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Ghosts of Onyx (Halo #4)

by Eric S. Nylund (Goodreads Author)

4.05 · rating details · 1,730 ratings · 107 reviews

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 know...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published October 31st 2006 by Tor Books (first published 2006)

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Jan 14, 2008

Pika rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: halo

The thing about this, the fourth book into the Halo series, is that Master Chief is not the main character in "Ghosts of Onyx". I like that because in the other Halo books, many Spartans were mentioned, but none were really talked about. In this book, Eric Nylund finally tells the tale of what happened to the "MIA" (missing in action) Spartans. This was a great book and left me a bit teary at the end. It's a good thing I have this book.

"Don't yo get it? Spart...more

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Jul 28, 2011

Mike Smith rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This is the fourth book published in the Halo series, based on the video game of the same name. It would not be totally correct to say that it's a sequel to the previous book, however.

The action in this book shifts from the character known as Master Chief, the hero of the first three books, to another super-soldier called Kurt. The first part of the book involves some backstory that actually takes place during the time of the first two books. It took me a while to realize this. Every chapter...more

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Jan 31, 2011

Aaron added it · review of another edition

Fred, Linda and Will, from the previous books, have stolen human-made nukes from the Covenant. They have also stolen one of the Covenant's ships and have landed on Onyx. A team of Covenant has followed them through slipstream-time travel and has arrived on Onyx to find the Onyx drones. Meanwhile, Dr. Halsey and Kelly also get to Onyx around the same time, and it all becomes one big happy family -- for a while, that is. One of the better moments of the book is when the Blue Team re-unites with Ku...more

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Oct 05, 2010

Nick To rated it

· review of another edition

Ghost of Onyx is a sci-fi genre book, which I chose to read because I finished reading the first three Halo books so I was just continuing the story as I went along. This book is about a man named Kurt, who is a Spartan (which is this book is one of the few remaining super soldiers trained from a young age to fight against the alien race called the covenant). He was kidnapped and named M.I.A(missing in action) by very high ranked officials of the military, who needed him to train the next gener...more Ghost of Onyx is a sci-fi genre book, which I chose to read because I finished reading the first three Halo books so I was just continuing the story as I went along. This book is about a man named Kurt, who is a Spartan (which is this book is one of the few remaining super soldiers trained from a young age to fight against the alien race called the covenant). He was kidnapped and named M.I.A(missing in action) by very high ranked officials of the military, who needed him to train the next generation of Spartans known as the Spartan-III project on a planet known as Onyx which is filled with mysteries. The man responsible for funding and handling this project was one named Colonel Ackerson who at one point disliked Kurt’s Spartan-II’s because of how much it took to produce them. Kurt accepts this job and in the course of 20 years with the help of Drill Instructor Mendez who helped train Kurt and his fellow Spartan-II’s he has trained over 600 Spartan-III’s, however during the Spartans final test to be initiated into the brotherhood of Spartans something goes wrong on Onyx and its up to Kurt and his fellow Spartan-III’s to find out what’s wrong, fix it, and get off Onyx. Is it the covenant? Is it the flood? Or is it an unknown force that Kurt hasn’t confronted before? Well read it and find out!
This book is focused on man vs man, and man vs the supernatural. Man vs man because there are organizations in the book who’s purpose is to wreck havoc on human society in order to benefit themselves. However while they are doing that Man vs Supernatural is the human race versus the alien race known as the covenant which are an advanced race who’s purpose is to “glass” the human race into extinction. As well as some other threat that you will just have to find out while you read the book. Eric Nylund the man who wrote the book symbolizes our main protagonist has a Spartan. And as it says he symbolizes the Spartans in the book with Spartans in real life who were skilled warriors with exceptional abilities to fight and kill as well as get the job done. They are the worlds finest warriors of all time and in the book Eric made the Spartans the greatest soldier humans ever created.
Eric Nylund’s writing style is quite unique in a sense. Although this book is based on an xbox game, you need to be a little above average in intelligence to understand some of the terms in this book. He uses a very strong vocabulary that describes the setting in the book very well. Its like a movie is playing inside your head with every single detail exploited. You would need to understand military terms and a big understanding of chemistry.
Overall I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Halo franchise or you just need a REALLY good book to read. The book has many plot twists and if you’re a halo fan and have read the first three books you will get hit with a few surprises. Even if your not the smartest person in the world Ghosts of Onyx is filled with exciting fighting and none stop detail!
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Apr 13, 2011

Eric Class rated it

· review of another edition

Halo is a legendary game series, beloved by almost all who wield an Xbox 360 gaming system. Eric Nylund takes that love and put's it not only into book form, but goes the extra mile and makes a prequel series that explains what exactly happened before Master Chief, the title character, became the famous soldier that he was destined to become.

