Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Jul 22, 2010 Jon Cole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read a nearly embarrassing amount of books set within video game franchises and it's safe to say that this is the best one so far. Like most other Halo books, the weakest element of this novel is the disparate yet loosely connected parallel storylines centered on different characters. Clearly, Staten needed to cover a lot of ground with this prequel to the VG series, but the short sequences with unfamiliar characters detracted from the pacing to some extent.

Aside from that, however, Contact...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2008 Pika rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: halo

At first I was going to give 4 stars to this book becasue the first half was pretty boring; pretty much no action. Later, I found out that the beginning was a very important element because it introduced the characters, plot, story, but most importantly, relationships between the charcter. At the end when friends die, it was emotionally sad. The second half I have to say, is much better than the first because it finally reveals humanities first contact with the Covenant, which is the main point...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 21, 2012 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Tina by: Hunt

Though hardly a psychologically-deep drama, this part of the Halo novel franchise has more personal depth than its predecessors. My biggest complaint with the previous novels was that depth was lacking - no one is really fleshed out. Now, Avery isn't any Jane Eyre or Leopold Bloom in terms of intimate understanding, but, unlike most of the characters in the other novels, he is more than a cardboard cut-out. And one can argue that his rather stoic personality is a result of his past (which, thoug...more Though hardly a psychologically-deep drama, this part of the Halo novel franchise has more personal depth than its predecessors. My biggest complaint with the previous novels was that depth was lacking - no one is really fleshed out. Now, Avery isn't any Jane Eyre or Leopold Bloom in terms of intimate understanding, but, unlike most of the characters in the other novels, he is more than a cardboard cut-out. And one can argue that his rather stoic personality is a result of his past (which, though we are given hints, it is never properly brought to focus, unfortunately) and his military persona. The other characters weren't all that deep though, more often tropes of action sci-fi than realistic people (eg. Byrne, Jenkins) but for this type of novel they were done properly and served their purpose. You don't really read these novels for depth anyway, am I right?

One of my favorite aspects was the Covenant characters. They weren't too humanized (which I was afraid of) so it was great to see their perspective and their mindset. The previous novels had a bit of this, but the fact that there were a couple sympathetic aliens in the novel was the book's strongest aspect. I really cared about Lighter Than Some (so cute!) and I thought the female Kip-Yar's internal thoughts were pretty awesome and insightful to how their culture functioned. It also makes sense to show the aliens' worlds/lives because it adds another dimension to the story, making it more interesting.

I also liked was how "adult" the human characters were. The other books seemed almost censored, as if the authors were afraid of (or encouraged away from by the publishers) putting in too much violence (or even a hint of sexuality) for fear of younger readers (or something), which I think is total bullshit. It's a war novel; it's supposed to be gritty. This novel, while far from gritty, at least had some "adult" themes and moments. Let's hope the next ones follow suite.

AND, though it wasn't the best sex scene ever (far from it - though it was a little hilarious), at least this novel HAD one. Yay! The humans are actually human beings and like to get it on! I'm still hoping for a Spartan sex scene...

And, I must say, I loved the little AI love story. It was, to be girly for a second here, utterly adorable. It also served to show the depth of the AI's human emotions, and raises interesting questions about their existence.

Anyways, if you're reading this novel, I'm pretty sure you've read the other 4 or 5, so this review should be considered in the context of the series.

If I just picked this novel up as a stand-alone, I probably wouldn't have rated it as high, but for a Halo novel, I enjoyed it. The last line of the novel was super corny though. Just putting that out there.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 21, 2011 Bryan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a specialty. A treat for those who indulge themselves in the intricate fiction of the Halo-verse, and a confusing and trite war-story for those who don't. While not as deep as the other Halo works, this does give a bit of background that might not be familiar ot those who played the game. Now don't misunderstand, if you play the games for the playing bit and not the story, you'll hate this book. Before I can rip into the story, I can tell you what's good about it.

