HALO: Legacy of Onyx

Halo #23

by Matt Forbeck

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...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Fiction, Ebooks, Video Games, Book Club, Adventure

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

I'm an award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author and game designer and happily married father of five, including a set of quadruplets. For more on my work, see Forbeck.com.

Reviews

[James Taber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has what I'm beginning to see as the Halo Novel Problem. The writing is solid, as expected from the caliber of author. But the problem stems from a series of factors that crops up frequently, specifically in the Halo universe books but might still be at issue in other tie-in fiction.

The factors are thus. It begins with:

1.) Several deeply interesting story hooks, which are
2.) Used to involve focus characters who are mutli-layered and complex, but
3.) The book has a limited page count, which leads to
4.) Underutilized characters involved in rotating plot threads, and
5.) Under-explored concepts that end up making the book feel busy, yet
6.) It never feels like there's enough happening.

And "Legacy of Onyx" has some very interesting plot hooks: a teenager who grows up an orphan in the shadow of an interstellar war, but now has to deal with a peace in which the aliens who killed her birth parents are considered allies; moving to a new school on a new planet where she's expected to live side-by-side with various alien species; the new school is part of a research facility designed to study the planet, which was artificially created by a long-dead species that once ruled the galaxy; and the artificial planet is beginning to wake up after being dormant for 100,000 years.

Any single story hook there would be enough to hang an entire book on. The characters that Matt Forbeck brings to the party are just as complex as these plots. This is the formula for a solid trilogy.

But because it has to fit in one book, the end result is tragic: a competent book, bordering on YA, that feels half-baked.

[Carl Malmborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I start my review, I need to put out a statement. Since I started using Goodreads I've been a bit generous with my reviews. This is especially true when it comes to Halo books. I have a clear bias towards the stories told within the Halo universe because it's a world that I truly love. In the future, I will try to be less generous, in my reviews, in an attempt to be as honest as possible. However, this will not be true with the Halo books. Although I've enjoyed some literature more than the Halo books, I've tended to give that other literature lower scores than I've given Halo books. This is because, I'm comparing the stories within the Halo universe to other stories within the same universe, as opposed to comparing them to other literature. I will keep it this way for consistency sake. With that out of the way, here's my honest, biased review.

When I start with a new Halo book, I yearn for a few things: Exciting worlds, good characters with motives, some spartan action, and lore about the different species within Halo. It is safe to say that Legacy of Onyx delivered all of it and more. When the book started with a flashback from the war, I got a bit confused. I wanted to jump straight into the year of 2558 and discover what humanity was up to on the shield world of Onyx. This flashback, however, would prove to be one of the pillars that would carry this story to greatness. I'm not prone to expect great character development within my Halo stories so I never go in looking for it. This was the first thing that Legacy of Onyx would subvert my expectations upon. Our main character, a seven year old girl gets to experience a tragedy that most people would never recover from. As her life moves on, we now get to follow her at the age of sixteen, with a new family, on a new world (Earth). The war against the Covenant have been over for over half a decade. Humanity is rising up again and are now allies with some of the species that once murdered billions of their kind. Molly, as is our main characters name, have harboured resentment, towards the aliens of the galaxy, for as long as she could remember. How couldn't she? They had taken everything from her. As events progress, her life will take a dramatic turn again. Although this time it might be for the better. Her newparents are scientists, and are being transfered to a world, that is hard to explain with mere words. Onyx, is a shield world so massive that it would be most fair to compare it to an enormous Dysonsphere. It encapsulate an entire solar system and this is where most of the story takes place. The catch, however, is that this world also serves as a testing ground for a new form of society. A society where humans, Sangheili (Elites) and Unggoy (Grunts) live together. The biggest surprise is that the book somehow becomes a highschool-teenage-drama, and I like it. Molly, as the outsider that she is, becomes friends with a Grunt, an Elite and a normal human. As everyone could guess, she did not enjoy the alien's presence in the beginning. She mostly blamed them for the horrors of her life. She soon discovered that she was far from the only human that did not enjoy the presence of the aliens. Events moves the story forward and Molly discovered that she now was friends with the aliens she once hated. Her character arc is one of the most satisfying arcs I've experience in Halo. The other characters within the groups are each interesting aswell. One of the characters falls into the trap of association. He is apparently related to a major character within the Halo universe, and this usually bothers me. In this case I found the opposite to be true. Although I feel like the universe becomes too small, when you always come back to a small collection of characters, this time it felt different. It made him more interesting since this character were a pacifist and his relatives was anything, but. The story also tied itself neatly into the story of Halo 5, which is nice.

