to the constant nagging of frat boys and terrified children, the once rich and subtle web of stories woven in "Halo 2" was reduced once more to "you are you; they are them; you shoot them." Even the seemingly infinite Gravemind lost his sense for meter and rhyme all of a sudden along with all of Cortana's reason and wit. No explanation for any of this was offered until now. That explanation comes by way of Karen Traviss' "Human Weakness," and is (seriously) the second piece of work from the Halo universe to wrench tears out of me (the first being Eric Nylund's ludicrously exceptional "Ghosts of Onyx").

The fact that this collection of stories wasn't offered at the release of "Halo 3" is nothing short of a travesty to fans of the Halo universe's fiction. The stories that don't fill in gaps in the games' chronology and logic almost seem like an apology for the wait at this point. If that is the case though...apology accepted.
-Fans of the ODST's grandstanding and patriotism get all manner of reasons to salute in "Dirt."
-The abundant history and psychology of the varying Covenant races collected over various media and years (particularly "Contact Harvest") gets fleshed out further with respect to the Brutes in "Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss."
-The crippling, paralyzing horror of the Flood is revisited in sharper detail than ever before in "The Mona Lisa."
-"Blunt Instruments" remind us in so many ways that not all the Spartans match the man-with-no-name attitude of Master Chief, who shows his own little bit of humanity in "Palace Hotel."
-The Spartan III project remains the most interesting and aberrant bit of plot material yet introduced in the fiction, as evidenced by "The Headhunters," which is two parts "Full Metal Jacket" and one part Martin and Lewis.
-"Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian" and "The Return" probe deeper into the minds of warriors with nothing left to lose from both sides of the war...and very different fights.
-What Halo fiction would be complete (or worth any price tag) without Dr. Katherine Halsey dropping in to make you wonder if trying to save humanity is even worth it if we're just going to stay rotten to one another. It's a question she's posed several times, but never with as straight a finger aimed at herself as in "Pariah."
-And though it is by no means my favorite of the bunch, I can not stress enough how brilliant Eric Nylund is for making the thoroughly technical, formulaic military briefing that is "The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J. Cole" into something so entertaining. I understand Alex Garland (of "28 Days later" fame) was already paid a vast sum of money to pen a Halo movie script, but for a clear understanding of the whole mythology (and not just the Flood) Mr. Nylund appears to have everyone beat in spades. I won't say I'd be surprised if they didn't pick him up for some rewrites at the least...because how often do these things go the way they should? But I will say that in a just world, the final words in a Halo film's credits would be "Written by Eric Nylund."

The stories may be shorter than the novels and games that preceded them, but they each make up for it in their intensity and understanding of the reader's sophistication. With that in mind, if you're new to Halo universe, this is not the place to start. If, however, you think you've finished the fight, this collection will remind you that there's no such thing.

I've read every Halo novel as well as both Gears of War novels which were written by Karen Traviss who penned one of the stories in this book. This is a great installment in the Halo series and a great read. It's kind of like they held a contest and asked a bunch of authors to submit their stories to see who is the best Halo writer.

I personally think they are all quality reads. Some, of course, are better than others. The one by Karen Traviss fits her style (relationships based#. Really the best two are the ones from Eric Nylund as the other reviewer said #he writes about Admiral Cole#. Nylund wrote the best Halo novel to date and his short story is tied #in my mind# for the best of this book. Will somoeone please give this guy the Halo movie screenplay contract, he's the best Halo story teller there is in my opinion. The other great one is from a newcommer #to me and to Halo# by Jonathan Goff called the Headhunters. I wish those two stories went on for hundreds of more pages personally.

Nothing against the other authors by the way, all of the stories were great. Its just that when you put 11 different stories by 12 authors back-to-back, there is going to be some that are a little better than the others. I also liked the one with John #Mmaster Chief# on new mombassa telling a story that took place during the Halo 2 game timeline but that we haven't really heard before.

Anyway, if you are a Halo fan, you will love it. At least a few of the storis will really appeal to you #if not all#. If you liked the Gears of War novels and haven't read Halo, you'll like these as well #not just the one by Traviss).

This anthology is probably the best collection of written fiction for the Halo-verse. The book is so insightful, and when coupled with the Encyclopedia, it really fleshes out the details of what Halo is all about, as it truly goes beyond the games. This is a must read for any serious fans of Halo, and in general, for sci-fi fans, it's a great pick-up.

Great book for Halo fans. Shows the human and alien sides of the conflict. Loved it. Keep it on.

Well, I'm only half way through this book, and already it's worth getting. This is one of the better Halo books out there, expanding the universe's saga in so many ways. A definite must read for any Halo fan!!!

An absolutely amazing collection of short stories. A must-have to all Halo and/or sci-fi enthusiasts.

I have read every halo navel, comic to this date and I have to say this is the darkest one. I couldn't stop reading every story. Each one was beautifully detailed like every other halo novel before it, but what sets it apart from the rest is its story matter. well I'm not going ruin the book for you, but all I will say is it's a good read for any halo fan, and don't try to just read through it take a second read through because there is a lot to digest with this book.

my son has this collection and I have him this Halo he did not have and he could not put it down
Great book...

This is a really great book for any fan of the Halo games or books. It is a collection of short stories and spotlights some of the lesser-known and unknown characters of the Halo franchise. In any such collection, there is always the tendency to highlight the 'better' or the 'weaker' stories. I can honestly say that every one of the stories is good and there really isn't a weak one in the bunch. I read every word of each story and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Highly recommended for Halo fans!