What do you think?
Rate this book
Halo #19
Halo: Fractures - Extraordinary Tales from the Halo Canon
A sensational short story collection in the expansive universe of HALO, the New York Times bestselling series!
Launch once more into galaxy-spanning conflict and legendary heroism…shards of an ever-expanding journey where human and alien alike find their finest hours in facing their greatest challenges. These scattered stories span untold millennia, from the age of the ancient custodial race known as the Forerunners…to the aftermath of the Covenant’s bloody war against humanity…and even the shocking events surrounding the resurrection of the mysterious Guardians. Halo: Fractures explores mythic tales of bravery and sacrifice that blaze brightly at the very heart of the Halo universe.
Featuring electrifying works from such acclaimed authors as:
Tobias Buckell • Troy Denning • Matt Forbeck • Kelly Gay • Christie Golden • Kevin Grace • Morgan Lockhart • John Jackson Miller • Frank O’Connor • Brian Reed • Joseph Staten • James Swallow
Launch once more into galaxy-spanning conflict and legendary heroism…shards of an ever-expanding journey where human and alien alike find their finest hours in facing their greatest challenges. These scattered stories span untold millennia, from the age of the ancient custodial race known as the Forerunners…to the aftermath of the Covenant’s bloody war against humanity…and even the shocking events surrounding the resurrection of the mysterious Guardians. Halo: Fractures explores mythic tales of bravery and sacrifice that blaze brightly at the very heart of the Halo universe.
Featuring electrifying works from such acclaimed authors as:
Tobias Buckell • Troy Denning • Matt Forbeck • Kelly Gay • Christie Golden • Kevin Grace • Morgan Lockhart • John Jackson Miller • Frank O’Connor • Brian Reed • Joseph Staten • James Swallow
Audiobook
First published September 20, 2016
170 people are currently reading
1829 people want to read
About the author
Tobias S. Buckell
214 books462 followersBorn in the Caribbean, Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times Bestselling author. His novels and over 50 short stories have been translated into 17 languages and he has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. He currently lives in Ohio.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 11, 2021
Halo: Fractures featuring authors such as Troy Denning, Christie Golden, John Jackson Miller, and much more. Is an anthology novel containing 14 short stories based of the Halo video game franchise.
The Halo universe is a big place. It isn’t as meticulously catalogued as some older franchises like Star Wars or Star Track. The Halo universe covers a large timeline that covers the time of the ancient Forerunners once ruled the Galaxy to the time of humanity’s fight for survival against the Covenant. Nevertheless, the Halo universe has been branching out in all sort of directions leaving room for lots of unexplored stories. Halo: Fractures the second short story collection set in the Halo universe provides a collection enjoyable short stories set though out the Halo universe exploring the time of the Forerunners to the events of Halo 5: Guardians.
These 14 short stories in Halo:Fractures, stretch from the era of ancient Forerunners to the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War. To the rise of Cortana’s AI Created rebellion, and her take over of the Galaxy.
Summarizes:
LESSONS LEARNED
Focuses on Spartans Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 after the events on Gao in 2553 and prior to the events Cortana’s attack on Onyx in 2558.
WHAT REMAINS
Focused on colonist Evelyn Collins in the aftermath of the events of the rouge Cortana AI activating the Guardian construct on Meridian in 2558.
BREAKING STRAIN
A disabled UNSC vessel, crash landed on a remote human colony unfriendly to the UNSC, tries to keep the peace.
PROMISES TO KEEP
The story of the IsoDidact and the remaining few Forerunners after the firing of the Halo array.
SHADOW OF INTENT
The Shadow of Intent, commanded by the half-jaw, become embroiled in a plot by a San'shyuum minister to kill all Sangheili.
THE BALLAD OF HAMISH BEAMISH
The story of the janitor from Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn movie.
DEFENDER OF THE STORM
A Forerunner Warrior-Servant on a Isolated outpost is attacked by the Flood.
A NECESSARY TRUTH
The story of newly formed Ferret Team Gamma lead by former detective Veta Lopis turned ONI agent. As she trains her Spartan III’s on their first under cover mission. After the action on Gao in 2553.
INTO THE FIRE
In a post-war galaxy Rion Forge Captain of the salvage ship Ace of Spades looks for answers of what happened to her father, and is ship The Spirit Of Fire.
SAINT'S TESTIMONY
Smart AI Iona faces deactivation and argues her case to remain alive in court.
ROSSBACH'S WORLD
Serin Osman and Admiral Hood flee Earth after the rouge AI Cortana Attacks the planet with the Guardian constructs.
OASIS
A girl fights for survival on a colony world in the Joint Occupation Zone.
ANAROSA
An ONI agent and his AI try to get consent to use a deceased test pilot as an AI donor brain.
UNTITLED STORY Bonus Story
The IsoDidact and Chant-to-Green after the end of Forerunners in the galaxy.
There is no “The Mona Lisa” here, no story that transcends its source material. One of the best stories, “Saint’s Testimony,” Written by Halo creative director Frank O’Conner, it plays with the idea of what artificial intelligence means in the franchise, building an entirely virtual world in which an AI stands trial. The story includes nice cameos from established characters, adds shades of meaning to Cortana’s tale by nature, and pleasantly stretches the limits of how a Halo story can be told.
Like “Saint’s Testimony,” the best installments in Fractures tend to be the longer ones. “Promises to Keep” follows the Forerunner cast back to the ruined Ark, once the center of their nearly godlike space empire. Greg Bear’s Forerunner trilogy is required reading for “Promises to Keep,” but author Christie Golden gets closer to the Forerunners’ perspective than Bear usually did, emphasizing their feelings of horror and guilt at what has happened to their ambitious plans
The Forerunners know that they, in part, brought about their own destruction. Bornsteller, the hero of the Bear trilogy, wants to make things right and take the capital back from the strange creature that captured it, while former leader Splendid Dust wallows in his own guilt. Both of those characters, plus the xenobiologist Chant-to-Green, are treated with care, and used to illustrate the Forerunners’ ancient tragedy in a way that feels more human and immediate than the ancient aliens usually do.
“Defender of the Storm” is also a good Forerunner story. Written by John Jackson Miller, and his musings about heroism were particularly interesting in the light of the story. It places an everyman Forerunner into a dramatic adventure, and works well as both a slice-of-life story and an action story that feels very Halo. Adequate-Observer has to make a similar choice as the characters in “Promises to Keep,” whether to live with a dramatic decision or to fade into important obscurity, and it’s handled well.
I’m a big fan of Matt Forbeck’s Halo novels, but Forbeck’s story in Fractures stagnates a bit. The dialogue in “Lessons Learned” is stiff, and the plot feels more like two loosely connected stories than a single story.
That problem plagues a lot of the book. Two early stories feel simply unfinished, major plot questions left unanswered or climactic scenes oddly short. “Into the Fire” by Kelly Gay is written well, but ends on essentially a cliffhanger, an advertisement for Gay’s Halo novel, Smoke and Shadow. Blurbs introducing each story are designed to orient them in the timeline, but because the stories are not in chronological order and the blurbs sometimes obscure events, these also just feel like a hook for fans who are into the franchise but may be missing a product somewhere along the way. “Into the Fire” is a nice look at the universe after the Human-Covenant War, though, with alien species mixing increasingly comfortably on the border planet of Venezia.
