Halo: Legacy of Onyx

I felt like the opening section was a little misleading because you think it'll carry that tone throughout the rest of the book, but it's more of a teenagers-fighting-bad-guys movie. Nothing is wrong with that, it's actually quite fun and I love when we look into the lives of civilians affected by the war.

Buy this book only if you are so hard up for Halo lore that anything will do (like I was).Here's the bottom line: this book is mostly the story of a group of kids--yes, kids--who unbelievably manage to save the shield world Trevelyan (known as Onyx to most) from both an attack by rogue Sangheili and--wait for it--a Guardian that's been hiding on Onyx.What, you say? Why would a Guardian be inside a Forerunner shield world when Halo 5 established they were used to keep order in the "lower systems" (non-Forerunner) that were under Forerunner control? Why would it be put inside their most massive, secure facility inside the galaxy? Forbeck gives an excuse of it being there to monitor initial construction, but that is a thin reed. A Guardian inside Onyx just makes no sense given what we know about them, but that's not the worst part of the book.The biggest failing is that one spends more than half the time reading about the internal emotional conflicts of a teen, Molly Patel, and her journey from xenophobia and downright hatred of aliens (she survived when her world was glassed and parents killed during the war) to the touching scene of hugging them as friends at the end. That's all fine and well, but this is Halo. I've read just about every Halo novel there is, and this has less action than any of them. It's not that I mind a little human interest in a Halo novel, but I do draw the line at page after weary page of internal monologue from a teenager and her teary arguments with her adoptive parents. I care about the Master Chief's emotional development. Not so much Molly Patel's.Another problem with Forbeck's book is that the adult humans he portrays are idiots. If you know anything about how Jul 'Mdama became leader of his Covenant faction, you know that he was once prisoner on Onyx (read Karen Traviss's excellent trilogy for more) and escaped by forcing a Huragok to let him go through a portal to a random location that happened to be a Sangheilli world. One might reasonably suppose that, paranoid and thorough as ONI is, the first thing it would have done would be to spare no expense on ensuring that the Huragok on Onyx locked down the portals--and if not all of them (Onyx is a big place), at least the SAME one Jul had used to escape. But no, Forbeck's grownups didn't have that brainwave, so he writes a totally implausible means for hostile forces to sneak into Onyx. That plot point can only work if ONI had a brain fart that lasted for years. Hard to believe, and even more annoying given the ending.And another thing: this book moves the ball essentially nowhere. We know basically nothing more about what happens next, after Halo 5, and we learn nothing of importance about the past. No major villains are defeated or revealed, no major heroes triumph or die. We don't even get to enjoy learning more about characters who matter, like Halsey or Mendez or Blue Team or Parangosky or Osman or Hood, or new ominous technology, and frankly we barely see the Spartans at all.What this book reads like is a teenage fiction piece that just happens to be set in the Halo universe. It is not remotely on the same level of writing quality as Eric Nylund's works, or Greg Bear's, or Traviss's. If you want to read good Halo fiction, read them.

I really enjoyed it. I know there are people who complain: not enough blood, explosions, senseless violence, blah blah. If you want to play a video game, go on ahead and get your fix, or read another book.If you want to read something that reads from the perspective of teenagers in a universe that is still recovering from war with a lot of social issues involved such as racism etc...then you will enjoy it.I like this angle. I like reading about characters who are not already super powered and military. This view point is just as important as more common Halo views from super heroes like Master Chief or ODSTs. Citizens were having their own problems trying to coexist in a new world, where aliens and humans live side by side.There is also an adorable Unngoy in this book that you will love, well, at least I did.There is never one kind of character. This book involves school scenes, familial scenes, and quirkiness of a character that I enjoyed reading about a lot. If you don't like these kinds of stories and prefer random explosions and blood splatters, look elsewhere. There are some fight scenes, but it's not continuous boom boom.I didn't mind this fact.

Let me first say that I have read all the Halo novels and graphic novels out to date; you could say that I am a little bit of Halo fanatic. After reading Legacy of Onyx, I was quite pleased. It is by no means the strongest, most riveting of the Halo novels out, but I truly appreciated the the post war species relations that this novel approaches. It encapsulates the struggles of humans, sangheili, and unggoy and how to coexist, let alone trust after years of heated war. Legacy of Onyx continues the story of Onyx, the shield world introduced in Ghosts of Onyx, and I truly enjoyed reading about some familiar faces again. As the cover indicated, the Forerunner Guardians are brought in and there are a lot of Halo 5 events tied into the novel, something that 343 is accomplishing wonderfully. One reviewer mentioned how it ruined the Kilo Five characters, just note that Kilo 5 characters are never brought up in this novel; not sure what that reviewer was talking about. Throughout the book, I kept noticing and recalling similar themes to that of Ender's Game, which is by no means a negative. Legacy of Onyx is a stellar book and I recommend picking it up!

I enjoyed reading the book. Nice to see from the perspective of a civilian.

“Halo: Legacy of Onyx” is what every tie-in novel to a popular franchise should strive to be: quickly paced, respectful to the broader narrative arc of the series, and above all, FUN. Author Matt Forbeck works the same exact magic he did previously in “Halo: New Blood” and his short “Fractures” story “Lessons Learned,” picking up stray bits of lore and other canon stories – including Karen Traviss’ “Kilo-Five” trilogy, “Ghosts of Onyx,”, and even “Halo 5” - and threading them all into his own impressive yarn. The fact that he manages to do that as well as he does, while also imbuing his story with characters we care about and stakes that we actually feel invested in, only make “Legacy of Onyx” all the more impressive an addition to the “Halo” universe.

Awesome story from the Halo Universe . If you love the Halo universe this expands on characters outside of Master Chief.Onyx is a excellent plot device and hopefully there will be many more stories to come. I am a big fan of the characters (Spartans Tom and Lucy).The author does a great job, good story that turns into a page turner and ties into events in the game Halo 5.

Came quick, in great condition and a brilliant read for any Halo fan.

Slightly disappointed. Would say one of the weakest halo novels. Some chapters were however very well written, especially the opening chapter. Felt I couldn’t get attached to the new characters in this one, in comparison to the previous novels. Storyline fits well into the halo universe, unfortunately wasn’t the novel for me. Might be just from the high bar that Karen Traviss has previously set.

A touching yet thrilling story from the eyes of a young teenager who lost so much to the covenant wars. She must struggle to adapt to living in the new age where aliens are now allies. Ties in nicely to the current Halo 4-6 trilogy!

Son loves this - arrived in good time