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Halo #27
Halo: Oblivion: A Master Chief Story
A Master Chief story and original full-length novel set in the Halo universe—based on the New York Times bestselling video game series!
2526. It has been more than a year since humanity first encountered the hostile military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant, and several weeks after the United Nations Space Command’s devastating counterattack of Operation: SILENT STORM was deemed an overwhelming success. The UNSC has put its faith in the hands of the Spartans, led by the legendary Master Chief, John-117: enhanced super-soldiers raised and trained from childhood via a clandestine black ops project to be living weapons. But the Covenant—enraged and fearful of their enemy’s unexpected strategies and prowess—is not taking its recent defeat lightly, and is now fully determined to eradicate humanity from existence, brutally overrunning the ill-fated planets of the Outer Colonies faster than retreats can be ordered.
If the UNSC has any chance of stemming the tide of the war, the Master Chief and Blue Team must drop onto an empty, hellish world in order to capture a disabled Covenant frigate filled with valuable technology. It has all the makings of a trap, but the bait is far too tempting to ignore—and this tantalizing prize is being offered by a disgraced and vengeful Covenant fleetmaster, whose sole opportunity for redemption lies in extinguishing humanity’s only hope of survival…
2526. It has been more than a year since humanity first encountered the hostile military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant, and several weeks after the United Nations Space Command’s devastating counterattack of Operation: SILENT STORM was deemed an overwhelming success. The UNSC has put its faith in the hands of the Spartans, led by the legendary Master Chief, John-117: enhanced super-soldiers raised and trained from childhood via a clandestine black ops project to be living weapons. But the Covenant—enraged and fearful of their enemy’s unexpected strategies and prowess—is not taking its recent defeat lightly, and is now fully determined to eradicate humanity from existence, brutally overrunning the ill-fated planets of the Outer Colonies faster than retreats can be ordered.
If the UNSC has any chance of stemming the tide of the war, the Master Chief and Blue Team must drop onto an empty, hellish world in order to capture a disabled Covenant frigate filled with valuable technology. It has all the makings of a trap, but the bait is far too tempting to ignore—and this tantalizing prize is being offered by a disgraced and vengeful Covenant fleetmaster, whose sole opportunity for redemption lies in extinguishing humanity’s only hope of survival…
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2023
208 people are currently reading
2499 people want to read
About the author
Troy Denning
185 books662 followersAlso known as Richard Awlinson.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Den...
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Den...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
September 28, 2021
2.5 Stars.
I wanna start this review of by saying that I adore the Halo video games. It was my first xbox game, and I’ve loved it ever since.
I have been wanting to try the novels for awhile, and saw my friend here on gr review this one, so I thought it looked interesting.
It wasn’t.
I’ll start with the plot; it did not move. Seriously. I’m not even exaggerating. The plot stayed the same from around page 118 to the end climax, which was roughly on page 320. I was so uninvested the whole time. And it was honestly just boring, and there were absolutely no stakes. I needed more Nizat, less Spartans.
And the characters did not help AT ALL. They were lifeless. Bland. One Dimensional.
I personally wanted to hang the Castoffs by the ankle on a tree branch and hit them with a stick. I wanted to sucker punch Kelly in the gut. I wanted to slap Petrov, right cross the face. And Linda...honestly Linda didn’t really do anything the whole book. She kinda just sat there.
Even John 117, The Master Chief, who has become my favourite video game character of all time, said some really annoying crap that was very Queso. Chief ain’t supposed to be like that. Yes, he is supposed to be bland, that is his character even in the games, but not annoying.
Fred was likeable, I guess, but also very cliche so he basically sucked as well.
And also Denning’s writing. Oh, bro. I don’t really know if it was poor, but it was very uncomfortable, if that makes sense. Very choppy. I’m usually not a writing Nazi ( I’ve read Lorien Legacies, for goodness sakes), but I definitely noticed it this time.
I didn’t mind the climax at the end, which is what earned a 2.5, but certainly doesn’t outweigh the bad to bring it to a three.
Well, what can I say. I definitely won’t be reading Denning’s other novels, but will read some other Halo books (.i.e. Halo: The Fall of Reach).
I would also like to make a cultural statement, and say that Halo is better than Call of Duty (though I love both).
I wanna start this review of by saying that I adore the Halo video games. It was my first xbox game, and I’ve loved it ever since.
I have been wanting to try the novels for awhile, and saw my friend here on gr review this one, so I thought it looked interesting.
It wasn’t.
I’ll start with the plot; it did not move. Seriously. I’m not even exaggerating. The plot stayed the same from around page 118 to the end climax, which was roughly on page 320. I was so uninvested the whole time. And it was honestly just boring, and there were absolutely no stakes. I needed more Nizat, less Spartans.
And the characters did not help AT ALL. They were lifeless. Bland. One Dimensional.
I personally wanted to hang the Castoffs by the ankle on a tree branch and hit them with a stick. I wanted to sucker punch Kelly in the gut. I wanted to slap Petrov, right cross the face. And Linda...honestly Linda didn’t really do anything the whole book. She kinda just sat there.
Even John 117, The Master Chief, who has become my favourite video game character of all time, said some really annoying crap that was very Queso. Chief ain’t supposed to be like that. Yes, he is supposed to be bland, that is his character even in the games, but not annoying.
Fred was likeable, I guess, but also very cliche so he basically sucked as well.
And also Denning’s writing. Oh, bro. I don’t really know if it was poor, but it was very uncomfortable, if that makes sense. Very choppy. I’m usually not a writing Nazi ( I’ve read Lorien Legacies, for goodness sakes), but I definitely noticed it this time.
I didn’t mind the climax at the end, which is what earned a 2.5, but certainly doesn’t outweigh the bad to bring it to a three.
Well, what can I say. I definitely won’t be reading Denning’s other novels, but will read some other Halo books (.i.e. Halo: The Fall of Reach).
I would also like to make a cultural statement, and say that Halo is better than Call of Duty (though I love both).
November 2, 2019
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
Super-soldiers fight aliens. This is a novel based on a video game, and it shows. There is some entertainment value, but not particularly literary.
Super-soldiers fight aliens. This is a novel based on a video game, and it shows. There is some entertainment value, but not particularly literary.