There is so much more I want to talk about when it comes to this book, but I'm afraid that the review will become far too long. My last take away of the story though, is the message. Who would have thought that a book about aliens and humans working together would mirror our own world so perfectly? The book tackles topics like racism and xenophobia, and does it well. How can you learn to forgive The Others? Should you judge people by the actions of their parents? Should you judge people by the actions of their leaders? Perhaps we should stop putting people into collectives and judge individuals alone, alien or not.

If you read all this, have an awesome day and find peace in the Domain.

[Matthew Ochal · Rating 3 out of 5]

God there was a solid like 90 pages of this book that is exACTLY what I want out of a Halo book. Like oh yeah its just this group of youths sorting out living their lives but they're from different species's and so its like oh yeah how do these people that grew up during the war cope with the like, hate and distrust and how to move past that.

BUT NO, THEY HAVE TO PUT A BIG OLD ACTION PLOT IN THERE AND RUIN THE SECOND HALF OF THE BOOK BY TAKING THE INTERESTING STUFF AWAY FROM ME... DISGUSTING

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

fantastic entry into the Halo Universe. This one book has done more for "humanizing" some of the aliens than probably any other source thus far. Really enjoyed that.

[Chris The Lizard from Planet X · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halo: Legacy Of Onyx by Matt Forbeck is a video game tie-in novel based on Microsoft’s/343 Studios Halo video game franchise.

The shield-world of Onyx has been the location of many Halo stories that run parallel to the games, and Legacy of Onyx moves it forward to the days of the rouge AI Cortana’s Created uprising. I could not help but think that the ideal audience for this book is the teenage/young adult Halo fans because the book follows a young teenage girl who wants to be a soldier: Molly hates the Sangheili who killed her parents, but she has been enrolled in a multi-species school and winds up tangling with the struggling remains of the Servants of the Abiding Truth. 

I’m delighted by stories of the peace after the human Covenant war, and the school on Onyx presents lovely friendships between humans and aliens. This is truly a slice-of-life story, including a Sangheili headmaster and Spartans teaching children self-defense. Molly’s life is dictated by her desire for revenge against the Sangheili, but as one of the “outsiders” in the school she’s thrown into an alliance with aliens. Her wonder is infectious, and it was easy to find common ground when she remarked how beautiful the Forerunner shield-world is. 

The book also offers the over-the-top action and drama one can expect from Halo, compressed into stories a bit closer to home: the fact that schoolchildren are in danger makes that danger much more visceral for an adult. I’m curious to find out whether there are more adventures in store for Molly, and I very much enjoyed the story of a Sangheili teen and his warring clan. 

However, the flatness of the prose made it hard to follow some scenes. The kids’ perspective means that some major events happen without Molly being actually present, making them feel rushed. And another thing: this book moves the ball essentially nowhere. Taking place around the events of Halo 5: Guardians seemed like wasted opportunity. As we know basically nothing more about what happens next, after Halo 5, and we learn nothing of importance about the past. No major villains are defeated or revealed, no major heroes triumph or die. We don't even get to enjoy learning more about characters who matter, like Chief Mendez, Spartans Tom and Lucy, or new ominous technology, and frankly we barely see the Spartans characters at all.

Overall, Halo: Legacy of Onyx doesn’t go into the kind of Military sci-fi detail that made Halo books like The Fall of Reach such a great start to the Halo series, but it does move the series forward in a different way. It’s also a decent “slice of life” High school story, something we’ve never seen in quite this way in Halo universe before. Legacy of Onyx was a fun and different look at the Halo universe, and I’m curious to see where these young teenage characters will go next.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 stars

Kinda disappointed that, instead of focusing more on the previously established characters who are in this book, the main character was a new character who's in high school. Made the book feel a lot more YA than necessary.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Halo book tries something different and the author knows that, as the very events within the story are describe as a societal experiments. I don't agree with the people who say these situations are unrealistic in the Halo universe as they really aren't widespread and this is a very small part of the galaxy where this is happening.

