Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Poll [21 votes]: Your favourite Evolutions story?
  • Poll [21 votes]: Your favourite Evolutions story?
Subject: Your favourite Evolutions story?

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
--Ralph Ellison

Poll: Your favourite Evolutions story?  [closed]
The Impossible Life and Possible Death of P J Cole:  14%
(3 Votes)
The Mona Lisa:  29%
(6 Votes)
Headhunters:  24%
(5 Votes)
Blunt Instruments:  5%
(1 Votes)
Pariah:  5%
(1 Votes)
Dirt:  14%
(3 Votes)
The Return:  0%
(0 Votes)
Other:  10%
(2 Votes)
Total Votes: 21

Could only include some in the poll, feel free to choose a different one.

So I just finished reading through Evolutions I & II and I'm curious what people's favourite story is. Summaries are below (taken from Halo Nation) to refresh your memory if it's been a while.

Personally, my favourite is The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J Cole because it covers such a wide span of time, it's written from an interesting perspective, I love Nylund's description of space battles and it's about one of the most fascinating characters in the Halo Universe.

Beyond

Beyond is a poem that describes an individual's opinion on the Halo rings and the implications of their existence. It written by Jonathan Goff, with cover art done by Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier.

Pariah

Pariah tells the story of Soren-066, a Spartan who was one of a dozen unfortunate candidates who washed out of the program due to complications arising from the biological enhancements, and the struggles he faced afterwards. It was written by B.K. Evenson.

Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss

Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss tells the story of an ONI agent named Connor Brien, who is sent to investigate Brutes on Beta Gabriel. Brien eventually gets captured by Hammadus while watching the Brutes from a tree and is thrown together with the rest of the human survivors. The human prisoners are used as amusement and food. The ONI agent conspires with a spiritual guru, Dasc Gevadim, to escape. While the pack's unity slowly breaks down, the prisoners make a distraction, which gives Brien and Dasc a chance to escape. The ONI agent and the spiritual guru eventually escape from the Brutes, but Brien is killed by Dasc before the help can arrive. It was written by Eric Raab.

Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian

Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian tells the story of an ODST who is put under for a surgery to remove a tumor before participating in his next mission. When the ODST awakens, he finds that he is the only human left alive on the the UNSC The Heart of Midlothian after a Covenant Special Operations team has boarded and taken the ship. Living on borrowed time, the ODST has to stop the Covenant from capturing the shipboard AI and learning the location of Earth. It was written by Frank O'Connor.

Dirt

Dirt follows a Harvest militiaman, named Gage, from his time before the Human-Covenant War as he joins first the CMA, and then the UNSC with his two friends Eric and Felicia. After joining the ODSTs, the Covenant destroy Harvest, leaving him no home to go back to. After nearly thirty years of war, he is reunited with a few of his old friends from his CMA days, but is presented with a moral crisis that eventually leads to his heroic death. It was written by Tobias Buckell, author of Halo: The Cole Protocol.

Acheron-VII

Acheron-VII is a poem written by Jonathan Goff, with cover art done by Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier.

Headhunters

Headhunters follows the story of a two-man SPARTAN-III team, sent deep into Covenant territory to deal serious damage behind enemy lines. It was written by Jonathan Goff.

Blunt Instruments

Blunt Instruments follows SPARTAN-II Black Team which is given the task to disable a Covenant energy supply station. During the course of the operation, Black Team made an uneasy alliance with the Yanme'e, who tricked them into organizing their escape. It was written by Fred Van Lente.

The Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa follows the crew of the UNSC Red Horse as they are sent to investigate the fate of the UNSC Mona Lisa, which has mysteriously come to rest near the destroyed Installation 04. After boarding the ship, a team of Marines discovers that the ship has been overrun by the Flood, making unexpected and uneasy alliances, and beginning a desperate struggle for survival against the parasite. It was written by Tessa Kum and Jeff VanderMeer.

Icon

Icon describes the lives of John-117, the SPARTAN-IIs and SPARTAN-IIIs, and the legacy they left. Cover art was done by Gabriel "Robogabo" Garza, and was written by Jonathan Goff.

Palace Hotel

Palace Hotel follows the Master Chief's movements from getting on the other side of the bridge in the Halo 2 level "Metropolis" to right before he boards the Scarab. It also discusses Master Chief's discovery of a childhood friend. The story was written by Robert McLees.

Human Weakness

Human Weakness tells what happened at the end of Halo 2, with Cortana in the clutches of the Gravemind. The Gravemind manages to break Cortana by introducing the fallacies of her existence and the purpose of her service, but through it all he cannot get her to give up one last secret. It was written by Karen Traviss.

Connectivity

Connectivity is a poem that describes the connection between Cortana and John-117. Cover art was done by Gabriel "Robogabo" Garza, and was written by Jonathan Goff.

The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole

The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole is a series of email transcripts from Codename: SURGEON to Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS, and details in length the life and times of UNSC military leader Preston Cole, including his possible death or survival during his famed last stand. It was written by Eric Nylund.