October 12, 2019
Strange, but entertaining. A little bit rushed. Less character development this time, but still interesting. Looking forward to the next!
June 10, 2020
This was surprisingly good. I expected a large amount of sexual and language content, as well as extreme gore, when going in, and all I found was a sprinkle of mild language and intermediate gore. Hallelujah!
Plot-wise, it was decent. Complex, yet I can see how things came together. Troy REALLY loves his technology descriptions, though, and I could have done without them. Just give me the basics, don't tell me that the Master Chief checked his M-90w's barrel, then the trigger, then he oiled it, and then he checked his M3Hg grenade launcher, wiping down the blah blah blah and so on. While the tech talk did give it a sense of realism, it could have been toned down a tad.
However, that's my only complaint. I genuinely liked most of the characters (not the Castoffs---they got on my nerves, but then again, they got on Kelly's nerves too), I loved seeing the Spartans and especially the Master Chief in action, though I thought it was strange that he was only fifteen years old (I suppose this corresponds to Halo Mythology, since he fights his first battle at 14). Whatever---just personal preference.
In short, a decently told story, with a refreshing lack of content. I'm going to look into Troy's other books---maybe I'll get lucky.
Plot-wise, it was decent. Complex, yet I can see how things came together. Troy REALLY loves his technology descriptions, though, and I could have done without them. Just give me the basics, don't tell me that the Master Chief checked his M-90w's barrel, then the trigger, then he oiled it, and then he checked his M3Hg grenade launcher, wiping down the blah blah blah and so on. While the tech talk did give it a sense of realism, it could have been toned down a tad.
However, that's my only complaint. I genuinely liked most of the characters (not the Castoffs---they got on my nerves, but then again, they got on Kelly's nerves too), I loved seeing the Spartans and especially the Master Chief in action, though I thought it was strange that he was only fifteen years old (I suppose this corresponds to Halo Mythology, since he fights his first battle at 14). Whatever---just personal preference.
In short, a decently told story, with a refreshing lack of content. I'm going to look into Troy's other books---maybe I'll get lucky.
March 17, 2025
Halo: Oblivion is the second book in the “A Master Chief Story” trilogy of books. It follows Blue Team and a complement of marines as they land on the planet Netherop in an attempt to capture a Covenant frigate designated Lucky Break. Unbeknownst to them, it is actually a trap laid by Nizat Kavrosee, a Covenant Shipmaster, in an attempt to find the location of ONI headquarters and, if possible, to kill or capture Blue Team.
First of all, I read a few spoiler-free reviews of this book, and most seemed to be somewhat negative, which did colour my opinion going into the book. I was expecting not to enjoy it, but it really wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t even call it bad per se, more enjoyable, if flawed.
My biggest gripe with Halo: Oblivion is the supporting characters; I don’t think there was a single one that I really liked all that much. I know the mission to Netherop goes south extremely quick for both the UNSC and the Covenant, but it just seems like everyone involved is so utterly incompetent. If there’s a bad choice, they’re probably going to make it. This really marred an otherwise interesting story. Perhaps, upon thinking about it, Troy Denning wanted them to seem somewhat incompetent? Not every military operation goes smoothly; things go wrong all the time, and people make bad calls. Especially when humans and aliens go to war without truly understanding one another. Maybe he was trying to show that through the story, but it just didn’t work for me.
On a brighter note, there were parts of Halo: Oblivion that I did enjoy quite a lot. The setting for one is incredibly interesting. Netherop as a location was quite detailed and truly fascinating. The plant life was unique and alien to anything on Earth. Plants that weren’t really plants but almost animal-like were present in great numbers. Thickets of spiny succulents reached out and hooked marines and Spartans as they travelled through them, almost like the plants themselves were intelligent and reaching out to grab them for a quick meal.
Lore-wise, Netherop left me with some questions. Clearly there were the remnants of a lost civilization to be found on the planet’s surface. Who were these people? Forerunner? Something else, perhaps? The book doesn’t answer these questions, which tells me that we may find answers in a later book. I hope to learn more about Netherop. Troy Denning has done an excellent job of creating a location that stays in the reader’s mind after the book is finished.
Something else that I believe is a positive about Halo: Oblivion was the addition of castoffs being located by Blue Team on Netherop. It added a new situation that had to be factored into Blue Team’s operation on the planet’s surface. To save or abandon them?
In conclusion, there are certainly better books in the Halo universe, but really, this wasn’t bad. I’d definitely read this if you’ve read or are planning to read Halo: Silent Storm or Halo: Shadows of Reach. I give Halo: Oblivion a 3/5 stars.
First of all, I read a few spoiler-free reviews of this book, and most seemed to be somewhat negative, which did colour my opinion going into the book. I was expecting not to enjoy it, but it really wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t even call it bad per se, more enjoyable, if flawed.
My biggest gripe with Halo: Oblivion is the supporting characters; I don’t think there was a single one that I really liked all that much. I know the mission to Netherop goes south extremely quick for both the UNSC and the Covenant, but it just seems like everyone involved is so utterly incompetent. If there’s a bad choice, they’re probably going to make it. This really marred an otherwise interesting story. Perhaps, upon thinking about it, Troy Denning wanted them to seem somewhat incompetent? Not every military operation goes smoothly; things go wrong all the time, and people make bad calls. Especially when humans and aliens go to war without truly understanding one another. Maybe he was trying to show that through the story, but it just didn’t work for me.
On a brighter note, there were parts of Halo: Oblivion that I did enjoy quite a lot. The setting for one is incredibly interesting. Netherop as a location was quite detailed and truly fascinating. The plant life was unique and alien to anything on Earth. Plants that weren’t really plants but almost animal-like were present in great numbers. Thickets of spiny succulents reached out and hooked marines and Spartans as they travelled through them, almost like the plants themselves were intelligent and reaching out to grab them for a quick meal.
Lore-wise, Netherop left me with some questions. Clearly there were the remnants of a lost civilization to be found on the planet’s surface. Who were these people? Forerunner? Something else, perhaps? The book doesn’t answer these questions, which tells me that we may find answers in a later book. I hope to learn more about Netherop. Troy Denning has done an excellent job of creating a location that stays in the reader’s mind after the book is finished.
