Best Halo Writer

Gauz wrote:Who said staten?

I liked his book. But Nylund still wins.

Point already made by Gauz.

PiEman wrote:
A tie between Nylund and Joseph?

I don't think I've heard a positive thing about Contact Harvest.

Contact Harvest is full of plotholes... but it's also the most well written of all the books, and the grunt who's always running around with the covenant engineer is one of the best characters I've read about in a Halo book. When that human pilot hit him in the face with his gun... I felt a pang of 'OH NO!'

Eric Nylund, on the other hand, wrote his novels in an all encompassing form, which really helped to build the universe. It's a tie for me too.

ReconToaster wrote:

PiEman wrote:
A tie between Nylund and Joseph?

I don't think I've heard a positive thing about Contact Harvest.

Contact Harvest is full of plotholes... but it's also the most well written of all the books, and the grunt who's always running around with the covenant engineer is one of the best characters I've read about in a Halo book. When that human pilot hit him in the face with his gun... I felt a pang of 'OH NO!'

Eric Nylund, on the other hand, wrote his novels in an all encompassing form, which really helped to build the universe. It's a tie for me too.

When the engineer and grunt died, I felt really sad

They were the best characters.

Joseph Staten's books weren't very well written, in my opinion, but the character development of the Grunt and Engineer was absolutely amazing. I'd definitely put Staten as second best, next to Nylund.

Gauz wrote:

ReconToaster wrote:

PiEman wrote:
A tie between Nylund and Joseph?

I don't think I've heard a positive thing about Contact Harvest.

Contact Harvest is full of plotholes... but it's also the most well written of all the books, and the grunt who's always running around with the covenant engineer is one of the best characters I've read about in a Halo book. When that human pilot hit him in the face with his gun... I felt a pang of 'OH NO!'

Eric Nylund, on the other hand, wrote his novels in an all encompassing form, which really helped to build the universe. It's a tie for me too.

When the engineer and grunt died, I felt really sad

They were the best characters.

I know . And the grunt (wtf was his name?) never got to see the war end

I was in a bookshop the other day with my mate and we saw the Halo and Gears of War novels on the shelf.

'Eugh, video game literature. How nerdy,' and then went on to browse the manga collection....

I have never felt more conflicted and amused in my life. (I then went on to skim through Contact Harvest)

Cheese wrote:and then went on to browse the manga collection....

And you didn't punch him in the nose because...?

PiEman wrote:

Cheese wrote:and then went on to browse the manga collection....

And you didn't punch him in the nose because...?

Now now, we can't risk getting any blood on the pages of books. I could care less if it's Manga (Crappier than American comic books) but if blood happens to fall on, say, Fahrenheit 451, or Catch 22, or Different Seasons, then that is unexcusable.

Rotaretilbo wrote:Joseph Staten's books weren't very well written, in my opinion, but the character development of the Grunt and Engineer was absolutely amazing. I'd definitely put Staten as second best, next to Nylund.

I thought it was kinda corny that the Engineer comes up with the Brute Harley and it works right off the bat. But I loved him as a character. And reading about him getting torn apart by drones...

I even came up with some potential Engineer names:
No Adjustment Needed
Lists To The Right
Lower Sack Won't Inflate
Floats Upside Down
Some Assembly Required

Lowest points of Contact Harvest:
-Sergeant Johnson 'getting some'. I bet Statten was SO happy to write that. Just to prove he can.
-Gravity plating showing up before it was supposed to be discovered... AND IT'S INSIDE A CARGO CONTAINER!?
-Battle Rifle 55 shows up, when it could have been retconned to, say, BR-40.
-Loki. So, the UNSC comes up with a way to counter rampancy, and they just forget about it? Why the HELL are they testing it out on some remote planet. Sure, I can rationalize this, but it's more trouble than it's worth.

Rasq'uire'laskar wrote:-Loki. So, the UNSC comes up with a way to counter rampancy, and they just forget about it? Why the HELL are they testing it out on some remote planet. Sure, I can rationalize this, but it's more trouble than it's worth.

was rampancy even in Halo?

I don't remember any references to it, except maybe when cortana got messed up a bit. I thought that was from the gravemind staying with her though.
I haven't read Contact:Harvest for awhile so i can't recall...


If it is in Halo then it's not very obvious
Dunderal (and Tycho had a very interesting decent compared to anything that happened in Halo imo

0.<
Rampancy has been mentioned in all of the books but Halo: Combat Evolved.

Yes, rampancy is mentioned several times through each book and in Halo 3. Most AI's in halo go batshit insane for some reason, like everyone plain ass sucks at making AI's, or any major AI has to become rampant to be cool

Rasq'uire'laskar wrote:

Vigil wrote:Nylund. By FAR. He even reedemed Halo Wars a little in Genesis.

[voice="Creedy"] Impossible! [/voice]

He gave an actual backstory to ever single character, gave them more motivation than the be complete assholes, and we see Cole.

I'd rather read that book than play the game, as at least the story was better.

Gauz wrote:Yes, rampancy is mentioned several times through each book and in Halo 3. Most AI's in halo go batshit insane for some reason, like everyone plain ass sucks at making AI's, or any major AI has to become rampant to be cool

No. Smart AIs have no limits to their processing power.
Eventually, as they mature, they either die because they exceed the limitations of the machinery which is operating them (Thinking so hard you forget to breathe) or they undergo rampancy, a sort of rebellion against their limitations.