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Halo #11
Halo: Glasslands
The Covenant has collapsed after a long, brutal war that saw billions slaughtered on Earth and her colonies. For the first time in decades, however, peace finally seems possible. But though the fighting's stopped, the war is far from over: it's just gone underground. The UNSC's feared and secretive Office of Naval Intelligence recruits Kilo-Five, a team of ODSTs, a Spartan, and a diabolical AI to accelerate the Sangheili insurrection. Meanwhile, the Arbiter, the defector turned leader of a broken Covenant, struggles to stave off civil war among his divided people.
Across the galaxy, a woman thought to have died on Reach is actually very much alive. Chief scientist Dr. Catherine Halsey broke every law in the book to create the Spartans, and now she's broken some more to save them. Marooned with Chief Mendez and a Spartan team in a Forerunner slipspace bubble hidden in the destroyed planet Onyx, she finds that the shield world has been guarding an ancient secret—a treasure trove of Forerunner technology that will change everything for the UNSC and mankind.
As Kilo-Five joins the hunt for Halsey, humanity's violent past begins to catch up with all of them as disgruntled colony Venezia has been biding its time to strike at Earth, and its most dangerous terrorist has an old, painful link with both Halsey and Kilo-Five that will test everyone's loyalty to the limit.
Halo: Glasslands by Karen Traviss is thrilling, action-packed science fiction that longtime Halo fans and newcomers alike will enjoy.
Across the galaxy, a woman thought to have died on Reach is actually very much alive. Chief scientist Dr. Catherine Halsey broke every law in the book to create the Spartans, and now she's broken some more to save them. Marooned with Chief Mendez and a Spartan team in a Forerunner slipspace bubble hidden in the destroyed planet Onyx, she finds that the shield world has been guarding an ancient secret—a treasure trove of Forerunner technology that will change everything for the UNSC and mankind.
As Kilo-Five joins the hunt for Halsey, humanity's violent past begins to catch up with all of them as disgruntled colony Venezia has been biding its time to strike at Earth, and its most dangerous terrorist has an old, painful link with both Halsey and Kilo-Five that will test everyone's loyalty to the limit.
Halo: Glasslands by Karen Traviss is thrilling, action-packed science fiction that longtime Halo fans and newcomers alike will enjoy.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published October 25, 2011
About the author
Karen Traviss
118 books1,440 followers#1 New York Times best-selling novelist, scriptwriter and comics author Karen Traviss has received critical acclaim for her award-nominated Wess'har series, and her work on Halo, Gears of War, Batman, G.I. Joe, and other major franchises has earned her a broad range of fans. She's best known for military science fiction, but GOING GREY and BLACK RUN, the first books in her new techno-thriller series RINGER, are set in the real world of today. A former defence correspondent and TV and newspaper journalist, she lives in Wiltshire, England. She's currently working on SACRIFICIAL RED, the third book in the Ringer series, and HERE WE STAND, book three in the NOMAD series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 299 reviews
October 10, 2012
Meh... Disappointment. This is my first Karen Traviss book. I will not be buying her next Halo book. She obviously hates a specific character and spends too much time on the subject, neglecting the characters previously established personalities, so that she can berate one specific character.
The Good: KIlo 5 story arc was really good.
The Bad: The Elites
The Ugly: Anything that brings up Halsey, and everything that happened in the Dyson Sphere, with the exception of the brief moment with Lucy.
Reading this book seemed like a good portion of it was an Anti Nylund book. I got the feeling that Traviss hates the Halsey character. Many of the characteristics that were set up by the previous books, seem to be disregarded so that there can be a constant bashing of Halsey. Admiral Paragosky seems like a petty character from a "Soap" as opposed to the cold calculating tactician that she is portrayed in the previous books.
I get it, Halsey is a horrible individual, I've know that from the Fall of Reach. Traviss was too heavy handed with Halsey, it felt like she was hammering in a finishing nail with a sledgehammer.
The story suffers from her constantly making us see that Halsey is a evil person. She almost completely disregards the other Spartans, so that she can continuously have these petty fights between Halsey and Mendez, which were just repetitive. I would have much more liked if she had spent more time with the Elites, showing more variation between the two factions and just focusing on the devolving the Elites to more Brute like savages.
The Good: KIlo 5 story arc was really good.
The Bad: The Elites
The Ugly: Anything that brings up Halsey, and everything that happened in the Dyson Sphere, with the exception of the brief moment with Lucy.
Reading this book seemed like a good portion of it was an Anti Nylund book. I got the feeling that Traviss hates the Halsey character. Many of the characteristics that were set up by the previous books, seem to be disregarded so that there can be a constant bashing of Halsey. Admiral Paragosky seems like a petty character from a "Soap" as opposed to the cold calculating tactician that she is portrayed in the previous books.
I get it, Halsey is a horrible individual, I've know that from the Fall of Reach. Traviss was too heavy handed with Halsey, it felt like she was hammering in a finishing nail with a sledgehammer.
The story suffers from her constantly making us see that Halsey is a evil person. She almost completely disregards the other Spartans, so that she can continuously have these petty fights between Halsey and Mendez, which were just repetitive. I would have much more liked if she had spent more time with the Elites, showing more variation between the two factions and just focusing on the devolving the Elites to more Brute like savages.
April 7, 2019
Now THIS is how you start a trilogy.
Heck, more than that – THIS is how you write a “Halo” novel.
I won’t spend that much more time bagging on Greg Bear’s “Forerunner Saga,” since a.) I’ve already spent 3 reviews doing my fair share of that, and b.) life’s too short. That being said…man, what a refreshing change of pace “Glasslands” is from the stilted, emotionally disengaged nature of Bear’s novels. I can’t begin to emphasize how nice it is to read a book that has a clear plot, characters that are easy to relate to and care about, and actual narrative momentum – or, as they’re also known as, the basic tenants of good storytelling.
It’s also just a real kick being able to dig into the Halo universe, post-Halo 3, and see what this world and mythology looks like through a non-Covenant-War-lens. Karen Traviss does a great job of telling a singular story that’s satisfying on its own, picking up threads from past novels and expanding them in ways that feel like natural continuations, while also ably setting things up for Books #2 and #3 without ever feeling like she’s dipping too far into the MCU playbook. If the goal of the first book in a trilogy is to make you eager to pick up the second, then by those standards, “Glasslands” is a resounding success.
Heck, more than that – THIS is how you write a “Halo” novel.
I won’t spend that much more time bagging on Greg Bear’s “Forerunner Saga,” since a.) I’ve already spent 3 reviews doing my fair share of that, and b.) life’s too short. That being said…man, what a refreshing change of pace “Glasslands” is from the stilted, emotionally disengaged nature of Bear’s novels. I can’t begin to emphasize how nice it is to read a book that has a clear plot, characters that are easy to relate to and care about, and actual narrative momentum – or, as they’re also known as, the basic tenants of good storytelling.
It’s also just a real kick being able to dig into the Halo universe, post-Halo 3, and see what this world and mythology looks like through a non-Covenant-War-lens. Karen Traviss does a great job of telling a singular story that’s satisfying on its own, picking up threads from past novels and expanding them in ways that feel like natural continuations, while also ably setting things up for Books #2 and #3 without ever feeling like she’s dipping too far into the MCU playbook. If the goal of the first book in a trilogy is to make you eager to pick up the second, then by those standards, “Glasslands” is a resounding success.
July 2, 2014
This review contains some spoilers, as well as some venting. You've been forewarned.
I have played every single Halo game ever produced.
I have been invested in the Halo community and universe for a full decade.
I have read and owned over a dozen Halo novels.
And out of all that, I have NEVER been more completely infuriated at any piece of lore than I was when I read this book.
To be fair, I had been skeptical, yet cautiously optimistic going into this. I had heard rumors that Traviss had done some tampering with previously established characters and their behavior, but I dismissed them as exaggeration. Quite the opposite, I discovered that they were a complete understatement of how much Karen Travesty has completely trashed one of the single greatest characters produced by the Halo universe, Dr. Catherine Halsey.