Something else that I believe is a positive about Halo: Oblivion was the addition of castoffs being located by Blue Team on Netherop. It added a new situation that had to be factored into Blue Team’s operation on the planet’s surface. To save or abandon them?
In conclusion, there are certainly better books in the Halo universe, but really, this wasn’t bad. I’d definitely read this if you’ve read or are planning to read Halo: Silent Storm or Halo: Shadows of Reach. I give Halo: Oblivion a 3/5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2024
This was a good book, bogged down by the author's tendency to over-describe the militaristic aspects of the story. The plot was at a relative standstill up until the last 50 or so pages, apart from the writing from the Covenant's viewpoint which I thought was excellent. I would have preferred more of that to serve as relief from the Spartan storyline, which I unfortunately felt was lacking the personality to live up to the "Master Chief Story" title. Again, this was a good book, but especially coming straight off of "Silent Storm" the writing has left me a little fatigued, and I'm concerned it will mar my enjoyment of the final book in the trilogy.
September 24, 2019
Excellent book!!!
May 30, 2020
It was a book and I read it. Next.
September 22, 2020
All the technical ability of the previous book, with none of the fan service. Covenant perspective is expanded as well, pretty much everything I could have hoped for. Great book.
December 29, 2023
Love the characters. Love the interaction and the writing and narrating is great quality. Everything I expect from this series.
January 6, 2021
Halo: Oblivion by Troy Denning is the Second entry into the “A Master Chief Story” Series. I’m just going to get this out of the way, for the people who trust me but don’t want to hear me talk: Yes, I think it’s worth reading – especially for fans of Master Chief, and fans of Blue Team. ODST fans, you may not get your fill here, but if you’re a fan of Military sci fi in general, you might like this. For those of you who need more convincing, read on:
You’ll notice I specified ‘Military’ science fiction. That is because Halo: Oblivion is a bit heavier on the fight scenes than the previous book Halo: Silent Storm. There was one battle after another – yet it never got repetitive nor boring, and the action was clear, easy to visualize and to follow. If wars on a strange planet are what you’re looking for, this is the book for you. Halo: Oblivion definitely eased up on the politics and subterfuge of Silent Storm.
That said, this Halo book was not without character development.
The star of the book– the entire universe actually – A young John-117 continues his long journey to becoming the Master Chief of legend. In the previous book, he went through quite the character arc, learning how to navigate the confusion of the real world. He picks up where he left off in Oblivion, and it is beautiful. At least watching him back-talk and get snarky with Petrov is.
His maturing leadership skills are apparent in every interaction. What I said about Petrov wasn’t completely a joke. John’s navigation of the power dynamics of the ranking system – dynamics which were, at times, childish and ridiculous – was more confident and measured, and there is no shortage of John rolling his eyes at his superiors. That will never fail to be one of my favorite things about him – alongside his compassionate treatment of his juniors and his relationship with Blue Team.
Now, I’ll stop gassing up the Master Chief and get into the rest of Blue Team.
Blue Team members Fred-104, Kelly-087, Linda-054, and the late (still loved) Samuel-034 have shown up in plenty of books and other Halo media. And to everyone’s delight, they finally showed up in a game, (2015) Halo 5: Guardians, fighting alongside the Master Chief. They are known to be his closest friends – his only real family – and bring out the most of his personality. However, it’s worth noting that they usually play second fiddle to their team leader, including in Silent Storm.
In Halo: Oblivion, Fred, Kelly, and Linda all get to play more vital roles to the story. In addition to more screen time (page time? Read time?), we get to watch them interact with others and act independent of the rest of Blue Team. I admit, Linda has been my favorite for a long time, and her going ice-cold killing machine on some Covenant will satisfy the most dark, primal violence we all harbor.
Now that I’ve adequately sung Oblivion’s praises, I may as well explain why I don’t adore it quite as much as I adore Silent Storm.
Of course, John’s character arc wasn’t as profound, as the focus was on the mystery of the planet and their enemy’s plans – but that’s not really a fault of the book so much as a personal preference.
There was an awesome subplot of Elites hunting Spartans, but I wished it had been handled differently. Most Halo books work in a secondary storyline of the Covenant – which was how the Spartan-hunters plot was presented – but I was never a fan of it. It takes me out of the flow of the main story. Again, that’s more a personal preference than a real critique of the book. For what it was, the plot was executed beautifully.
I only have one major gripe with Oblivion: I’m sick to death of big, tough, burly protagonists coming across some fearless, sassy kid who brings out their paternal side. Thank god they didn’t overdo it in Oblivion, and the kids were more of a sidenote than anything. Otherwise, I would have given this book two out of five stars. That’s how dull and useless that trope is. If you have to throw a child at your character just to make them sympathetic, you have no idea what you’re doing. It was a miserable plot device in The Punisher, Deadpool, and here. I hope to god that we don’t see it again.
But I want to end on a happy note. The little twerps who showed up in the book were kind of funny, as were the Spartans threatening to kill them. Kelly, in particular, put on a show in this regard.
Overall, a Halo: Oblivion is Good book. Halo fans, should check it out.
January 5, 2024
I feel like the whole of the book could have been condensed into several chapters and still conveyed the same story and also shown us the progression better. The ending also kinda sucked and leaves you wanting to know what happened but not read another book like this.
October 29, 2019
I'm a sucker for anything with Master Chief in it!
This was ok. Not terrible but not amazing either. It tells the story of one particular mission in the war against the covenant but doesn't do whole lot to advance the overall narrative. It also jumped around quite a bit between the various characters, so not exclusively a Master Chief story. It's been set up in such a way that another story could potentially follow which I'd obviously read!
This was ok. Not terrible but not amazing either. It tells the story of one particular mission in the war against the covenant but doesn't do whole lot to advance the overall narrative. It also jumped around quite a bit between the various characters, so not exclusively a Master Chief story. It's been set up in such a way that another story could potentially follow which I'd obviously read!
November 21, 2019
As a sequel to the great Silent Storm, this really feels underwhelming in comparison. The whole book focuses on a single mission, and it's a complete mess. I hope this is the middle book of a trilogy because it ended with very little closure. If they do make another sequel, I would hope that they can wrap up some of the loose ends of this story, several of which have pretty heavy implications, and would be a shame to simply forget about.
