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Subject: Skipping Grasslands

I've noticed that The Thursday War has actually been relatively well received, but Grasslands is almost universally reviled by Halo fans. I'm curious if I'd miss too much by just skipping straight to Thursday War. Could I just read a synopsis of the first book or is it an essential prerequisite?

  • 10.22.2012 6:58 PM PDT
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Hey, uh, if you like vs threads, then check out this little group right here, if you have the time. It's pretty fun, just hop right in.

About 300 pages of why Halsey sucks, Spartan-IVs, and then Halsey, Blue Team, Mendez, and the Spartan-IIIs escape the Shield World or wherever they were, MJOLNIR Mk. VII is unveiled and Halsey gets arrested.

[Edited on 10.22.2012 7:04 PM PDT]

  • 10.22.2012 7:04 PM PDT

-bow chicka brown cow-

The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.

  • 10.22.2012 7:09 PM PDT

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein

Glasslands*. But you shouldn't skip it, it's sets up a lot of characters for The Thursday War. Such as Telcam, and Jul Mdama.

  • 10.22.2012 7:18 PM PDT


Posted by: Cpt Nicholson
Glasslands*. But you shouldn't skip it, it's sets up a lot of characters for The Thursday War. Such as Telcam, and Jul Mdama.
This.

The Thursday War is the sequel to Glasslands.
Skipping Glasslands is like skipping Star Wars: A New Hope and going straight to The Empire Strikes Back.

[Edited on 10.22.2012 7:25 PM PDT]

  • 10.22.2012 7:24 PM PDT
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Totally awesome!

I really don't get why you would skip any, unless you don't even read any of them. Aren't you a fan of Halo and want the most out of the story even if some books aren't as good as others?

  • 10.22.2012 7:33 PM PDT

i actually liked glasslands better then thursday war. idk how you could get rid of fred, kelly and linda and barley mention halsey.

  • 10.22.2012 8:02 PM PDT

I love Glasslands, my favourite Halo book.

  • 10.23.2012 1:05 AM PDT

If you're going to read Thursday War (which is just as bad, the whole trilogy is just plain awful), then you might as well read Glasslands too. Honestly though, you could skip the whole damn thing and it wouldn't make a difference in the least...it's about as necessary for setting up Halo as fish need to live on dry land. All of the stuff you "learn" in that is about as much as you would from the actual game itself...Traviss mostly turned the Glasslands Trilogy into her own little soapbox rant about how awful Halsey is and to display all of her misanthropic opinions about humanity in general. Honestly I consider the whole thing a waste of my time :/ If the author isn't going to pay any attention to previously established lore or outright change it on their own "authority" and "power" just because she can....then I'm not even going to bother with it.

  • 10.23.2012 10:16 AM PDT

The only inconsistency with Glasslands is Lucy's punch not killing Halsey, but it's hardly a major plot point, and she was described as small for an S-3; 5'2 after augmentation (according to Nylund), and only 70 kilos (which isn't that much less than my weight and I'm 6'0 and a bloke, so I'm not saying she doesn't have some serious muscle density.)

Even so, I don't think it's such a stretch to imagine Halsey survived the blow. If Tom or Kelly had punched her, I'd cry foul. But with Lucy as she was, not to mention most likely weaker for a lack of proper nutrition, I'm okay with it.

[Edited on 10.23.2012 11:05 AM PDT]

  • 10.23.2012 11:04 AM PDT

http://www.halo-forum.com

To be honest you could probably skip both Glasslands and Thursday War and just read a synopsis on Halopedia. A whole pile of nothing happens and there are some new things. Meh.

Glasslands:

- Halsey is bad.
- Mk. VII has nanobots
- Spartan IVs and Infinity are introduced
- Sangheili is split, Arbiter vs. Elites that still hate humans
- Humans are evil, lying, expansionists or something
- Jul, a human hater gets kidknapped
- Halsey is bad
- Lucy talks
- Onyx is brought back into normal space
- Halsey is still bad but now works for ONI at a new Halo

The Thursday War:

- Humans are still evil for some slightly different reasons
- Sangheili rebellion against Arby.
- Rebellion stopped by Infinity wrecking house!
- Lasky is introduced.
- Jul escapes, meets a Sangheili colony who are really out of the loop and creates the Storm Covenant
- Eh...that's pretty much it.