In all previous novels, Halsey is shown as cool, often cold, calculating, extremely intelligent and logic-driven, but who eventually comes to the revelation that her actions have destroyed the lives of her Spartans, and she devotes her life to saving them and herself from what she believes to be a losing war. In every last one, she is depicted as being cold or ruthless to outsiders, but extremely protective of the few friends she has--a few AIs and most importantly, her Spartans. Chief Mendez, while not buddy-buddy with her, is a close ally, and is never seen to go against her or her decisions. When Halsey learns of the Spartan-IIIs, she is genuinely concerned for them the same way that she was for the IIs, and intends to find out Mendez's part in the program. Halsey is depicted as being self-dependent, fully capable of handling herself, and a bit eccentric when it comes to grabbing onto interesting leads. Her hunches have almost always proven correct, and this serves as a vital point to her character and her extremely logical, rational thinking (again excluding her protectiveness of her Spartans). Her actions before the novels were morally grey, yes, but it was left to the audience to decide if they were good or evil, and her Spartans never had any resentment toward her over what had been done to them. In many cases they refer to her as their mother figure.
Then along came Traviss. This is the point where I become angry with her, and with 343 for allowing this book to be published under the name of the universe I love. Halsey is no longer cool, rational, and self-dependent. Traviss turns her into a crazy, sociopathic, whiny, uncaring, and wholly irrationally angry character with no concern for any person besides herself. She no longer cares about the Spartans, and views the Spartan-IIIs as being inferior to her IIs, of whom she no longer seems to be protective of or concerned for. Instead of relying on her wits and quick thinking, she is made out to be the outcast of the group, completely reliant on everyone else to keep her alive and safe. She now openly hates Mendez, and Mendez openly hates her in return. An extremely dramatic scene where Lucy speaks for the first time in eight years is--please pardon my language here--is completely shit on by the fact that an incoherently irrationally screaming Halsey is what finally gives Lucy the will to cry out. What had originally been a touching scene between a Lucy who was struggling to bring words to life and an Engineer who doesn't know what is wrong, but just wants to fix her (one of the few good moments of the entire book, I loved this scene until the end), is completely torn apart by a Halsey that is acting completely unlike anything that has ever been written about her. Traviss does not see Halsey's actions as being in the grey area, but rather demonizes her, describes her actions as one would describe those of a monster, and tries to beat this view into the readers' heads with a sledge hammer throughout THE ENTIRE BOOK. Literally, if I had to describe the plot of this book, I would say it's about turning Halsey into Satan, making all current characters in the Halo universe hate Halsey, and then inventing more characters to hate Halsey just for good measure. Halsey even hates herself, for crying out loud. IT DOESN'T END. EVER. THAT'S THE ENTIRE PLOT. Ghosts of Onyx set this up to be a terrific book, but either Traviss chose not to read a single bit of lore before writing her book, or chose to ignore all of it, because this completely tears the universe a new one, and shoves Halsey hatred down your throat every step of the way.
I apologize to those reading the reviews for the length and anger of this post, but it is born out of a love for the Halo universe that I can't stand to see torn down by ignorant authors who would rather tell the reader how to feel about a character as opposed to building a character and letting the audience think of them what they will. I am not sorry to 343, or to Karen Traviss. I have read hundreds upon hundreds of books of all genres, and never once have I not finished one that I started, it's just not the way I am. But this book makes me so mad, I stopped reading it just to write this review. I had to skip parts because they were so bad, and I have NEVER done that before. I doubt I will be able to finish it. I will certainly not be reading her sequels. My last hope remains ghat 343 will declare it non-canon, and this book will fall to obscurity where it belongs.
If all of that was to much to stomach, and you only skipped to the bottom to see when my angry tirade would end, then just know that I am extremely invested in Halo lore, and was completely disappointed by this novel, both as a book and as part of the Halo universe. I would not recommend it or its sequels to anyone under any circumstances whatsoever. I only wish I hadn't bought them already.
I have played every single Halo game ever produced.
I have been invested in the Halo community and universe for a full decade.
I have read and owned over a dozen Halo novels.
And out of all that, I have NEVER been more completely infuriated at any piece of lore than I was when I read this book.
To be fair, I had been skeptical, yet cautiously optimistic going into this. I had heard rumors that Traviss had done some tampering with previously established characters and their behavior, but I dismissed them as exaggeration. Quite the opposite, I discovered that they were a complete understatement of how much Karen Travesty has completely trashed one of the single greatest characters produced by the Halo universe, Dr. Catherine Halsey.
In all previous novels, Halsey is shown as cool, often cold, calculating, extremely intelligent and logic-driven, but who eventually comes to the revelation that her actions have destroyed the lives of her Spartans, and she devotes her life to saving them and herself from what she believes to be a losing war. In every last one, she is depicted as being cold or ruthless to outsiders, but extremely protective of the few friends she has--a few AIs and most importantly, her Spartans. Chief Mendez, while not buddy-buddy with her, is a close ally, and is never seen to go against her or her decisions. When Halsey learns of the Spartan-IIIs, she is genuinely concerned for them the same way that she was for the IIs, and intends to find out Mendez's part in the program. Halsey is depicted as being self-dependent, fully capable of handling herself, and a bit eccentric when it comes to grabbing onto interesting leads. Her hunches have almost always proven correct, and this serves as a vital point to her character and her extremely logical, rational thinking (again excluding her protectiveness of her Spartans). Her actions before the novels were morally grey, yes, but it was left to the audience to decide if they were good or evil, and her Spartans never had any resentment toward her over what had been done to them. In many cases they refer to her as their mother figure.
Then along came Traviss. This is the point where I become angry with her, and with 343 for allowing this book to be published under the name of the universe I love. Halsey is no longer cool, rational, and self-dependent. Traviss turns her into a crazy, sociopathic, whiny, uncaring, and wholly irrationally angry character with no concern for any person besides herself. She no longer cares about the Spartans, and views the Spartan-IIIs as being inferior to her IIs, of whom she no longer seems to be protective of or concerned for. Instead of relying on her wits and quick thinking, she is made out to be the outcast of the group, completely reliant on everyone else to keep her alive and safe. She now openly hates Mendez, and Mendez openly hates her in return. An extremely dramatic scene where Lucy speaks for the first time in eight years is--please pardon my language here--is completely shit on by the fact that an incoherently irrationally screaming Halsey is what finally gives Lucy the will to cry out. What had originally been a touching scene between a Lucy who was struggling to bring words to life and an Engineer who doesn't know what is wrong, but just wants to fix her (one of the few good moments of the entire book, I loved this scene until the end), is completely torn apart by a Halsey that is acting completely unlike anything that has ever been written about her. Traviss does not see Halsey's actions as being in the grey area, but rather demonizes her, describes her actions as one would describe those of a monster, and tries to beat this view into the readers' heads with a sledge hammer throughout THE ENTIRE BOOK. Literally, if I had to describe the plot of this book, I would say it's about turning Halsey into Satan, making all current characters in the Halo universe hate Halsey, and then inventing more characters to hate Halsey just for good measure. Halsey even hates herself, for crying out loud. IT DOESN'T END. EVER. THAT'S THE ENTIRE PLOT. Ghosts of Onyx set this up to be a terrific book, but either Traviss chose not to read a single bit of lore before writing her book, or chose to ignore all of it, because this completely tears the universe a new one, and shoves Halsey hatred down your throat every step of the way.
I apologize to those reading the reviews for the length and anger of this post, but it is born out of a love for the Halo universe that I can't stand to see torn down by ignorant authors who would rather tell the reader how to feel about a character as opposed to building a character and letting the audience think of them what they will. I am not sorry to 343, or to Karen Traviss. I have read hundreds upon hundreds of books of all genres, and never once have I not finished one that I started, it's just not the way I am. But this book makes me so mad, I stopped reading it just to write this review. I had to skip parts because they were so bad, and I have NEVER done that before. I doubt I will be able to finish it. I will certainly not be reading her sequels. My last hope remains ghat 343 will declare it non-canon, and this book will fall to obscurity where it belongs.
If all of that was to much to stomach, and you only skipped to the bottom to see when my angry tirade would end, then just know that I am extremely invested in Halo lore, and was completely disappointed by this novel, both as a book and as part of the Halo universe. I would not recommend it or its sequels to anyone under any circumstances whatsoever. I only wish I hadn't bought them already.