April 15, 2024
Firstly, Chris McGrath’s cover art for this is one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen on a book. The orange light reflecting off Chief’s helmet really encapsulates the theme of war and destruction and puts John at the very center of it, reflecting on his and the UNSC’s actions. I bought a physical copy of the book simply for the cover, it is beautiful. Now, onto the contents.
This novel was primarily action-based, with small breaks for interpersonal plotlines. There were many things that were done well, but none of them had any time to develop or conclude in a meaningful way. Sadly, this book is immensely overshadowed by its predecessor. But let’s talk about the good parts first.
From just the two novels I’ve read by Troy Denning (this one and Silent Storm), I can pretty clearly identify what his strengths and weaknesses are. He’s equally fantastic with dialogue and drama, and the prose which focus on a character’s internal monologue is also great, albeit not as good as the former two traits; he’s not so great with non-action descriptive prose. The introduction of the castoffs brilliantly highlights how amazing Denning is at writing dialogue; each character is distinct and we get a feel for their characterization through their words. The accompanying drama, that these kids’ parents were purposefully marooned on the planet, is tactfully introduced and explained (though, as we’ll get to, is handled extremely poorly in the long run). I was much more invested in that plot than I was with whatever mission the Spartans were sent on; a mission is an excuse for action, but the marooned children storyline has weight and depth and emotional impact.
I also loved the perspective of Nizat and his rogue holy journey. In the first book I enjoyed his perspective fine enough, but now he’s an established character with clear and logical motivations. He’s a fantastic villain because he understands what makes humanity such a powerful force, and he has to undertake his journey alone since the Hierarchs don’t believe him. There’s a fantastic line his first chapter when one of the prophets asks where to look for ONI and Nizat says, “Everywhere and nowhere. In the spirits that haunt the battlefields. I cannot say.” In the first book we got the Covenant’s perspective, in Oblivion we get Nizat’s.
Speaking of Nizat, his journey is a powerful reminder of the dangers of fundamentalism. He believes wholeheartedly in his religion, even if he doesn’t believe in the prophets in charge, that he’s willing to die happy knowing others will take on his command. It’s a grim reminder at what fundamentalism does to a person.
The first major downside to this book, of course, is the action. This is a personal thing and it’s the same issue I had with Silent Storm; because everything else in this book is so amazing, the action feels like it’s distracting from the story. But this book is like 80%+ action, which feels excessive even for a Halo book. There’s not enough time to get character reactions from the unique situations they’ve been put in, and character interactions are kept to a minimum. Silent Storm had quite a lot of action, but it was balanced well.
Another downside to this book is the politics. The castoffs present a complex and nuanced perspective of the war and the UNSC, much like Nyeto in Silent Storm. But unlike the previous book, their perspective isn’t explored. John and Blue Team don’t have to question the status quo or look inward and do some soul searching. The language used toward insurrectionists is wholly negative; “radical” “traitor” “insurrectionist mole”, etc., all from John’s third-person perspective. The castoffs do get transportation to live on a free planet, but not because John has sympathy for their perspective, but because he feels responsibility for them. This whole thing is doubly insane to me since Denning doesn’t even explain why the insurrectionists are supposed to be villains. In the first book he says that they want independence because the UNSC is corrupt — that seems pretty damn fair to me. The shift in ideologies from Silent Storm to Oblivion is staggering and disappointing.
Honestly what good there is in this book is really good, but there’s just so little of it. The rest of the book is drawn-out action scenes and pointless political commentary. I don’t feel like this book really added anything substantial to the Halo cannon or even John’s character. My recommendation would be to read Silent Storm and skip this one.
This novel was primarily action-based, with small breaks for interpersonal plotlines. There were many things that were done well, but none of them had any time to develop or conclude in a meaningful way. Sadly, this book is immensely overshadowed by its predecessor. But let’s talk about the good parts first.
From just the two novels I’ve read by Troy Denning (this one and Silent Storm), I can pretty clearly identify what his strengths and weaknesses are. He’s equally fantastic with dialogue and drama, and the prose which focus on a character’s internal monologue is also great, albeit not as good as the former two traits; he’s not so great with non-action descriptive prose. The introduction of the castoffs brilliantly highlights how amazing Denning is at writing dialogue; each character is distinct and we get a feel for their characterization through their words. The accompanying drama, that these kids’ parents were purposefully marooned on the planet, is tactfully introduced and explained (though, as we’ll get to, is handled extremely poorly in the long run). I was much more invested in that plot than I was with whatever mission the Spartans were sent on; a mission is an excuse for action, but the marooned children storyline has weight and depth and emotional impact.
I also loved the perspective of Nizat and his rogue holy journey. In the first book I enjoyed his perspective fine enough, but now he’s an established character with clear and logical motivations. He’s a fantastic villain because he understands what makes humanity such a powerful force, and he has to undertake his journey alone since the Hierarchs don’t believe him. There’s a fantastic line his first chapter when one of the prophets asks where to look for ONI and Nizat says, “Everywhere and nowhere. In the spirits that haunt the battlefields. I cannot say.” In the first book we got the Covenant’s perspective, in Oblivion we get Nizat’s.
Speaking of Nizat, his journey is a powerful reminder of the dangers of fundamentalism. He believes wholeheartedly in his religion, even if he doesn’t believe in the prophets in charge, that he’s willing to die happy knowing others will take on his command. It’s a grim reminder at what fundamentalism does to a person.
The first major downside to this book, of course, is the action. This is a personal thing and it’s the same issue I had with Silent Storm; because everything else in this book is so amazing, the action feels like it’s distracting from the story. But this book is like 80%+ action, which feels excessive even for a Halo book. There’s not enough time to get character reactions from the unique situations they’ve been put in, and character interactions are kept to a minimum. Silent Storm had quite a lot of action, but it was balanced well.
