Best products from r/HaloStory

Make my arrangements, bring a guitar and a song book and a compad with either the future equivalent of this or a future magic power brick running on fusion or something, hell if I know but if I get to Sangheilios I'm probably ONI/high priority UNSC so I get cool toys. Oh, and the compad is full of manuals for basically everything, exploded diagrams of vehicles with enough information to repair them and everything we know about culture and language and whatever the hell else I can think of, since we have 256GB SD cards right now and better stuff in the pipeline I can basically fit humanity's entire knowledge in my back pocket even WTIHOUT internet if it's plaintext, so by then I could probably fit 3D diagrams and disassembly videos. Oh, and I'm gonna need an automated translator, I'm going there to LEARN the language not because I already know it.

Anyway, just make myself as entertaining and useful and non-threatening as possible, and instead of ending up somewhere like Vadam keep that's a major target, just hide out in the country, some backwater keep like Mdama except on the Arbiter's side. Take those manuals and the fact that they're pretty much clueless as to how to fix their own shit or make stuff that is actually fixable, I can get a pretty decent day job basically being a shadetree mechanic and fixing vehicles and farm equipment. And they like music quite a bit if Shadow of Intent is anything to go by, so a little cultural exchange is probably a nice way of not making enemies. I would also try to get romantic but without much knowledge of their culture first-hand, that would probably be a really bad idea, so I'd wait til at least year 2 and probably 3 to make sure whoever I decide to ask is not taken and doesn't hate me.

Of course, being a keep in the middle of bumblefuck and a time period where everyone is pursuing old grudges, I'd still probably end up in a fight, but hopefully from inside the keep where my lack of armor or natural toughness wouldn't be an issue. Save up a few hundred gekz, buy a nice carbine as it's the most versatile gun, and retool it to be better suited for my needs. I'd have a magnum coming there, but at best only about 50 rounds and 2 spare magazines, just because 12.7x40mm is not particularly light or small and I'd rather not look like I came there to start a fight.

All in all, find the place I'm most likely not to die, show useful skills, be entertaining, and arm myself and I may get through 5 years not only alive, but with more cash than I started with and some new friends.

I'd say the best place to start is with the books, specifically with Halo: The Fall of Reach. From there, read in release order. The /r/Halo wiki has a complete list of books here.

There are also comics, a list of which exists here.. These might be a bit hard to track down and the old Marvel-published comics aren't printed anymore. If you want to read those legally, you'll probably need to look on E-bay, as I'm not aware of any other way to get your hands on them.

The more recent comics, starting with Halo: Initiation can be purchased from Dark Horse, the publisher, on their website darkhorse.com or digitally via digital.darkhorse.com. Comics like Initiation and Escalation specifically are available in large collections now, making for an easy purchase.

There have also been various guides published over the years. One of the most recent is Halo Mythos, which covers the entire Halo story from the time of the Forerunners to the doorstep of Halo Wars 2. Once again, complete lists here.

There are two live-action series/movies that exist: Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and Halo: Nightfall. There's also the anime anthology Halo: Legends. These can be purchased as a collection now.

There's more to the lore than just this, but that starts getting into the obscure or niche stuff, or interpretations like the commercials. If you're interested, myself and plenty others are happy to guide you through the less mainstream lore sources, but it doesn't sound like you're interested in diving in just yet.

I'm currently listening to the audio book of Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, so I'm kind of hyped on AI and their possible existential threat, right now. The Halo writers are greatly downplaying what is possible for a powerful superintelligence can do. Once in control of the Domain, and properly bootstrapped to godhood, Cortana wouldn't have need for the Guardians or any of the Promethean's infrastructure. She could just start converting matter into computronium or something even more exotic. Of course, that's way too un-fun and not adventure sci-fi. If the Halo writers wanted to combine Halo-lore with contemporary conjecture on AI doomsdays, Cortana should have started mass producing Composer platforms to convert all sentient life in the known galaxy into info-life and importing them all into the Domain where they can live in a never ending Utopia...on her terms, of course. Using ancient warships to enforce martial law is just too crude. The Guardians are a decisive strategic advantage, but just not nearly what a superintelligence can get away with.

Also, I'd like to note that according to real world AI theory, the Smart AI of Halo are not "true" AI. They are Emulated Minds, ie, their core architecture is based on high resolution scanning of human brains that is emulated via powerful software. I know that this is common knowledge amongst us, but I find it interesting that RL researchers do make a distinction between artificial machine intelligence and theoretical Full Mind Emulation.

Sure thing bud. Here you go

Hope this helps.

I was referring to this one. I would love an updated one with all the EU after halo 3.

Full Disclaimer: Traviss is a good writer, regardless of what people say. However, she hurts her talents by not doing any of her own research into the Universe she's writing for. Rather than have 343i staff give her a list of canon details to include. That's just a recipe for disaster.

My Opinion:

Personally, I would avoid Glasslands at all costs. That book - while written very well in terms of structure and how it tells it's story - is basically an entire inconsistency all by itself. Practically the whole book. All the way from how the characters are portrayed to referencing historical events in Halo. It's a real head ache.

The other two stories are more secluded and don't try to fill in that many gaps in the Halo Universe. They basically try to rap up their own personal stories for the most part with minor additions to the Halo Universe.