Ghost of Onyx is one of the last prequel books that takes place before the game starts. Humanity, who is struggling in an interstellar war against...more

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Feb 24, 2010

Michael Anderson rated it

· review of another edition

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nylund, depicts the creation of a new series of supersoldiers with the sole purpose of protecting Earth and it’s colonies against an extraterrestrial empire known as the Covenant. These soldiers, known as SPARTAN-IIIs, are designed to replace their SPARTAN-II predecessors and their occupation of defending humanity against its enemies. Following the events of the previous Halo novels, humanity is brought to the brink of defeat, and the SPARTAN’s home world of Onyx fa...moreHalo: Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nylund, depicts the creation of a new series of supersoldiers with the sole purpose of protecting Earth and it’s colonies against an extraterrestrial empire known as the Covenant. These soldiers, known as SPARTAN-IIIs, are designed to replace their SPARTAN-II predecessors and their occupation of defending humanity against its enemies. Following the events of the previous Halo novels, humanity is brought to the brink of defeat, and the SPARTAN’s home world of Onyx falls under a brutal attack from the Covenant. Amidst the defenders, Kurt-051 stands as the novel’s central protagonist as he struggles to defend himself and his allies against impossible odds. The story details many supporting characters, such as Franklin Mendez, who is responsible for the training of the SPARTAN-IIIs, as well as James Ackerson, who serves as the mastermind for the creation of the SPARTAN-III program. The Covenant establishes itself as the chief antagonist of the novel, as they continue to wage their destructive campaign against humanity. Halo: Ghosts of Onyx is a science fiction novel, and is the fourth book in the Halo series. After reading the first book in the series, I became very interested in the story, and I was eager to read the sequels to see how the plot would unfold. I am also an avid fan of the video games which the novels were based off of, and I felt that the books were able to detail the Halo universe in a way that the games could not.
The main conflict of the novel is Man vs. Supernatural, since the plot focuses on humanity’s final stand against the Covenant, which portrays itself to be omnipotent and it proves to be a nearly unstoppable force from beyond. The Covenant is also shown trying to activate Halo, an ancient, planet-sized weapon that can be used to exterminate sentient life. Focusing more on the supernatural conflict, the SPARTAN-IIIs also discover the Sentinels, a mysterious machine race that rested beneath the surface of Onyx, only to be awoken after the Covenant attack. The main theme of this story is about the horror of war, and how it affects those who are involved. The most prominent symbol in the novel is Halo itself, with its ability to destroy sentient life; humanity is forced to fight in order to prevent their Covenant foes from finding a way to activate it. Unbeknownst to the Covenant, the SPARTAN’s discover that Halo destroys any and all sentient life, even the ones who activate it. Halo proves to be a symbol representing that matter what the war, it ends up being devastating for every side involved. One motif of the story is the Sentinels themselves, who defend their home against both the human and Covenant occupiers, and they are able to show to both sides that the war’s benefits do not outweigh its cost. The Sentinels are shown in a different light later in the novel, not as dangerous enemies, but as keepers of the peace, as their name suggests. Kurt, the novel’s protagonist, represents humanity’s will to survive, even in the face of the greatest threat they had ever seen. Throughout the attack on Onyx, Kurt is devastated to see the deaths of his trainees and former teammates. However, he continues to rally the planet’s defenders in spite of this, and continues humanity’s struggle for survival. The author makes use of foreshadowing throughout the novel, to give hints of what is to come, and gives suspense to the plot. Throughout the novel, the author’s tone is somber; death is often presented as a peaceful end to the planet’s defenders, while those who continue to fight only do so in humanity’s best interests.
The author’s writing style is reminiscent of the previous Halo books, and Nylund continues to place an emphasis on adjectives to flesh out character’s appearances and give visual images in the reader’s mind. This novel in particular gives great detail to the environment, with great description of Onyx’s landscape and fauna, giving the planet its own distinct atmosphere, while still being eerily similar to Earth. I felt that the heavy emphasis on detail helped to get me more in the accustomed to the world, and the story was able to keep my interest due to the familiar environment. In contrast to the previous Halo novels, there was little dialogue between characters, however I felt that it served to give this book its own distinct mood, and created a sense of mystery. The novel’s plot was excellent as it was filled with action and detail, and it had a stunning conclusion. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes science fiction, and a hint of mystery and action in between. I feel that Halo: Ghosts of Onyx is definitely the best book in the Halo series by far, and it is definitely worth checking out.
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Apr 10, 2011