Beyond that, it was very cool to see Onyx and the Servants of the Abiding Truth being brought back and along with them, all the related characters to this place and faction. I especially liked some of the new characters such as Gudam. The story was interesting and solid, seeing how the events of Halo 5 influenced such a legendary place such as Onyx. It was also quite refreshing to see a story from the point of view of a civilian who survived the glassing of her home planet rather than a ONI/UNSC one.

The main two issues I had with this story is that it is indeed a borderline YA adult novel despite not being advertised as such (as far as I can tell). However, don't let that dissuade you as I still strongly believe the book is great and tells an interesting story.

The second was a scene where various characters, both minor and major took seemingly fatal wounds, yet after the scene we learn that while some did actually die, the number was far less than expected. This makes me feel that there is no risk to the story and the chaotic events unfolding and seemingly cheapens any major wound. Yes, I understand there is great medical technology within this world but truly, that can only do so much if your heart or lungs were blown out. Good characters have to die sometimes to add more uncertainty, emotion and intense scenes for other characters in the universe. Lesser characters can also die to show the brutality of a faction or a character, which to this story's credit, definitely does that with that one brutal scene. There just maybe wasn't enough.

I am very much looking forward to future stories with Onyx and the Servants of the Abiding Truth.

[Bree Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sydney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really bad fan fiction with poorly developed, wishy-washy characters and a dragging plot that stopped to explain every minute detail until I wanted to pull my hair out. Not worth the time, really

[Ricky Beckett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book begins in 2549 from the perspective of Molly Patel at age 7, one of a handful of survivors from the glassing of her home planet, Paris IV, during the Human-Covenant War. The majority of the book takes place 9 years later after the war’s end, occurring alongside the short story “Lessons Learned” in ‘Halo: Fractures’ as well as Halo 5, as Molly’s adoptive parents’ careers take them to a Shield World the size of an entire solar system: Onyx. The greatest challenge for this teenager, however, is living alongside ex-Covenant species post-war, as she blames all of them for her planet’s destruction and her parents’ deaths. And just when she thinks Onyx is the safest place in the galaxy, the Servants of the Abiding Truth—an ex-Covenant faction that still believes the Covenant religion—find a way into the impregnable Onyx.

Aside from the short story mentioned above, reading ‘Halo: Ghosts of Onyx’ beforehand would also be largely beneficial. The book also explores themes of living peaceably with former enemies post-war, overcoming xenophobia and anger, belonging, marginalization, and the bonding of misfits. Because of these themes, the book appeals to a younger audience, but more mature Halo fans can still enjoy the book especially because of the lore within it.

Critiques: At times, Forbeck gets the color of Sangheili blood wrong, and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief that a ragtag group of teenagers could save the day.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book via Audible.

Legacy of Onyx is an interesting entry into the Halo series of books in that it doesn't really focus on the Spartans that are so prominent in the lore. Instead, the main characters of the story are kids - the offspring of scientists, researchers, and support staff on the Forerunner shield world of Onyx. Molly, Kareem, Bakar, and Gudam find themselves brought together and must overcome prejudices and some pretty extreme challenges that are brought the bear against them.

It was really great to go back to Onyx and see what has been happening there since we last visited. I also liked the characters and thought it was an interesting approach to take to look at things from the younger perspective of the generation that grew up during the Human-Covenant war. The events of the novel also take place during those of Halo 5: Guardians, which sets a high-stakes backdrop for everything to be happening during.

The book is a unique departure from the last few Halo novels and a setting I wouldn't mind revisiting in the future. It didn't blow me out of the water, but I definitely enjoyed experiencing it and finding out what happened to the characters. Definitely a worthy read for any Halo fan.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The shield-world Onyx has been the location of many Halo stories that run parallel to the games, and Legacy of Onyx moves it forward to the days of Cortana’s war. I could not help but think that the ideal audience for this book is the teenage Halo fan I have been, because the book follows a young girl who wants to be a soldier: Molly hates the Sangheili who killed her parents, but she has been enrolled in a multi-species school and winds up tangling with the struggling remains of the Servants of the Abiding Truth.