Unfortunately, one of the stories with the most potential also falls apart under scrutiny. “A Necessary Truth” is written by Troy Denning using characters he developed in “Last Light.” Former detective Veta Lopis is now the leader of a squad of Spartan-IIIs. When a training exercise goes wrong, her distrust of ONI raises its head when she has to prove that one of her Spartans didn’t commit a murder. The story is an interesting puzzle, but it also depends on the characters intentionally withholding information, and casts the Spartans as more naive and accident-prone than they seem to be in the games.
Ex-Spartan ll and ONI heir apparent Serin Osman gets short shrift in “Rossbach’s World” too. The story, by Halo 5 lead writer Brian Reed, covers a fascinating event: the evacuation of key UNSC personnel after Cortana’s AI rebellion. It also addresses BB’s opinion on Cortana’s Created, which was handled well. However, the prose is a mess, written not so much as if it was a stylized children’s story but as if it was for children. The ideas are good, but games are made with a team – and this story could have used more feedback.
On the other hand, “Anarosa” by Kevin Grace is a tightly-written, unsettling look at the partially-willing subjects ONI uses to create its Smart AIs. If there’s an overarching theme in the collection, it’s about the parallel between Spartans and AI. Both have to question whether ruining a life temporarily is worth saving many potential lives in the future.
Overall, although Halo: Fractures does catch up with characters like Admiral Lord Hood, Serin Osman, and Veta Lopis, the short story collection doesn’t feel at all essential. With hardly any room to breathe, many of the stories suffocate, and don’t have enough of a unique tone to satisfy as simply vignettes. Even for a die-hard Halo fan, the lack of atmosphere made this one hard to praise.
The Halo universe is a big place. It isn’t as meticulously catalogued as some older franchises like Star Wars or Star Track. The Halo universe covers a large timeline that covers the time of the ancient Forerunners once ruled the Galaxy to the time of humanity’s fight for survival against the Covenant. Nevertheless, the Halo universe has been branching out in all sort of directions leaving room for lots of unexplored stories. Halo: Fractures the second short story collection set in the Halo universe provides a collection enjoyable short stories set though out the Halo universe exploring the time of the Forerunners to the events of Halo 5: Guardians.
These 14 short stories in Halo:Fractures, stretch from the era of ancient Forerunners to the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War. To the rise of Cortana’s AI Created rebellion, and her take over of the Galaxy.
Summarizes:
LESSONS LEARNED
Focuses on Spartans Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 after the events on Gao in 2553 and prior to the events Cortana’s attack on Onyx in 2558.
WHAT REMAINS
Focused on colonist Evelyn Collins in the aftermath of the events of the rouge Cortana AI activating the Guardian construct on Meridian in 2558.
BREAKING STRAIN
A disabled UNSC vessel, crash landed on a remote human colony unfriendly to the UNSC, tries to keep the peace.
PROMISES TO KEEP
The story of the IsoDidact and the remaining few Forerunners after the firing of the Halo array.
SHADOW OF INTENT
The Shadow of Intent, commanded by the half-jaw, become embroiled in a plot by a San'shyuum minister to kill all Sangheili.
THE BALLAD OF HAMISH BEAMISH
The story of the janitor from Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn movie.
DEFENDER OF THE STORM
A Forerunner Warrior-Servant on a Isolated outpost is attacked by the Flood.
A NECESSARY TRUTH
The story of newly formed Ferret Team Gamma lead by former detective Veta Lopis turned ONI agent. As she trains her Spartan III’s on their first under cover mission. After the action on Gao in 2553.
INTO THE FIRE
In a post-war galaxy Rion Forge Captain of the salvage ship Ace of Spades looks for answers of what happened to her father, and is ship The Spirit Of Fire.
SAINT'S TESTIMONY
Smart AI Iona faces deactivation and argues her case to remain alive in court.
ROSSBACH'S WORLD
Serin Osman and Admiral Hood flee Earth after the rouge AI Cortana Attacks the planet with the Guardian constructs.
OASIS
A girl fights for survival on a colony world in the Joint Occupation Zone.
ANAROSA
An ONI agent and his AI try to get consent to use a deceased test pilot as an AI donor brain.
UNTITLED STORY Bonus Story
The IsoDidact and Chant-to-Green after the end of Forerunners in the galaxy.
There is no “The Mona Lisa” here, no story that transcends its source material. One of the best stories, “Saint’s Testimony,” Written by Halo creative director Frank O’Conner, it plays with the idea of what artificial intelligence means in the franchise, building an entirely virtual world in which an AI stands trial. The story includes nice cameos from established characters, adds shades of meaning to Cortana’s tale by nature, and pleasantly stretches the limits of how a Halo story can be told.
Like “Saint’s Testimony,” the best installments in Fractures tend to be the longer ones. “Promises to Keep” follows the Forerunner cast back to the ruined Ark, once the center of their nearly godlike space empire. Greg Bear’s Forerunner trilogy is required reading for “Promises to Keep,” but author Christie Golden gets closer to the Forerunners’ perspective than Bear usually did, emphasizing their feelings of horror and guilt at what has happened to their ambitious plans
The Forerunners know that they, in part, brought about their own destruction. Bornsteller, the hero of the Bear trilogy, wants to make things right and take the capital back from the strange creature that captured it, while former leader Splendid Dust wallows in his own guilt. Both of those characters, plus the xenobiologist Chant-to-Green, are treated with care, and used to illustrate the Forerunners’ ancient tragedy in a way that feels more human and immediate than the ancient aliens usually do.
“Defender of the Storm” is also a good Forerunner story. Written by John Jackson Miller, and his musings about heroism were particularly interesting in the light of the story. It places an everyman Forerunner into a dramatic adventure, and works well as both a slice-of-life story and an action story that feels very Halo. Adequate-Observer has to make a similar choice as the characters in “Promises to Keep,” whether to live with a dramatic decision or to fade into important obscurity, and it’s handled well.
I’m a big fan of Matt Forbeck’s Halo novels, but Forbeck’s story in Fractures stagnates a bit. The dialogue in “Lessons Learned” is stiff, and the plot feels more like two loosely connected stories than a single story.
That problem plagues a lot of the book. Two early stories feel simply unfinished, major plot questions left unanswered or climactic scenes oddly short. “Into the Fire” by Kelly Gay is written well, but ends on essentially a cliffhanger, an advertisement for Gay’s Halo novel, Smoke and Shadow. Blurbs introducing each story are designed to orient them in the timeline, but because the stories are not in chronological order and the blurbs sometimes obscure events, these also just feel like a hook for fans who are into the franchise but may be missing a product somewhere along the way. “Into the Fire” is a nice look at the universe after the Human-Covenant War, though, with alien species mixing increasingly comfortably on the border planet of Venezia.
Unfortunately, one of the stories with the most potential also falls apart under scrutiny. “A Necessary Truth” is written by Troy Denning using characters he developed in “Last Light.” Former detective Veta Lopis is now the leader of a squad of Spartan-IIIs. When a training exercise goes wrong, her distrust of ONI raises its head when she has to prove that one of her Spartans didn’t commit a murder. The story is an interesting puzzle, but it also depends on the characters intentionally withholding information, and casts the Spartans as more naive and accident-prone than they seem to be in the games.