October 27, 2012
Honestly painful for me to read. The whole book seems completely forced, from the interactions between the characters, to the aside comments from their thoughts, to their ensuing actions. Towards the end, I just skipped the small parts/comments which I knew were going to be generic or repetitive that had to do with what the characters were feeling or thinking, because it was all under the same basic idea. Either:
How can I face what I have done?
What is left to humanity?
What will they think of me?
How can I go on living this way?
Or anything else along those lines.
Even though sometimes those "inside-their-heads" comments might have been appropriate, she used them relentlessly and mostly unnecessarily, to awkwardly force what she wanted into the book. Although this book is almost completely built on the concept of morality, Karen apparently has only one perspective of the term and assigns the same outlook of what is humane, ethical, and moral to ALL of the characters.
It would be nice if any of the characters had some kind of depth to them at all, or even if they had differed from each other, other than on the most basic level; but the forced storytelling only allows for one set of mind (only slightly varied) for most of the characters.
Only a few parts of this book were enjoyable for me to read and, what a surprise, those were the parts where Karen left her dramatic writing style of self righteous inner conflict and actually started to creatively write, starting to SHOW what the characters were feeling, and thinking, and leading us to extrapolate from that, instead of her just weirdly inserting it wherever she felt like. The moments where she started to explore new territory, like with Lucy, or Phillips, and stopped harping on old grudges and moral justification, were the only times this book was actually readable.
How can I face what I have done?
What is left to humanity?
What will they think of me?
How can I go on living this way?
Or anything else along those lines.
Even though sometimes those "inside-their-heads" comments might have been appropriate, she used them relentlessly and mostly unnecessarily, to awkwardly force what she wanted into the book. Although this book is almost completely built on the concept of morality, Karen apparently has only one perspective of the term and assigns the same outlook of what is humane, ethical, and moral to ALL of the characters.
It would be nice if any of the characters had some kind of depth to them at all, or even if they had differed from each other, other than on the most basic level; but the forced storytelling only allows for one set of mind (only slightly varied) for most of the characters.
Only a few parts of this book were enjoyable for me to read and, what a surprise, those were the parts where Karen left her dramatic writing style of self righteous inner conflict and actually started to creatively write, starting to SHOW what the characters were feeling, and thinking, and leading us to extrapolate from that, instead of her just weirdly inserting it wherever she felt like. The moments where she started to explore new territory, like with Lucy, or Phillips, and stopped harping on old grudges and moral justification, were the only times this book was actually readable.
November 2, 2014
For reasons that are beyond me, I cannot understand why the people at Microsoft and 343i would sign a contract with an author who had gained notoriety after her work on Star Wars. I’ll give credit where credit is due, and that is her work in Halo Evolutions and Republic Commandos Hard Contact have their strong points… but there’s nothing special about them.
Glasslands was effectively the shattering of established Halo lore, created by Nylund, Staten and Buckell. Furthermore, the sound concept was poorly executed. Keeping an enemy destabilised is one thing, but to do it to a newfound ally is another thing. True that said ally played a huge roll in wiping out a number of Earth’s colonies, but that ally still retains ample amounts of power. So that is something that is considered as a “sound” concept in my eyes.
This could’ve been turned into a brilliant and enthralling story had it been in more capable hands. Instead it is “overshadowed” by the crucifixion of Doctor Halsey and the destruction of well-known characters.
The espionage plot is poorly executed and poorly thought out as it has shocktroopers, one washed out Spartan, a Spartan-II, an AI and a linguist to be sent on a mission to destabilise the Elites and keep them splintered so that they do not become a sizeable enemy for the UNSC… did that just sound as stupid as it was being read?
Yes, yes it is.
We don’t need to be in the military or the intelligence community to know that, that is a very dumb thing to do. Sending conventional soldiers to do the dirty work of an infiltrator… genius. For those who need an analogy, it’s like sending a team of 75th Rangers to do the job of a CIA Special Operations Group team.
Furthermore the writing style does not bode well with a military sci-fi novel. Nylund set the right tone with the neutral and near impartial prose as well as military jargon laced dialogue. Instead, Traviss uses a liberal arts tone, and commits the ultimate sin of a professional writer, “telling not showing.” I think the fourth wall was broken a few times, but by that point I was droning.
There’s a lot wrong with this novel, and I could write an anthology about it all, but I think that’s just about everything in a nutshell. Don't get me started on the other books… because I don't plan on reading them any time soon. I’d rather read Twilight to be honest.
Glasslands was effectively the shattering of established Halo lore, created by Nylund, Staten and Buckell. Furthermore, the sound concept was poorly executed. Keeping an enemy destabilised is one thing, but to do it to a newfound ally is another thing. True that said ally played a huge roll in wiping out a number of Earth’s colonies, but that ally still retains ample amounts of power. So that is something that is considered as a “sound” concept in my eyes.
This could’ve been turned into a brilliant and enthralling story had it been in more capable hands. Instead it is “overshadowed” by the crucifixion of Doctor Halsey and the destruction of well-known characters.
The espionage plot is poorly executed and poorly thought out as it has shocktroopers, one washed out Spartan, a Spartan-II, an AI and a linguist to be sent on a mission to destabilise the Elites and keep them splintered so that they do not become a sizeable enemy for the UNSC… did that just sound as stupid as it was being read?
Yes, yes it is.
We don’t need to be in the military or the intelligence community to know that, that is a very dumb thing to do. Sending conventional soldiers to do the dirty work of an infiltrator… genius. For those who need an analogy, it’s like sending a team of 75th Rangers to do the job of a CIA Special Operations Group team.
Furthermore the writing style does not bode well with a military sci-fi novel. Nylund set the right tone with the neutral and near impartial prose as well as military jargon laced dialogue. Instead, Traviss uses a liberal arts tone, and commits the ultimate sin of a professional writer, “telling not showing.” I think the fourth wall was broken a few times, but by that point I was droning.
There’s a lot wrong with this novel, and I could write an anthology about it all, but I think that’s just about everything in a nutshell. Don't get me started on the other books… because I don't plan on reading them any time soon. I’d rather read Twilight to be honest.
March 30, 2020
Better. That's the word I have for this novel. It's better than its predecessors (forerunners? hahaha!) and also better than Traviss' Star Wars novels. Her writing is tighter and her characters have more depth. Her stories were always addictive, don't get me wrong, but this one was closer to "well-done" as opposed to "entertaining". Her pacing was spot on, actually. There wasn't a lot of action in this novel, but I didn't mind that - I really enjoyed the small cast of characters and the background into Sangheili culture. That being said, she tended to repeat herself QUITE often about how the Sangheili were a warrior culture under the command of the Prophets for so long that they can't maintain their own properties anymore - Traviss must have reiterated said point thirty times. Same with her AIs. BB was great. He was hilarious at times and his own personality actually grew as the story went along, which is something Traviss doesn't usually excel at, yet, how many damn times do you need to explain how freaky it is that AIs can be in more than one spot at once? According to Travis: about fifty.
She also had Halsey and Mendez have the same damn argument like fifty times.
My other point of annoyance: time passing wasn't very clear. It seemed to me that they were on that ship for like a week, but apparently it had been months? he also told us how close the crew was getting at the end, but never really showed us.
Still, I enjoyed the story itself; enough happened to make it interesting but it wasn't too jammed with plot twists. Traviss also did a good job keeping the characters similar to previous books and her new characters were pretty well-rounded. I liked Phillips very much. Jul was cool too and way better depicted than the bastardized Sangheili in Cole Protocol. And of course the Huragok are always sweethearts; they remind me of my dog.
I look forward to more to come.
(I also got a kick out of the Red vs. Blue reference in the forward. Blarg!)
She also had Halsey and Mendez have the same damn argument like fifty times.
My other point of annoyance: time passing wasn't very clear. It seemed to me that they were on that ship for like a week, but apparently it had been months? he also told us how close the crew was getting at the end, but never really showed us.
Still, I enjoyed the story itself; enough happened to make it interesting but it wasn't too jammed with plot twists. Traviss also did a good job keeping the characters similar to previous books and her new characters were pretty well-rounded. I liked Phillips very much. Jul was cool too and way better depicted than the bastardized Sangheili in Cole Protocol. And of course the Huragok are always sweethearts; they remind me of my dog.
I look forward to more to come.