Another downside to this book is the politics. The castoffs present a complex and nuanced perspective of the war and the UNSC, much like Nyeto in Silent Storm. But unlike the previous book, their perspective isn’t explored. John and Blue Team don’t have to question the status quo or look inward and do some soul searching. The language used toward insurrectionists is wholly negative; “radical” “traitor” “insurrectionist mole”, etc., all from John’s third-person perspective. The castoffs do get transportation to live on a free planet, but not because John has sympathy for their perspective, but because he feels responsibility for them. This whole thing is doubly insane to me since Denning doesn’t even explain why the insurrectionists are supposed to be villains. In the first book he says that they want independence because the UNSC is corrupt — that seems pretty damn fair to me. The shift in ideologies from Silent Storm to Oblivion is staggering and disappointing.
Honestly what good there is in this book is really good, but there’s just so little of it. The rest of the book is drawn-out action scenes and pointless political commentary. I don’t feel like this book really added anything substantial to the Halo cannon or even John’s character. My recommendation would be to read Silent Storm and skip this one.
November 13, 2023
Another Master Chief story, this book takes place seven weeks after its prequel, Silent Storm. John and his Blue Team make another attempt to capture a Covenant frigate in hopes of turning the tide of the Human-Covenant war that started more than a year ago at the time of these events. The only thing is, it requires returning to the place where Blue Team previously failed to capture a Covenant frigate—the almost literal hellhole of a planet called Netherop, so they know it’s a trap, but it’s not an opportunity than can ignore. So, they go for it, while a disgraced Sangheili fleetmaster aims to strike a very specific, fatal blow to the humans in hopes of redemption, both militarily and spiritually.
The fleet commander in question got me thinking about the beauty of Lutheran theology. One of the things I like about the Halo books is that they give you deeper looks into the alien cultures of the Covenant, especially the Sangheili, or Elites. I’ve always thought this for a while now, but the Sangheili, in case you don’t know, take a lot of pride in their accomplishments, especially military accomplishments. Sangheili society is a stratocracy, which is a government run by the military, which is also how human society essentially functions with the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command. Anyway, this virtue of military achievement in Sangheili culture has found itself integrated with Covenant theology. Failure of any kind is unacceptable, and rarely is it forgivable. So, when the Sangheili lose any kind of battle, it comes with great shame and in order to redeem themselves, they must perform some great work.
The Covenant religion and theocracy, then, run on a works-righteousness framework. The Covenant refer to their religion as “the Path.” “The Path of Oblivion” is mentioned a couple times in the book. Basically what this means is that if the Hierarchs determine you’re an infidel or unbeliever, you walk the Path of Oblivion, whereas the faithful proceed to the “One Freedom.” I won’t say much else about it because there isn’t really much written about the Path of Oblivion, but the aforementioned fleetmaster’s only hope of redemption is to redeem himself through a grand work in the Human-Covenant war.
This is works-righteousness at its finest, and it’s rather Catholic of the Covenant. At the Fourth Lateran Council in 1512, the Catholic Church required a full enumeration of sins. The priest pronounces absolution, but in order for that forgiveness to be completed, the priest prescribes satisfactions, such as X number of Hail Mary’s, making a pilgrimage, working at a soup kitchen, whatever. As Lutherans, this is absurd. We say Christ has already made full satisfaction for your sins on the cross, as St. John wrote, “He is the propitiation [which means satisfaction] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). So, for the Lutheran, when the pastor by the stead and command of Jesus Christ pronounces the Word of Christ, “I forgive you all your sins,” it is so, because Christ already made full satisfaction; to say otherwise is to undermine the work of Christ and, quite honestly, is borderline blasphemy. As He Himself said on the cross, “It is finished.” It’s finished! What satisfaction could we possibly make that Christ hasn’t already done a million times over on the cross?
I guess this is a long way of saying the Sangheili need Jesus, lol. But in all seriousness, it’s a good reminder for the Christian reader that when we do fail, we don’t need to rely on our satisfaction or merits for redemption because the Risen One has already merited redemption for us, which He gifts to us by faith.
If I could give one nit-picky critique of the book, it’s the same reason as the previous one, Silent Storm, which I didn’t mention in my review. At times, I found it difficult picturing the scenes Denning described. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that I found myself lost at times in the wold building. Thus, my true rating is 4.5 stars.
The fleet commander in question got me thinking about the beauty of Lutheran theology. One of the things I like about the Halo books is that they give you deeper looks into the alien cultures of the Covenant, especially the Sangheili, or Elites. I’ve always thought this for a while now, but the Sangheili, in case you don’t know, take a lot of pride in their accomplishments, especially military accomplishments. Sangheili society is a stratocracy, which is a government run by the military, which is also how human society essentially functions with the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command. Anyway, this virtue of military achievement in Sangheili culture has found itself integrated with Covenant theology. Failure of any kind is unacceptable, and rarely is it forgivable. So, when the Sangheili lose any kind of battle, it comes with great shame and in order to redeem themselves, they must perform some great work.
The Covenant religion and theocracy, then, run on a works-righteousness framework. The Covenant refer to their religion as “the Path.” “The Path of Oblivion” is mentioned a couple times in the book. Basically what this means is that if the Hierarchs determine you’re an infidel or unbeliever, you walk the Path of Oblivion, whereas the faithful proceed to the “One Freedom.” I won’t say much else about it because there isn’t really much written about the Path of Oblivion, but the aforementioned fleetmaster’s only hope of redemption is to redeem himself through a grand work in the Human-Covenant war.
This is works-righteousness at its finest, and it’s rather Catholic of the Covenant. At the Fourth Lateran Council in 1512, the Catholic Church required a full enumeration of sins. The priest pronounces absolution, but in order for that forgiveness to be completed, the priest prescribes satisfactions, such as X number of Hail Mary’s, making a pilgrimage, working at a soup kitchen, whatever. As Lutherans, this is absurd. We say Christ has already made full satisfaction for your sins on the cross, as St. John wrote, “He is the propitiation [which means satisfaction] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). So, for the Lutheran, when the pastor by the stead and command of Jesus Christ pronounces the Word of Christ, “I forgive you all your sins,” it is so, because Christ already made full satisfaction; to say otherwise is to undermine the work of Christ and, quite honestly, is borderline blasphemy. As He Himself said on the cross, “It is finished.” It’s finished! What satisfaction could we possibly make that Christ hasn’t already done a million times over on the cross?
I guess this is a long way of saying the Sangheili need Jesus, lol. But in all seriousness, it’s a good reminder for the Christian reader that when we do fail, we don’t need to rely on our satisfaction or merits for redemption because the Risen One has already merited redemption for us, which He gifts to us by faith.