Ex-Spartan ll and ONI heir apparent Serin Osman gets short shrift in “Rossbach’s World” too. The story, by Halo 5 lead writer Brian Reed, covers a fascinating event: the evacuation of key UNSC personnel after Cortana’s AI rebellion. It also addresses BB’s opinion on Cortana’s Created, which was handled well. However, the prose is a mess, written not so much as if it was a stylized children’s story but as if it was for children. The ideas are good, but games are made with a team – and this story could have used more feedback.
On the other hand, “Anarosa” by Kevin Grace is a tightly-written, unsettling look at the partially-willing subjects ONI uses to create its Smart AIs. If there’s an overarching theme in the collection, it’s about the parallel between Spartans and AI. Both have to question whether ruining a life temporarily is worth saving many potential lives in the future.
Overall, although Halo: Fractures does catch up with characters like Admiral Lord Hood, Serin Osman, and Veta Lopis, the short story collection doesn’t feel at all essential. With hardly any room to breathe, many of the stories suffocate, and don’t have enough of a unique tone to satisfy as simply vignettes. Even for a die-hard Halo fan, the lack of atmosphere made this one hard to praise.
November 23, 2024
The collection of short stories had some real kick butt stories and some that only the serious fans are going to like. Kind of like watching the extended edition of Lord of the Rings just to wring a little more entertainment out of the series even though the extra doesn’t add much. A few stories were even oddly emotional last stands.
It’s Halo. I’m giving it 5 stars. No one can stop me.
It’s Halo. I’m giving it 5 stars. No one can stop me.
February 6, 2017
Uneventful, and overall irrelevant to the continuity of the current state of the Halo universe, IMO. Entertaining, at least.
December 19, 2017
Halo: Fractures
Lessons Learned by Matt Forbeck: cliché in some parts, falls into the trap of setting up a character that is 'perfect' who seems to do everything right but it is still entertaining to read. 3 stars
What Remains by Morgan Lockhard: Very nicely written.I haven't played Halo 5 yet but the sequencing of the story doesn't require you to understand what happened before, only what happens after. The story focuses on surviving and it ends ambiguously. Not sure how I feel about the ending but it's better than I expected. 4 stars
Breaking Strain by James Swallow: Meh. It's not very thrilling but at the same time, it's not utterly boring. I would consider this the filler story of all filler stories. 2 stars
Promises To Keep by Christie Golden: If I had to use just one word to describe this short piece, I'd use the word 'confusing'. It is set mid-Forerunner times. Perhaps that was the reason I was so confused because the terminology used and the all the little details that make it a Forerunner story was so foreign to me. I skimmed most of it. 1 star
Shadow Of Intent by Joseph Staten: This is the longest story in the book and luckily for me, it was the most engaging. It details the efforts of alien individuals to survive and thwart their enemies and I really did get invested with who survived and who didn't. 4 stars
The Ballad Of Hamish Beamish by Frank O'Connor: Impressively creative. I don't think I've seen something like this in a sci-fi work. 3 stars
Defender Of The Storm by John Jackson Miller: Wonderful. Another Forerunner story. This short piece doesn't digress as much as the previous one did but it's still pretty boring. 2 stars
A Necessary Truth by Troy Denning: The worst you can say about this is that it's long-winded. But not bad. 3 stars
To be honest, I'd given up on reading the rest of the stories. Different as they may be, they all seem to be following the same note that is responsible for inducing boredom. There are one or two exceptions but I did expect better.
And to be frank, I don't want to waste my time stuff I know I won't like that much.
Lessons Learned by Matt Forbeck: cliché in some parts, falls into the trap of setting up a character that is 'perfect' who seems to do everything right but it is still entertaining to read. 3 stars
What Remains by Morgan Lockhard: Very nicely written.I haven't played Halo 5 yet but the sequencing of the story doesn't require you to understand what happened before, only what happens after. The story focuses on surviving and it ends ambiguously. Not sure how I feel about the ending but it's better than I expected. 4 stars
Breaking Strain by James Swallow: Meh. It's not very thrilling but at the same time, it's not utterly boring. I would consider this the filler story of all filler stories. 2 stars
Promises To Keep by Christie Golden: If I had to use just one word to describe this short piece, I'd use the word 'confusing'. It is set mid-Forerunner times. Perhaps that was the reason I was so confused because the terminology used and the all the little details that make it a Forerunner story was so foreign to me. I skimmed most of it. 1 star
Shadow Of Intent by Joseph Staten: This is the longest story in the book and luckily for me, it was the most engaging. It details the efforts of alien individuals to survive and thwart their enemies and I really did get invested with who survived and who didn't. 4 stars
The Ballad Of Hamish Beamish by Frank O'Connor: Impressively creative. I don't think I've seen something like this in a sci-fi work. 3 stars
Defender Of The Storm by John Jackson Miller: Wonderful. Another Forerunner story. This short piece doesn't digress as much as the previous one did but it's still pretty boring. 2 stars
A Necessary Truth by Troy Denning: The worst you can say about this is that it's long-winded. But not bad. 3 stars
To be honest, I'd given up on reading the rest of the stories. Different as they may be, they all seem to be following the same note that is responsible for inducing boredom. There are one or two exceptions but I did expect better.
And to be frank, I don't want to waste my time stuff I know I won't like that much.
June 4, 2020
Amazing!!!!
This is a great book to read, I love the 13/14 mini stories that are told within this book. It helps to answer some questions while leaving you wanting more and wanting to find out what happens next after the mini stories.
I really enjoyed all the mini stories and I think that all the authors did really good pieces of work.
This is a great book to read, I love the 13/14 mini stories that are told within this book. It helps to answer some questions while leaving you wanting more and wanting to find out what happens next after the mini stories.
I really enjoyed all the mini stories and I think that all the authors did really good pieces of work.
May 1, 2024
It's hard to accurately review a collection series so here's each story's rating:
Lessons Learned by Matt Forbeck: .05/5⭐️
Not much to say, just sucked shit and he thought Jun was apart of Beta company.
What Remains by Morgan Lockhart: 1/5⭐️
I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you what this was about because I almost dozed off from listening to it and I listen to these while I drive. Most stories that feature anything with Halo 5: Guardians will be treated this way.
Breaking Strain by James Swallow: 4.3/5⭐️
Now we're cooking with gas. Just a cool story about a doomed crew on a doomed planet with tensions rising by the day. Fuckin sweet.
Promises to Keep by Christie Golden: 3.5/5⭐️
Probably would've liked this one more if I had read Cryptum but I just find the forerunners a bit boring. I did like the tie in with Hunters in the Dark though iykyk.
Shadow of Intent by Joseph Staten: 5/5⭐️
No surprise here, I find Staten always able to make extremely engaging and compelling characters. This massive short story was no different. I'm a sucker for dual-perspective especially if the two characters are mortal enemies and you understand both of their sides. Highly recommend.