  • 10.23.2012 11:15 AM PDT
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ODST Expeditionary Force I The WorkPLace I Mythics
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Posted by: Cobravert
I just saw a green monkey nut shot a small tan lizard(?) in a gunny sack.

I wouldn't skip Glasslands. Just read it and form your own opinion on it. If I skipped reading it because of half of the reviews here I'd be pissed, since I enjoyed Glasslands.

  • 10.23.2012 11:43 AM PDT


Posted by: switch 104 sv
To be honest you could probably skip both Glasslands and Thursday War and just read a synopsis on Halopedia. A whole pile of nothing happens and there are some new things. Meh.

Glasslands:

- Halsey is bad.
- Mk. VII has nanobots
- Spartan IVs and Infinity are introduced
- Sangheili is split, Arbiter vs. Elites that still hate humans
- Humans are evil, lying, expansionists or something
- Jul, a human hater gets kidknapped
- Halsey is bad
- Lucy talks
- Onyx is brought back into normal space
- Halsey is still bad but now works for ONI at a new Halo

The Thursday War:

- Humans are still evil for some slightly different reasons
- Sangheili rebellion against Arby.
- Rebellion stopped by Infinity wrecking house!
- Lasky is introduced.
- Jul escapes, meets a Sangheili colony who are really out of the loop and creates the Storm Covenant
- Eh...that's pretty much it.



Could the exact same not be done for any of the books, Forerunner ones included?

  • 10.23.2012 12:50 PM PDT


Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.

  • 10.23.2012 2:04 PM PDT


Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


"Even shadowy ONI was squeamish about her experiments." I don't think they liked what Halsey was doing, and before this she says "ONI had buried her [in a private office tucked away] years ago."

I honestly don't think ONI knew the full details of the SPARTAN program at first, and by the time they did, it was already too far along.

  • 10.23.2012 2:29 PM PDT


Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


Moral ambiguity is a cornerstone of characters that are not black and white, which are in general just better characters. Discussing them promotes thought and insight, enriching the story. Does the excuse "they was just doing their job" apply to the N@zis who ran death camps? No, but even less so considering Halsey practically came up with the idea and wanted to be there.

Think about that next time you're about to jump on the anti-Traviss bandwagon.

[Edited on 10.23.2012 2:43 PM PDT]

  • 10.23.2012 2:42 PM PDT

Am I supposed to write something funny here?


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


Moral ambiguity is a cornerstone of characters that are not black and white, which are in general just better characters. Discussing them promotes thought and insight, enriching the story. Does the excuse "they was just doing their job" apply to the N@zis who ran death camps? No, but even less so considering Halsey practically came up with the idea and wanted to be there.

Think about that next time you're about to jump on the anti-Traviss bandwagon.
Because ORION never happened...

Actually, at this rate, it probably didn't.

  • 10.23.2012 2:51 PM PDT

"I may not be perfect, but always been true."


Posted by: Wolverfrog

Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


"Even shadowy ONI was squeamish about her experiments." I don't think they liked what Halsey was doing, and before this she says "ONI had buried her [in a private office tucked away] years ago."

I honestly don't think ONI knew the full details of the SPARTAN program at first, and by the time they did, it was already too far along.


Are you sure you read the same Fall of Reach that I did? Because I clearly recall ONI not giving a -blam!- about the Spartan II's. Halsey wanted to test the augmentation effects more before they would be augmented, but ONI wouldn't have it. The only reason she did apply them prematurely (prematurely as in, before the optimal efficiency rate she hoped for was achieved) was because she feared that she would be replaced by somebody who didn't care about the Spartan II's.

But then again, she must be a monster for doing something as trivial as wanting to stop a potential civil war, and she is clearly a monster for treating the Spartan II's as more than just tools like the rest of the UNSC did, I mean, it's not like she was the only one that could actually distinguish them, even in their armors, oh wait...

In fact, the one that should be demonized should be Margaret, seeing how the hag approved, not one, but two Spartan programs, using a false promise of revenge to turn orphans into tools to fight the Covenant, what happened when all of Alpha was massacred? oh that's right! she congratulated Kurt and even assured him they would do it again if they had the chance to do so.

