Was wondering about the Halo Books..

[Bastinka]

How many are there?
..and what's the order you should read them in?

State names, I wanna buy them... or does someone have a link to an all-in-one orderable package.

[Pooky]

Personally I thought the ones I read were poorly written, poorly edited garbage. Lots of spelling errors and inconsistent chronology.

[thehoodedsmack]

They aren't the greatest. One basically reads them for back story, and not for pulse-quickening, heart-gripping drama, or loveable, character developing plot. Read like this:

Fall of Reach - First
The Flood - Don't! Play the game! The only real interesting bit is: Keyes gets captured because some bitch sells out to the Covenant, then his whole crew gets executed while she's like "wut?" Also, Jenkins.
First Strike - Second
Ghosts of Onyx - Third
Contact Harvest - Whenever (First if you really want to, but it's just about Johnson before the war)

[FRain]

I've only read through GoO completely, but I'm about half way through harvest and this is the way you should read em:

Harvest
Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx

I have the other 3, but since we moved I cba to find them in our mess of boxes.

E: Fucking beat me to it, smack.

Also, this is in timewise chronological.

[Bastinka]

Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike

Is the way I'm gonna read them then, don't really care about Johnson I found out about him on the wiki anyway. Ghost of Onyx I don't know about. Why is The Flood a bad part of the series?

EDIT:
NO SPOILERS PLEASE.

[Pooky]

The Flood just covers the games, which you should already know, and IMO it's the worst of them all.

[thehoodedsmack]

The Flood is a bad part of the series because it's like reading a game walkthrough, except for my previously mentioned spoiler'd parts.

[Heathen]

I love them. Fuck the quality. I think its great. I rather Halo as the book series than the games. I read all of Fall of Reach and up to the "Covenant on the landing above us" part on The Flood. I may have read past there but idk.



E: WTF GUISE? I love The Flood. Hearing the details strung together. Like when they tell you the back story to the two Cryo Two guys. Its pretty cool to go "That guy was holding a picture of his girlfriend when he died :/"

[Bastinka]

Eh I'll buy it anyway, it'll be easier picturing instances seeing the game.

[Heathen]

Eh I'll buy it anyway, it'll be easier picturing instances seeing the game.
That.

[legionaire45]

I've read em' all and liked them. Hell, it was that or read real books for school >___>. Fucking essays.

[Bodzilla]

i read fall of reach, biggest waste of money i've ever spent.

shallow, fan driven garbage.

[Party_Grunt]

After you read the books, in one way, it makes the Master Chief seem like a weakling in the game, when you read the guantlet and see him getting shot continuously with a machine gun to no effect, but he dies from a pistol in the games

On the other hand, the descriptions of getting hit by a plasma pistol make it sound so devastating, you wonder how the hell does he keep going when in the books, one overcharged shot could boil a large portion of his armor away.

I found the books ok overall, but the inconsistancies make the books and games not go together very well.

[Con]

I've read them all except onyx, but I've found them all enjoyable. They provide a lot of backstory, which I'm into.

[Mass]

shallow, fan driven garbage.

this
tbqfh

[jngrow]

After you read the books, in one way, it makes the Master Chief seem like a weakling in the game, when you read the guantlet and see him getting shot continuously with a machine gun to no effect, but he dies from a pistol in the games

On the other hand, the descriptions of getting hit by a plasma pistol make it sound so devastating, you wonder how the hell does he keep going when in the books, one overcharged shot could boil a large portion of his armor away.

I found the books ok overall, but the inconsistancies make the books and games not go together very well.

It's because gameplay is not always complimented by realism. Combat prolly plays out differently in the books than in the game.

[The_Wraith]

Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx

You can read Contact Harvest before or after, doesn't matter. I loved the books and thought they were wonderfully written. The Flood isn't the best but it's definately a good read and gives you a lot of information you may have wondered about from the game.

Also, yeah the books definitely showcase the realistic side whereas, quite obviously, in the games it would be lame if your Marines got killed in one shot by a Needler. I mean...isn't that obvious?

[ExAm]

I like them for the backstory, not their quality of writing.

[Con]

You could just as easily get the backstory from the halo wiki, but it's much nicer in book form.

[Zeph]

You could just as easily get the backstory from the halo wiki, but it's much nicer in book form.

I consider it nicer in wiki form. The books are terribly written with many mistakes and discrepancies.

[Party_Grunt]

It's because gameplay is not always complimented by realism. Combat prolly plays out differently in the books than in the game.Your explanation though suggests that the books are supposed to be based on "reality", when the books are written as supplements and could be written to the realism of the games to avoid problems like that. Of course if the authors have never played the games, then it would make sense.:lol:

[Heathen]

After you read the books, in one way, it makes the Master Chief seem like a weakling in the game, when you read the guantlet and see him getting shot continuously with a machine gun to no effect, but he dies from a pistol in the games

On the other hand, the descriptions of getting hit by a plasma pistol make it sound so devastating, you wonder how the hell does he keep going when in the books, one overcharged shot could boil a large portion of his armor away.

I found the books ok overall, but the inconsistancies make the books and games not go together very well.


Well the instance which you are referring to, apparently he didn't have an energy shield because it hit him. If you remember, one charged blast will kill you if you have no shield. And with the chaingun.....who gives a fuck? Its the Petty Officer Master Chief.

[The_Wraith]

Your explanation though suggests that the books are supposed to be based on "reality", when the books are written as supplements and could be written to the realism of the games to avoid problems like that. Of course if the authors have never played the games, then it would make sense.:lol: No it makes a lot of sense. A Needle like shard going through your flesh and then exploding would probably kill or severely injure you. If that happened in game...that would be pretty lame. So the books remove the gameplay aspects and thus more realistic approach.

It would sound retarded if in the books it was dictated that the Marines were surviving multiple plasma burns. Playing Halo on Legendary is much more akin to the realistic take in the books.

[Hotrod]

The way it would be realistic in the game is if you're amount of health was like it was in Legendary, but the enemies were similar to Normal.

I'd recommend reading the books, since I really enjoyed them. Sure, they might not be the best written books out there, but they've got a pretty good storyline. As for "The Flood", there's a lot more in it that you don't find in the game, which makes the game much more clear.

[Bastinka]

I'm just looking into it for background story.

[Heathen]

Then Yes. Do.

Also, about the needler thing. Um....hello? Shields. And with the marines....armor.

[FRain]

Then Yes. Do.

Also, about the needler thing. Um....hello? Shields. And with the marines....armor.


It doesn't matter. An energy shield isn't going to stop a foot long needle from puncturing your armor and exploding inside your armor.

[Pooky]

It doesn't matter. An energy shield isn't going to stop a foot long needle from puncturing your armor and exploding inside your armor.

How the hell do you know?

It's all fucking fiction. <_<

[Heathen]

Arg. Beat me to it met.

[JDMFSeanP]

I think its a good read and good fun.

Best part of any book.
Kurt when everyone goes through the portal in ghosts of onyx and the elites are all screaming whatever die spartan, and he just says "Don't you know, spartans never die" and blows teh fuck out of the covie armada their with the nukes strapped to him. Fucking beast.

[Pooky]

Best part of any book.

'Come not between the Nazgul and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.'
A sword rang as it was drawn. 'Do what you will; buy I will hinder it, if I may.'
'Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!'
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. 'But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.'