Terence rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one

Shelves: audio-books, sf-fantasy

Mindless but not very entertaining; really a rather dreadful little book. If I were reading a hardcopy I would have dropped it after about 50 pages.*

It makes one appreciate the skills of Heinlein or Haldeman (or - by hearsay, in my case - Bujold and Scalzi) when it comes to military SF. Aside from the extraordinarily clunky writing style, the greatest sin Monsieur Nylund commits is not being able to tell a story well. He has no conception of pacing (or he doesn't evidence it here). N...more

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Nov 18, 2007

Raina rated it

Shelves: advisory

This book is about a group of cyborgs called Spartans fighting to humanity from being destroyed. After a Spartan called the Master Chief destroys Halo, humans discover a planet called Onyx which contains advance technology that would turn the tide of the war against the Covenant(aliens).

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Aug 08, 2011

Casey Biernacki rated it

· review of another edition

The moment I walked in to Borders and saw that this was the new Halo book that just came out, I was intially dissapointed. I truly judged this book by its cover. I had read the previous 3 books and that was the story that I wanted. I wanted to continue the story about John, Hasley, and the other surviving Spartans. Well I sucked it up and I bought it anyways.

I was very surprised after about 4 chapters. I was captivated by the new characters (and the ways that they tied into the ...more

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Mar 13, 2011

Henry Sampson added it · review of another edition

This book tells the events of what happens to Masterchief on one of his many quests throughout the universe to stop the covenant. Masterchief is a soldier for the UNSC whos goal along with carrying around the AI Cortana is to solve the mystery behind the halo rings. These rings are an ultimate weapon that have been around for a very long time before the age of man. Masterchief has to reach these rings before the Covenant do in order to save the earth from its deadly fate of glassing. Glassin...more

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Feb 24, 2010

Mackenzie Riccardi rated it

· review of another edition

Like video games? Like Halo? Then you should read Halo, The Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nyluno which is one of many books in the halo series. This is one of the better halo books. It talks about the secret Spartan IIIs which are cheaper lighter and faster than the famous Spartan IIs. This book is a great book to read because the plot is interesting, the conflict is simple, and the writing style is easy to follow.
This book takes place between the year 2531 and 2552 in the middle of the Human-Co...moreLike video games? Like Halo? Then you should read Halo, The Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nyluno which is one of many books in the halo series. This is one of the better halo books. It talks about the secret Spartan IIIs which are cheaper lighter and faster than the famous Spartan IIs. This book is a great book to read because the plot is interesting, the conflict is simple, and the writing style is easy to follow.
This book takes place between the year 2531 and 2552 in the middle of the Human-Covenant war that started February 11, 2525. Super human soldiers called Spartan II's were created and deployed across the Human Empire. In 2531 they were made public to strengthen the Human moral in a doomed war. When word reached Colonel Ackerson he proposed to the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) to make a Spartan III program. They would be cheaper, and less armed, but have an active camo unit, and would be trained by a Spartan II. They agreed and worked to began on the creating 300 Spartan IIIs. They secretly grabbed Spartan 051 to train the new Spartan IIIs. Like all Spartans they started training at an early age and have a lot ahead of them.
The conflict is simple. It is man VS supernatural where the "supernatural" are the collection aliens called the Covenant. It always stays like this throughout the book. Whether it be "Jackals and Elites rushing from their cover" (21 Nyluno) or "Alien drones that crystallized into triangular lattices."(233). This simple conflict makes the book easy to follow and read. One theme that made the book relate to the real world was how much of a sacrifice is too much? "'Survivors...' she whispered. 'There are none'" (27). This is when all but two of the new Spartans were killed as Beta Company attacked a covenant base and the author may have related it to the war on terror. In short, the simple conflict and the relatable theme make this a good book.
This book and the rest of the halo books have the relatively the same writing style. This style is what I call the "godly" third person view. That is the narrator knows everything but it is still a third person view of the world. "Lash felt uneasy" (185) This quote shows that the narrator knows what everyone is thinking, but still talks in third person. Another thing about this and other halo books is that they don't focus on one person. They often switch between Humans and Covenant. "What Sangheili major of the Covenant would dare disobey a ship master."(189). This kind of switch between sides gives a greater understanding of what the enemies' motives are. In all, this book's style and that of all the halo books are great.
This is an excellent book to read because the plot is interesting, the conflict is simple, and the writing style is interesting and easy to follow. The constant conflict makes for an easy to follow story that go hand in hand with the writing style to make a great book. If you ever want to know more about the halo story read this book. (Note this not the first book)(less)