While not offering

...more

This book is a specialty. A treat for those who indulge themselves in the intricate fiction of the Halo-verse, and a confusing and trite war-story for those who don't. While not as deep as the other Halo works, this does give a bit of background that might not be familiar ot those who played the game. Now don't misunderstand, if you play the games for the playing bit and not the story, you'll hate this book. Before I can rip into the story, I can tell you what's good about it.

While not offering much character development, other than, "He's tough" and "He's a jerk", some of the characters are quite memorable. I really liked the little Huragok, always making little noises and flapping about, almost like an r2-d2 of the story. Some of the action scenes were pretty cool, even if they weren't well described. I felt attached to a few characters, and got flustered when they were whacked off, seeing as how they were fairly entertaining. Although those all seem like weak defenses, one of my favorite parts of this novel was that it explained more of the Covenant's culture. I had never realized that (view spoiler). Other than that, I didn't learn a whole lot about the Covenant. Although, I have to admit, I can name the official species name for almost every one of the aliens without even batting an eye. So, after somewhat tepid approval, scathing criticism follows.

This is not a creative story. It's plot is simple,good guy gets depressed, gets reassigned, trains troops, new bad guys showed up, good guys fight bad guys, good guys win because they saved most of the people. That's literally the entire book's plot. I was hesitant to put it in spoiler marks. Another issue I took was setting up of a scene. There were literally chapters where the author gives the back story of a character just to have them killed in the next scene. It was less of a good writing tactic and more of a tool the author used to try to make a better book. But it didn't work. The characters were still mostly unlikable, and didn't have many defining characteristics. There's more to what keeps this from being great instead of just mediocre, but those are less criticisms and more of a long list of nitpickings. Thus concluding my problems with this story.

This book, as I said earlier, isn't for everyone. If you just want to get a little bit of Halo story, read The Cole Protocol instead. If you have read the other novels, and still can't get enough Halo, then read this. Personally, I'd rather just wait for the next Halo game than read this again.

(less)

like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 Mike Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This is the fifth novel published in the "Halo" universe and inspired by the Halo video game. Chronologically, it's the earliest story published so far, telling the tale of the first contact between humans and the alien collective known as the Covenant. It's a fairly straightforward story of first contact on a frontier world, defended only by a couple of seasoned combat veterans and some barely-trained militia recruits. Those familiar with the general Halo saga know how this one turns out. What...more