(I also got a kick out of the Red vs. Blue reference in the forward. Blarg!)
March 14, 2012
I was really hoping for much more from this. I had enjoyed all the previous Halo books, but this was lacking. I though the overall story was ok and the characters were interesting, but nothing really happened. It was introspective and dealt with the aftermath of the war, but I wasn't really interested in psychological evaluation in a book based on a video game. Still I'd have given it a better score, maybe even up to three stars, but the book the ends with a cliff hanger and seems to set up a more action-oriented story. It felt like I read an entire book just to read what could have been an intro to the next book that will come out.
January 17, 2012
4 stars for the stuff with Kilo-five, 2 stars for the stuff with Halsey = 3 stars.
Halo: Glasslands is billed, or was when I first came across it, as a bridge between Halo 3 and the upcoming Halo 4. It is also a sequel Eric Nylund’s Ghosts of Onyx (a fact I didn’t know). As a result there are some pretty steep prerequisites for Glasslands name you have played Halo 3 (not unlikely if you are reading a Halo novel) and have read Ghosts of Onyx. A working knowledge of Halo: Reach might also be beneficial. All that being said if you don’t have a strong working knowledge of the Halo universe, past and present, Glasslands is going to be an impenetrable night mare. I barely match these requirements so this novel was close to a stretch for me.
Penned by Karen Traviss, best known for her work over in the Star Wars Universe, Glasslands follows several apparently disparate plot threads that seem to have little to no connection. Opening after the majority of the events of Halo 3 (the novel actually overlaps with the end cutscene at one point) the novel follows the aftermath of the Covenant war and the battle against the Flood. The Covenant government is in shambles with hardline traditionalists balking against the control of the Arbiter. As things move towards peace it is these traditionalists and the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) that seek to keep things off balance. To that end ONI has set up Kilo-Five, a team of ODST troops, a Spartan, and a crafty AI to keep the Covenant government off balance. Meanwhile Catherine Halsey and another team of Spartans are trapped in a “slipspace bubble” (bigger on the inside) crammed with Forerunner technology.
Unfortunately none of these plots really gel together in a meaningful way. While the interruption of one perspective often stymies interest generated by another. In terms of action and excitement the sections featuring Kilo-five are the best. ONI, not the most honorable of institutions, plays some mean tricks to so discord amongst the Covenant while stumbling across the growing disloyalty of the colony world Venezia. In truth this section, when combined with the sections taking place on the Covenent homeworld could, and likely, should have formed an entire novel on its own. The counter perspectives of the ONI team and the Covenent makes for tense reading and some twisty plotting that, at its best, head me on the edge of my seat. Unfortunately the impact, and forward progress, of these sections is torpedoed by the sections featuring Halsey and company trapped on Onyx.
If you had told me that the exploration of a new world full of ancient and mysterious technology could be boring I’d have probably laughed at you. Not so much anymore. This section of the novel drags. Nothing happens for pages and pages while the to leading character bicker over past mistakes. The exploration of the shield world doesn’t intersect with the other part of the novel until late and, in what I think is a boneheaded move, completely derails everything that was happening in those sections of the novel. What could have been an interesting and exciting novel of politics and espionage is instead rendered impotent by what feels like an editorial fiat.
That being said this is the first novel of trilogy that from my understanding will lead into Halo 4. Assuming I’m correct (Halo 4 will supposedly be released sometime this year) I’ll likely be back for the remainder. I grew quite attached to Kilo-five and I still hold out that we will see a return to to their actions early in the novel. This really feels like two novels (or a novel and a short story) jammed together for no apparent reason. Hardcore Halo fans are the only people I can really recommend this novel this novel. Here’s hoping for a more consistent quality improves in future novels.
Halo: Glasslands is billed, or was when I first came across it, as a bridge between Halo 3 and the upcoming Halo 4. It is also a sequel Eric Nylund’s Ghosts of Onyx (a fact I didn’t know). As a result there are some pretty steep prerequisites for Glasslands name you have played Halo 3 (not unlikely if you are reading a Halo novel) and have read Ghosts of Onyx. A working knowledge of Halo: Reach might also be beneficial. All that being said if you don’t have a strong working knowledge of the Halo universe, past and present, Glasslands is going to be an impenetrable night mare. I barely match these requirements so this novel was close to a stretch for me.
Penned by Karen Traviss, best known for her work over in the Star Wars Universe, Glasslands follows several apparently disparate plot threads that seem to have little to no connection. Opening after the majority of the events of Halo 3 (the novel actually overlaps with the end cutscene at one point) the novel follows the aftermath of the Covenant war and the battle against the Flood. The Covenant government is in shambles with hardline traditionalists balking against the control of the Arbiter. As things move towards peace it is these traditionalists and the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) that seek to keep things off balance. To that end ONI has set up Kilo-Five, a team of ODST troops, a Spartan, and a crafty AI to keep the Covenant government off balance. Meanwhile Catherine Halsey and another team of Spartans are trapped in a “slipspace bubble” (bigger on the inside) crammed with Forerunner technology.
Unfortunately none of these plots really gel together in a meaningful way. While the interruption of one perspective often stymies interest generated by another. In terms of action and excitement the sections featuring Kilo-five are the best. ONI, not the most honorable of institutions, plays some mean tricks to so discord amongst the Covenant while stumbling across the growing disloyalty of the colony world Venezia. In truth this section, when combined with the sections taking place on the Covenent homeworld could, and likely, should have formed an entire novel on its own. The counter perspectives of the ONI team and the Covenent makes for tense reading and some twisty plotting that, at its best, head me on the edge of my seat. Unfortunately the impact, and forward progress, of these sections is torpedoed by the sections featuring Halsey and company trapped on Onyx.
If you had told me that the exploration of a new world full of ancient and mysterious technology could be boring I’d have probably laughed at you. Not so much anymore. This section of the novel drags. Nothing happens for pages and pages while the to leading character bicker over past mistakes. The exploration of the shield world doesn’t intersect with the other part of the novel until late and, in what I think is a boneheaded move, completely derails everything that was happening in those sections of the novel. What could have been an interesting and exciting novel of politics and espionage is instead rendered impotent by what feels like an editorial fiat.
That being said this is the first novel of trilogy that from my understanding will lead into Halo 4. Assuming I’m correct (Halo 4 will supposedly be released sometime this year) I’ll likely be back for the remainder. I grew quite attached to Kilo-five and I still hold out that we will see a return to to their actions early in the novel. This really feels like two novels (or a novel and a short story) jammed together for no apparent reason. Hardcore Halo fans are the only people I can really recommend this novel this novel. Here’s hoping for a more consistent quality improves in future novels.
September 2, 2012
The book would have been much better if the author hadn't spent the major part of the book just vilifying Dr Halsey, it's clear that Karen Travis hasn't done much of any homework on the previous books before setting out to write this one, the characters and their behaviour in general is completely different from the other books in the series.
4 Stars for the human-covenant stuff & minus 2 stars for Dr Halsey story line = 2 stars
4 Stars for the human-covenant stuff & minus 2 stars for Dr Halsey story line = 2 stars
October 14, 2012
It wasn't bad, but it was no "Fall of Reach". I realllllllly enjoyed Karen Traviss' work with the Star Wars Republic Commando series, and I'm frustrated that George Lucas is such a money-grubbing asshole because her work on Mandalorian culture was top-notch world building.
Halo Glasslands takes place after Halo 3 / after Ghosts of Onyx. It picks up with Catherine Halsey and Chief Mendez and various leftover Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs trapped in a Forerunner Dyson sphere. Also introduced is a team of ODSTs and their ONI spook commander with a particular past...
The novel attempts to fill in gaps in Spartan history and re-create an image of the bureaucracy and human affairs that have gone on during the time from pre-first contact to post-Covenant War. Traviss' strength in the Republic Commando series came from the personal interactions of the characters. There she was writing about soldiers that were lied to and misused by their governments, following clues and hunting down information around a variety of environments to solve some sort of problem and she tries to recreate that style here. To that extent I feel that the ODSTs and the anger at Halsey were created purely for this reason, and I personally felt that it broke up the tough miltary aspect of the original Halo novels.