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Jan 28, 2008

Mark Hughes rated it

· review of another edition

Not as good as some of the others.

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Nov 08, 2011

Vince Locke rated it

· review of another edition

This book is a steaming pile of crap! It is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, huge continuity problems and an extremely immature style. It looks like fan fiction written by a freshman composition student! Okay, sure, it's genre fiction, so a certain amount of hackery is to be expected, but come on! Microsoft has all the money in the world and they can't be bothered to hire an editor? That's just offensive.

The most disappointing thing about this book is the fact that I real...more

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Nov 03, 2010

Nathan Thompson rated it

1.The book is awesome so far I am on chapter seven right now and so far the book is getting good. Hopefully later on as I read more hopefully there will be action. Untill then I'll be reading it more. the things I ddin't like about this book is that the prologe didn't get me hooked into the book untill I started to read it more then I started to read it more. The things I liked about this book is that after the prologe it gets better and kind of pulls you into the book and makes you read it all ...more

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Feb 22, 2009

Patrick, Cueva rated it

· review of another edition

The main conflict in this book is the eminent threat of total annihilate witch the "Covenant", a race of aliens seek to induce by activating halo, a ring that inhibits life and also has the potential to completely destroy the universe, and how the United Nation Space Command, "UNSC", Plan to stop them. lieutenant Kurt Ambros, a super solider strait out of the "SpartanII program" was selected to train the next generation of Spartans how to work together to complete ...more

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Oct 02, 2009

Chris Youngblood rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one

Shelves: burnworthy, reviewed

One has to be a fan of the Halo series in order to truly enjoy this book. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for this review, I'm not.

Halo is, in my opinion, nothing more than another overrated first-person shooter, glossed over with nothing more than pretty graphics and the over-again-same-again mission objectives. And with subject matter like this as its base, a book will inevitably struggle to get anywhere. And this book is no exception.

But the scarce subject mat...more

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Jun 13, 2008

Steven Hummer rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who have played Halo

Recommended to Steven by: Bro. Davis

A knowadge of the xbox games Halo 1 and Halo 2 is a must if you want to read this without that you'd be lost.
Some good action parts but there is allot of techno talk that is confusing and near the begining of the book the chapters jump forward several months in time making it hard to follow.
The story itself was kind of hard to follow Nyland made it a hard read/listen, and I wanted to just put it down but I wanted to finish it just for the sake of being able to say I finished it.
...more

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May 06, 2008

Anderson rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: advisory

This book is set during the events of Halo 2 and is centered around a group of spartans not including John (AKA the protaganist of the Halo games). This book is infact about his team mates that were left behind and never showed up in any of the games. This book focuses on the development of the Spartan III program, the next generation Spartans that were more cost efficient and easily produced but with much less life expectancy beyond one mission. Starting with the forced recruitment of Kurt (Spa...more

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Jan 10, 2008

Dylan Badyna rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: someone who likes fantasy or action books.

This is a great book. You would love it if you like action all throughout the book. In this book there are 8 main characters, these are Ash, Will, Kurt, CPO Mendez, Kelly, Fred, Tom, Lucy.