like · see review

Apr 22, 2010 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good Reads Review
Halo: Contact Harvest, by Joseph Staten, follows humanity during its first contact with the alien empire, the Covenant. The novel is chronologically the first in the Halo series, and gives background as to how the war between humanity and the Covenant began. Halo: Contact Harvest is primarily a science-fiction novel, but it also draws on many elements from adventure novels as well. I chose the book since it was the only book in the Halo series that I had yet to read, and because...more Good Reads Review
Halo: Contact Harvest, by Joseph Staten, follows humanity during its first contact with the alien empire, the Covenant. The novel is chronologically the first in the Halo series, and gives background as to how the war between humanity and the Covenant began. Halo: Contact Harvest is primarily a science-fiction novel, but it also draws on many elements from adventure novels as well. I chose the book since it was the only book in the Halo series that I had yet to read, and because it acts as a prequel to all the events that place in the Halo universe. I also thought it would be interesting to see how humanity prospered prior to the Human-Covenant War. The story takes place in the year 2524 on the human colony of Harvest, named due to its agricultural significance to the government of Earth. Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson is the main protagonist of the novel, serving as a marine in humanity’s military agency, the United Nations Space Command. Johnson is stationed on Harvest during the first Covenant offensive, and despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, he is able to help save the lives of many civilians and his fellow squad members as well. Supporting characters include Private Wallace Jenkins, a hapless marine who survives the Covenant’s initial attack, and Chieftain Maccabeus, the official representative of the Covenant to meet with the humans on Harvest. The main antagonists of the story are the scheming High Prophets known as Truth, Mercy, and Regret, who seize control over the Covenant and declare war on humanity.
The central conflict is Man vs. Supernatural, due to humanity’s first encounter with an extraterrestrial entity, and the tensions between the two powers. The Covenant suspects that the human colonies contain ancient relics from a long dead race known as the Forerunners. It is believed by the High Prophets that these artifacts hold divine power which could be used to exterminate the human race, furthering the supernatural conflict of the story. I felt that the theme was about overcoming adversity, and that by working together with others, it is possible to beat insurmountable odds. One of the key symbols in the story is the Oracle, a Forerunner artifact encoded with a message which warns both the humans and the Covenant of a greater threat from beyond the edges of the galaxy. However as war begins between the two sides, the Oracle’s warning is disregarded and foreshadows the imminent attack that is to come. The Oracle symbolizes a voice of reason during a time of chaos, but because it is ignored, both humanity and the alien races of the Covenant are shown to pay the price in the future. A recurring motif in the story is the naming schemes of the High Prophets of the Covenant and the irony behind their titles. The Prophet of Truth is deceitful and manipulates the Covenant to begin the war against humanity, the Prophet of Mercy shows no sympathy for innocent civilians as they are massacred, and the Prophet of Regret does not feel remorse for his execution of captured prisoners of war. The actions of the High Prophets show that their personalities are the exact opposite of their respective titles, and as the plot progresses their true intentions are revealed. The author makes use of personification throughout the story, giving human qualities to the environment, to the alien races of the Covenant, and even weapons and vehicles. Imagery is also used by the author to great effect by appealing to all five senses and giving careful descriptions to unfamiliar objects. The author’s tone is uplifting, reflecting humanity’s confidence in themselves and belief that they will triumph over the Covenant in the upcoming war.
The author’s writing style is unique and it is noticeably different from that of conventional authors. I felt that Staten’s unorthodox writing technique made this novel stand from the other books in the Halo series. The story also contained more dialogue and humor than the other Halo novels and science-fiction books in general. I thought this was a refreshing change and I quickly grew attached to the characters of the novel as I learned about their past and their motives for the future. The author’s perfect balance of character development and action made the story enticing and kept it interesting to the very end. I thought that the novel served as an excellent prequel, revealing new history and setting the stage for all future events in the Halo universe. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the science-fiction genre and fans of the Halo series. Overall, I thought Halo: Contact Harvest was an excellent read and it is certainly one of the best books in the series.
(less)

like · see review

Jun 22, 2010 Pam Vass added it

Shelves: childrens-lit-eng

This book is about colonies that manages the food production for humans and are forced to do battle with an enemy that chooses to revolt against them. Avery Johnson is a part of the Marines group that responds to the attack and the battle begins. Avery is the protagonist in this particular book that is a part of the Halo series. The antagonist is a group named “Kig-Yar and they want what the Marines are protecting, which is the food supply. The book is part of the science fantasy and the style o...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 01, 2010 Jamie Fisher added it · review of another edition

This book is based on the video game, Halo. It takes place after the main character of the game dies.

It mainly takes place on a planet called Harvest, which is a colony of Earth, in the year 2524, but some of the action happens elsewhere. This book's main character is Marine Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson. The USMC and planet Earth are at war with an alien species called The Covenant. Another plot to this is that the United Nations had taken over Earth: "Some people who lived in the zone still co...more

like · see review

May 18, 2009 Naricat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Having previously read the first trio of Halo novels and having skipped Ghosts of Onyx, I wasn't expecting anything of great note in Contact Harvest. Instead I found a nice piece of military sci-fi that was of a higher quality than its predecessors, a quality I attribute to the lack of the cold Master Chief protagonist. The plot consists of humanity's first contact with the alien Convenant, a conglomeration of various races bound by a strict religious dogma.