The Ballad of Hamish Beamish by Frank O'Connor: 3.5/5⭐️
I mean it's short and sweet and not a lot of repercussions on lore so I'm a fan.
Defender of the Storm by John Miller: 4/5⭐️
I know I said I find Forerunners boring but there was definitely a charm to this one I really admired. Anything that shows the Flood usually gets me all hot and bothered.
A Necessary Truth by Troy Dennings: 4/5⭐️
Super interesting to see the Spartan-III's in a counter intelligence op. Lots of cool fresh ideas and plenty of action despite mostly being about intelligence gathering. Very solid.
Into the Fire by Kelly Gay: 3.8/5⭐️
Super good especially figuring out that it's just the first chapter in the following book Smoke and Shadow -.- that being said I'm giving it a lower score than Smoke and Shadow because of the fact I had to hear it twice. Got me excited for this next mini series.
Saint's Testimony by Frank O'Connor: 2.7/5⭐️
zzzzZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZZZZZ
Rossbach's World by Brian Reed: 1.8/5⭐️
Wrote like Karen Traviss using Traviss characters so automatically loses points AND it ties in with Halo 5 so even more points off. I hate how much of a loser they make Lord Hood look like. Halsey did nothing wrong.
Oasis by Tobias Buckell: 5/5⭐️
Mad Max meets Last of Us need I say more? But seriously Tobias needs to write more books following the main character from the story because what I got wasn't enough and I want to know more.
Anarosa by Kevin Grace: 3/5⭐️
Would honestly give it a higher rating if it wasn't for the mortal dread this story instilled in me.
Untitled by Jeremy Patenaude: 4.2/5⭐️
Had my ass tweakin in the first half only to come full circle (no pun intended) by the end. Very interesting twist with the characters that I did not see coming.
Lessons Learned by Matt Forbeck: .05/5⭐️
Not much to say, just sucked shit and he thought Jun was apart of Beta company.
What Remains by Morgan Lockhart: 1/5⭐️
I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you what this was about because I almost dozed off from listening to it and I listen to these while I drive. Most stories that feature anything with Halo 5: Guardians will be treated this way.
Breaking Strain by James Swallow: 4.3/5⭐️
Now we're cooking with gas. Just a cool story about a doomed crew on a doomed planet with tensions rising by the day. Fuckin sweet.
Promises to Keep by Christie Golden: 3.5/5⭐️
Probably would've liked this one more if I had read Cryptum but I just find the forerunners a bit boring. I did like the tie in with Hunters in the Dark though iykyk.
Shadow of Intent by Joseph Staten: 5/5⭐️
No surprise here, I find Staten always able to make extremely engaging and compelling characters. This massive short story was no different. I'm a sucker for dual-perspective especially if the two characters are mortal enemies and you understand both of their sides. Highly recommend.
The Ballad of Hamish Beamish by Frank O'Connor: 3.5/5⭐️
I mean it's short and sweet and not a lot of repercussions on lore so I'm a fan.
Defender of the Storm by John Miller: 4/5⭐️
I know I said I find Forerunners boring but there was definitely a charm to this one I really admired. Anything that shows the Flood usually gets me all hot and bothered.
A Necessary Truth by Troy Dennings: 4/5⭐️
Super interesting to see the Spartan-III's in a counter intelligence op. Lots of cool fresh ideas and plenty of action despite mostly being about intelligence gathering. Very solid.
Into the Fire by Kelly Gay: 3.8/5⭐️
Super good especially figuring out that it's just the first chapter in the following book Smoke and Shadow -.- that being said I'm giving it a lower score than Smoke and Shadow because of the fact I had to hear it twice. Got me excited for this next mini series.
Saint's Testimony by Frank O'Connor: 2.7/5⭐️
zzzzZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZZZZZ
Rossbach's World by Brian Reed: 1.8/5⭐️
Wrote like Karen Traviss using Traviss characters so automatically loses points AND it ties in with Halo 5 so even more points off. I hate how much of a loser they make Lord Hood look like. Halsey did nothing wrong.
Oasis by Tobias Buckell: 5/5⭐️
Mad Max meets Last of Us need I say more? But seriously Tobias needs to write more books following the main character from the story because what I got wasn't enough and I want to know more.
Anarosa by Kevin Grace: 3/5⭐️
Would honestly give it a higher rating if it wasn't for the mortal dread this story instilled in me.
Untitled by Jeremy Patenaude: 4.2/5⭐️
Had my ass tweakin in the first half only to come full circle (no pun intended) by the end. Very interesting twist with the characters that I did not see coming.
October 11, 2016
With 13 stories, Halo: Fractures has a variety of adventures written by different authors to suit every reader’s interest. For Star Wars fans like me, there are quite a few recognizable names, which is what led me to the book. Fans of the game will also find a lot to enjoy as the various tales explore everything from the Forerunners to the Spartans and the Sangheili. There’s combat, space battles, spy missions, encounters with the Flood, and pieces of backstory revealing more about the core characters of the franchise. There’s a little bit of everything.
All that said, the book was a slow starter for me. It opens with “Lessons Learned” by Matt Forbeck, which wasn’t all that great and suffered a lot from not being a self-contained story. It stars two Spartans named Tom and Lucy who have a hard to believe adventure in the void of space without suits to save a fellow Spartan. They learn about another Spartan’s betrayal, get shipped out to Onyx, and everyone exhibits extreme, testrone blitzed behavior that makes the characters seem more like animals than humans. Following that is “What Remains” by Morgan Lockhart, which was a little better. It takes place on a glassed world called Meridian and follows a group of survivors who get a strange message. But the story ends there without feeling complete. Both stories feel like partial building blocks for something larger, or perhaps teases for readers who have read the author’s previous works. I’ve only read a couple Halo books, so both of the stories felt incomplete to me and unsatisfying.
However, the third story in the anthology turns things around. “Breaking Strain” by James Swallow features good characters and good writing. A group of Stranded marines and one Spartan wind up on a remote world in a fishing colony and have to deal with crises of fear and anger. Going up against the locals becomes a worsening conflict that made even more complicated with the impending arrival of a Covenant ship. It’s a nice setup and plays out well.
Next up is “Promises to Keep” by Christie Golden. Christie changes things up by diving way into the past to tell a story about the Forerunners. It explores their thoughts, motivations and the challenges they came up against. Yet most notably, one of the Forerunners featured in the story is the one who actually activated the Halo. But the story isn’t about the destruction. Rather, it focuses on them bringing back life and finding lives for themselves. It’s an intriguing tale about discovery, origins and mystery.
Then there is “Shadow of Intent” by Joseph Staten. I really liked this one as it gives a lot of attention to both the good guys and the bad guys. It shows the two sides of the Covenant, the different alien species, and fleshes out the complexities of the participants on both sides. There’s a lot of investment in the characters that by the end of the story, you don’t know who to root for. With a moving ending and a compelling story, it was one of the highlights of the book.
Afterwards is an oddball. “The Ballad of Hamish Beamish” by Frank O’Connor is actually a ballad. The whole story is done as a song. Yet as odd as it is, it’s kind of amusing.
