Colin Richard
1-2
4/25/2010
Halo: Contact Harvest Letter Essay
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I read the book Halo: Contact Harvest Joseph Staten. I rated it an 8.5 out of 10 stars for many, many reasons. This is a sci-fi book based on the game, Halo. This book is part of a series of six books so far. Anyway, this book, like always, has some ups and some downs.
To start, I was surprised by how often the author would transition from one character to another. There were at least three major characters that would be the subject of the chapter a lot, and countless other characters that would own only a chapter or two. The author had a habit of retelling one event at least two separate times to add some character development in. It does help clarify many details, though. It adds to the meat of the book, the hook that keeps me reading it.
The structure of this book is based on the story of a war in the 26th century between a collection of alien races(Covenant) and the United Nations Space Command (UNSC). The UNSC had colonized many worlds and then, one day, the Covenant showed up and attacked the world Harvest. This book is about the battle to save Harvest and the story of a marine named Avery Johnson, an artificial intelligence called Sif, and a lowly official in the Covenant named Dadab. It certainly helps to explain things a little better when you have two accounts of something. It also helps to make the book far more interesting when you can hear exactly what is going on in each faction. A MAJOR plot twist halfway through the book is enough to earn it my opinion the award of being a great book.
I rated this book an 8.5 out of 10 because most of the book was very exciting and interesting, there were several dull moments I could care less about. The rating would have been much lower had it not included a very interesting side plot about a mysterious ancient alien race that suddenly disappeared from the galaxy, who the Covenant called the Forerunners. Spoiler alert! This side story is the major plot twist that completely changed my view on the book. A large part of this is the only reason the Covenant stayed together is because they practically worshiped the Forerunners and they discover something about them that would destroy the Covenant.
The character development in this book was amazing. Almost all the characters seemed like they could actually be real people. The character development was very heavily tied to the plot. Whenever there was a twist in the plot, it would bring out something new in a few characters and change your view of them. That is only part of the reasons which make this such a good book.
A quote that really stood out to me was "But in the dark years of war to come, he would often think of this moment, light a cigar, and smile. For now Avery knew he had changed course, and at last felt proud to be the soldier so many would need him to be." That quote stood out to me because it showed how powerful the character development was in this story and set up, as a prequel, to hook the reader onto the "next" book in the series.
The genre of this book is most definitely science fiction because there are several new technologies and is based on a future contact with aliens. This book is not too sci-fi, though. Several times I had to remind myself that it was not based in present day but yet in 2524. There are other moments of intense sci-fi. It is sort of like the just right blend of sci-fi-ness and a general fiction, present day action book.
Again, this book is very good, like I said a few times, I think. It kind of creates its own little universe, almost believable. To be a good book, it has to be the kind that creates its own little bubble, its own little universe, and pulls you into it. It needs to have an epic storyline. Lastly, it has to make it impossible for you to put it down. Halo fit that criteria for me, so in my opinion it is a great book.
Your student,
Colin R.