Ash is a Spartan 3 from gamma company, he is th leader of Team saber he has almost lead his teeam to top honors when the sentinels attacked. Will is one of the remaining Spartan 2s, now with blue team after the loss of Kurt and Sam. Kurt is a spartan 2 that was previously part of Blue team before h...more

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May 21, 2011

Andre Lawrence rated it

· review of another edition

Ghost of Onyx tell the tale of the UNSC's desperate search for cheap, disposable and effective supersoldiers as a replacement for the dwindling Spartan-IIs. They find a solution by creating the Spartan-IIIs, cheap and effective these new soldiers are as good as their predecessors but have high casualty rates. When the planet they are trained on comes under Covenant attack the small number left try to fight off their attackers only to realize that the Covenant are searching for something under On...more

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Jun 07, 2007

Airy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Taking a new spin on things, Nylund returns to a story element that worked very well in his first Halo novel. The Spartan III program in Ghosts of Onyx not only mirrors the Spartan II program in Fall of Reach, but develops the concept even further by expanding the super-soldier training program, with lost Spartan, Kurt, in charge.

Kurt becomes an incredibly well-developed character in this novel, almost setting himself apart from the other Spartans with his unique personality. The act...more

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Sep 26, 2009

Matt rated it

· review of another edition

OK, so my friend had the first 4 books so I read them all super quick - whatever. This was the best of the series so far primarily because Master Chief isn't in it at all. This book occurs at the same time of the 2nd game. I don't want to go into too much detail, but this is a completely original story of different secret black ops converging together and Dr. Halsey and the other Spartans (yes there are a few others) finding other forerunner complexes.

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Apr 12, 2011

Todd Mitchell rated it

· review of another edition

More progress on my journey through the Halo novels. This was another installment by Eric Nylund which means it's among those that stand head and shoulders above the other books.

This one was good. I like any of the books that don't focus too intently on the curiously boring Master Chief. Instead this follows Teams of Spartans from two generations leading a desperate mission against insurmountable odds. I can dig it.

On to the next!

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Aug 17, 2009

Jesse Booth rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 24, 2011

Iskreads rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 6th-mohan

I thought this book was very nice. It had a heart stopping plot and kept me floored to the ground even though i read it twice it still made me excited and get adrenaline coursing through my veins. I loved the series and I choose this book because I loved its whole production of items and so I decided to read this book. This is a sci-fi and I wish i could get my hands on the rest of these phenomenal book.

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Jul 16, 2010

Adam rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Halo fans everywhere

Shelves: sci-fi

As an avid Halo fan, I have to say that this book is unreservedly AWESOME! Anyone remotely familiar with the working of the games will find themselves enthralled by the attention-gripping, covenant-shredding, armor-piercing rounds of entertainment that explode from this later edition to the Halo saga (though I have to say, I definitely prefer the Spartan-IIs and good ole John-117: give me a MJOLNIR suit any day).
The downside to the high-paced action-packed thriller is an unfortunate lack o...more

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Feb 18, 2009

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Halo fans

Shelves: borrowed-books, fiction-scifi

Probably the weak link in the Halo book series, if you ignore The Flood. Still, it's a good tale, and covers the path of Dr Halsey and Kelly-087 after First Strike.

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Jan 09, 2012

Yareli rated it

· review of another edition

I really like this book. A friend loaned it to me saying I'd like it, but seeing as I've never played the games before I wasn't so sure. Let me tell you I liked it a lot. Very Sci fi. And the constant struggle between what is worth saving more sometimes made it much more interesting. I do have to say that it helps reading the past books which would clear a few things up. Overall awesome.

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Dec 08, 2008

Stefan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-and-alt-history

Not as good as First strike, got a bit fragmented and confusing in portions of the book, I feel they could have compressed more information (and dialogue that repeats itself) into a smaller and tighter space to create a more tense and gripping read. The ending was pretty good, making me want to read the next book.

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Mar 16, 2010

Matt rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: maybe fans of the series?

After his first two Halo novels, both being superb, I had high hopes for Nylund's third, but I was disappointed. The story didn't really seem all that interesting to me and the (SPOILERS!) Spartan IIIs seemed wimpy and boring. Not as bad as The Flood but definitely the second worst out of the series.

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Ghosts of Onyx (Halo #4)

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