I’m delighted by stories of the peace after the human vs Covenant war, and the school on Onyx presents lovely friendships between humans and aliens. This is truly a slice-of-life story, including a Sangheili headmaster and Spartans teaching children self-defense. Molly’s life is dictated by her desire for revenge against the Sangheili, but as one of the “outsiders” in the school, she’s thrown into an alliance with aliens. Her wonder is infectious, and it was easy to find common ground when she remarked how beautiful the Forerunner shield-world is.

The book also offers the over-the-top action and drama one can expect from Halo, compressed into stories a bit closer to home: the fact that schoolchildren are in danger makes that danger much more visceral for an adult. I’m curious to find out whether there are more adventures in store for Molly, and I very much enjoyed the story of a Sangheili teen and his warring clan.

However, the flatness of the prose made it hard to follow some scenes. The kids’ perspective means that some major events happen without Molly being actually present, making them feel rushed. Matt Forbeck’s voice seems more suited to the Nathon Fillion styling of New Blood than to more straightforward prose: it was sometimes difficult to distinguish characters’ dialogue from one another even if they had strong personalities.

Legacy of Onyx doesn’t go into the kind of detail that made The Fall of Reach such a great start to the Halo series, but it does move the series forward in a meaningful way. It’s also a great school story, something we’ve never seen in quite this way in Halo before. Legacy of Onyx was a fun and different look at the shield-world, and I’m curious to see where these characters will go next.

(A copy was provided to me by the publisher for review.)

[Mr Miles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this installment fell short for me, leading me to put it down—something I've never done with a Halo book before. I found the story to be underwhelming and lacking the intrigue that has characterized previous entries. The main character, Molly, came across as angsty and often annoying, making it difficult for me to connect with her journey. Her emotional struggles felt unconvincing, and the way circumstances always seemed to work out in her favor was hard to believe.

Additionally, I wasn't a fan of the frequent, almost coincidental encounters she had with major characters from the broader Halo universe, like Sergeant Johnson and the Spartans. These moments felt forced and detracted from the narrative's authenticity.

Ultimately, I couldn’t bring myself to finish the book. The story and its world felt flat and uninteresting, leaving me disappointed in what could have been a compelling addition to the series. If you’re a die-hard fan, you might want to give it a try, but it didn’t resonate with me at all.

[Lif Strand]

Some books with main characters who are children are still great reading for adults. Some books, however, do a great job on capturing *exactly* what children are like. I don't much like children. I didn't like being one and I didn't like the other kids I had to deal with back then. Unsurprisingly, I don't like reading about children who are realistically depicted. Even if they are in an alternate Universe in the future.

So I gave up on reading Legacy of Onyx. That doesn't mean it's not a good book. Just a warning for like-minded readers, though. I didn't want to be in Molly's head. I wanted to tell her to just shut up and grow up. Maybe she does, later in the book, but I didn't want to read that far.

[Garrett Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several times during the first half of the book I had to check whether or not I'd accidentally delved into the YA Halo-verse. I'm fine with having kids and kids' POV in books, but Molly's thoughts and actions (and the consequences of them) were so YA-esque it was distracting. I really enjoyed New Blood so I was confused about what made this a slog for me and ended up deciding it was half the book (or more) being from childrens' perspectives.

It was nice revisiting Onyx/Trevelyan and seeing how the Guardian crisis went down there, but nothing of substance really happened in this book outside of us knowing that Onyx is safe from the events of Halo 5; it ended up just being a teen's perspective on the Sangheili alliance and learning that friendship prevails.

[Ryne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book in ways I didn't expect. I've been a fan of this universe since it began and never once have I considered they'd make me care about an Unggoy (Grunt) child and her adorable family but they did. Yes I loved when everything catches up to the events of Halo 5. I loved getting a little more Tom, Lucy, and Mendez. The action sequences were great. Yet it was Molly's development as a character and her journey of making friends she'd never expected, opening herself up to her new family in such a gradual way that was supremely satisfying. Molly, Bakar, Gudam, and Kaseem are great young heroes for this universe and Onyx in particular that I look forward to seeing the next time we visit this isolated pocket of the Halo Universe.

[Lightgazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

События книги происходят после войны одновременно с Halo 5. Главная сюжетная линия посвящена секретной школе, где учатся одновременно ученики трёх рас. В школе есть булли, разделение на страты, а главная героиня по мере развития сюжета собирает вокруг себя компанию друзей. Это первая Yang adult книга Halo. Там много к чему можно придраться, но меня увлекло. Вторая сюжетная линия про террористов Сангхели из Halo: The Thursday War не вызвала интереса.

Здесь мелкие инопланетяне Унггои не исполняют роль пушечного мяса что не часто встретишь в Halo. Персонажи Унггои хорошо приятно написаны и мы многое узнаём про их культуру.

[Chris L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most Halo books, there’s not a lot of value here if you don’t enjoy the video games. The world continues to be ripe for storytelling, with this novel set during the events of Halo 5, the most recent game. It deals with the forerunner planet Onyx (Not shown in the games, but covered previously in the excellent Ghosts of Onyx book) and the Earth-Alien alliance studying it. The story is focused around Molly Patel, moved to Onyx and attending a school with the covenant in a test environment to prove we can all get along. Attacks and Forerunner hijinks occur, but the story is well paced and expands the knowledge of the forerunners, shield worlds, and always pleasant Huragoks.

[Alex Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the best introduction in any halo novel I've read, this story fell on its face for me. The writing, for the most part, is decent but gets into cliche territory around the 130-page mark and just gets worse from there. But the biggest problem for me (maybe this is an unfair criticism) is that a large part of this story gets retconned because of Halo Infinite. Due to this, it's hard to feel the stakes, and it's hard to take a lot of things seriously. Especially knowing Jul and the Guardians are practically useless to the overall story of Halo. So due to this, a large of the story can be skimmed over. With that too, the ending is very abrupt and underwhelming.

[Anthony Pangilinan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Halo story that covers details from the eyes of a survivor of the glassing of a planet. In all honesty, I found it weird for a Halo story to feature a teenager in an interspecies school. The main character must work through her own prejudices against the two of the former species of the Covenant that she now must live with in order to live her life and survive. An overall great story. We finally got to look at life outside of the frontlines of the war with the Created.

[Isaac Neubeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was actually awesome, very different and pretty far into the series, to read this you should have definitely read the original 4 books especially ghosts of onyx plus the kilo 5 trilogy and you should have played halo 5 I read this before kilo 5 and it substantially hindered the enjoyment I could have had from it but now coming back to it after catching up with the source material this is a really fun book!

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, I really enjoyed this book. Many of the halo books do not focus much on a civilian point of view (which is not a bad thing considering that all of the main characters are military personnel). I enjoyed this new perspective very much and I am holding on to hope that maybe we will get a Legacy of Onyx sequel?!

[Toby Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in the second half. The main issue was molly she was not a very enjoyable character throughout the book. I fell in love with Gudam the cutesy unggoy and bakar. The bullied Sangheili. They brightened the story ten folds. Molly was just rude and ungrateful and then way to oh I got friends. I loved the mix race school and the battle but a new main character was needed

[Dack Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was particularly fond of this particular entry in the series. The fact that it focused on children for the main characters, without shrinking from the violence of the universe, the skillful tackling of themes of racism and "other-ness", as well as the ways in which it took the time to reflect on the lasting effects of violence. All superbly done and overall very enjoyable.

[Alastar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad

It is always nice to see Lucy again. The story has its ups and downs. Overall not a bad story, I found myself passing over parts of the servants, just couldn't find them interesting enough.

[Hans Melius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great.

I really enjoyed this book. Not only for the continuation of the Halo Series, but also as a story of cooperation among different peoples(aliens). It is also a coming of age book for the main protagonist. Very well done.

[Ryan Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

From start to finish this book kept me guessing what will happen next. It was great seeing old and new characters from the Halo Universe being brought in to make a compelling, interesting and most importantly well-pasted narrative. A very welcome addition to the Halo universe.

[Chris Earle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read for kids / teenagers interested in the Halo universe that have played the most recent Halo game.

Beyond that, the storyline seems rather lackluster compared to a lot of the other Halo stories.

[Larry Mckee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read from the Halo Universe.
This time told from the perspective of a child.

[Dylan M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for Halo fans!
Though i would read ghosts of Onyx and the kilo-five trilogy before reading this book if you're new to the Halo Verse!