“Defender of the Storm” by John Jackson Miller brings things back on track as John tells a story about a below average Forerunner in a forgotten corner of the galaxy who deals with the boredom and struggles of his life. Of course wishing for interesting times can backfire, and when things get interesting, the main character has to rise to the occasion or accept death. Tackling things like duty, boredom, life, dejection and hope, it’s a good story.
“A Necessary Truth” by Troy Denning follows up on several of the characters from his Halo novel Last Light. Last Light is one of the few Halo novels I’ve read, so it was fun to see these characters pop up again. This story is set after the events of the book and follows Veta Lopis and the Spartans Ash, Mark and Olivia as they’re now working for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). The story dives deep into the world of espionage and shows the usefulness of Spartans in other roles. It’s definitely not your typical Halo story, but it’s fun.
“Into the Fire” by Kelly Gay also takes a step away from the usual as it follows a team of salvagers who make money off wreckage from the war. With great writing and characterization, it gets you hooked and wanting more when the story suddenly comes to a stop. This one has the feel of being a primer for a bigger story. Thankfully, we will be getting the rest, I think, as Kelly has an eBook scheduled for release in November called Halo: Smoke and Shadow which has connections to “Into the Fire.”
Stepping back into the oddness, Frank O’Connor has another story called “Saint’s Testimony.” It’s about an AI who is on trial. Since the AI’s only get seven years to live, this one tries to plead for an extension. Yet it gets weird, and doesn’t make the most sense. This one is probably geared toward readers who are better versed in the lore of Halo or previous stories as I wasn’t overly familiar with the AI’s they mentioned.
“Rossbach’s World” by Brian Reed is an odd story about Serin Osman, an AI named BB, and includes a lot of references to Cortana. Sadly this story is more narrative than actually storytelling and it’s mostly a fill in the blanks kind of story that doesn’t feel very complete.
“Oasis” by Tobias Buckell injects a boost of energy into the anthology as it follows a young settler who is forced to reach beyond their means and their prejudices. It highlights human and alien alike, and focuses on the divide between them. It’s a good story. Like “Into the Fire,” this one will be getting a follow up, but Buckell will be writing a full novel called Halo: Envoy which will be out in April 2017.
“Anarosa” by Kevin Grace is the last story listed in the anthology and is kind of a weird one. It’s about a human and an AI who try to recruit people to be templates for future AI’s. It’s an okay story, but not as good as some of the others in the anthology.
The book then goes to Acknowledgements and is seemingly over. There’s a little section on the authors, and then, very casually without any title, setup or description, the book has another story. Or at least a follow up to a story. It’s not credited, but it’s a continuation of Christie Golden’s story and shows what happens to her Forerunner characters following their escape. I have to admit, this little story saved the book as it ended things on a very positive, enjoyable note. When you’re ready the book, make sure you don’t skip it, as it would be easy to miss.
Overall, for casual Halo fans or readers new to the franchise, Halo: Fractures provides a nice overview of the universe and the stories and characters that can be explored. While not all of the stories are great, there are a lot of good ones and it makes the book worthwhile. I give it a four and a half out of five metal bikinis and highly recommend checking it out if you’re a fan of Halo or the authors.
All that said, the book was a slow starter for me. It opens with “Lessons Learned” by Matt Forbeck, which wasn’t all that great and suffered a lot from not being a self-contained story. It stars two Spartans named Tom and Lucy who have a hard to believe adventure in the void of space without suits to save a fellow Spartan. They learn about another Spartan’s betrayal, get shipped out to Onyx, and everyone exhibits extreme, testrone blitzed behavior that makes the characters seem more like animals than humans. Following that is “What Remains” by Morgan Lockhart, which was a little better. It takes place on a glassed world called Meridian and follows a group of survivors who get a strange message. But the story ends there without feeling complete. Both stories feel like partial building blocks for something larger, or perhaps teases for readers who have read the author’s previous works. I’ve only read a couple Halo books, so both of the stories felt incomplete to me and unsatisfying.
However, the third story in the anthology turns things around. “Breaking Strain” by James Swallow features good characters and good writing. A group of Stranded marines and one Spartan wind up on a remote world in a fishing colony and have to deal with crises of fear and anger. Going up against the locals becomes a worsening conflict that made even more complicated with the impending arrival of a Covenant ship. It’s a nice setup and plays out well.
Next up is “Promises to Keep” by Christie Golden. Christie changes things up by diving way into the past to tell a story about the Forerunners. It explores their thoughts, motivations and the challenges they came up against. Yet most notably, one of the Forerunners featured in the story is the one who actually activated the Halo. But the story isn’t about the destruction. Rather, it focuses on them bringing back life and finding lives for themselves. It’s an intriguing tale about discovery, origins and mystery.
Then there is “Shadow of Intent” by Joseph Staten. I really liked this one as it gives a lot of attention to both the good guys and the bad guys. It shows the two sides of the Covenant, the different alien species, and fleshes out the complexities of the participants on both sides. There’s a lot of investment in the characters that by the end of the story, you don’t know who to root for. With a moving ending and a compelling story, it was one of the highlights of the book.
Afterwards is an oddball. “The Ballad of Hamish Beamish” by Frank O’Connor is actually a ballad. The whole story is done as a song. Yet as odd as it is, it’s kind of amusing.
“Defender of the Storm” by John Jackson Miller brings things back on track as John tells a story about a below average Forerunner in a forgotten corner of the galaxy who deals with the boredom and struggles of his life. Of course wishing for interesting times can backfire, and when things get interesting, the main character has to rise to the occasion or accept death. Tackling things like duty, boredom, life, dejection and hope, it’s a good story.
“A Necessary Truth” by Troy Denning follows up on several of the characters from his Halo novel Last Light. Last Light is one of the few Halo novels I’ve read, so it was fun to see these characters pop up again. This story is set after the events of the book and follows Veta Lopis and the Spartans Ash, Mark and Olivia as they’re now working for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). The story dives deep into the world of espionage and shows the usefulness of Spartans in other roles. It’s definitely not your typical Halo story, but it’s fun.
“Into the Fire” by Kelly Gay also takes a step away from the usual as it follows a team of salvagers who make money off wreckage from the war. With great writing and characterization, it gets you hooked and wanting more when the story suddenly comes to a stop. This one has the feel of being a primer for a bigger story. Thankfully, we will be getting the rest, I think, as Kelly has an eBook scheduled for release in November called Halo: Smoke and Shadow which has connections to “Into the Fire.”
Stepping back into the oddness, Frank O’Connor has another story called “Saint’s Testimony.” It’s about an AI who is on trial. Since the AI’s only get seven years to live, this one tries to plead for an extension. Yet it gets weird, and doesn’t make the most sense. This one is probably geared toward readers who are better versed in the lore of Halo or previous stories as I wasn’t overly familiar with the AI’s they mentioned.
“Rossbach’s World” by Brian Reed is an odd story about Serin Osman, an AI named BB, and includes a lot of references to Cortana. Sadly this story is more narrative than actually storytelling and it’s mostly a fill in the blanks kind of story that doesn’t feel very complete.
“Oasis” by Tobias Buckell injects a boost of energy into the anthology as it follows a young settler who is forced to reach beyond their means and their prejudices. It highlights human and alien alike, and focuses on the divide between them. It’s a good story. Like “Into the Fire,” this one will be getting a follow up, but Buckell will be writing a full novel called Halo: Envoy which will be out in April 2017.