Now, for my final thoughts.

As it stands, I'd say Halo: Thursday War is worth a read. However, Mortal Dictata is kind'a just there to finish the Trilogies story and it's very... drawn out; it's still good by itself though. Glasslands is chalked so full of so many inconsistencies that it's not worth picking up simply to disregard a huge amount of the story details it contains.

The best part about all of this though, is that Halo: Mythos contains an excellent summary of the entire Halo Universe and the Kilo Five trilogy; without the many inconsistencies. You really don't even have to read any of the Kilo Five Trilogy because of Halo Mythos.

Spend your money on that instead.

Fascinating! There will also be a new book released the same fall.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1501140671?tag=simonsayscom

If you have an amazon account, you can actually see a good chunk of the book for free here

Mouse over the cover page and click "look inside". I didn't count, but I think it gave me around ~30-40 pages of a 200 page book.

If you enjoy disturbing flood stories, I suggest Mona Lisa from Halo: Evolutions.

The book is an anthology of short stories across various authors, and worth the purchase just for Mona Lisa.

However, per your OP, I recommend it for after Reach at least.

I checked comixology but couldn't seem to find it. If you want it digitally:

Volume 1

Volume 2 (out in April)

And Volume 3 won't be out until much later this year, so if you wanted to you could catch up with the single issues. You can also order the trades from Amazon or you local comicbook store if you have one.

You also could read the summaries on Halopedia for the time being.

https://www.amazon.com/Halo-Boxed-Set-Various-Authors/dp/0765370123/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0765370123&pd_rd_r=2M8DCZR8Q9DEZ054SRYS&pd_rd_w=2T1Po&pd_rd_wg=iBbQx&psc=1&refRID=2M8DCZR8Q9DEZ054SRYS

worth it?

US? theres a 'used - like new' on amazon for $15 + $4 shipping here if thats any good

im just pissed i didnt pick it up before it was backwards compatible, there was still a few new ones kicking around for fairly cheap

This is the link from my order history.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1501155407/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074ZP9LG8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M0HWCQF/ref=pd_sbs_351_1/154-0162661-6799778?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RWPN9BBK1CXBVXX627CK this one come out this november , i didnt know it

There's also Halo: Envoy (Apr 25), Halo: Smoke and Shadow (Nov 28), and Halo: Legacy of Onyx (December 2017) coming up.

https://www.amazon.com/Halo-Boxed-Set-Various-Authors/dp/0765370123/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Here you go, direct link

Keep in mind, these are the 2012 reprints.

http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Mythos-Guide-Story/dp/1681193566/ref=wl_mb_wl_huc_mrai_1_dp

this as well

I thought you were exaggerating but wow...

https://www.amazon.com/Mattel-Halo-Promethean-Soldier-Figure/dp/B01B7OXI06/ref=sr_1_16?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1539640971&sr=1-16&keywords=halo+toys

>Which is what we were discussing. Almost all Halo fictional non-fiction has been described using some sort of in-universe voice. Terminals. Halsey Journal. Bestiarium.

I don't see the relevance of this point, or at least I do not see what you mean. The Forerunner trilogy, terminals, and the Mythos are not experienced in the same manner as most of the Halo fiction, so whatever point it is that you're trying to discuss here, I think you're getting off on the wrong foot. That short list gives us information via in-universe materials, and character's relating personal stories. Most of the books, and games have us riding along inside the character's heads, or in the third person. There's no ambiguity in the latter's material because their basis is not "This story was found inside a Forerunner data cache". unlike the prior list which does consist of material like that.


>I'm arguing that it's abundantly clear that while the Curator is the one narrating, he's just a mouthpiece for the authors themselves. Therefore any biases or coloring is irrelevant, since the authors are the absolute highest and irrefutable canon.

Can't agree seeing as character bias is an almost inherent trait of fiction, regardless of whether or not they're the author's mouth piece. However I'm not going to tread down that road with you, seeing as the discussion with the other guy resulted in you getting hot headed. Since you so hotly contest this point though, perhaps you should consider asking Grim about it. Maybe he'll give you a solid answer.

>plus the fact that Curator has knowledge beyond that of the UNSC and Guilty Spark

That's a pretty bold claim considering we already know the UNSC is/was in possession of many ancient materials now. Can you actually back this up?

>makes it clear that he doesn't feel Mythos is fully canon, as he directly calls into question Mythos' accuracy of the events, and in addition considers it acceptable to take the Primordial's logic-plague strings over that of Mythos should you feel like it,

You're glazing over parts of your earlier discussion. Questioning accuracy, isn't necessarily questioning canon. Mythos is canon simply because it's 343i's newest encyclopedia, and therefore an addition to their canon, however this wouldn't be the first time Halo has had misinformation in an encyclopedic release. If it introduces the perspective of a different character, then it doesn't make all of that character's interpretations indisputable fact. You can assume this if you want, but I wouldn't say there's a solid basis for it.

>despite the franchise's unambiguous policy that recency = priority.

It's ambiguous enough that 343i has made efforts to clarify inconsistencies in Canon Fodder questions, forum posts, ect. In regards to Staten's earlier comments, Staten is no longer helping head off Halo's larger narrative. Using quotes from him for this subject isn't really much beyond questionable. His word is no longer close to being law.