  • 10.23.2012 4:48 PM PDT


Posted by: Wolverfrog

Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


"Even shadowy ONI was squeamish about her experiments." I don't think they liked what Halsey was doing, and before this she says "ONI had buried her [in a private office tucked away] years ago."

I honestly don't think ONI knew the full details of the SPARTAN program at first, and by the time they did, it was already too far along.


Source on first line. They didn't like how slow/safe Halsey was. It's why she wasn't in the S3 program. As time went on, she went from making Spartans to starting to actively hinder getting more Spartans on the field with how safe she was being.

Second paragraph. What -blam!- rock have you been living under? ONI knew the full details since the very -blam!- beginning. They gave her the supplies, they gave her the staff, they gave her AI's for teaching the Spartans.

I'm sorry, but there is zero way ONI was clueless about the S2 program until it was "too late to stop it". I mean, honestly. they were involved in both kidnapping the S2 kids, AND putting the flash clones in.

  • 10.23.2012 4:54 PM PDT
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Hey, uh, if you like vs threads, then check out this little group right here, if you have the time. It's pretty fun, just hop right in.

Posted by: Davesnow
I really don't get why you would skip any, unless you don't even read any of them. Aren't you a fan of Halo and want the most out of the story even if some books aren't as good as others?


If a book sucks, then it sucks. It isn't a matter of being a fan. I like Halo and I think Glasslands was -blam!-. Then again I thought half the Halo books were -blam!-.

  • 10.23.2012 5:11 PM PDT


Posted by: Cmdr DaeFaron

Posted by: Wolverfrog

Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


"Even shadowy ONI was squeamish about her experiments." I don't think they liked what Halsey was doing, and before this she says "ONI had buried her [in a private office tucked away] years ago."

I honestly don't think ONI knew the full details of the SPARTAN program at first, and by the time they did, it was already too far along.


Source on first line. They didn't like how slow/safe Halsey was. It's why she wasn't in the S3 program. As time went on, she went from making Spartans to starting to actively hinder getting more Spartans on the field with how safe she was being.

Second paragraph. What -blam!- rock have you been living under? ONI knew the full details since the very -blam!- beginning. They gave her the supplies, they gave her the staff, they gave her AI's for teaching the Spartans.

I'm sorry, but there is zero way ONI was clueless about the S2 program until it was "too late to stop it". I mean, honestly. they were involved in both kidnapping the S2 kids, AND putting the flash clones in.
I'm going to have to agree with CmrDeFaron here. ONI funded the whole thing, how could they NOT know?

On top of that, they didn't like Halsley because she was always looking out for the Spartans' safety (as best as she could). ONI just wanted to pump out Spartans, so when the SIII program came around... Halsley wasn't involved.

  • 10.23.2012 5:15 PM PDT


Posted by: Spartan1995324
I'm going to have to agree with CmrDeFaron here. ONI funded the whole thing, how could they NOT know?

On top of that, they didn't like Halsley because she was always looking out for the Spartans' safety (as best as she could). ONI just wanted to pump out Spartans, so when the SIII program came around... Halsley wasn't involved.


Indeed. I think it was Kurt himself (or maybe somebody else... Ackerson or Parangosky perhaps) who said if Halsey was in the S3 project, even despite the augmentation improvements (concerning washouts), Halsey would have still used the S2 restrictions. Meaning tiny groups of Spartans instead of the armies ONI and the UNSC needed.

  • 10.23.2012 5:20 PM PDT


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Posted by: Chester Duncan

Posted by: crumpster212
The Halsey--blam!- finally got what she deserved in my opinion, although Margaret telling her about her daughter was really a low blow.
MORELESZ FORT WEENERS!!.! You guys are idiots. Halsey just did her job. If she didn't then they would have replaced her with someone who would have cared alit else.


Moral ambiguity is a cornerstone of characters that are not black and white, which are in general just better characters. Discussing them promotes thought and insight, enriching the story. Does the excuse "they was just doing their job" apply to the N@zis who ran death camps? No, but even less so considering Halsey practically came up with the idea and wanted to be there.

Think about that next time you're about to jump on the anti-Traviss bandwagon.