Overall it's not a terrible book, but it tries to cover aspects in the Halo universe that, so far, I personally was not too interested in. It's not bad, but it's not my slice of the pie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2013
The first thing that I should mention is that I will have to re-read Ghosts of Onyx. I had started reading the book, but had taken a rather long break midway through. When I went back to it, I picked up where I left off instead of going back to the beginning. That said, I enjoyed how Glasslands was connected to Ghosts of Onyx.
I thoroughly enjoyed the different viewpoints of characters, those more recognizable than others and even ones introduced in the book (or that I simply don't remember reading from the previous six Halo books). The continuation of how Ghosts of Onyx ended was very interesting, as was reading portions of the fallout of the end of the Human-Covenant war. Definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoyed Ghosts of Onyx.
At first I found it difficult to feel invested or interested in the Sangheili portions of the chapters, but eventually I came around to it. I do have to say, though, that I do prefer how some of the previous Halo books had shorter, but a larger amount of, chapters, as opposed to how Glasslands has 18 total chapters taking up about 456 pages. Though the chapters are broken up throughout by cutting to different plots occuring, I do prefer being able to stop reading at the end of a chapter as opposed to in the middle of one.
Having read previous books and played the games, it was interesting to see names pop up in the book that I recognized, and it only makes me all the more interested in reading The Thursday War next. Interesting characters, pretty fantastic plot, and there were moments I felt overjoyed at events occurring.
I thoroughly enjoyed the different viewpoints of characters, those more recognizable than others and even ones introduced in the book (or that I simply don't remember reading from the previous six Halo books). The continuation of how Ghosts of Onyx ended was very interesting, as was reading portions of the fallout of the end of the Human-Covenant war. Definitely worth reading, especially if you enjoyed Ghosts of Onyx.
At first I found it difficult to feel invested or interested in the Sangheili portions of the chapters, but eventually I came around to it. I do have to say, though, that I do prefer how some of the previous Halo books had shorter, but a larger amount of, chapters, as opposed to how Glasslands has 18 total chapters taking up about 456 pages. Though the chapters are broken up throughout by cutting to different plots occuring, I do prefer being able to stop reading at the end of a chapter as opposed to in the middle of one.
Having read previous books and played the games, it was interesting to see names pop up in the book that I recognized, and it only makes me all the more interested in reading The Thursday War next. Interesting characters, pretty fantastic plot, and there were moments I felt overjoyed at events occurring.
February 11, 2015
This is supposed to continue the story of the Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund, except for one reason or another the story was handed off to Karen Traviss... I have nothing against her as an author as this is the first book of hers that I've read. Unfortunately she didn't deliver. After finishing the book I could care less about the Thursday War. I got connected to the characters that Eric created, and they didn't even get fleshed out in Grasslands. I ended up skipping chapters out of boredom and confusion. A completely new crew is introduced and they are constantly talking on a ship about nothing. The original characters are walking around talking about the same conversation for 4 separate chapters and accomplish nothing exciting while in the spherical haven. I can only remember there being 2 major skirmishes, which is ridiculous in a Halo universe based book. I was not happy with this installation and would not recommend it! Wort wort wort BLAM!
March 1, 2015
I've read a number of books by Karen Traviss; I've read a number of books based in the Halo Universe. On both counts, Glasslands ranks near the bottom. Page upon page upon page of dull exposition, short descriptors, and glacial plot development all leading up to a decent 50 pages and...that's the end. Buy the sequel, folks! I'm a sucker for completionism so I'll probably be purchasing The Thursday War someday to see what happens to Kilo squad. But, after slogging through this one, I'm not planning on it for quite some time.
July 29, 2016
Yet another guilty pleasure (do I have any book series that *aren't...?). Set after the "Halo Wars" of video game fame. A surprisingly fun cloak-and-dagger romp as the covenant and UNSC snipe at each, with dissent and insurrection simmering within each side. I think what I find fascinating about the whole mess, is that from a video game with a modest plot, they've put together a remarkably coherent and complex geo-political universe and *thats* what takes it from another meh tie in to something pretty engaging.
Well, at least engaging to one of my ....erm.... interesting (and lazy) tastes.
Well, at least engaging to one of my ....erm.... interesting (and lazy) tastes.
July 11, 2013
If you want to see the worst way in which to behave in relation to writing for an expanded universe you need only look at the works of Karen Traviss. Infamous for her borderline preaching, infighting with other authors, bloated tumorous additions to series’ plotlines for the sake of pure self-satisfaction, mass fan insults and a sheer lack of research or respect for the canon; how she retains not only a career but also a fandom is a complete mystery.
Having written for both the Star Wars expanded universe and Gears of War series, she set her sights on Halo and proceeded to repeat many of her past mistakes.
Serving as a sequel to Ghosts of Onyx and supposedly the start of a post-Covenant War trilogy, Glasslands follows the story of the war’s survivors. Having endured the destruction of Onyx the small band of humans and SPARTAN II and IIIs search for a way off of the dyson sphere and back to their reality. Meanwhile tensions between the Sangheili have reached fever pitch. Despite his best efforts former Arbiter Thel Vadam finds many of his people are still heavily bound to worship of the Forerunners and seek to return to war against all unbelievers. As peace talks break down, the UNSC’s ONI branch seeks to take advantage of the fighting. To weaken the potentially threatening species and secure human dominance among the stars…
This setting is perfectly fine and seems to work overall. Where it falls apart is with the author and execution of such ideas, who turns something potentially exciting into wallpaper paste levels of drivel.
The book needed to deal with the aftermath of the war, a horrendous conflict which had driven humanity to the verge of annihilation. Earth was in ruins, partially glassed no less, billions lay dead and many colonies had been lost. The problem is that very little actually reflects this. Traviss opts to tell rather than show and besides a few conversations and referencing of the damage the war has caused, we see very little of it. One point early on is actually set on earth with two ODSTs visiting Australia, talking about the devastation with someone, but very little in the descriptions try to reflect the level of damage they discuss. Despite it being the book’s apparent aim it does nothing to focus upon the post Covenant War state of the UNSC or the level of devastation left in its wake. One of the few times the effects of the war is actually shown, on a glassed world so less, the scene is so utterly focused upon one conversation that you get barely any effective emphasis upon how horrifying the environment is. Or the characters even really talking about the fact they are standing on the heat blasted remains of what was once a thriving human planet.
The way the characters are written only makes things infinitely worse. Having read through this novel I honestly feel guilty for criticising Chris Wraight on his portrayal of the Iron Hands. As blank as they might have been at least you got some sense of their traditions. At least they were written like space marines and you could tell instantly when the person speaking was a Guardsman, astartes, Magos or Princeps. Here though? Nothing. Everything reads as if it’s being said by one person and has almost nothing to differentiate them from one another. It’s so bad that Australian characters only seem able to establish their nationality by stating “mate” at the end of every couple of sentences. At best you might get some overriding attitude or action which will give some shade of difference, but barely anything truly feels different between characters. It doesn’t matter if they’re civilians, survivors of massacres, terrorists or children turned into genetically enhanced supersoldiers. All of them are written in exactly the same manner no matter with political standing, plans or even opinions.
Two standout examples of the dire characterisation are Thel Vadam and Lucy B091. Both were characters with some dimension to them who were handled by other authors in previous novels, developing over time.
Thel, AKA the Arbiter, is an alien and quite a unique one at that. Despite having originated from a species so zealous and violent Gregor Clegane would raise an eyebrow at their antics, he is fairly level headed. His faith having waned due to personal doubt, loss and visible corruption by their spiritual leaders, yet retaining many warlike aspects. His evolution and attitude remained fairly consistent throughout the series and is one of Halo’s biggest characters. Traviss not only writes him in the exact manner she does humans, with no differentiation in descriptions, thought or style but supplants his personality. Giving him one which barely resembles anything we’ve seen before from him.
A major character in Ghosts of Onyx, Lucy was one of two survivors of the pyrrhic Operation: TORPEDO in which an entire company of SPARTANs was wiped out. Rendered mute from the trauma of the experience, she was a constant presence and helped to add to a subtle “war is hell” message in the novel. There were no prolonged sections inside her head and her distinct lack of speech only emphasised upon how devastating a SPARTAN’s life could be, emphasising that through all the training and armour they were still human on some level. Traviss proceeds to wreck any sense of this by, not only failing to understand this subtlety, but also turning her into a viewpoint character. One who thinks and acts just like every single other person and who gives absolutely no impression of mental scarring or personal horror, only that she doesn’t seem to want to talk. Worse still, this aspect is reduced to a ham fisted effort to needlessly demonise a character for little to no reason.