The Return

The Return follows a Sangheili Shipmaster as he travels back to the human colony world Kholo, which he had led the destruction of years earlier, to reflect on his actions and look for guidance in the wake of the Great Schism. It is set after the events of Halo 3. It was written by the 343 Industries Managing Editor Kevin Grace.

From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal

From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal is an email transcript from Dr. William Arthur Iqbal to his colleagues, and details the progress of their research on the Forerunner structure in Kenya.

Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin is a short story narrated by the Minister of Discovery as the Flood slowly consumes High Charity. He reflects on his own wrongdoings and also confesses that he released the flood. This short story is only present in Volume II of the two volume version of the book.

  • 08.03.2011 6:16 PM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Deva Path


Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?

Pariah Because i can empathize with soren. Acheron VII has been in my head ever since i read it

  • 08.03.2011 6:20 PM PDT

Oh hey there

Posted by: petarded2
It's a metaphor for the 07s' lack of identity. too old to be newfa­g, yet too new to be oldfa­g, we wander b.net in search of a home, forever trying to be something we are not.

The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston J Cole, or Human Weakness. HW because I love the background info it gives about the Flood, the Gravemind is fascinating.

TILPDPJC because it is just a well told story and it shows the whole propaganda vs truth angle. I really enjoyed it.

  • 08.03.2011 6:34 PM PDT

I would like to invite you to the most active group there is, Black Water Ops. Boasting over 4000 members this is one of the fastest growing groups and proven to be one of the most active b.net groups. An amazing experience awaits you with weekly game nights, photo contests, and forging contests. This is one decision you won't regret. Welcome to the family!

Dirt is by far my favorite, simply because I love ODSTs and the storytelling was excellent. By far the best written work in Evolutions.

Second favorite is definitely Preston J. Cole's story. That was super informational and awesome to read.

  • 08.03.2011 6:43 PM PDT

Signatures are for squares.

1. Pariah. Spartan II's fascinate me.
2. ILAPDOPJC is my second favorite. Amazingly written, great battles, insight into a very important characters life, and it's classic Nylund.
3. Dirt. Great story telling, and I loved the perspective of Gage's life and coming to be an ODST.

  • 08.03.2011 6:47 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

1. Human Weakness
2. Mona Lisa
3. Headhunters

However, I absolutely hated Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian. Frank O'Conner, that was crap, I am disappoint.

  • 08.03.2011 6:51 PM PDT

I wake up to find myself
After all these years
And where all the time has gone
Still seems so unclear

The Mona Lisa.
Cole's story.
Human Weakness.

I liked most of them, but those are my favorites.

  • 08.03.2011 7:02 PM PDT

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
--Ralph Ellison

Posted by: DecepticonCobra
However, I absolutely hated Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian. Frank O'Conner, that was crap, I am disappoint.


Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of it either. It seemed almost wholly irrelevant to all canon in that it didn't affect anything else, didn't help to fill in holes in other areas of the universe and didn't add anything to the universe. It also seemed improbable to me that the Covenant could board and disable a ship before it could enact the Cole Protocol rendering the whole story pointless.

I did like the bit at the end of it, though, where the AI says "Just kidding, a countdown isn't necessary." That gave me a good laugh.

Also, just realized that there is at least one story missing from my list of summaries. Soma The Painter was the first story in Evolutions I and isn't in there. Odd.

  • 08.03.2011 7:08 PM PDT

Oh hey there

Posted by: petarded2
It's a metaphor for the 07s' lack of identity. too old to be newfa­g, yet too new to be oldfa­g, we wander b.net in search of a home, forever trying to be something we are not.

Posted by: KoO 101
Posted by: DecepticonCobra
However, I absolutely hated Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian. Frank O'Conner, that was crap, I am disappoint.


Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of it either. It seemed almost wholly irrelevant to all canon in that it didn't affect anything else, didn't help to fill in holes in other areas of the universe and didn't add anything to the universe. It also seemed improbable to me that the Covenant could board and disable a ship before it could enact the Cole Protocol rendering the whole story pointless.

I did like the bit at the end of it, though, where the AI says "Just kidding, a countdown isn't necessary." That gave me a good laugh.

Also, just realized that there is at least one story missing from my list of summaries. Soma The Painter was the first story in Evolutions I and isn't in there. Odd.
I mean all of the stories are kind of designed to only give some more depth to certain parts of canon and not really add new characters or anything. In most of the stories the main characters die.

  • 08.03.2011 7:12 PM PDT

Human Weakness

The Possible Death

The Return.

All of them were great, but those are my favorite three.

  • 08.03.2011 7:13 PM PDT

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
--Ralph Ellison

Posted by: Spartan1065
I mean all of the stories are kind of designed to only give some more depth to certain parts of canon and not really add new characters or anything. In most of the stories the main characters die.