The problem with the Glasslands Trilogy is that there is no moral ambiguity, Traviss is force-feeding the audience her own opinion that Halsey is evil and the worst person ever. She doesn't present any other possible side, she simply takes her own opinions and rams it down our throats and expects us to swallow...and even if one is exploring other interpretation, those interpretations still need to be in character and not something completely contrary to what that character thinks or makes them tick. What was great about The Fall of Reach, First Strike, and Ghosts of Onyx is that Nylund just gave us the information and let us decide what to do with it, he wasn't trying to force people to think one way or the other...unlike Traviss, with her Halo books, there is only one assumption than can be drawn and what she wants everyone to believe, and that is her own, where Halsey is some sort of evil demon incarnated and does unspeakable horrors on everyone just for -blam!-z and giggles.

And likewise you are wrong in your assumptions as well, Halsey initially did not want to be involved with the Spartan Program, or even come up with the idea (that was ONI). She only signed on and agreed to head ONI's project once she'd become convinced that the Insurrection was a very real threat to humanity and something as drastic as the Spartan II program was the only possible way of stopping it all before humanity was driven to the brink of extinction and launched into another dark age/stone age.

Posted by: Wolverfrog
"Even shadowy ONI was squeamish about her experiments." I don't think they liked what Halsey was doing, and before this she says "ONI had buried her [in a private office tucked away] years ago."

I honestly don't think ONI knew the full details of the SPARTAN program at first, and by the time they did, it was already too far along.


See, that's a fat load of completely and utter bull-blam!- due to Traviss not doing her research, or just choosing to ignore the established information and pervert things to support her own opinion(s) that Halsey is a complete monster who should be killed off....and if one actually only went off Karen Travisty's opinion, that would be true, in her books she went well out of her way to make Halsey the "Complete Monster" trope, and ignoring everything we ever learned about her along the way before that point.

Anyways, Travis claims about Halsey and Spartan Program are complete bull-blam!- because for one, the Spartan Program was ONI's idea in the first place, they'd already had a lot of it lined out before hand, and two, Halsey had a budget and had to get approval for various parts of the project, she wasn't just handed the keys to the project and told to "have at it". ONI was well on top of it all the whole time, like for instance, Halsey wanted to post-pone the augmentations in order to make them as safe as possible for the Spartans (because she cared about them), and ONI smacked her down and told her to press on.

And what experiments? Really, what experiments? There were none, except testing the augments on chimpanzees first and weeding out the potential augments where the risks would be too high for the possible benefits...and that quote is completely retarded in so many ways! ONI bloody experimented on PEOPLE with the sodding FLOOD...if they think experimenting on chimps is something horrid...then they are utterly retarded and have no concept of morality or anything like that whatsoever.

  • 10.23.2012 7:03 PM PDT
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Posted by: switch 104 sv
To be honest you could probably skip both Glasslands and Thursday War and just read a synopsis on Halopedia. A whole pile of nothing happens and there are some new things. Meh.

Glasslands:

- Halsey is bad.
- Mk. VII has nanobots
- Spartan IVs and Infinity are introduced
- Sangheili is split, Arbiter vs. Elites that still hate humans
- Humans are evil, lying, expansionists or something
- Jul, a human hater gets kidknapped
- Halsey is bad
- Lucy talks
- Onyx is brought back into normal space
- Halsey is still bad but now works for ONI at a new Halo

The Thursday War:

- Humans are still evil for some slightly different reasons
- Sangheili rebellion against Arby.
- Rebellion stopped by Infinity wrecking house!
- Lasky is introduced.
- Jul escapes, meets a Sangheili colony who are really out of the loop and creates the Storm Covenant
- Eh...that's pretty much it.

You forgot to mention that Jul gains another motivation for destroying us, which makes him a stereotypical vengeful badass rather than finding a proper reason to attack us. It's all speculation, fear, in addition to anger at this point. He knows nothing.

[Edited on 10.23.2012 7:29 PM PDT]

  • 10.23.2012 7:28 PM PDT

But is Margaret's involvement common knowledge now? I could see ONI using Halsey as a scapegoat to avoid public persecution for their unethical projects.

  • 10.23.2012 9:02 PM PDT

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