Said demonization and the ultimate failing of the novel is the treatment of Dr. Catherine Halsey. Creator of the SPARTAN II Program, established scientist and expert on Forerunner technology, and political strawman extraordinaire of Glasslands. Unfortunately it would take an entire essay to fully analyse just how botched the use of her character is within this tale, as such consider this the short version. Along with the sudden removal of all intelligence, backbone, vague indication moral standing or competence, she is used as Traviss’ chew toy. A figure constantly on the receiving end of any and all war related arguments about genetic enhancement in war or creation of weapons, even when they’re used for peace. She is written to suddenly consider herself above good and evil, without a soul and is openly compared with Josef Mengele. Someone who now suddenly completely embraces an Ubermensch and sees other human beings as effectively only subjects of scientific interest. This includes her lover and father of her daughter, Jacob Keyes.
Every character in the novel is written to argue against Halsey; constantly humiliating her and utilising her for their own preaching. Or rather Traviss’ preaching, with their new poorly redefined characterisations serving as her mouthpieces. Why? Because she created the SPARTAN II Program and Traviss personally hates genetically enhanced soldiers, superior figures which do not originate from warrior cultures and weapons developers.
Who are the characters used to argue against her?
Margaret Parangosky, head of ONI who is now trying to drive the Sangheili to borderline extinction with civil war. Rather than just supporting the human friendly side she considers bombing them both in secret to be completely justified. ONI was also involved in not only commissioning the SPARTAN II Program (a fact the story completely ignores, apparently pretending Halsey set it up as a subject of curiosity) but also the SPARTAN III Program. One which, unlike before, used the soldiers for mass suicide missions and as cannon fodder. She and ONI are also supposedly this story’s heroes.
Franklin Mendez, Senior Chief Petty Officer of the UNSC. Drill sergeant of not only SPARTAN II recruits who willingly put them through hell, but also of the SPARTAN IIIs. Someone who worked with Halsey and had no problems helping send young children to their deaths even after the new program was initiated. The book ignores any actions by him in favour of hypocritical speeches towards Halsey.
And finally the SPARTAN IIIs, specifically Team Saber. SPARTANs who were trained not only but a Mk. II, are alive because of the IIs sacrifices, but also know that Halsey had no involvement in turning them into soldiers. In fact she went so far as to try and prevent the Program going ahead, sabotaging it before they could be sent into combat.
Yet all of them hate her with every fibre of their being and we’re expected to support them.
This reaches truly insulting levels when Lucy punching Halsey in the face somehow cures her of her inability to speak. Ignoring the fact this should have outright killed the unenhanced woman in her mid-sixties, this is connoted as if this were a child striking back against an abusive parent. Not only succeeding in making little sense, but undermining a part of Lucy’s character and writing deep personal trauma as something which can be overcome in an instant. Charming.
This final point might have been long but it highlights the biggest problem with anything written by Traviss: They’re not novels. She doesn’t write stories, tales or any kind of fiction which features multi-faceted characters or even moral grey areas.
What she writes is personal filibusters. Poorly constructed, terribly written, badly disguised essays preaching her personal beliefs and trying to shout down any counter argument. As such this doesn’t deserve a verdict. Goto, Campbell, Hopeless; whatever the quality of their work on some level they were at least trying to write something for other people to enjoy. Something with actual characters, a plot and ultimately a story. Glasslands? I can’t even find myself capable of recommending it out of bile fascination. Avoid both it and any of this author’s works.
Having written for both the Star Wars expanded universe and Gears of War series, she set her sights on Halo and proceeded to repeat many of her past mistakes.
Serving as a sequel to Ghosts of Onyx and supposedly the start of a post-Covenant War trilogy, Glasslands follows the story of the war’s survivors. Having endured the destruction of Onyx the small band of humans and SPARTAN II and IIIs search for a way off of the dyson sphere and back to their reality. Meanwhile tensions between the Sangheili have reached fever pitch. Despite his best efforts former Arbiter Thel Vadam finds many of his people are still heavily bound to worship of the Forerunners and seek to return to war against all unbelievers. As peace talks break down, the UNSC’s ONI branch seeks to take advantage of the fighting. To weaken the potentially threatening species and secure human dominance among the stars…
This setting is perfectly fine and seems to work overall. Where it falls apart is with the author and execution of such ideas, who turns something potentially exciting into wallpaper paste levels of drivel.
The book needed to deal with the aftermath of the war, a horrendous conflict which had driven humanity to the verge of annihilation. Earth was in ruins, partially glassed no less, billions lay dead and many colonies had been lost. The problem is that very little actually reflects this. Traviss opts to tell rather than show and besides a few conversations and referencing of the damage the war has caused, we see very little of it. One point early on is actually set on earth with two ODSTs visiting Australia, talking about the devastation with someone, but very little in the descriptions try to reflect the level of damage they discuss. Despite it being the book’s apparent aim it does nothing to focus upon the post Covenant War state of the UNSC or the level of devastation left in its wake. One of the few times the effects of the war is actually shown, on a glassed world so less, the scene is so utterly focused upon one conversation that you get barely any effective emphasis upon how horrifying the environment is. Or the characters even really talking about the fact they are standing on the heat blasted remains of what was once a thriving human planet.
The way the characters are written only makes things infinitely worse. Having read through this novel I honestly feel guilty for criticising Chris Wraight on his portrayal of the Iron Hands. As blank as they might have been at least you got some sense of their traditions. At least they were written like space marines and you could tell instantly when the person speaking was a Guardsman, astartes, Magos or Princeps. Here though? Nothing. Everything reads as if it’s being said by one person and has almost nothing to differentiate them from one another. It’s so bad that Australian characters only seem able to establish their nationality by stating “mate” at the end of every couple of sentences. At best you might get some overriding attitude or action which will give some shade of difference, but barely anything truly feels different between characters. It doesn’t matter if they’re civilians, survivors of massacres, terrorists or children turned into genetically enhanced supersoldiers. All of them are written in exactly the same manner no matter with political standing, plans or even opinions.
Two standout examples of the dire characterisation are Thel Vadam and Lucy B091. Both were characters with some dimension to them who were handled by other authors in previous novels, developing over time.
Thel, AKA the Arbiter, is an alien and quite a unique one at that. Despite having originated from a species so zealous and violent Gregor Clegane would raise an eyebrow at their antics, he is fairly level headed. His faith having waned due to personal doubt, loss and visible corruption by their spiritual leaders, yet retaining many warlike aspects. His evolution and attitude remained fairly consistent throughout the series and is one of Halo’s biggest characters. Traviss not only writes him in the exact manner she does humans, with no differentiation in descriptions, thought or style but supplants his personality. Giving him one which barely resembles anything we’ve seen before from him.
A major character in Ghosts of Onyx, Lucy was one of two survivors of the pyrrhic Operation: TORPEDO in which an entire company of SPARTANs was wiped out. Rendered mute from the trauma of the experience, she was a constant presence and helped to add to a subtle “war is hell” message in the novel. There were no prolonged sections inside her head and her distinct lack of speech only emphasised upon how devastating a SPARTAN’s life could be, emphasising that through all the training and armour they were still human on some level. Traviss proceeds to wreck any sense of this by, not only failing to understand this subtlety, but also turning her into a viewpoint character. One who thinks and acts just like every single other person and who gives absolutely no impression of mental scarring or personal horror, only that she doesn’t seem to want to talk. Worse still, this aspect is reduced to a ham fisted effort to needlessly demonise a character for little to no reason.
Said demonization and the ultimate failing of the novel is the treatment of Dr. Catherine Halsey. Creator of the SPARTAN II Program, established scientist and expert on Forerunner technology, and political strawman extraordinaire of Glasslands. Unfortunately it would take an entire essay to fully analyse just how botched the use of her character is within this tale, as such consider this the short version. Along with the sudden removal of all intelligence, backbone, vague indication moral standing or competence, she is used as Traviss’ chew toy. A figure constantly on the receiving end of any and all war related arguments about genetic enhancement in war or creation of weapons, even when they’re used for peace. She is written to suddenly consider herself above good and evil, without a soul and is openly compared with Josef Mengele. Someone who now suddenly completely embraces an Ubermensch and sees other human beings as effectively only subjects of scientific interest. This includes her lover and father of her daughter, Jacob Keyes.