Its presented through 3 distinct point...more

like · see review

May 29, 2012 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Halo: Contact Harvest is the prequel to the Halo video game series. It follows the story of Sergeant Avery Johnson, a marine in the UNSC (United Nations Space Command). Harvest is one of many of the Earth colonies in the Halo universe. It just so happened that Harvest is full of holy relics that are precious to the alien race known as the Covenant. The Covenant discovers Harvest when one of their ships scanners picks up all the relics on Harvest. So naturally the ship contacts their leaders, th...more

like · see review

Dec 29, 2012 Jason Hamilton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Halo: Contact Harvest is a good book as books go though missing a number of crucial elements that could have made it much better. It took me a bit longer than usual to get through it for reasons I will elaborate on below. However, as a fan of the Halo franchise, this book had some exciting tidbits.

Joseph Staten has been writing for a while in the Halo franchise though this is his first novel so we can forgive him for a few things. However, I will say that a few things he does are very well done....more

like · see review

Dec 21, 2012 Fellipe Diogo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up Contact Harvest after reading Cole Protocol. I found the book interesting because of some differences. Cole Protocol was scientific and Contact Harvest was more war. Certainly some parts only for mature readers. Contact Harvest is worth to read.

Contact Harvest is worth reading because for one it's well written. It's so well written that there were certain things i didn't know what the author was trying to say. I guess it's my lack of smarts. I still enjoyed most of the book. So Conta...more

like · see review

Jan 08, 2009 Josh Morrey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good story, even though it's about Sgt. Johnson rather than the Master Chief. The writing is very well done, excellently descriptive and very entertaining. My only complaint about the book is the unwarranted and absolutely unnecessary gratuitous sex scene at the end of the story, in the epilogue of all places. The tale was over, and it was a good one. There was no need whatsoever to tack this filthy scene onto the end of. It served no purpose, didn't add any sort of closure at all as there was...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 09, 2012 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one kind of floundered for me, not only because of some instances of bad physics, but because I found it simply lacking in scale. There is an entire planet the humans are fighting to protect, and yet their colonial militia has no more than a hundred people! The aliens have massive star fleets, and yet they only send one ship that lacks its primary weapon to the human colony. Harvest is a lifeline of food for all of human space, and yet the humans do not spare even one ship for its protectio...more

like · see review

Nov 13, 2007 TempOcean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: any Halo fans

Shelves: halo

This is a story about what happened before Halo: Combat Evolved took place. It is about humanity's first contact with The Covenant on the human colony-world named Harvest. It's a book to die for . . . so read it!

1 like · like · see review

Sep 10, 2009 Kaelah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-personal-library, fiction, science-fiction

This book answers a lot of questions for Halo fans. We find out how the Prophets of Truth, Regret and Mercy came to power, how Tartarus became the Brutes (called the Jiralhanae in the Covenant language), and how the Covenant and the Humans first met and why the war started. We also get an interesting look into the lives of the species that make up the Covenant.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would have given it 5 stars were it not for the unjustifiable sex-scene. It was also very explicit,...more

like · see review

May 20, 2011 Andre Lawrence rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Halo:Contact Harest tells the story of events leading up to humanity's encounter with the greatest threat to its survival- first contact with the alien race the Covenant. These alien beings found Harvest, a peaceful farming colony, there they believed they'd found ancient relics left behind by their gods. They saw the humans there as heretics who desecrated their relics and decide to wage a holy war against them. Avery Johnson a United Nations Space Command (UNSC) marine just arriving on Harvest...more

like · see review

Nov 12, 2011 Kyle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Contact Harvest, Jospeh Staten’s first novel, prequel to the events of The Fall of Reach, is a somber, military focused novel of the events that befell the planet Harvest, an agricultural and harvest, human planet.
Using many characters, humans and aliens alike, all of which are in their respective military, Staten tells a grim war story. There is no deep, philosophical dialogue, no profound meaning or insight, just a somber, acknowledgement of struggle, and dirty alien politics. Staten executes...more Contact Harvest, Jospeh Staten’s first novel, prequel to the events of The Fall of Reach, is a somber, military focused novel of the events that befell the planet Harvest, an agricultural and harvest, human planet.
Using many characters, humans and aliens alike, all of which are in their respective military, Staten tells a grim war story. There is no deep, philosophical dialogue, no profound meaning or insight, just a somber, acknowledgement of struggle, and dirty alien politics. Staten executes the gritty action excellently. Of the many moments of action, this scene was my favorite:

“’Hang on!’ Avery shouted, yanking the shift lever on the Warthog’s steering column into reverse and stomping the accelerator. But before the vehicle had moved… the gold-armored alien thundered onto the avenue, dropping its hammer with a mighty roar... The weapon crushed the front of the Warthog’s hood and sheared off its tow-winch… ‘Roll!’ Byrne thundered, struggling to level the LAAG as the Warthog bounced… Avery had already changed gears… the vehicle surged forward, hitting the gold-armored alien in the chest and driving it backwards… The Warthog came to another abrupt halt – an impact that was so violent it snapped Avery’s chin to his chest… but the crash was intentional… pinning the gold-armored alien… The creature roared with pain. It had dropped its hammer, and now its only weapons were its gauntleted paws, which it proceeded to clang against the Warthog’s crumpled hood… Avery unholstered his M6 and leveled the pistol at the alien’s face… But Avery didn’t pull the trigger. Instead he glared up at the dropship’s cabin: You shoot me? I shoot you-know-damn-well-who.”

This scene, as you can read, is very intense and gritty. Staten gets very specific with the fictitious weapons and vehicles. During moments of action, I find it gratifying. Other times, he gets too specific, and it becomes redundant. If you have never seen a Warthog in the video game, or the aliens, which are only ever seen in the video games, you could have a hard time visualizing the fictitious subjects as they are meant to be.
Staten manages to make Avery, the protagonist, a believable character. Not everything in Contact Harvest is about fighting. Avery’s personal life is how the story begins, and it sets in motion the somber, verge of defeat, struggling to survive theme that I sympathized with throughout the novel.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 21, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: halo

Contact Harvest is interesting in that it's the first Halo novel to not feature any Spartans. It's also unique in that there's very few flashbacks - it all takes place during a fairly short timespan from 2524 to 2525, and ends before the Spartans have even undergone the augmentation procedures to increase their physical and mental performance. It's also a good story.

The main protagonist is Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, a character anyone who has played the Halo games is familiar with. The story...more

like · see review

Jun 28, 2010 William Johnson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People REALLY into Halo mythology

Shelves: 2010, since-joining-goodreads

I really shouldn't be surprised but then again, I always set myself up for these things. Halo: Contact Harvest is less a book but a series/video game bible/layout that, I imagine, was thrown aside when better ideas came along. I don't want to say the book is written poorly because writer Joseph Staten is actually quite talented. His universe building skills, as shown in the second Halo game, for example, are excellent.

His problem: the universe he's built is boring and as confusing as shit. I rem...more I really shouldn't be surprised but then again, I always set myself up for these things. Halo: Contact Harvest is less a book but a series/video game bible/layout that, I imagine, was thrown aside when better ideas came along. I don't want to say the book is written poorly because writer Joseph Staten is actually quite talented. His universe building skills, as shown in the second Halo game, for example, are excellent.

