| | |  | Audio | Home » » » Ghosts of Onyx (Halo) | | | | | | | Description: | | The Spartan-II program has gone public. Tales of super-soldiers fending off thousands of Covenant attacks have become the stuff of legend. But just how many Spartans are left? While the Master Chief defends a besieged Earth, and the myriad factions of the Covenant continue their crusade to eliminate humanity, an ultrasecret cell of the Office of Naval Intelligence known as Section Three” devises a plan to buy the UNSC vital time. They’re going to need hundreds of willing soldiers, though . . . and one more Spartan to get the job done. The planet Onyx is virtually abandoned and the perfect place to set this new plan in motion. But when the Master Chief destroys Halo, something is triggered deep within Onyx: Ancient Forerunner technology stirs, and fleets of UNSC and Covenant race to claim it to change the course of the Human-Covenant War. But this reawakened and ancient force may have plans of its own . . .
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Eric Nylund | | Publisher:
| Macmillan Audio | | Publication Date:
| February 06, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1593979835 | | Package Length:
| 5.9 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.1 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.55 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 128 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Good but not the bestJul 27, 2010
**Spoiler Warning**
The book was good at the beginning. It then started to trail off into 3 different accounts from the covenant, Spartans and then the UNSC. I didn't like the Kurt character because suddenly he takes the lead when he's been just doing training camp for kid Spartans while the other Spartan 2s with real combat experience all those years take a side role. That's similar to a new officer with absolutely no experience taking command of an experienced fighting group. They still have to follow orders though. However, Kurt and his S2 buddies have been friends for a while (so it seems) and I wouldn't expect his power-tripping on Fred to have gone as smoothly as the book described. That would at least cause some low morale issues or some kind of dialogue about it.
Also, Kurt sounds like the kind of guy to make bad decisions because of his pride. Like his decision to put in that illegal substance into the S3s. An overly aggressive soldier may ignore command to satisfy his aggressive decision making process. That's why they mostly look for collected individuals for SEAL. If you can't control your emotions, you can't do teamwork properly. The book sounded like a wet-dream for power-tripping type personalities where all the subordinates follow along dancing and inspired by the persons in question and most of their decision go off without a hitch and more than that, have outcomes that paint the person as a hero. Eric Nylund has made other good books but this one wasn't as good as those others ones in my opinion.
 Sad truthJul 26, 2010
It is a sad truth this book is not available to Australian kindle users, Eric you write great books - why shut them away from the world???.
 This Really Needed More Balance...Jul 03, 2010
OK... you've probably read all the flashy reviews on this one. So I won't bother showering it with overwhelming praise. Let's get down to the dirt:
This title started off strong. The intro [Prologue] takes place in the future, where an orbital drop, ODST style, takes place. A bunch of outnumbered Spartan-III warriors strike a covenant refinery-type structure, in what I'd tag as a fantastic battle. Some kid named Tom leads the pack. Great scenes...but you'd expect the rest of the book--which starts in chapter 1 with a flash back into the past, showing the commissioning /experiences of the Spartan-III program--to be just as strong.
Sadly, the story does not deliver as you'd expect. In my opinion, this intro was the best part of the whole story.
Tom's training days, along with his relationships to a few other kid Spartans is shown as you read on. Good, but nothing in depth there. You can tell he's destined to be an "Alpha-Male" character.
As you read on, a lot of attention is given to a female scientist that worked on the original Spartan program [called Dr. Halsey], and to another guy, named Kurt, a veteran Spartan. But you never get to KNOW them or their true characters, in the 377 pages. It feels like they're standing around, reading a teleprompter or something; and some of the actions/decisions they take are not really "sound".
Cool real time combat strategies, battling with less than sufficient weaponry in comparison to the foes, and lots of self-sacrifice takes place, upon a seemingly uninhabited planet named Onyx. I particularly liked the research data presented on that world and its rich subterranean minerals, which is why bad guys want it. Plus there appears to be buried alien technology there, almost fusing what I'd call Aztec-style constructs and nanotechnology into one lethal sentient entity.
Yes there was a space battle, with Covenant warships vs. UNSC battle cruisers. And that was ok; it almost seemed disconnected from the rest of the ongoing Spartan-III development.
Like others have pointed out, this sort of "random battle thingy" leads to too many plots in one single story line. Feels like you're being dragged off the main course over and over again.
But still, if you want strong character development, high intrigue, and "a balanced tale that does not feel like it is being Forced into the dictated mental constraints of the XBOX HALO property owners", you will not find it in this book.
Its almost like... playing a video game, and the cut-scenes force you to do stuff that seems foolish to your independent mind, but you drag along, and vanquish the obstacles ahead of you... and get to the end, and find out... oh-my-damn, there is no end...
If this where a movie and I saw it, I'd want my money back.
Don't get me wrong, the author, Eric Nylund, is a pro. He has written other outstanding Halo/Non-Halo stuff. But I'm certain he did not have creative freedom to give you and epic sci-fi adventure worth remembering in this one.
 great serviceJun 29, 2010
the service on the purchase was great - highly recommend the site to anyone looking to purchase books.
 Ghosts of Onyx (Halo)Jun 17, 2010
Came fast and the product was in excellent condition like what it said. Happy with the product.
| | |
|