“Anarosa” by Kevin Grace is the last story listed in the anthology and is kind of a weird one. It’s about a human and an AI who try to recruit people to be templates for future AI’s. It’s an okay story, but not as good as some of the others in the anthology.
The book then goes to Acknowledgements and is seemingly over. There’s a little section on the authors, and then, very casually without any title, setup or description, the book has another story. Or at least a follow up to a story. It’s not credited, but it’s a continuation of Christie Golden’s story and shows what happens to her Forerunner characters following their escape. I have to admit, this little story saved the book as it ended things on a very positive, enjoyable note. When you’re ready the book, make sure you don’t skip it, as it would be easy to miss.
Overall, for casual Halo fans or readers new to the franchise, Halo: Fractures provides a nice overview of the universe and the stories and characters that can be explored. While not all of the stories are great, there are a lot of good ones and it makes the book worthwhile. I give it a four and a half out of five metal bikinis and highly recommend checking it out if you’re a fan of Halo or the authors.
May 14, 2020
(Edited for grammar.)
Excellent set of Halo Short Stories.
Favourites:
Shadow of Intent, Anarosa, Oasis.
All with great themes, Anarosa is a particularly challenging but engaging read. Great characterisation across all three stories, which is impressive considering a lot of the characters are aliens! Their cultures are shown with large flaws but also a lot of wisdom.
Skippable:
Rossbach's world-- nothing happens, plot-wise or character-wise. I honestly don't even know why this was written. At least it's very short.
Decent:
Lessons Learned-- felt like pure setup, and the human characters acted oddly. The author is generally good so I see this as a genuine misstep. The aliens are again well characterised, however so definitely not as bad as Rossbach's world.
The rest of the stories are a lot of fun; I don't mention them simply because they have no flaws worth picking out.
Excellent set of Halo Short Stories.
Favourites:
Shadow of Intent, Anarosa, Oasis.
All with great themes, Anarosa is a particularly challenging but engaging read. Great characterisation across all three stories, which is impressive considering a lot of the characters are aliens! Their cultures are shown with large flaws but also a lot of wisdom.
Skippable:
Rossbach's world-- nothing happens, plot-wise or character-wise. I honestly don't even know why this was written. At least it's very short.
Decent:
Lessons Learned-- felt like pure setup, and the human characters acted oddly. The author is generally good so I see this as a genuine misstep. The aliens are again well characterised, however so definitely not as bad as Rossbach's world.
The rest of the stories are a lot of fun; I don't mention them simply because they have no flaws worth picking out.
October 14, 2025
4.5
Me encantó volver a leer y saber qué fue lo que pasó con ciertos personajes con los cuales me encariñé en libros anteriores.
No sabía que me iba a gustar tanto el relato de Oasis, creí que sería otro más que expandiera el universo, pero ese final me dejó sufriendo. No esperaba lo que le hicieron a Jat 😭😭
Este libro me gustó mucho más que el otro, hay historias que me encantaron y con la sociales sufrí.
Se los recomiendo mucho si quieren expandir más su conocimiento sobre este universo o quieren empezar con algo ligerito para adentrarse al mundo de Halo, eso sí, hay relatos que continuan la historia de otros libros.
Les dejo la calificación que le puse a cada relato:
Lecciones aprendidas 4 ⭐
Lo que queda 3 ⭐
Tensión de ruptura 3 ⭐
Promesas que cumplir 4.5 ⭐
Sombra de intención 4.5 ⭐
La balada de Hamish Beamish 2 ⭐
Defensor de la tormenta 5 ⭐
Una verdad necesaria 5 ⭐
En el fuego 2.5 ⭐
Testimonio del santo 5 ⭐
Mundo de Rossbach 3.5 ⭐
Oasis 5 ⭐
Anarosa 3.5 ⭐
Me encantó volver a leer y saber qué fue lo que pasó con ciertos personajes con los cuales me encariñé en libros anteriores.
No sabía que me iba a gustar tanto el relato de Oasis, creí que sería otro más que expandiera el universo, pero ese final me dejó sufriendo. No esperaba lo que le hicieron a Jat 😭😭
Este libro me gustó mucho más que el otro, hay historias que me encantaron y con la sociales sufrí.
Se los recomiendo mucho si quieren expandir más su conocimiento sobre este universo o quieren empezar con algo ligerito para adentrarse al mundo de Halo, eso sí, hay relatos que continuan la historia de otros libros.
Les dejo la calificación que le puse a cada relato:
Lecciones aprendidas 4 ⭐
Lo que queda 3 ⭐
Tensión de ruptura 3 ⭐
Promesas que cumplir 4.5 ⭐
Sombra de intención 4.5 ⭐
La balada de Hamish Beamish 2 ⭐
Defensor de la tormenta 5 ⭐
Una verdad necesaria 5 ⭐
En el fuego 2.5 ⭐
Testimonio del santo 5 ⭐
Mundo de Rossbach 3.5 ⭐
Oasis 5 ⭐
Anarosa 3.5 ⭐
August 30, 2020
This is a collection short stories set in the Halo universe. Unlike Halo: Evolutions, this collection of stories includes glimpses into the Forerunner and San’Shyuum cultures, as well as several stories dealing with alien/human life after the break-up of the Covenant. With the exception of perhaps two or three stand-outs, I found most of the stories to be pretty bland or feeling incomplete. The collection has several best-selling authors as contributors (many of which have works I enjoy) but that just made me feel like there should have been more.
March 31, 2023
It was really enjoyable, bittersweet, and sad all at once. It was fun recognizing some books I had read in the past. So glad I checked this out from the library.
February 13, 2022
A great ride through the many corners and times of the Halo universe. Can't go wrong with these short stories. I'm a huge lore nerd, so I'll take anything I can get.
October 13, 2025
An interesting collection of short stories, i wish most of them were used to expand the story closer to the events after halo 5 guardians some did but at this point with my halo novel journey im kinda get bored being in the past i want to see what happens next and how it links in with whats happening in halo infinite. But overall the stories here are fun if your a halo fan this is work checking out
April 21, 2020
“Life, she had said more than once to Chant, was nothing but trials. And what mattered, perhaps even more than the outcome, was how one faced them.”
Short story collections are never my favourite, especially ones written by a wide variety of authors with completely different styles. Sci-fi is also not my favourite genre, the Halo novels being a rare exception. So, imagine my surprise when I enjoyed most of the stories contained in Halo: Fractures. Unfortunately there were a few stories I couldn’t read as I have yet to finish the Forerunner Saga and don’t want to be spoiled for the conclusion of that series – in that regard I’m quite thankful to whoever made the decision to proceed each story in Fractures with a brief synopsis of where the story is set, and how it connects to other novels in the Halo Universe.
Unfortunately, I did feel that most of these stories weren’t stories in their own right, and were instead all the beginnings of upcoming Halo novels and novellas; it felt frustrating and greatly impacted my overall enjoyment of each story and the collection as a whole.
Some favourites from Halo: Fractures were Breaking Strain, Defender of the Storm, A Necessary Truth, Into the Fire, Rossbach’s World and Oasis. Overall, a pretty solid collection for any Halo fan.