His problem: the universe he's built is boring and as confusing as shit. I remember really liking Halo 2 at first. I felt the writers really expanded a universe that was mostly a rip off of Aliens in the first place. But then I started getting a bit confused and realized that SHOWING me a universe is one thing but hearing/reading about it is another. Halo 2, while an underrated game story-wise (the Covenant sections are interesting though not compelling), was definitely a mess. They lost track of their hero and focused on aspects that were made so utterly confusing and deep that, well, it wasn't fun. And let's not get started on Halo 3, in which they had to a)continue this craziness established in Halo 2 and b)erase all the terrible mistakes from Halo 2 in some exposition-heavy way to make Halo 3 a bit more accessible to newbies of the XBox 360 and to the now critically mixed franchise.I always ignored the books because I always found myself more frustrated with Halo's mythology as oppossed to drawn to it. Also, I was shocked that despite the Halo franchise being one of my all-time favorites in the video game world, I was very unattached to it emotionally. I liked Master Chief but he is a very thin hero. . .not much depth there. He's cool but is he lovable. There was Cortana. . .and who knows what the fuck happened to her at the end of Halo 2. I know Halo 3 told me but. . .I still don't really know. And then there was the tricky Arbiter, who, himself, is a mythological symbol that makes you want to tear your eyeballs out. He was cool and I liked his missions in Halo 2 but. . .yeah. . .not much there either EXCEPT Keith David's awesome voice.The main three characters were really devoid of anything other then COOL moments. And the Halo games outside the Master Chief vein were pretty unbearable. A lot of people seemed to like ODST but, frankly, I had no interest in exploring the Halo world any further WITHOUT at least someone COOL since emotion was too hard to ask. I didn't even finish Halo Wars and I will probably skip Halo: Reach since it is a prequel and prequels, especially loaded with anti-climaxes, dense mythologies, and, once again, none of the original characters, just sounds like crap on a stick.So I think I just explained why I skipped the Halo books! I don't want to read about this universe that is confusing and dense and has no emotion behind it. . .especially when I can't fire weapons that blow shit up! But, somehow, I bought two Halo books. I bought one called The Ghost of Onyx, and this book, Contact Harvest. I initially bought Contact Harvest because it had Sgt. Avery Johnson on the cover. Now this was interesting to me for two reasons. One, I was GOING to name my first child Avery (and my last name is Johnson) so that would have been weird. . .and it had nothing to do with Halo. Second, Johnson seemed to be the only genuinely fun NPC in the whole Halo universe. You cared for him when he was there. . .which wasn't enough, frankly. And, naturally, they fucking killed him at the end of Halo 3. Figures the first main character, of sorts, to die would be black!But in the video game, Johnson was an Apone-rip-off who was kind of fun. But as I started to read his story in Contact Harvest, which is a prequel by the way, I instantly regretted it. Some people, who are rip-offs of other caricatures in the first place, can't be made three dimensional. Johnson is a drill sgt who says witty things and shoots stuff. . .yet in Contact Harvest he has a tragic past and a way with the laaaadies. It's all kind of sad really. And now that I've read Johnson in all kinds of different situations outside of mindlessly shooting elites. . .I don't like him anymore. Once again, the creators behind Halo have OVERDONE the mythology. Sgt. Johnson is no longer interesting to me now because he is OVER written now. Ugh.The rest of the book doesn't help much considering half of it is about Covenant politics. And the writer fails to let the story flow. . .he insists on writing a sentence and then writing eighteen paragraphs on Covenant society that led to that one sentence. It's really distracting and annoying. It is not exaggeration when I say this book really could have been 100 pages shorter. But pesky Joseph Staten can't let us turn the page without knowing how the Elites had a war once or how Sgt. Johnson masturbated once when he was 14!Plus there is this inane subplot involving an Unggoy (the little creatures for the Covenant) and a flying creature called a Huragok and their friendship even though both, to facilitate the narrative of future games, must die. And then there are the AIs (like Cortana) that kind of Moonlighting/love-hate each other. Really bad. There is no one to root for in this book, nothing physical or emotional to grab on to, and the story, what little there is (something to do with Covenant/UNSC first contact out on the frontier of human space), is underwhelmed by the oppressive back story. I am seriously questioning reading the second Halo book I bought. . .I'd advise to ignore this one if possible.
I really shouldn't be surprised but then again, I always set myself up for these things. Halo: Contact Harvest is less a book but a series/video game bible/layout that, I imagine, was thrown aside when better ideas came along. I don't want to say the book is written poorly because writer Joseph Staten is actually quite talented. His universe building skills, as shown in the second Halo game, for example, are excellent.

His problem: the universe he's built is boring and as confusing as shit. I remember really liking Halo 2 at first. I felt the writers really expanded a universe that was mostly a rip off of Aliens in the first place. But then I started getting a bit confused and realized that SHOWING me a universe is one thing but hearing/reading about it is another. Halo 2, while an underrated game story-wise (the Covenant sections are interesting though not compelling), was definitely a mess. They lost track of their hero and focused on aspects that were made so utterly confusing and deep that, well, it wasn't fun. And let's not get started on Halo 3, in which they had to a)continue this craziness established in Halo 2 and b)erase all the terrible mistakes from Halo 2 in some exposition-heavy way to make Halo 3 a bit more accessible to newbies of the XBox 360 and to the now critically mixed franchise.