If I could give one nit-picky critique of the book, it’s the same reason as the previous one, Silent Storm, which I didn’t mention in my review. At times, I found it difficult picturing the scenes Denning described. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that I found myself lost at times in the wold building. Thus, my true rating is 4.5 stars.
May 13, 2023
Oh lord, there was a strong staggering period when each and every Halo book I read were absolute bangers and the last time I felt disappointed by a Halo book was the second book of the Forerunner Saga, Primordium and that was like last year and then I read this which I feel is on par with the Primordium. There are a lot of issues with this book man considering this is the sequel to Silent Storm which is an EXCELLENT Halo book.
How do you write a sequel to Silent Storm which was an action packed, gritty and filled with suspense and thrill which makes you turn pages only to find out a twist after twist in the story? You might answer, take those same elements and amplify it and add some more elements to it such as a good look into the antagonist side of the story which was briefly touched upon in Silent Storm. Now that would be a banger sequel seriously but from the above, Oblivion only does good on the antagonist story.
Silent Storm's scope was large, seriously large where it dealt with so many missions and activities and I was expecting same level of scope with Oblivion as it is marginally more pages than Silent Storm but I was disappointed it was not. With how grand the story Silent Storm was, Oblivion's story is very restrictive and just very long for no reason at all and feels like a spinoff or dare I say a DLC to Silent Storm rather than Part 2 or a sequel to it. It only involves one mission and with that, the scope is just very minimized. Now that wouldn't be much of a problem if this book covered Humans and The Covenant (aliens) side of story properly without any filler but it just told half a good story, particularly for The Covenant because the human's side of story just sucked.
I appreciate the effort put into humanizing Master Chief and the Spartan Fireteam Blue with the story literally making them babysitters, a lot of it did not make sense at all. The castoffs were annoying, super annoying and their interaction with the Blue Team was super annoying too with the Spartans making jokes with them, it just did not work. Also, Petrov's character is just downright someone I would kill lmao. Just extremely annoying. Master Chief, even though he was the sanest of all fell to the same problems of an attempt to make him human. I loved Halo Infinite's way of humanizing Chief but this was just annoying man. I was rooting for the aliens more because their story was really intriguing and presented some good lore about them!
The other parts such as combat and the militaristic decisions and everything else was great. As I said for Silent Storm, for those parts only if you remove all the Halo lore and characteristics, this would be a book about the US military operation in Afghanistan.
Now Denning is working on a new Halo book named Outcasts and I hope he nails that story because I know he can write a good Halo story but this book certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.
How do you write a sequel to Silent Storm which was an action packed, gritty and filled with suspense and thrill which makes you turn pages only to find out a twist after twist in the story? You might answer, take those same elements and amplify it and add some more elements to it such as a good look into the antagonist side of the story which was briefly touched upon in Silent Storm. Now that would be a banger sequel seriously but from the above, Oblivion only does good on the antagonist story.
Silent Storm's scope was large, seriously large where it dealt with so many missions and activities and I was expecting same level of scope with Oblivion as it is marginally more pages than Silent Storm but I was disappointed it was not. With how grand the story Silent Storm was, Oblivion's story is very restrictive and just very long for no reason at all and feels like a spinoff or dare I say a DLC to Silent Storm rather than Part 2 or a sequel to it. It only involves one mission and with that, the scope is just very minimized. Now that wouldn't be much of a problem if this book covered Humans and The Covenant (aliens) side of story properly without any filler but it just told half a good story, particularly for The Covenant because the human's side of story just sucked.
I appreciate the effort put into humanizing Master Chief and the Spartan Fireteam Blue with the story literally making them babysitters, a lot of it did not make sense at all. The castoffs were annoying, super annoying and their interaction with the Blue Team was super annoying too with the Spartans making jokes with them, it just did not work. Also, Petrov's character is just downright someone I would kill lmao. Just extremely annoying. Master Chief, even though he was the sanest of all fell to the same problems of an attempt to make him human. I loved Halo Infinite's way of humanizing Chief but this was just annoying man. I was rooting for the aliens more because their story was really intriguing and presented some good lore about them!
The other parts such as combat and the militaristic decisions and everything else was great. As I said for Silent Storm, for those parts only if you remove all the Halo lore and characteristics, this would be a book about the US military operation in Afghanistan.
Now Denning is working on a new Halo book named Outcasts and I hope he nails that story because I know he can write a good Halo story but this book certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.
November 14, 2021
I haven't got any Xbox platform before coz I'm a Nintendo kid at the beginning of my video game life & I also play PlayStation Sega and I sometimes play the Microsoft Xbox with my cousin but I'm not much into console wars. So just enjoy playing heaps of games like old school PlayStation Sega Atari Nintendo games as well as PC phones arcades and of course a lot of Xbox games. And show your future kids some retro gaming
I got a whole TON of Halo books and only 1 Gears Of War book sooooooo... I'll have to find some more from various op shops soon
I'm also writing this review to support the team at Xbox and those who played Xbox for Week Of Xbox to celebrate 20 years of Xbox like the original Xbox the release of Halo Combat Evolved that's also 20 years old the success of the Xbox 360 followed by Fable Gears Of War the Xbox One Rare's very own Sea Of Thieves and the latest Xbox Series X & S consoles making it a true successor to Sega. Sometimes there are some let downs like the red ring of death the Kinect games the Call Of Duty spoilers at E3 and some failed Rare games like Grabbed By The Ghoulies Perfect Dark Zero Kinect Sports and... oh god especially Banjo-Kazooie Nuts N Bolts. But the Xbox has gone strong with staff members publishers like Activision Capcom and Ubisoft Microsoft owned subsidiaries like 343 Industries Epic Games Rare Mojang and Double Fine developers that were once owned by Microsoft like Bungie for the original Halo games and of course the fans
So a huge congrats to the Xbox team for their 20 year journey
While it may have explicit themes like mild language and little character development Troy Denning's writing is quite good while the action is also good however it doesn't feel like a Master Chief story and a proper story that isn't rush would be great
Overall it's worth a shot and it can be a must read for any Xbox or Halo fan
And I hope you enjoy playing Halo Infinite on Windows Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
I got a whole TON of Halo books and only 1 Gears Of War book sooooooo... I'll have to find some more from various op shops soon
I'm also writing this review to support the team at Xbox and those who played Xbox for Week Of Xbox to celebrate 20 years of Xbox like the original Xbox the release of Halo Combat Evolved that's also 20 years old the success of the Xbox 360 followed by Fable Gears Of War the Xbox One Rare's very own Sea Of Thieves and the latest Xbox Series X & S consoles making it a true successor to Sega. Sometimes there are some let downs like the red ring of death the Kinect games the Call Of Duty spoilers at E3 and some failed Rare games like Grabbed By The Ghoulies Perfect Dark Zero Kinect Sports and... oh god especially Banjo-Kazooie Nuts N Bolts. But the Xbox has gone strong with staff members publishers like Activision Capcom and Ubisoft Microsoft owned subsidiaries like 343 Industries Epic Games Rare Mojang and Double Fine developers that were once owned by Microsoft like Bungie for the original Halo games and of course the fans
So a huge congrats to the Xbox team for their 20 year journey
While it may have explicit themes like mild language and little character development Troy Denning's writing is quite good while the action is also good however it doesn't feel like a Master Chief story and a proper story that isn't rush would be great
Overall it's worth a shot and it can be a must read for any Xbox or Halo fan
And I hope you enjoy playing Halo Infinite on Windows Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
October 16, 2022
Dull, repetitive, and entirely without purpose. There are elements here key to the Halo universe we have seen explored elsewhere, but this novel fails to add anything to these, nor does it explore them as well. Far too often, this book falls into telling rather than showing.
