WOW! This was an incredibly good read. Greg Bear has done a remarkable job here, and I cannot imagine a more worthy conclusion to the Forerunner series.
I absolutely loved Cryptum, with its fresh insights into the mysterious Forerunners and its compelling narrative style, but hated Primordium, boring and needlessly drawn out as it was. For anyone who worried that Silentium might continue in the direction of Primordium, fear not! Silentium is more like Cryptum 2.0, an even better version of the book that got me hooked so thoroughly at the outset of the Forerunner series.
Avid Halo devotees will not be left wanting. Many mysteries that have long plagued Halo fans attain satisfying resolutions within this book, and I found myself with a heightened appreciation for the Forerunners, the Flood, and mankind. After my read-through, it became abundantly clear why the release date was pushed back; this book is a highly effective, deeply informative tie-in to Halo 4; it would have prematurely informed fans about many vital plot elements found in the game, thereby ruining the "aura of mystery" and the "appeal of the unknown" which permeated Halo 4's storyline.
Silentium has a substantially different narrative style from the previous two books. Instead of using one character as the chief storyteller (Bornstellar/Chakas), Bear uses a wide variety of characters (and styles) to tell the story. For fear of revealing too much of the plot, I won't go into detail about whom exactly these storytellers are. Most are familiar, and I'm sure many are easily guessed. Overall, I enjoyed this change. It lent a certain richness to the storytelling, as each character's strand combined to form a cohesive and compelling narrative tapestry. Pacing was also improved; with the constant cycling of perspective, I never found myself bored. There was also a heightened degree of urgency and suspense gained in this change, a la George R.R. Martin. Right as something important is about to happen, the perspective may change, urging you to read on to discover what happens next. Needless to say, I tore through this book in record time.
My only real criticism is tied directly to the aforementioned narrative change. I found myself far less attached to characters than I had been in Crpytum; my emotional capital was far less invested in any singular character. I personally found this to be an enjoyable element of Cryptum, and mourn for its loss here. That being said, the scope of Silentium's story is far larger than Cryptum's ever was, so expecting Bear to get me as attached to characters as he had previously is deeply unfair. I understand that, and accept it, but still thought it worthy of mentioning.
In the end, Silentium was a high-quality ending to the Forerunner series, and I don't regret a moment I invested in reading it. A big shout-out goes to Greg Bear for lending his skill and sci-fi know how to enriching the Halo universe. A weak middle book did not prevent him from concluding what he'd started so well in a laudable manner, and for that I thank him. Well done, sir, well done.
Finishing this fight,
Chris
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Top reviews from other countries
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joao pedro simas dos santosReviewed in Brazil on June 25, 2018
pois o melhor sempre ha de ocorrer
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