4 / 5
Short story collections are never my favourite, especially ones written by a wide variety of authors with completely different styles. Sci-fi is also not my favourite genre, the Halo novels being a rare exception. So, imagine my surprise when I enjoyed most of the stories contained in Halo: Fractures. Unfortunately there were a few stories I couldn’t read as I have yet to finish the Forerunner Saga and don’t want to be spoiled for the conclusion of that series – in that regard I’m quite thankful to whoever made the decision to proceed each story in Fractures with a brief synopsis of where the story is set, and how it connects to other novels in the Halo Universe.
Unfortunately, I did feel that most of these stories weren’t stories in their own right, and were instead all the beginnings of upcoming Halo novels and novellas; it felt frustrating and greatly impacted my overall enjoyment of each story and the collection as a whole.
Some favourites from Halo: Fractures were Breaking Strain, Defender of the Storm, A Necessary Truth, Into the Fire, Rossbach’s World and Oasis. Overall, a pretty solid collection for any Halo fan.
4 / 5
September 13, 2021
The first short story was REALLY REALLY good and im super disappointed that it ended rather than being a full book. Oh well. The rest were whatever
July 8, 2018
This is an anthology consisting of 13 short stories, plus an additional “end credits” story. The tales here vary greatly in terms of tone and types of characters. However, a central theme running through many is post-war/post-conflict struggle. These are mostly tales of characters working to make sense of their lives and deal with the sociological and psychological problems that occur after traumatic disasters. There is also certainly a secondary focus on the nature of AIs, likely in preparation for the storyline of Halo 6.
I can honestly say that I enjoyed every one of these stories. Despite their brevity, the authors usually do an excellent job at introducing the characters and telling fascinating, often emotional, tales. I would say that someone does need to have a good background knowledge of the Halo universe to understand these tales, but you don’t need to have read every single previous book. I’ve only read the original trilogy (Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike), plus Ghosts of Onyx and that was well over a decade ago as well. This and having kept up with the plots of the games was enough for me to make sense of each stories, even if I didn’t know each character from their previous appearances. Overall, it’s an excellent bit of sci-fi reading that contains plenty of deep emotional themes that one could relate to current political matters.
I can honestly say that I enjoyed every one of these stories. Despite their brevity, the authors usually do an excellent job at introducing the characters and telling fascinating, often emotional, tales. I would say that someone does need to have a good background knowledge of the Halo universe to understand these tales, but you don’t need to have read every single previous book. I’ve only read the original trilogy (Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike), plus Ghosts of Onyx and that was well over a decade ago as well. This and having kept up with the plots of the games was enough for me to make sense of each stories, even if I didn’t know each character from their previous appearances. Overall, it’s an excellent bit of sci-fi reading that contains plenty of deep emotional themes that one could relate to current political matters.
January 4, 2021
I rarely give 5-star reviews; especially to a collection of short stories. But it’s because this collection is basically without filler that makes it so good. Each story is to the point and delicious. My favorite highlights were the Bornstellar stories. It was unbelievably satisfying to hear more about his story after the firing of the Halo array. Frank O’Connor and Joe Staten’s entries stand out, too.
November 1, 2018
There's a real art to a good short story and unfortunately most all of these missed the mark...not by being bad writing, but by being mostly prologues to forthcoming novels. It felt more like I was reading sample chapter teasers than interesting shorts to flesh out the universe. Also the poem that was included was truly awful. Fractures was sort of an apt title.
June 8, 2017
Another fantastic collection of Halo stories set in the extended universe, perfect for all Halo fans to digest.
December 30, 2021
"𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨; 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢..."
Halo: Fractures offers an exciting journey through the Halo universe, with stories spanning from the Forerunner era, to post Human-Covenant War, and the events just after Halo 5, leading up to Halo Infinite.
These stories of heroism, never ending challanges, and fights for survival paint a detailed picture of the world outside the game's peripheral narrative, expanding upon vast amounts of lore and galactic history. Notable tales I particularly enjoyed were A Necessary Truth (Troy Denning), and Oasis (Tobias Buckell). The extensive character development within such a short amount of time is really quite impressive, and allows you to be immersed into the story and world they've created.
On the other hand, I found several stories harder to work through, Promises To Keep (Christie Golden) was interesting, but hard to follow. Similarly, Rossbach's World (Brian Reed) had a great concept which wasn't expanded upon, coupled with a cheap ending.
My individual story ratings are as follows;
☆☆☆ Lessons Learned by Matt Forbeck
☆☆☆ What Remains by Morgan Lockhart
☆☆☆☆ Breaking Strain by James Swallow
☆☆ Promises To Keep by Christie Golden
☆☆☆ Shadow of Intent by Joseph Staten
☆☆ The Ballad of Hamish Beamish by
Frank O'Connor
☆☆☆ Defender of the Storm by John Jackson Miller
☆☆☆☆☆ A Necessary Truth by Troy Denning
☆☆☆☆ Into the Fire by Kelly Gay
☆☆☆☆ Saints Testimony by Frank O'Connor
☆☆ Rossbach's World by Brian Reed
☆☆☆☆☆ Oasis by Tobias Buckell
☆☆☆ Anarosa by Kevin Grace
Halo: Fractures offers an exciting journey through the Halo universe, with stories spanning from the Forerunner era, to post Human-Covenant War, and the events just after Halo 5, leading up to Halo Infinite.
These stories of heroism, never ending challanges, and fights for survival paint a detailed picture of the world outside the game's peripheral narrative, expanding upon vast amounts of lore and galactic history. Notable tales I particularly enjoyed were A Necessary Truth (Troy Denning), and Oasis (Tobias Buckell). The extensive character development within such a short amount of time is really quite impressive, and allows you to be immersed into the story and world they've created.
On the other hand, I found several stories harder to work through, Promises To Keep (Christie Golden) was interesting, but hard to follow. Similarly, Rossbach's World (Brian Reed) had a great concept which wasn't expanded upon, coupled with a cheap ending.
My individual story ratings are as follows;
☆☆☆ Lessons Learned by Matt Forbeck
☆☆☆ What Remains by Morgan Lockhart
☆☆☆☆ Breaking Strain by James Swallow
☆☆ Promises To Keep by Christie Golden
☆☆☆ Shadow of Intent by Joseph Staten
☆☆ The Ballad of Hamish Beamish by
Frank O'Connor
☆☆☆ Defender of the Storm by John Jackson Miller
☆☆☆☆☆ A Necessary Truth by Troy Denning
☆☆☆☆ Into the Fire by Kelly Gay
☆☆☆☆ Saints Testimony by Frank O'Connor
☆☆ Rossbach's World by Brian Reed
☆☆☆☆☆ Oasis by Tobias Buckell
☆☆☆ Anarosa by Kevin Grace
April 6, 2024
'Halo: Fractures' explores the rich universe of Halo through a collection of short stories written by various authors, including Joseph Staten, Troy Denning, Kelly Gay, and Tobias Buckell, all of whom are known for writing various other Halo books.