The prose is simple and the dialogue is just tedious. The editing is sufficient to remove basic spelling and grammatical errors, but not enough to remove repetitive phrases. For example, within three or so pages the narrative reminds the reader four times that 'the enemy commander is better than most', as well as reminding the reader throughout the novel that 'aliens think differently than humans'.
The action sequences are not much better, nor do they progress the narrative. Most important deaths or events are told of through characters informing eachother, rather than the narrative itself. The Halo novels are best when they focus on exploration and drama. I don't understand why so many of the novels fixate on gunfights; save the action for the videogames.
The story itself just seems purposeless and undecided. No single element is focused on and developed well. There is also a bizarre, comedic tone shift towards the very end of the novel.
In a franchise with as many novels as Halo has, there are bound to be flops. This is one of them.
The prose is simple and the dialogue is just tedious. The editing is sufficient to remove basic spelling and grammatical errors, but not enough to remove repetitive phrases. For example, within three or so pages the narrative reminds the reader four times that 'the enemy commander is better than most', as well as reminding the reader throughout the novel that 'aliens think differently than humans'.
The action sequences are not much better, nor do they progress the narrative. Most important deaths or events are told of through characters informing eachother, rather than the narrative itself. The Halo novels are best when they focus on exploration and drama. I don't understand why so many of the novels fixate on gunfights; save the action for the videogames.
The story itself just seems purposeless and undecided. No single element is focused on and developed well. There is also a bizarre, comedic tone shift towards the very end of the novel.
In a franchise with as many novels as Halo has, there are bound to be flops. This is one of them.
May 25, 2025
I’m going to write more about this book than I should, but here goes: I’ve enjoyed the Halo series since I was a kid, and I enjoy reading some of the novels because it feels like the authors have grown up with the series’ audience. This book missed the mark on what I like the most about Halo:
1. Lore about extinct alien civilizations. This has none of it.
2. Ethics in the face of an existential crisis: this book didn’t have anyone questioning the use of super soldiers or sentient AI.
3. Imperial blowback: this maybe had a bit of it - marooned human pirates and traitorous aliens both pushing against the authorities that hold them down, but it was too little to really mean anything.
4. Cool action set pieces: I think this should be what Troy Denning is best at, but I found myself getting confused part of the time. I couldn’t tell who was fighting where or in pursuit of what target, and I would lose track of what the setting looked like as the novel shifted from battle scene to battle scene.
I did see Denning’s writing improve; this book was much better at the sentence level than Silent Storm. The problem is mainly to do with my fourth point. I couldn’t tell what was happening much of the time, and found myself rereading action scenes that should otherwise be fast paced and fun.
1. Lore about extinct alien civilizations. This has none of it.
2. Ethics in the face of an existential crisis: this book didn’t have anyone questioning the use of super soldiers or sentient AI.
3. Imperial blowback: this maybe had a bit of it - marooned human pirates and traitorous aliens both pushing against the authorities that hold them down, but it was too little to really mean anything.
4. Cool action set pieces: I think this should be what Troy Denning is best at, but I found myself getting confused part of the time. I couldn’t tell who was fighting where or in pursuit of what target, and I would lose track of what the setting looked like as the novel shifted from battle scene to battle scene.
I did see Denning’s writing improve; this book was much better at the sentence level than Silent Storm. The problem is mainly to do with my fourth point. I couldn’t tell what was happening much of the time, and found myself rereading action scenes that should otherwise be fast paced and fun.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2020
Disclosure, I won this book from Goodreads and have been asked for a review.
I guess I didn't realize there was a first book "Silent Storm" otherwise I would have waited and read it first (I hate reading books out of sequence, but I didn't so there). I have read Troy's work in other series so I was glad when I won. This book is pretty good and I really enjoyed it. From what I can tell the characters have been continued and they are good. The story picks up in mid war and having never followed Halo anything on xbox or any other box, book, movie or such I found the story ripping right from the start and the action continues pretty much non-stop the whole way. I'm going to find the first book and read it and see how this war got started. Well, that there is my opinion/review. No I don't like telling about the book because it ruins it. It's a good space opera type book so I recommend it. I think that it is good for young adults too. No bad language or sexual stuff that typically clogs up a good book.
Enjoy.
I guess I didn't realize there was a first book "Silent Storm" otherwise I would have waited and read it first (I hate reading books out of sequence, but I didn't so there). I have read Troy's work in other series so I was glad when I won. This book is pretty good and I really enjoyed it. From what I can tell the characters have been continued and they are good. The story picks up in mid war and having never followed Halo anything on xbox or any other box, book, movie or such I found the story ripping right from the start and the action continues pretty much non-stop the whole way. I'm going to find the first book and read it and see how this war got started. Well, that there is my opinion/review. No I don't like telling about the book because it ruins it. It's a good space opera type book so I recommend it. I think that it is good for young adults too. No bad language or sexual stuff that typically clogs up a good book.
