Book Review: Halo – The Fall of Reach

After a little prodding from an anonymous commentator, Wutaku seems to be on a crusade to improve his writing skills which have fallen pretty far from his college days.

One of the best ways to expand ones vocabulary and improve on grammar is to read books, newspapers, and listen to NPR. But seeing as how journalists are getting lazier in proofreading their work and the topics on NPR are just so dry, reading books is the way to go.

Personally, I have not read a book in over a decade; textbooks notwithstanding.

The last book I read was Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn which throws a telepathic gorilla and a naive young man together to debate on the longevity of civilization. I believe this was for a philosophy class so reading the book was not by choice. I gravitate more towards the sci-fi and d&d genre.

Which brings us to Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund. For those who haven’t played Halo before, the game allows the user to take on the role as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 as he lays waste to an alien race known as the Covenant to save humankind. The Fall of Reach is the official prequel of the game. The book brings in a few recognizable names from the game and introduces a new character.

Dr. Hasley, head of the Spartan program, and an earlier version of Captain Keyes snatches John and a hundred other kids like him from their homes to participate in the government-funded Spartan program. The kids are trained every day and injected with chemicals to produce stronger, faster, and smarter soldiers. When the Covenant began to wipe out planets, the only hope the government had was to turn to the Spartans to lead the counterattack on the front lines.

If you have ever read fanfiction before, the book reads exactly like them. Taking the main character from a game/show/movie and making him overpowered then having him blow away the opposition. If you overlook that aspect, The Fall of Reach is a pretty decent read. Although there is a feeling that there should be a second book between this one and the beginning of the game.

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