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An original full-length novel set in the Halo universe and based on the New York Times bestselling video game series!
Molly Patel was only seven-years-old when the alien alliance known as the Covenant destroyed her homeworld and killed her family. As one of the few to escape the glassing of Paris IV, and despite the United Nations Space Command winning the war on behalf of humanity, Molly never forgot how much she had lost.
Nine years later, when her adoptive parents—research scientists specializing in ancient Forerunner technology—are called to the mysterious and wondrous place known as Onyx, Molly vehemently objects. It’s not so much that Molly’s concerned about relocating to inside a spherical construct the diameter of an entire solar system, but the fact that she also has to live alongside members of the same alien species that murdered her family. And when the Servants of the Abiding Truth—a violent ex-Covenant sect under the guidance of the notorious Pale Blade—somehow makes its way inside this supposedly impregnable sphere, Molly is now forced to consider if she and her new parents have made a terrible and fatal mistake in coming here....
Molly Patel was only seven-years-old when the alien alliance known as the Covenant destroyed her homeworld and killed her family. As one of the few to escape the glassing of Paris IV, and despite the United Nations Space Command winning the war on behalf of humanity, Molly never forgot how much she had lost.
Nine years later, when her adoptive parents—research scientists specializing in ancient Forerunner technology—are called to the mysterious and wondrous place known as Onyx, Molly vehemently objects. It’s not so much that Molly’s concerned about relocating to inside a spherical construct the diameter of an entire solar system, but the fact that she also has to live alongside members of the same alien species that murdered her family. And when the Servants of the Abiding Truth—a violent ex-Covenant sect under the guidance of the notorious Pale Blade—somehow makes its way inside this supposedly impregnable sphere, Molly is now forced to consider if she and her new parents have made a terrible and fatal mistake in coming here....
11 Reviews
3.0
Christian Huber
Created about 1 month agoShare
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Bree Hatfield
Created 3 months agoShare
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“The first two thirds of this novel are flawless. Easy 5 stars. It’s a young adult novel about a girl named Molly coming to terms with change, prejudice, and a traumatic past. She moves to a new “planet” where she has to go to a new school with both human and alien students. There, she navigates her own biases while dealing with typical teenage problems like making friends, challenging authority figures, and struggles with the future. The last third is significantly worse, being a stereotypical extended action scene common with most Halo novels, but it still focuses around Molly and her friends, so that’s something. All in all, this is a 4.5 star book and it’s well worth reading.
Throughout the Halo novels we see a variety of tragic backstories where the Covenant destroys the main character’s home world, but this one is interesting because Molly was a child at the time, and the bulk of the story deals with her emotionally volatile teenage years. She has a much harder time mingling with Sangheili on Onyx because she still holds that trauma within her, and as she says, the war is all she knows. She doesn’t remember a time when the humans weren’t at war with the Covenant, so it’s almost impossible for her to overcome that prejudice, which makes her arc all the more powerful.
Speaking of Molly, her journey is amazing. This is a young adult novel through and through; not only are we following a teenager, but the main themes of this novel are coming to terms with unavoidable changes, overcoming prejudice and making friends, and learning to trust those friends to form a team bond. Those are all prominent young adult themes, and they work so well in this novel.
Molly is a great main character to follow, but her friends are also dynamic and interesting, especially the aliens. Gudam is a fun, friendly side character who is easy to love. She gives us some really interesting backstory into the Unngoy culture and perspective on the war, and her oblivious attitude toward Molly at first is quite charming compared to Molly’s standoffishness. Gudam is also courageous and brave, willing to protect her friends regardless of the cost.
Bakar is the brooding, downcast type but he also gives us a unique glimpse into Sangheili culture, and his character backstory is ultimately at the center of the novel’s conflict. At first he appears to be pretty one-note, but through his friendship with Molly, Gudam, and Kareem, he opens up and it’s wonderful to see his journey of working together with his classmates.
I also really love the authority figures in this book, specifically the two Spartans. I didn’t read Traviss’ trilogy, but even just seeing Tom and Lucy in such confident roles after reading Ghosts of Onyx was amazing, and even though they got little actual page time, you really got a feel for their individual personalities.
Matt Forbeck is a master of exposition. This book rides on the shoulders of the Nylund trilogy, the Kilo-Five trilogy, and the first three Halo games, and Forbeck explains everything succinctly and in a way that’s engaging. Forbeck’s explanation of the Onyx Shield World was better than the explanations that both Nylund and Traviss made, which was very nice.
On top of that, the explanation and history of the Servants of the Abiding Truth was fantastic because it was told from the perspective of Dural, who has personal stakes in the organization. I also love that Forbeck weaves the exposition into Dural’s perspective on religion, which is also interesting. While he despises blind faith (and thus the prophets), he holds onto tradition and the belief of his ancestors. This makes the organization great villains since they hate both the humans and the Arbiter’s faction of Sangheili for desecrating the Forerunner artifacts. Following Dural is a fantastic way of seeing into the Abiding Truth’s perspective.
Speaking of Dural, Forbeck goes out of his way to mention the traditional prejudices that the Abiding Truth holds, specifically as it relates to sexism. This is nothing new, of course, but I always thought that it was a nice touch whenever authors included that in Halo novels because it reminds the reader that humanity (and the Sangheili now allied with them) are stronger for their diversity than the villainous aliens.
My one complaint for the sections with Dural is that they always last way too long. I get that Forbeck wanted to develop him, but it just wasn’t necessary. I think some ideas were cool, like the conflict between Dural and Buran; it showed that the Servants were weak because of their militant uniformity and secrecy, directly in contrast with the strong human-alien alliance. But even that felt weirdly rushed and underdeveloped. Dural’s chapters should have been no longer than the Spartans’ short chapters, and no more frequent as well.
With all that said, this book wasn’t perfect. The most glaring issue I have is that the plot shifts toward the end, at around the two thirds mark, from a YA story about unity and friendship to a basic action novel about forerunner machines so common in Halo novels. I understand that Forbeck wanted to incorporate aspects of Halo 5 into this book, but it just doesn’t work. The central theme relies on Dural being the MAIN villain, and then suddenly he’s sidelined for forerunner Guardians? It makes no sense and it’s not interesting. Luckily a good portion of the finale is still focused on Dural, but he’s still sidelined for the Guardian.”Braden Burrows
Created 4 months agoShare
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John 117
Created 11 months agoShare
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“Rating: B-”
About Matt Forbeck
Matt Forbeck is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author and game designer. He has more than thirty novels and countless games published to date. His latest work includes Dungeonlogy, the Star Wars: Rogue One junior novel, the last two editions of The Marvel Encyclopedia, his Monster Academy YA fantasy novels, and the upcoming Shotguns & Sorcery roleplaying game based on his novels. He lives in Beloit, WI, with his wife and five children, including a set of quadruplets. For more about him and his work, visit Forbeck.com.
Other books by Matt Forbeck
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