unforum

[Jacqueline]

possibly a dumb question with an obvious answer...

[weephun]

You can find just about everything from here: http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6438

I found the fireflies wiki to be one of the most helpful, but all the rest of the resources are excellent also.

[Anton P. Nym]

Thank you. (Link to the Fireflies Wiki in my .sig.)

As to the novels, they are good reading if you enjoyed the story of Halo and Halo 2. I'd be reluctant to recommend them as stand-alones, though, as without the wider base of background the novels themselves aren't terribly spectacular.

-- Steve thinks that ILB was probably the single most powerful story in the Haloverse.

[Phaedra]

[Jacqueline]

Okies, thanks for the link.

[Phaedra]

[Anton P. Nym]

[thebruce]

I'll second anton's comments... I found the Halo novels enjoyable, not from a literary standpoint, but for entertainment value... if you have high expectations and put a lot of value on the literary quality of novels, then you might not enjoy them unless you lower your standards just a bit... but for entertainment, hey, if you like sci-fi and you like Halo, then yeah, the novels are great...

and on a sidenote, *shameless plug* if you want to read ilovebees in novel form, bookmark the link in my sig my attempt is to get every piece of game content into the novelization, including the 'real-world' activities, alongside the game plot, and even narrating the audio transcriptions to read linearly... I'm not the most amazing writer but reading through the transcriptions as a narrative adds a unique perspective to the radio drama...

[weephun]

Heck, even new, the novels are only $5 a piece softcover. Not a bad $15 for me at all.

Very enjoyable story, but yah, somebody really needed a better editor.

[Phaedra]

[thebruce]

very good points... *shrug* I guess it's a matter of perspective, or where you put your values in determing 'excretal' work from all others

For me, when it comes to appreciating arts, I do my best to put myself in the artist's position - so regardless of technical accuracy or quality, since I can't judge if the person is being lazy or naturally can't reach a certain level - I can try to experience what the artist was trying to express. For artwork, you have to in a sense, get in the mind of the artist, either understand what they were trying to say, or otherwise immediately grasp a concept in your own way - two ways of appreciating art... for novels, as I read through, my level of expectation fluctuates as the technical quality of writing is better gauged, so that even if the writing sucks, I'll still do my best to understand from the author's POV what they're trying to express - if I can't do that, or the topic just doesn't interest me, then the book goes down... but seeing a lack of editing quality or grammatical excellence won't in itself ruin a novel for me... which is why I can say that if you like sci-fi, and don't have high expectations for quality writing in order to enjoy a novel, then you can enjoy the Halo novels... that's of course not to say that either appreciation is better than the other...

I totally agree, the Halo novels are definitely sub-par... if you're in high school, and suggested doing one of the novels in english class, the teacher might look at you, smile, and remind you to get to your next class... if you have a nice english teacher
IMO, entertainment value, very good (not amazing or top notch, but very good)... technical quality?... in less visual words, leaves much to be desired... but I've read much worse... I actually laughed a couple times when reading the Doom novels, seeing grammatical and spelling errors all over the place... but Halo did pretty well, relatively...

[Anton P. Nym]

I'll be more precise in my opinion of the novels, so that (hopefully!) folks can decide for their themselves.

PLOT: the novel plots are of average novel quality, which means they're head-and-shoulders above most tie-in novels in the market. However, be advised that there are no "gems"... plots are serviceable throughout but never gripping or shocking in and of themselves.

SETTING: the novels do a great job of filling out the military aspects of the UNSC; The Fall of Reach gives a good look at the SPARTAN program and the naval aspect of the war with the Covenant, The Flood illustrates military operations and some of the "office politics" of the Marines and the Covenant, First Strike goes into special operations and intelligence. You also learn much about the Haloverse in general, but not in great detail.

CHARACTER: wildly variable... some characters are well drawn, some are charcoal scribbles. Interestingly the Master Chief (which in the game is an "empty vessel" into which the player can pour him/herself) is the best-drawn of them all, with Cortana a close second. Most of the characters remain fairly static, though in First Strike there is some development in the Chief.

STYLE: easily the weakest aspect of the series, the novels have very few stylistic touches which often lead (most egregiously in The Flood) to repetitive prose. It is serviceable and reasonably clear, but creates no "poetry" and can most charitably be described as "bland".

If you want to learn more about the SPARTANS and the war with the Covenant, or want to see inside the Master Chief's mind, then the novels are worthwhile. Otherwise, you may want to set them aside.

-- Steve still thinks they were worth reading, but that may be because he's a major Halo fanboi. Your Milage May Vary.

[Phaedra]

[Dorkmaster]

Without getting too close to the discussion as to singe my already burned and battered wings here...

I tend to believe that anything intended as art IS art. However, there is then a distinction between legitimate/good art, and illegitimate/bad art. That line is oft ever-changing, and that's how you get around this sticky situation.

That's how Rembrandt and Picasso are artists along with those people that smear dog poop on a canvas and call it art. Do I put them all in the same category of skill or legitimacy? No way! But do I consider them both artists, unfortunately, I do. I mean, I know a lot of bad artists. But does my opinion make them less of an artist? No. But I can defintely judge the quality of the piece for myself and determine whether they legitimately deserve to be in the category of "good" artists. But the problem faced is that "good" tends to be very subjective.

So "Good" or not, we can agree that someone creating an artistic work is an artist. Do all authors create art and therefore become artists? No, because some are creating technical manuals, etc. But if the purpose is to entertain, provoke thought, or otherwise engage in a non-institutional way, then I think that is art.

But yeah... the wings enabling me to escape are quickly shriveling from the heat of this potential argument, so I'm outta here... But that's my definitions of art and of artists.

[Phaedra]