Ah, Eric Nylund has done it again.I loved The Fall of Reach and The First Strike, but The Ghost of Onyx is simply captivating. Although it is another slightly disappointing cliff-hanging ending as the game Halo 2, the beefy story is brilliant.
The world of Halo, a world of unlimited imaginations.
The Ghost of Onyx traces the story of the Spartan-051 Kurt's transformation from an ultimate solider to a combat instructor during the Human-Covenant War. The Spartan II Program produces some of the most powerful and fearsome fighting machines, genetically, chemically, and biological enhanced super human trained in the most demanding circumstances who are hoped to buy mankind some time in the almost impossible victory against the aliens known as the Covenant. However, of the original Spartans squad, only a few remains after the bloody conflict at human fortress of Reach. The efficiency of the Spartans pushes the Naval high command to begin their secret program for more of those prefect soldiers.
Even though the beloved hero--Master Chief, or Spartan-117--is not present in the story, the vast universe implemented in the story can drew many other side stories if Bungie is up to the task. Familiar faces like Dr. Halsey, Kelly, and Fred link up the previous novels and bring new twists to their preexisting characters. New characters include the Beta and Gamma companies of the new Spartans, who are fresh but skilled. So far, my favorite character has to be Lucy. Although she never spoke in the most of the novel due to post-traumatic verbal inarticulation, her actions are worth of a thousand words. Hopefully the artists will give her a cute face. I mean I would; her story is very sad. Many sketches of Kurt show an extraordinary solider who not only tries to understand war, but also tries to understand what is the meaning of being human. The game has revealed little of Spartans' own personality other than suicidally courageous and expectingly professional. The novel takes on a new angle on these battle-hardened veterans who have lost and gained so much since the impeding doom of humankind.
Battle sequences are just awesome. The Flood shows quite a standard and sometimes boring style for battles, although some bits are very good. The ground battle sequences in The Ghost of Onyx have many intriguing tactics and undeniably present fully of the art of wars. The prowess of Spartans are awe spiring. Space battles are great as well, although not written in great scale as the witty Captain Keyes is no longer around. The Covenant side of the story is interesting, not emphasized enough in my opinion. The Sentinels seem to be too powerful in a game perspective, especially when they survive poorly on the library level against the flood. However, it does give me a chill thinking about thousands of Sentinels attacking a single unit. Wish I had that many on the library level, that could save me a lot of troubles finding shotgun ammos.
So for all Halo fans out there, The Ghost of Onyx is a must-read. Even for casual readers who like scifi, it will be quite a breeze through the story. Since the new game is coming out in a month, I wonder if there will be a new book. I will be keeping waiting, meanwhile watching the updates on the exciting conclusion of Master Chief's quest.