Enjoy.
January 24, 2021
An interesting tale that follows Silent Storm. Where Silent Storm focused on the capable but green Spartans being accepted by the veterans of the UNSC; Oblivion focused on the difficulties of understanding the Covenant and their tactics. The story has Blue Team once again try and capture a Covenant ship. They return to the planet Netherop and after an incompetent insertion they have to hoof it to the crashed cruiser. Where after an unsuspected encounter with "Castoffs" they fight there way off the planet. All the while the Covenant are enacting their own plan to take down ONI.
Which ensues a lot if confusion as both parties try and understand what the other is doing. This story is enjoyable with a lot if interesting moments, but it is very confusing at times. I had quite a bit of trouble visualizing the layout of a lot of scenes or understanding the reasoning for a characters decision or action.
When the story came to an end I wasn't even sure what the real gain was with this one. I mean it was a cool mission but its additions to Halo Lore are a bit thin.
Which ensues a lot if confusion as both parties try and understand what the other is doing. This story is enjoyable with a lot if interesting moments, but it is very confusing at times. I had quite a bit of trouble visualizing the layout of a lot of scenes or understanding the reasoning for a characters decision or action.
When the story came to an end I wasn't even sure what the real gain was with this one. I mean it was a cool mission but its additions to Halo Lore are a bit thin.
November 20, 2025
I really wanted to enjoy this one, but I ended up having to put it down about two-thirds in. The book opens strong with some solid action and momentum, but the moment the story lands on Netherop, everything slows to a crawl. The pacing becomes incredibly sluggish, and most of what unfolds there is just dull.
The abandoned children subplot didn’t hook me at all, and the side characters felt flat and forgettable. It’s frustrating because Halo has so much potential for interesting stakes and world-building, but nothing here ever feels tense, urgent, or engaging. Even the idea of seeing a younger, more impatient, less-polished Master Chief, something that should be fun, can’t save the overall experience. By the time I realized whatever the book was building toward wasn’t going to be worth the grind, I had to tap out. Hopefully the next installment grabs me more than this one did.
The abandoned children subplot didn’t hook me at all, and the side characters felt flat and forgettable. It’s frustrating because Halo has so much potential for interesting stakes and world-building, but nothing here ever feels tense, urgent, or engaging. Even the idea of seeing a younger, more impatient, less-polished Master Chief, something that should be fun, can’t save the overall experience. By the time I realized whatever the book was building toward wasn’t going to be worth the grind, I had to tap out. Hopefully the next installment grabs me more than this one did.
January 6, 2021
A surprising slog
I generally love Troy Denning’s work. The previous Halo book in this trilogy was great and he wrote some of my favorite Star Wars books of all time. But this one just goes nowhere. The terrain descriptions are messy and jumbled, using esoteric terms over and over again. The main planet they are on is not well described despite the lengthy attempts. The antagonist’s mission makes no sense in the Halo lore as his goals are far fetched and his actions don’t fit the “Elites” as depicted in the novels. The action scenes are great but that doesn’t make this book worth while. I haven’t read book 3 yet but I can’t fathom skipping this book will hurt. Avoid if you can.
I generally love Troy Denning’s work. The previous Halo book in this trilogy was great and he wrote some of my favorite Star Wars books of all time. But this one just goes nowhere. The terrain descriptions are messy and jumbled, using esoteric terms over and over again. The main planet they are on is not well described despite the lengthy attempts. The antagonist’s mission makes no sense in the Halo lore as his goals are far fetched and his actions don’t fit the “Elites” as depicted in the novels. The action scenes are great but that doesn’t make this book worth while. I haven’t read book 3 yet but I can’t fathom skipping this book will hurt. Avoid if you can.
February 16, 2021
As a big fan of the Halo franchise I was slightly disappointed in this book. On the positive side, Denning as always does a great job setting up all the characters involved with the story especially on the covenant side. Similar to in Shadows of Reach, I was constantly looking forward to the chapters that switched to their point of view. On the other side I didn’t really see much point in this book. The aspects of it being early in the covenant war were interesting but not much new stuff than in Silent Storm. The plot seemed like a way to stretch out an overarching story Troy Denning is plotting throughout a lot of his Halo books and thus felt like a filler book in between more important ones in this gap between mainline games in the series. Very well written filler, but still filler.
March 26, 2025
I don't usually bother writing a review but I have massive nostalgia for the Halo franchise and finally went back as an adult to play all the games after 3. I've had such a great time playing and replaying them and I've embarked on the goal of reading all the books. I have enjoyed all of them so far...and then I had to read one written by Troy Denning. I'm not usually so blunt but this book is already worse than the last one and the reviews for the next are even less promising. A suspect he was given a page count to hit. At least I hope that explains why he spends so much time on pointless and badly written descriptions. I didn't ever expect video game based literature to be great but this is just...awful.
July 23, 2021
Troy Denning’s grasp of what makes Blue Team’s dialogue fun is the best part of this book. Being engaged in, and seeing firsthand as a reader, the adventures of Blue Team is why I first became obsessed with the story of this series. “Oblivion” is a solid entry, an okay book, but still worth a read. It earned four stars because the dialogue and combat writing was top-notch. The overall story, however, was lacking. Unlike this book’s predecessor, this story does not present a satisfying goal or outcome. It felt a bit like filler — good, fun filler, but still filler. With that being said, I’d still read more about Blue Team’s early days as long as Troy Denning is writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2022
Pretty darn good follow up to SILENT STORM in my own opinion. They once again nail the Blue Team dynamic from their wisecracking banter, to their individual abilities and even carves out more of a personal niche with their views and morality as well as their interactions with other humans, in and out of the UNSC. While this lacks other support characters like Avery Johnson, and with much less appearance from other big characters like Dr. Halsey and Admiral Cole, it makes up for it by truly fleshing out the Spartans on Blue Team. It still gives nods to characters of the past, both from SILENT STORM, and from other extended media without taking away from the main characters and plot.
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