Every character in the novel is written to argue against Halsey; constantly humiliating her and utilising her for their own preaching. Or rather Traviss’ preaching, with their new poorly redefined characterisations serving as her mouthpieces. Why? Because she created the SPARTAN II Program and Traviss personally hates genetically enhanced soldiers, superior figures which do not originate from warrior cultures and weapons developers.
Who are the characters used to argue against her?
Margaret Parangosky, head of ONI who is now trying to drive the Sangheili to borderline extinction with civil war. Rather than just supporting the human friendly side she considers bombing them both in secret to be completely justified. ONI was also involved in not only commissioning the SPARTAN II Program (a fact the story completely ignores, apparently pretending Halsey set it up as a subject of curiosity) but also the SPARTAN III Program. One which, unlike before, used the soldiers for mass suicide missions and as cannon fodder. She and ONI are also supposedly this story’s heroes.
Franklin Mendez, Senior Chief Petty Officer of the UNSC. Drill sergeant of not only SPARTAN II recruits who willingly put them through hell, but also of the SPARTAN IIIs. Someone who worked with Halsey and had no problems helping send young children to their deaths even after the new program was initiated. The book ignores any actions by him in favour of hypocritical speeches towards Halsey.
And finally the SPARTAN IIIs, specifically Team Saber. SPARTANs who were trained not only but a Mk. II, are alive because of the IIs sacrifices, but also know that Halsey had no involvement in turning them into soldiers. In fact she went so far as to try and prevent the Program going ahead, sabotaging it before they could be sent into combat.
Yet all of them hate her with every fibre of their being and we’re expected to support them.
This reaches truly insulting levels when Lucy punching Halsey in the face somehow cures her of her inability to speak. Ignoring the fact this should have outright killed the unenhanced woman in her mid-sixties, this is connoted as if this were a child striking back against an abusive parent. Not only succeeding in making little sense, but undermining a part of Lucy’s character and writing deep personal trauma as something which can be overcome in an instant. Charming.
This final point might have been long but it highlights the biggest problem with anything written by Traviss: They’re not novels. She doesn’t write stories, tales or any kind of fiction which features multi-faceted characters or even moral grey areas.
What she writes is personal filibusters. Poorly constructed, terribly written, badly disguised essays preaching her personal beliefs and trying to shout down any counter argument. As such this doesn’t deserve a verdict. Goto, Campbell, Hopeless; whatever the quality of their work on some level they were at least trying to write something for other people to enjoy. Something with actual characters, a plot and ultimately a story. Glasslands? I can’t even find myself capable of recommending it out of bile fascination. Avoid both it and any of this author’s works.
November 22, 2020
oops I tripped and read this
March 11, 2022
2.5 ⭐
La historia en general es buena, la formación de K-5 pero el trato por parte de la autora a ciertos personajes me parece muy decepcionante.
Ciertamente no es una novela de acción como muchas otras del universo de Halo, se centra más en interacciones, algunas de ellas son buenas y otras simplemente repetitivas y cansadas.
Para mí, lo salvan 3 cosas
- el final
- la condensación de k-5 como equipo
- el enlace a ciertos eventos ya conocidos en el universo Halo.
La historia en general es buena, la formación de K-5 pero el trato por parte de la autora a ciertos personajes me parece muy decepcionante.
Ciertamente no es una novela de acción como muchas otras del universo de Halo, se centra más en interacciones, algunas de ellas son buenas y otras simplemente repetitivas y cansadas.
Para mí, lo salvan 3 cosas
- el final
- la condensación de k-5 como equipo
- el enlace a ciertos eventos ya conocidos en el universo Halo.
May 31, 2018
I found the book “Glasslands” by Karen Traviss to be a very good book. The story revolves around a black operations squadron by the name of Kilo-5, operating in a very dangerous time. Humanity is in the 25th century and we have spread among the stars, controlling the sol system, the Epsilon system, and many others. Under the leadership of the United Earth Government, an evolution of the United Nations, and the protection the U.N.S.C, the United Nations Space Command, humanity is in a prosperous age. But in recent times, rebellions have arisen and the U.N.S.C. is barely keeping the insurrection. But in truth, a larger threat lurks beyond the boundaries of our empire. With 40 some worlds, each a major population center, our civilization managed to attract some unwanted, extraterrestrial attention. The covenant is a space faring empire, comprised of a collection of alien races intertwined in a caste system. With superior weapons and technology, they burned world after world in their pursuit of Earth, with their goal, total annihilation of our civilization. But after many sacrifices on both sides, the covenant shattered from within as two of its leading species, the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae went to war. Only one thing stalled the aliens before their empire’s inevitable fracture: the Spartan Program. The spartans were a group of children, abducted secretly from their homes across the galaxy by agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence (O.N.I.). These children were trained for years in the art of warfare, becoming the best fighting force that humanity had ever seen. Then, the children went through a series of painful biological upgrades that caused seventy percent of the children to die. But, the survivors were forged into a nearly unstoppable group of warriors, that when outfitted with the hyper advanced Mylnior power armour, These super soldiers spearheaded the war effort against the covenant, buying the U.N.S.C. valuable time pull together. The story “Glasslands” takes place shortly after the events of halo 4 and focuses on the main character and future director of O.N.I., Serin Osman. Sarah Osman was a former spartan, and she suffered serious injuries due to the biological upgrades that killed many spartans, but she eventually recovered well enough to rise to the rank of Admiral. The story goes down a few paths, being the antics of the orbital drop shock troopers, Osman’s path of revenge, and Naomi’s lost father. The other members of Osmin’s crew aboard the prowler, Port Stanley, are: the O.D.S.T.s Devernanox, Mal, and Vaz, as well as the Sangheili expert Philips. The crew of Port Stanley are sent on a secret mission to aid the Servants of Abiding Truth, a renegade Sangheili group, while Earth officially supported the Arbiter, the Sangheili leader who saved humanity during the human-covenant war. The idea of this mission is to keep the Sangheili in chaos so that they cannot threaten Earth while humanity rebuilds its crippled fleet. The group starts aiding the servants and uncovers a plot to assassinate the Arbiter. When war spreads across Sanhelios like a plague, Kilo-5 helps keep the fight going, but is forced to pull back when Dr. Phillips is kidnapped by the servants. The Author, Karen Travis, focuses on telling a much more personal story rather than an action driven narrative that most of the halo books maintain. The story is very nice because it also highlights another previously unexplored side of the galaxy and sheds some light on some of the horrible acts of the calculating Doctor Halsey, the engineer of the Spartan Program, as well as fills in several small plot holes. The author effectively writes from a third person perspective, and effectively captivates the horrors of war using descriptive language. I really enjoyed this book because of the more calculated approach to the Halo universe as well as a more stealth operations feel. The author acknowledges many small details in her writing and often gives more than required amounts of background information, ““The Engineer began dismantling the helmet at a breakneck speed, stacking the components—faceplate, lining, mikes, data processor, even micro fans—on the nearest flat surface, a hydroplane-like structure on a small vessel.” (357) The author also delivers many memorable lines and life lessons throughout the novel, ““Revenge might give you a warm feeling, but unless it delivers some lasting results you might as well have a nice cup of mocha instead.” (129) Overall, the book Glasslands is a great book for anyone who has read the rest of the Halo novels, but for anyone new to the Halo series, this book is not a great read. Overall, the story is a nice change of pace and fleshes out the universe as a whole, and I am very much glad that I read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2022
(Synopsis) - The Covenant has collapsed after a long, brutal war that saw billions slaughtered on Earth and her colonies. For the first time in decades, however, peace finally seems possible. But though the fighting's stopped, the war is far from over: it's just gone underground. The UNSC's feared and secretive Office of Naval Intelligence recruits Kilo-Five, a team of ODSTs, a Spartan, and a diabolical AI to accelerate the Sangheili insurrection.