Yeah, but IMO, they mostly add something to the Universe. For example,
-in The Mona Lisa we don't ever hear about these characters anywhere else but it adds something in knowing what ONI did with the knowledge of the first Halo ring. They screwed around with it.
-Human Weakness and Palace Hotel fill in gaps in the storyline of the games.
-Headhunters, Blunt Instruments, Pariah give information about other Spartans.
-Dirt describes a lot of stuff that an ODST would go through and talks about the insurgency and such.
-The Return, Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss and Wages of Sin give information about post Human-Covenant war.
-TILAPDOPJC gives just a spectacular wealth of information about Cole and other goings-on in the universe.

And then you have Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian that's about a ship that the Covenant almost used to find Earth earlier but didn't. It didn't really add anything to the universe. That's just the way I see it anyways. Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss was somewhat like this except it did give a bit of information about the Brutes post-war. I absolutely hated the ending of it with the ONI agent being killed. I saw that coming the moment they said it was only them who escaped. What a joke.

[Edited on 08.03.2011 7:22 PM PDT]

  • 08.03.2011 7:21 PM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

1. Dirt, I absolutly love the viewpoint from a regular soldier of the Covenant-Human War, and the problems the UNSC was encountering and all the socialpolitical problems. I really liked the ODST bootcamp and when Gage was trapped in a trench. It really gives a good look into the regular UNSC and the general populace.

2. The Impossible..., I loved it. I love anything that has to do with OPERATION TREBUTCHET and naval battles. And finally got a great insight into perhaps the wars biggest hero, and how he was just a regular person, fighting for his life.

3. The Mona Lisa. This needs no explanation why it was so awesome.

  • 08.03.2011 7:24 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

To be honest, I think MitHoM was added because it was mentioned in Halo: Legends, or vise versa.

  • 08.03.2011 7:25 PM PDT

Oh hey there

Posted by: petarded2
It's a metaphor for the 07s' lack of identity. too old to be newfa­g, yet too new to be oldfa­g, we wander b.net in search of a home, forever trying to be something we are not.

Oh I agree they definitely add to the Universe but the majority of the main characters are gone at the end of the stories. It's just something I noticed when I first read it, I remember thinking to myself, "God give me a happy ending one of these times."

  • 08.03.2011 7:26 PM PDT

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
--Ralph Ellison

Posted by: Spartan1065
I remember thinking to myself, "God give me a happy ending one of these times."


Yep, I was definitely thinking that at times as well. Especially after Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss and Dirt.

Another reason why I liked Cole's story because it gives you the hope that he's still alive.

  • 08.03.2011 7:29 PM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Posted by: Spartan1065
Oh I agree they definitely add to the Universe but the majority of the main characters are gone at the end of the stories. It's just something I noticed when I first read it, I remember thinking to myself, "God give me a happy ending one of these times."


If you read the back cover of Evolutions, it says something about it telling the tales of those thousands of unknown heroes and their sacrifices during the war. It pretty much tells you that alot of people werent comming out alive.

Hm, now that I think about it. I'd like a short story about Buck's life right up to were ODST starts. And I'd want the guy who wrote Dirt to write it. He did a fantastic job describing ODST's in Dirt and The Cole Protocole.

[Edited on 08.03.2011 7:30 PM PDT]

  • 08.03.2011 7:29 PM PDT

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
--Ralph Ellison

Posted by: DecepticonCobra
To be honest, I think MitHoM was added because it was mentioned in Halo: Legends, or vise versa.


I have yet to watch Halo: Legends (since I only recently got into the books and such) but that would seem likely since they were both under the direction of Frank O'Connor.

  • 08.03.2011 7:35 PM PDT


Posted by: KoO 101
Posted by: DecepticonCobra
To be honest, I think MitHoM was added because it was mentioned in Halo: Legends, or vise versa.


I have yet to watch Halo: Legends (since I only recently got into the books and such) but that would seem likely since they were both under the direction of Frank O'Connor.


Midnight was basically the sequel to a Legends episode called Prototype, where a powerful prototype mech suit was used by a tormented Marine to hold off the Covies long enough to get the civillians evaced.

If I recall, the UNSC forces on the ground were collected by the Heart of Midlothian, and the same forces that attacked the planet Algolis attack the Midlothian.

  • 08.03.2011 7:43 PM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.

Mona Lisa. Dirt was up there in my favs.

  • 08.03.2011 8:31 PM PDT

I support PORYGON.

"Try speaking American, it's the only language I understand"-Bandit Keith

"Alas poor Yorik, I knew him... IN AMERICA."-Bandit Keith

Human Weakness was very interesting. I enjoyed that, as well as the Impossible Life/Death of P.J. Cole. I got a lot of info from them.

  • 08.03.2011 8:37 PM PDT

Watch This.

So far it's The Mona Lisa.

  • 08.03.2011 9:30 PM PDT

Headhunters
Mona Lisa
Dirt

  • 08.04.2011 12:19 AM PDT