I always ignored the books because I always found myself more frustrated with Halo's mythology as opposed to drawn to it. Also, I was shocked that despite the Halo franchise being one of my all-time favorites in the video game world, I was very unattached to it emotionally. I liked Master Chief but he is a very thin hero. . .not much depth there. He's cool but is he lovable. There was Cortana. . .and who knows what the fuck happened to her at the end of Halo 2. I know Halo 3 told me but. . .I still don't really know. And then there was the tricky Arbiter, who, himself, is a mythological symbol that makes you want to tear your eyeballs out. He was cool and I liked his missions in Halo 2 but. . .yeah. . .not much there either EXCEPT Keith David's awesome voice.

The main three characters were really devoid of anything other then COOL moments. And the Halo games outside the Master Chief vein were pretty unbearable. A lot of people seemed to like ODST but, frankly, I had no interest in exploring the Halo world any further WITHOUT at least someone COOL since emotion was too hard to ask. I didn't even finish Halo Wars and I will probably skip Halo: Reach since it is a prequel and prequels, especially loaded with anti-climaxes, dense mythologies, and, once again, none of the original characters, just sounds like crap on a stick.

So I think I just explained why I skipped the Halo books! I don't want to read about this universe that is confusing and dense and has no emotion behind it. . .especially when I can't fire weapons that blow shit up! But, somehow, I bought two Halo books. I bought one called The Ghost of Onyx, and this book, Contact Harvest. I initially bought Contact Harvest because it had Sgt. Avery Johnson on the cover. Now this was interesting to me for two reasons. One, I was GOING to name my first child Avery (and my last name is Johnson) so that would have been weird. . .and it had nothing to do with Halo. Second, Johnson seemed to be the only genuinely fun NPC in the whole Halo universe. You cared for him when he was there. . .which wasn't enough, frankly. And, naturally, they fucking killed him at the end of Halo 3. Figures the first main character, of sorts, to die would be black!

But in the video game, Johnson was an Apone-rip-off who was kind of fun. But as I started to read his story in Contact Harvest, which is a prequel by the way, I instantly regretted it. Some people, who are rip-offs of other caricatures in the first place, can't be made three dimensional. Johnson is a drill Sgt who says witty things and shoots stuff. . .yet in Contact Harvest he has a tragic past and a way with the laaaadies. It's all kind of sad really. And now that I've read Johnson in all kinds of different situations outside of mindlessly shooting elites. . .I don't like him anymore. Once again, the creators behind Halo have OVERDONE the mythology. Sgt. Johnson is no longer interesting to me now because he is OVER written now. Ugh.

The rest of the book doesn't help much considering half of it is about Covenant politics. And the writer fails to let the story flow. . .he insists on writing a sentence and then writing eighteen paragraphs on Covenant society that led to that one sentence. It's really distracting and annoying. It is not exaggeration when I say this book really could have been 100 pages shorter. But pesky Joseph Staten can't let us turn the page without knowing how the Elites had a war once or how Sgt. Johnson masturbated once when he was 14!

Plus there is this inane subplot involving an Unggoy (the little creatures for the Covenant) and a flying creature called a Huragok and their friendship even though both, to facilitate the narrative of future games, must die. And then there are the AIs (like Cortana) that kind of Moonlighting/love-hate each other. Really bad. There is no one to root for in this book, nothing physical or emotional to grab on to, and the story, what little there is (something to do with Covenant/UNSC first contact out on the frontier of human space), is underwhelmed by the oppressive back story. I am seriously questioning reading the second Halo book I bought. . .I'd advise to ignore this one if possible.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Oct 03, 2011 Matt Randall rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok...Im going to nerd out for a second. I really enjoyed this book because it went back into the whole halo story line and finally answered some questions I had about the series. If the convenient is a collection of other species, why cant they let the humans join. They talked about the hero's of Harvest but who were they? Ok done nerding out.
The book was very well written. Joseph Staten did a wonderful job of taking a couple small plot points in the series and constructing a whole story around...more

like · see review

Aug 15, 2012 Hephaestus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hephaestus' rating system:

5 Stars: The book went above and beyond my expectations, delivering a tremendous literary understanding while not sacrificing the pacing of a compelling story.

4 Stars: The book was everything I had hoped it would be, delivering a terrific story while not blowing my mind.

3 Stars: The book was average - which does NOT mean bad. The book may have been well written, but the story was nothing special.

2 Stars: The book was below average. It did not meet my expectations and...more

like · see review

Jan 01, 2009 Stefan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-and-alt-history

Contact Harvest continues the Halo series, and is no better or worse then I expected. Books of this type have basic plot, character development, settings, and plot. Pleasantly, Contact Harvest was interesting in how it displayed the Covenant point of view, which this book did better at then it's predecessors. Overall, a basic, somewhat predictable (but also some surprises), quick, military science fiction read.

like · see review

Feb 17, 2013 Mantas Domaševičius rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A prequel and a very disappointing one mainly cause of new author. I tend to think this book does not exist. The story is set on a farm world of halo universe and since Joseph Staten stated that he knows farming for some reason he also thought he could do a great job continuing the steps of Eric Nylund and writing sci-fi. Well no! In comparison with other Halo books this one is really out of character.

like · see review

Sep 23, 2011 Relstuart rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

If you ever wondered about the back story of the tough Sergeant in the Halo universe then this book will shed some light on the good Sergeant's back story as well as the back story of first contact between the Covenant and our people. Pretty well done for what it is. Not terribly long. I read it yesterday evening after work while eating ice cream and feeling grumpy. Books are a great cure for that. =)

like · see review

Oct 29, 2012 Taddow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In preparation for the release of Halo 4 next month I decided to read some more of my Halo novels. This one was better than I thought it would be. It explains the first contact between the humans and the Covenant. I liked the back to basics gritty normal soldier approach (no super-human Spartans though that is what is appealing about Halo) to combat.

like · see review

Jun 14, 2012 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Added a nice bit of interesting back story to the motivations behind the Covenant's campaign against humanity. I not as good as Ghosts of Onyx or Fall of Reach but still good.

One thing is for certain, this volume in the unending saga which is Halo, glimpses at the toll the war would eventually take. All from the first bloody glancing blows of first contact on Harvest.

like · see review

Jun 09, 2010 Allison Wesson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked this book up to the very end. I found it interesting mostly because I played all three Halo games. I liked looking into the alien's life. This book gave the Halo series a better story because it was the backbone to the Halo story. However, the whole thing with Sgt. Johnson and al-Cygni at the end pissed me off. It was a true WTF moment. Other than the ending, I really liked the book!

like · see review

Jan 03, 2011 Jose A. Fuentes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not much to say about this one, in some way, every Halo novel is pretty similar to the one before, the only variable is the main character. still, i kinda like the way you can imagine all this "pretty similar circumstances" between book and book, its entertaining and why not, an easy going and quite enjoyable read. thumbs up

like · see review

Sep 30, 2009 Fullerton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Its a very hery book in a way that if you have never read a halo book befor you are pretty much screwed. It is pretty good, it's not about Master Chief but Sgt. Jhonson. In The beginning to was very slow and didn't have that much action but when you get to the middle where he is accually in the war the story accually picks up some and has some action. The book can be long in some places and boring but it always ties together in the end!

like · see review

title link	preview: Halo: Contact Harvest
avg rating	preview: Halo: Contact Harvest Goodreads rating: 3.90 (2546 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7034421-halo?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344320470l/7034421.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7034421-halo?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten[/url]

Halo: Contact Harvest (Halo #5)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (9)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Joseph Staten

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Halo: Contact Har...

Quotes from Halo: Contact Harvest