Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
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| Halo: Ghosts of Onyx | |
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| Author | Eric Nylund |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Tor |
| Publication date | October 31, 2006 (US, UK) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 384 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7653-1568-8 |
| Preceded by | First Strike |
| Followed by | Contact Harvest |
Ghosts of Onyx is a novel by Eric Nylund, set in the universe of the Halo video game series, released on October 31, 2006. The fourth Halo novel written, it was also Nylund's third and the first to be published by Tor Books; the book's working title was Ghosts of Coral. It ties up many of the plots that were started in the other Halo novels, as well as revealing the fate of some of their major characters.
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[edit] Background
Onyx author Eric Nylund had previously written two of the three past Halo novels, The Fall of Reach and First Strike, and went to Bungie with an outline of what he wanted to do next.[1] According to Nylund, Bungie gave him room to write the story as long as he accomplished some "very specific [story] goals."[1] Ghosts of Onyx, originally known as Ghosts of Coral,[2] was the first Halo novel to be published by Tor Books instead of Del Rey. Tor's editors helped "untangle" the complicated plot of Onyx.[3] On writing, Nylund pointed out that "tension is the cornerstone of any good story", and that Ghosts of Onyx would be no different.[4]
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Setting
Ghosts of Onyx takes place between 2531 and 2552, in a universe where humanity, under the United Nations Space Command, has developed a means of faster-than-light travel and colonized hundreds of worlds. According to the backstory, in 2525 the outer colony of Harvest was attacked by the Covenant, a collective of alien races who had decreed the destruction of humanity as the will of their gods, the Forerunner. Humanity's best weapon against the technologically superior Covenant are the SPARTAN-IIs, supersoldiers equipped with powerful armor; unfortunately, there are too few of the SPARTANs to turn the tide of the war. By the events of Halo 2, which portions of Ghosts of Onyx take place after, the Covenant have discovered Earth and begun a full-scale invasion of the planet.
[edit] Characters
Ghosts of Onyx features characters both from the video games, as well as characters only seen or referenced in previous Halo novels. Catherine Halsey is the mother figure of the SPARTAN-IIs, and first appeared in Nylund's previous novel The Fall of Reach. A civilian operating within the UNSC, she abruptly kidnaps the Spartan Kelly-087 and departs on a stolen ship during the events of Halo: First Strike. Another previously established character to appear in the novel is Franklin Mendez, the SPARTAN-IIs' former mentor and teacher, as well as the scheming James Ackerson, part of a future version of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Lastly, the remaining SPARTAN-IIs, Fred-104, Kelly-087, Linda-058, and Will-043 make an appearance in Ghosts of Onyx, detailing their story during the events of the game.
[edit] Plot summary
The story begins with a group of SPARTAN-IIIs of Beta Company being deployed to a Covenant fleet refueling depot in the year 2545. They destroy the facility, but due to unexpectedly heavy Covenant resistance, all but two of the three hundred SPARTAN-IIIs are wiped out. The two survivors, Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091, are revealed to be only twelve years old, with Lucy rendered mute by the battle. The action then moves back to the year 2531 during a raid by the SPARTAN-II Blue Team on a human rebel base to recover stolen United Nations Space Command (UNSC) nuclear warheads. The team is nearly captured by a rebel ambush, but is saved by the timely intervention of Kurt-051. The story then jumps ahead to a meeting between Army Colonel James Ackerson and the top leadership of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). In this meeting, ONI leadership reveals that the SPARTAN-II program is prohibitively expensive; Ackerson plans a more stream-lined, "disposable" breed of SPARTANS has to be trained for special operations- the SPARTAN-III program. The new round of SPARTANs are to be trained by Franklin Mendez, the SPARTAN-IIs' trainers, as well as Kurt-051, whom ONI considers to be the best SPARTAN-II for instructional duties. With his death staged by ONI, Kurt-051 is placed in full charge of SPARTAN-III training, reassigned by Colonel Ackerson under the name and rank of Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose. The SPARTAN-III project is headquartered on a secret ONI colony planet called Onyx, where there is also an archaeological excavation of Forerunner ruins, in an area known as Zone 67. When a company of SPARTAN-IIIs goes missing in Zone 67, it is declared off-limits to all personnel.