The book holds many fascinating stories, including going back in time 100,000 years to put a finishing touch on the Forerunners' stories after the events of the Forerunner saga by Greg Bear. These and other stories provide tremendous depth to the lore of the Halo universe as the reader learns many valuable secrets about the universe. Curiosities are also satisfied, for example, "What happened to Serin Osman when Cortana attacked Sydney, Australia with a Guardian in Halo 5? Did she survive?"
Some of the stories, however, are lacking vitality. With some of the stories, I found myself asking, "So what? Why should I care about this story? Why should I care about this character?" These stories didn't quite succeed in what 'Halo Evolutions' did so well. With some of the new characters, some of these stories failed to get me to care about them, due in part to boring exposition.
Overall, however, I found 'Fractures' to be a satisfying read. Despite its flaws, there are enough lore jewels to find within the book, and I recommend that any Halo fan read this book as it provides answers to many questions previously left unanswered.
The book holds many fascinating stories, including going back in time 100,000 years to put a finishing touch on the Forerunners' stories after the events of the Forerunner saga by Greg Bear. These and other stories provide tremendous depth to the lore of the Halo universe as the reader learns many valuable secrets about the universe. Curiosities are also satisfied, for example, "What happened to Serin Osman when Cortana attacked Sydney, Australia with a Guardian in Halo 5? Did she survive?"
Some of the stories, however, are lacking vitality. With some of the stories, I found myself asking, "So what? Why should I care about this story? Why should I care about this character?" These stories didn't quite succeed in what 'Halo Evolutions' did so well. With some of the new characters, some of these stories failed to get me to care about them, due in part to boring exposition.
Overall, however, I found 'Fractures' to be a satisfying read. Despite its flaws, there are enough lore jewels to find within the book, and I recommend that any Halo fan read this book as it provides answers to many questions previously left unanswered.
December 9, 2025
From the Forerunners to the Covenant to Humanity, there are many stories in the Halo Universe. These are just some of the tales from the canon. These tales span from the time of the Forerunners to the most recent moments of the Halo timeline.
First and foremost one of the things I appreciated most about this one was each story would give you when the story takes place. It helped as some it was difficult to figure out even with context clues. This was an audiobook which led to my biggest issue which was having the same narrator for every single story did get a bit tiresome. Not that the narrator did a bad job or anything, its just difficult with a series of short stories are all given the same voice.
The stories in the book are all pretty good to great. A few are long, with one taking up three hours of the book's thirteen hour run time. Originally I was worried the longer ones would drag, but most of those turned out to be some of my favorites in the book. None of the stories are really connected so it is easy to jump in and out without trying to remember details from a previous story. Overall, it was a really good read.
First and foremost one of the things I appreciated most about this one was each story would give you when the story takes place. It helped as some it was difficult to figure out even with context clues. This was an audiobook which led to my biggest issue which was having the same narrator for every single story did get a bit tiresome. Not that the narrator did a bad job or anything, its just difficult with a series of short stories are all given the same voice.
The stories in the book are all pretty good to great. A few are long, with one taking up three hours of the book's thirteen hour run time. Originally I was worried the longer ones would drag, but most of those turned out to be some of my favorites in the book. None of the stories are really connected so it is easy to jump in and out without trying to remember details from a previous story. Overall, it was a really good read.
August 23, 2019
Halo: Fractures: Extraordinary Tales from the Halo Canon contains 13 stories. All 13 are from different points either dealing with the Forrunners and the Flood or the UNSC and the Covenant pre and post war. One of the stories that is in this anthology I already covered in another review of Saint's Testimony where an AI is put on trial because she wants to be granted human rights. And near the end there is the Oasis tale were we see a post war universe were former Covenant shoulders attempt to live on a desert planet with humans but they end up being at odds. While another tale talks about a Dyson Sphere and the many inhabited planets inside of it that are lead to a co-exploration venture by both humans and former Covenant scientists. These 13 tales take you from one corner of the galaxy to another as well as from one time to another and I highly recommend this book to all science fiction fans.
November 21, 2023
A little disappointing. Unlike previous Halo anthologies, which featured new characters in novel situations, this one is mostly just a vehicle for established authors to play with their toys instead of telling original stories. There are some, but not nearly enough. A lot of these stories are attached to characters from other books. A lot of the stories here are pretty samey.
Granted, some of the novels which are attached to these short stories hadn't been written yet. Oasis, from Buckell, is the best of these, and it is really worth a read. It's just pure atmosphere and bush war on a forgotten planet far from UNSC control.
Granted, some of the novels which are attached to these short stories hadn't been written yet. Oasis, from Buckell, is the best of these, and it is really worth a read. It's just pure atmosphere and bush war on a forgotten planet far from UNSC control.
August 24, 2017
A great read, filled with short stories based in Halo canon. They were each unique and interesting to read, and really set the tone in good time. Often, I would get into reading one and be gutted it was about to end! Many of the stories were extensions and epilogues to existing novels, and I enjoyed these just as much! Easy to pick up, I would recommend this book to any Halo fan or those who have a good interest in science fiction and fantasy.
April 27, 2022
I liked this batch a lot! There's a lot of variety here, though most of the stories take place either between 3 and 5, immediately after 5, or way back in the Forerunner trilogy era - which is really great to see more of. This universe really does benefit from being told in little bite-sized pieces like this, and I don't think there was a single story here that was a slog to read through. They're all about evenly paced, too, without any one in particular taking up most of the page count.
August 24, 2022
Compared to evolutions, this was a huge step down in quality. In terms of the story structure, but also just the general interest. I think there was only a couple of stories that actually genuinely had my interest.
Evolutions had stories abound that were unique, compelling, and added to the Halo lore. Fractures may add a bit to both the past and the future but it did so without almost ever being interesting.
Evolutions had stories abound that were unique, compelling, and added to the Halo lore. Fractures may add a bit to both the past and the future but it did so without almost ever being interesting.
May 5, 2025
Shadow of Intent and Oasis are the standouts for me in this collection.
Shadow of Intent simply because I adore Rtas ‘Vadum and it was interesting to see more consequences of both the Flood and the Great Schism.
Oasis because it reads like an episode of Love, Death and Robots and I’m a sucker for stubborn, ‘doing what I have to because no one else can’ teenage characters.
Everything else was very mid for me. Very much, “read, enjoy, forget.”
Shadow of Intent simply because I adore Rtas ‘Vadum and it was interesting to see more consequences of both the Flood and the Great Schism.
Oasis because it reads like an episode of Love, Death and Robots and I’m a sucker for stubborn, ‘doing what I have to because no one else can’ teenage characters.
Everything else was very mid for me. Very much, “read, enjoy, forget.”
July 8, 2019
An incredible ensemble of good short stories of the complex and sometimes utterly complicated Halo narrative world. They span from the Forerunners age to the current developments after Halo 5, covering minor and major events. All the characters and the narrative are very convincing and involving for who is well connected to the franchise.
Joe Staten is at his best here.
Joe Staten is at his best here.
October 21, 2019
An okay collection of 13 short stories that share characters or settings from many of the other Halo books. The anthology was nowhere near as good as the Evolutions Anthology. Not required reading for fans but worth it if you read all the Halo universe books. Source material has been drying up so this book is better than no book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews