Halo: New Blood

Amazing. Awesome. Great. Used GD to much though. But other than that it was fine. Good book though. Highly suggested would have been 6 but lots of GD.

Halo is the franchise that turned me into a hardcore gamer, and Eric Nylund's Halo novels are a very large part of what turned me into an avid reader (sorry Harry Potter). They added depth and character to a universe I already loved, and told stories that were just as exciting as the video games they bridged together. Which makes me wonder, why wasn't THIS book the official bridge between Halo 3 and Halo 4? Karen Traviss's Kilo Five trilogy may have much more substantial links to Halo 4 as far as direct backstory is concerned, but Halo: New Blood does an infinitely better job of setting up the new state of the galaxy in general, and the Spartan-IV program specifically. Halo: New Blood actually FEELS like Halo, and not a sluggish and boring political science thesis like the Kilo Five trilogy did. New Blood also does an excellent job of expanding on the character of Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, the fan-favorite ODST played by Nathan Fillion in the games. Not only do we find out what he and the rest of the characters of Halo 3: ODST have been doing since that game, we also get to see his entire backstory with glimpses of his childhood, early career as an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), and how he first met ONI Captain Veronica Dare. And perhaps the best aspect of this is that Matt Forbeck manages to capture the character of Buck so well that I actually found myself reading this book in Nathan Fillion's voice inside my head. To my knowledge, this is the first Halo novel that has been written in first-person, and using a major game character as that narrator on top of it. This first-person perspective makes it much easier to handle the fact that this novel does not tell a linear narrative. Rather, it reads as more of a stream-of-consciousness piece, as if Buck is actually sitting down with you and telling you this story in person. It makes the reading fun, but also a bit frustrating as some important scenes cut away to different ones that take place years in the past. As I said, the first-person narration makes these jumps easy to follow, but those looking for a linear narrative will not find one here. In the end, Halo: New Blood is the best Halo book since Eric Nylund's Halo: First Strike, and I hope Matt Forbeck writes another one.

Gunny Sargent Edward Buck was a superior soldier in every way. He was an ODST, Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, that was a great team leader and a tactician and a fighter. He lead his troups through some of the worst fighting in the war against the Covenant and has seen things and done things that even shocked himself. He was proud of his team's accomplishments and what they had done in the war effort to help defend and save the human race from destruction at the hand of the Covenant races they fought against. As the end of the Covenant War came there was still a lot of things to accomplish to make humanity safe. Clean out the rebel Covenant soldiers and the just as dangerous human rebel soldiers that immediately rose up from the ashes and began fighting the UNSC in an effort to declare independence from Earth. Buck accepts a promotion to become a Spartan IV warrior. A super human trained to the peak of military fighting. He soon finds out that all is not well in the Spartan ranks as it appears that there is a traitor in the Spartan training camp...... I have read almost all of the Halo books and I have enjoyed many of them. This one is a great story for me. As it openly discussed the fighting that Edward Buck and his teams went through and his transition to becoming a Spartan IV. I like the book a lot and I rated it at 5 stars. Military Sci-Fi is my favorite genre and this book fit into the style of story that I enjoy the most.

Im not usually one to enjoy books in the first person view but this was just an amazing read. Highly recommend

Great story. Reintroduces familiar characters and gives you an update on what they've been up to. It also gives you a recap of Halo ODST so if you haven't played that it's not a big deal. Overall I enjoyed it a lot. It's also not very long but it keeps it from dragging.

Alpha Nine o7

Expands in the ODST story. Worth reading. Not a bad time spender

El libro ha llegado esta mañana en perfecto estado. La tapa es más dura que la de su continuación, lo cual está genial. Deseando leerlo.

Llego en el tiempo establecido y en perfectas condiciones, ya lo esperaba con ansias!

I loved this book and I love the halo universe. Only book I’ve read in years outside of school and it was blast. Loved the expansion on alpha nine’s story and mickeys fate broke my heart.