(Review) - I just want to start by saying that this book isn't bad! Which I know is a bad beginning for any review but bare with me, i did hope to like this more than i had did, mainly because of the author Karen Traviss, I've read her work before in mass effect and gears of war and I just loved her work. Sadly here she was good but she didn't feel top form, because the beginning is solid it sets up the story well, the middle though is rocky! The pacing is off at times and it's hard to tell how long certain characters are at certain locations, and the end is okay but there is a definite moment where you can see completely that the story should of ended at that point, but for some reason the story keeps going as set up for the next book, but everything that is mentioned could of been added into the next book and had this one end smoother. As for the story i loved the reintroduced of Dr. Halsey and her Spartans trapped on onyx, the Kilo-Five team was okay, I preferred the AI more! And if im being honest i mostly cared about Halsey and her story more than the other insurrection subplot. Overall it's a good halo and sci-fi story, sadly i expected more, but i liked it and I guess thats enough.
3.5/5 Stars GoodReads ⭐⭐⭐💫
65/100 GingerPoints 🔥
(Review) - I just want to start by saying that this book isn't bad! Which I know is a bad beginning for any review but bare with me, i did hope to like this more than i had did, mainly because of the author Karen Traviss, I've read her work before in mass effect and gears of war and I just loved her work. Sadly here she was good but she didn't feel top form, because the beginning is solid it sets up the story well, the middle though is rocky! The pacing is off at times and it's hard to tell how long certain characters are at certain locations, and the end is okay but there is a definite moment where you can see completely that the story should of ended at that point, but for some reason the story keeps going as set up for the next book, but everything that is mentioned could of been added into the next book and had this one end smoother. As for the story i loved the reintroduced of Dr. Halsey and her Spartans trapped on onyx, the Kilo-Five team was okay, I preferred the AI more! And if im being honest i mostly cared about Halsey and her story more than the other insurrection subplot. Overall it's a good halo and sci-fi story, sadly i expected more, but i liked it and I guess thats enough.
3.5/5 Stars GoodReads ⭐⭐⭐💫
65/100 GingerPoints 🔥
December 31, 2011
Glasslands was a low point in the series of books inspired by the Halo games. Everything the author was trying to do seemed a little too deliberate and it felt like too much time was spent tossing around English puns rather than developing the enthralling plot I expected.
March 7, 2022
I don’t want to say outright that women are better writers than men (im jokin) but there’s definitely a level of emotional intelligence to this book that does not really show up in most other Halo novels - I think the exceptions would be Contact Harvest and a number of the stories in Halo: Evolutions. This is so much more about character than about action sequences or expanding the lore which is exactly what I wanted after the somewhat repetitive action sequences in the first bunch of novels and the dense lore of Halo: Cryptum.
I went into this knowing some fans hated it and I gotta say they got it wrong. I think the fact that the entire Kilo-5 team hates Catherine Halsey would maybe be annoying to anyone who can’t see why they would hate her, but I think this book actually raises a lot of really interesting points about the morality of the Spartan programs.
Perhaps the absolute best part about this novel, however, it’s the fantastic amount of Huragok content. I love those little guys and Karen Traviss depicts them in such a heartwarming way.
I also have a new favourite character in Lucy B091 - she went from a side character in Ghost Protocol to almost the emotional core of this novel and I loved every second of it.
This is just a great book in my opinion, it introduced a loveable gang of misfits and expanded upon the more morally ambiguous elements of the previous novels in a truly compelling way.
I will admit that my plan after this book was to read the next novel in the Forerunner saga - Halo: Primordium - but I couldn’t help myself and went straight to the next novel in the Kilo-5 trilogy - Halo: The Thursday War.
I went into this knowing some fans hated it and I gotta say they got it wrong. I think the fact that the entire Kilo-5 team hates Catherine Halsey would maybe be annoying to anyone who can’t see why they would hate her, but I think this book actually raises a lot of really interesting points about the morality of the Spartan programs.
Perhaps the absolute best part about this novel, however, it’s the fantastic amount of Huragok content. I love those little guys and Karen Traviss depicts them in such a heartwarming way.
I also have a new favourite character in Lucy B091 - she went from a side character in Ghost Protocol to almost the emotional core of this novel and I loved every second of it.
This is just a great book in my opinion, it introduced a loveable gang of misfits and expanded upon the more morally ambiguous elements of the previous novels in a truly compelling way.
I will admit that my plan after this book was to read the next novel in the Forerunner saga - Halo: Primordium - but I couldn’t help myself and went straight to the next novel in the Kilo-5 trilogy - Halo: The Thursday War.
October 18, 2020
I blasted through this 17-hour audiobook like nobody's business. The Halo universe immediately engrossed me from the time I started playing Combat Evolved when I was, like, ten, and I just absolutely ate up Eric Nylund's "Fall of Reach" shortly afterward. Karen Traviss has reignited my awe of the worldbuilding in the Halo series, deftly balancing political intrigue and endearing character development and deeply interesting worldbuilding and badass action scenes. The Kilo-Five trilogy is set between Halo 3 and Halo 4 (the latter of which I'm okay about forgetting), and it feels like a much more appropriate send-off to the main storyline than what we got. I'm super excited to continue with the other two installments of this trilogy.
We must protect the Engineers.
We must protect the Engineers.
August 18, 2024
Interesting plot that made the book hard to put down. I liked the way the book switched between different storylines and eventually built up to them crossing paths for the climax. Certain storylines were kinda boring for stretches though or would have chunks where the characters did seemingly nothing so the other story lines could catch up. The book did a really good job of making some characters really fleshed out like Vaz, Halsey, Mendez, Osman, Jul, and Lucy, but then seemed to completely ignore other characters like Kelly, Linda, and the other Spartan III’s or make them extremely one dimensional like Fred, Mal, and Devereaux. This book was closer to a 3⭐️ than a 5⭐️ for me but I still enjoyed it and will be reading the next one.
December 29, 2023
Picks up where the Nylund trilogy leaves off (semi-cliffhanger). Same universe, now with even more fascism and a CIA allegory.
Pros:
* Makes criticism of said fascism a lot more overt. A quick glance at some Halo subreddits shows that the fanbase’s media literacy is on par with many fans of The Boys’ Homelander, so this is a reasonably welcome change, even if a bit heavy-handed.
* Makes some of the fascist characters (*gasp*) unlikeable! This seems to be the reason for most of the low ratings.
* Reasonably interesting political thriller
Cons:
* Slow paced, a bit boring?
* More cliffhangers and does not stand on its own (requires reading the Nylund trilogy for anything to make sense)
Pros:
* Makes criticism of said fascism a lot more overt. A quick glance at some Halo subreddits shows that the fanbase’s media literacy is on par with many fans of The Boys’ Homelander, so this is a reasonably welcome change, even if a bit heavy-handed.
* Makes some of the fascist characters (*gasp*) unlikeable! This seems to be the reason for most of the low ratings.
* Reasonably interesting political thriller
Cons:
* Slow paced, a bit boring?
* More cliffhangers and does not stand on its own (requires reading the Nylund trilogy for anything to make sense)
April 13, 2024
Good. Has a density to it that the other ones lack. Much more fleshed-out characters; the ODSTs, BB, Lucy and the Engineers were especially fun. All the bellyaching about the SPARTAN program was laid on a little too thick though, especially where mopey soppy Halsey was concerned, and the payoff for it all was anticlimactic. Almost a great novel, but the plot was just too loose to really push it over the line. Good fun though.
January 24, 2019
So this book felt like a filler book. Not much actually happened. However, a lot of plot lines were advanced, and I really enjoyed the writing. So I'm not sad about it. But I hope the next one has some real sh*t go down.
June 13, 2021
Yeah it was… fine? Good for a halo book i guess
July 31, 2021
Good story wish they integrated the 3 different story lines better though
March 31, 2023
Absolutely *loved* this installment in the Halo EU. Dense, political, and thrilling, Traviss' voice as an author keeps you glued until the final word. Heck of a cliffhanger, too.
December 27, 2023
A follow up to the Ghosts of Onyx, it is written exceptionally well. This book had me on the edge of my seat. I am a huge halo fan and exploring the characters of the spartan IIs is something that I love to read about. Without spoiling too much, it will definitely have your jaw drop.
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