Like the SPARTAN-IIs, the SPARTAN-III candidates undergo radical cybernetic and biological enhancements and are outfitted with special armor (though it is not as powerful as the SPARTAN-II MJOLNIR armor). The first SPARTAN-III company, Alpha Company, proves to be a startling success, but is wiped out when deployed to destroy a Covenant orbital shipyard in 2537. Shaken by the massacre of his troops, Kurt improves the training regimen for his next batch of SPARTAN-III recruits, but again they die en masse during their operations. Ambrose then institutes a medical procedure with the consent of Colonel Ackerson on the third group of SPARTAN-IIIs, Gamma Company. The procedure significantly alters their brain chemistry and enhances the SPARTAN-IIIs primitive survival responses in times of extreme stress. The modifications are illegal, having been outlawed by the UNSC Medical Corps in 2513 due to fears that brain alterations could lead to hyperaggression, psychosis and death without proper medication that must be taken to counteract these chemicals periodically. On October 31, 2552, Gamma Company conducts a training exercise near Zone 67 on Onyx. They find themselves and other UNSC personnel under attack by an unidentified class of alien robotic drones. The only humans left are Kurt, Mendez, and elements of Gamma Company.
Meanwhile, Dr. Catherine Halsey and Kelly-087 arrive in the Onyx system. As they near the surface of the planet they are attacked by more of the unidentified robot drones and crash, meeting up with the human survivors of the attacks. Halsey identifies the robotic drones as Forerunner Sentinels from Cortana's logs made during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Halsey sends a message back to Earth, which is still besieged by Covenant; Lord Hood sends the SPARTAN-IIs Fred-104, Linda-058, and Will-043 to Onyx. A Covenant fleet, commanded by Voro 'Mantakree, follow the SPARTANs to Onyx.
Meanwhile, at Delta Halo, the Covenant are in the midst of civil war, fighting each other as well as stopping the parasitic Flood from escaping the ringworld. After the battle, Elites intercept Halsey's distress signal and learn of the existence of Onyx and its Forerunner technology. The Covenant fleet and UNSC ships arrive at Onyx and are attacked by the Sentinel defenders of the planet. The entire UNSC fleet at Onyx is destroyed by the ensuing battle, save for one stealth ship, the Dusk, which stays hidden and observes unfolding events. The human forces on Onyx discover a Forerunner city being rapidly uncovered by the Sentinels, and are guided into a massive sphere by Dr. Halsey. She determines that the entire planet is actually a "Shield World" constructed by the Forerunners to protect themselves from the firing of the Halo network. Fighting off Covenant pursuers, they move into the heart of the planet, where they discover that a slipspace rift exists that shunts those that pass through it into a miniaturized Dyson Sphere. As the Covenant close in, Halsey persuades them to enter the rift. Will-043 and the SPARTAN-IIIs Dante and Holly fall fighting off the Covenant, and Kurt promotes Fred-104 to Lieutenant Junior Grade before remaining behind in order to detonate two FENRIS nuclear weapons to stop the Covenant. Hiding at a distance from Onyx, the Dusk watches as Onyx's surface rips apart to reveal that the entire world is constructed of Sentinels, all connected together to provide an impenetrable defense around the Dyson Sphere at the heart of the planet. The Sentinels annihilate the remaining Covenant fleet vessels orbiting the planet and the Prowler is forced to retreat. Fred-104 takes command of the survivors and orders everyone to search for a way to escape the Dyson Sphere.
[edit] Reception
IGN gave Ghosts of Onyx good marks, praising Nylund's writing style and how Onyx managed to tie up many plot threads that were left hanging from both the novels and the games.[5] The publication did note, however, that the Master Chief made only a cameo appearance, and that Ghosts of Onyx is "about the supporting cast of characters", rather than the heroes of the video game.[5] Offering a less positive outlook on the book were publications like Subnova.com, which blasted the novel as being much worse than Halo: First Strike, introducing characters the reader didn't care about and using too much jargon. The reviewer stated that "It's a good book. Honest. It just doesn't measure up to the standard set by the other books in the series."[6] In response to complaints about typographical errors, Nylund responded that a reprint of the book fixing these issues would appear.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Perry, Douglass (2006-10-12). The Halo Ghosts of Onyx Interview, Part 2. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ^ Wu, Louis (2006-03-19). Next Halo Novel Details Surface. Halo.Bungie.Org. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ Callaham, John (2006-10-31). Halo: Ghost Of Onyx Interview. Firing Squad. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ^ Perry, Douglass (2006-10-12). The Halo Ghosts of Onyx Interview, Part 1. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ^ a b Perry, Douglass (2006-12-05). Halo: Ghosts of Onyx Review. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ Funkmon (2006-10-31). Halo: Ghosts of Onyx: Book Review. SubNova.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
- ^ Nylund, Eric (2006-11-07). Quick Fix!. ericnylund.net. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
[edit] External links
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