| Title | : | HALO: Envoy |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 |
| Publication | : | First published August 20, 2017 |
It has been six years since the end of the Covenant War...and yet on the planet Carrow, a world on the edge of the Joint Occupation Zone, a decisive new battle suddenly erupts. Human colonists and the alien Sangheili have already been living a tension-filled co-existence in this place, with Unified Earth Government envoy Melody Azikiwe attempting to broker a lasting peace between their two species. But as civil war now engulfs the Sangheili settlers, Melody must act on an additional covert assignment courtesy of the Office of Naval Intelligence: find a way to free the SPARTAN-IIs known as Gray Team, held in stasis since the end of the war by a cunning Elite fleetmaster consumed with vengeance. And none can anticipate the ongoing violence leading to the discovery of an even greater, unstoppable threat—one hidden for eons below the surface of the planet….
HALO: Envoy Reviews
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One of the best Halo novels since the original Bungie-era books. Admittedly it can be a tad predictable in a few places; pandering to the tried-and-true sci-fi tropes, but immensely enjoyable nonetheless.
I'm also happy to report that if you've never read a Halo novel before, you absolutely can start reading with this book. (though it would help if you've played a Halo game before, obviously) I think 343 has realized that the extended universe has gotten a bit dense lately, and Envoy represents a solid effort to bring in new readers and new fans.
Make no mistake, if you're a long-time reader of the series, you will appreciate the immense number of references to the games and past novels. (Halo Wars 2 gets a lot of love here) The closing chapters/finale especially really pulls out all the stops. And Buckell pulls no punches in terms of pandering to the gamers that are the intended readers of this book. At one point there is literally a fortress behind a bridge over a river of lava. The guy gets it.
Lastly, yes there is a small setup for future novels at the end, as is the eternal pattern, but I think it's done with a very light touch. No cliffhangers here. So yes, you should absolutely read this book.
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As is usual with any book in the Halo series it's a book you just can't put down.
Here we have three Spartan II's that have been in stasis for 6 years.
Around the planet Carrow their is an uneasy co-existence between humanity and a remnant of the covenant forces.
This is soon destroyed by an overzealous Sanghelli Kaidon and the action cranks up dramatically.
Throw in a new enemy and it's a fully blown out war.
Recommended as are all the other books in the series -
There are few things I love more in life than a pleasant surprise.
To boot: I wasn’t the biggest fan of Tobias Buckell’s first “Halo” novel, “The Cole Protocol” – to me, it was a classic case of “too much exposition, not enough heart.” As a result, I went into Buckell’s follow-up,” Halo: Envoy,” basically expecting more of the same militaristic, hyper-detailed plotting that caked the wheels of that novel. But shocker of all shocks: not only is “Halo: Envoy” a SIZEABLE improvement over its predecessor, but I would contend that it’s also one of the strongest pieces of tie-in media the franchise has delivered yet. Who’da thunk it?
The biggest difference between “The Cole Protocol” and “Envoy” is the way that they handle their protagonists – although both novels share a few notable characters, “Envoy” does a considerably better job at actually making us understand and care about them, which in turn provides the story with actual emotional stakes. Buckell also does exemplary work maintaining a laser-focus in guiding his story – this is very much a “bottle episode” of a novel, in that most of the action takes place in and around one main planet. It’s definitely a calculated approach, one that gives Buckell the permission as a storyteller to focus in exclusively on a handful of characters and plotlines, without ever feeling the pressure to overreach or over-do it on subplots (something that badly hampered the plotting and flow of “The Cole Protocol”). We’re locked in on this core story with these core characters, which means we can invest in both fully.
It also doesn’t hurt that “Envoy” also happens to just be a lot of fun to read. One of the more frustrating recurring elements I’ve noticed in many of the “Halo” novels is that, more often than not, their writers tend to lean heavily into self-seriousness; that’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but after reading 13 “Halo” novels in a row, the overall effect can and has become slightly monotonous. “Envoy,” on the other hand, is a different beast than its brethren – there’s a spryness to the proceedings that feels unusual and unexpected for the franchise, and it really does do wonders for the flow of the novel. The fact that Buckell – of the oh-so-serious “The Cole Protocol” – managed to turn around and deliver what is easily the funniest and most fast-paced “Halo” novel yet isn’t just impressive – it’s also, for my money, deeply appreciated. -
Before reading this novel, I’d highly recommend reading Buckell’s short story in Halo Fractures, which functions as great prologue to this novel and its world. I never knew how much I wanted a post-apocalyptic or western themed Halo Novel before that. Envoy is a great read, but it doesn’t quite meet the tone of that short story.
- The story follows a small scale bush war on a frontier world settled by Humans and Elites and the various players involved as they navigate the crisis and try to obtain a peace.
- The setting was very interesting
- The plot remains engaging and interesting throughout, though I wish it were more political and a little darker.
- The tone is interesting and desperate, though Buckell lays it a bit too thick at certain points.
- The prose is also thick without being obnoxious. It is perfect.
This is one of the better novels of the 343 era.
All in all, this makes for some light reading. Every Halo fan ought to read this. Otherwise, he is missing out. -
War, peace, and the cycle of revenge is extensively discussed in this fantastic new addition to the Halo franchise. There's a war on an independent human world between the Elite and human settlers with three marooned Spartans caught up in the middle. Lots of great references to Halo Wars 2 and previous volumes. It's also a message of trying to figure out how to make peace after much violence with few "real" villains. The narrator does a great job too.
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I rather wait to the next Troy Denning's book.
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Gray team is amazing! Book was good. Cant believe im still giving this only 4 stars. Really good book. Cant wait for gray teams next appearance!
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Halo: Envoy by Tobiass Buckell is a video game tie-in novel based Microsoft/343 Industries Halo video game franchise, and the second book of the Grey Team trilogy.
Halo: Envoy, is set in 2558 six years after the Master Chief Spartan 117 saved the Galaxy from the Flood and the remnants of the Covenant, and brought a fragile peace to the galaxy. This tension filled coexistence between former enemies has brought the people of the Planet Carrow into conflict. Human settlers and the Sangheili locals on the Planet find them selves on the verge of open war.
To stop this conflict the UEG government sends diplomatic Envoy Melody Azikiwe to resolve the situation. Unknown to the local leaders Azikiwe is really on secret mission from ONI to rescue the missing Spartan-lls known as Grey team who went missing during the early years of Human-Covenant War, but are now in the hands of a vengeful Shipmaster Rojka. When a civil war breaks out between the local Sangheili leaders Melody uses the chaos to rescue the Grey Team. As the Spartans of Grey Team come to grips of waking up in a post war era galaxy. They join the fight to save the planet. While everyone else is distracted with the Planet griped in war. The Jiralhanae warlord Hekabe uses the chaos to uncover a forerunner weapon hidden for eons below the Planet, and unleashes it. Soon the various warring factions are forced to unite against a common foe to save their Planet.
The story starts slowly but after the first fifty or so pages I began to get into it. It also takes a while for the Spartans to enter the fray, but once they do the chapters become shorter and hold the attention more. The story centres mainly on the battle for the Planet of Carrow from the point of various characters. From POVs of Governor Ellis, Envoy Melody Azikiwe, Shipmaster Rojka, Chieftain Hekabe, to the Spartans of Grey Team. This large cast of characters gives us a perspective from all angles of the action, although I felt the interaction of the Grey team could have been touched on more and certainly the concept of Spartan IIs . The narrative can occasionally get confusing as it shifts perspective around a lot, but not to the point of distraction. The writing is brisk and punchy and that is exactly what is needed in Military Sci-Fi. I especially enjoyed the character envoy Melody Azikiwe and learning more about the Post Halo 3/4 Galaxy and the politics that went into making coexistence between former warring species possible It is definitely a book for hardcore Halo fans who are interested in learning more about the Post Halo 3/4 universe.
The first half of the novel had me intrigued with its large character focused narrative, giving further character development for the Spartans of Grey Team (I really do like their dynamic in the novel, and they felt more developed as characters when compared to, say, Red Team) while exploring an alien vs human narrative that doesn't simply boil down to "destroy all humans" and gave further exploration on the Jiralhanae, from their perceptions and culture, to their situation from their enslavement by the Covenant to their broken state after the Covenant's collapse, which is something that I certainly appreciate, through the character of Hebake, who proved to be a compelling antagonist in the novel, at least in the first half.
However, I felt a dip in quality as the Sharquoi were introduced. Honestly, while it was interesting to see the Sharquoi finally appear, I felt that their presence was overall more detrimental to the novel, and that it would've been better served if the novel had focused upon the Sangheili and Jiralhanae antagonists instead of Forerunner doomsday weapon, and their role in the novel, in terms of basic infantry to combat our protagonists, could have been easily substituted by Jiralhanae soldiers, while the central goal could've been replaced by something such as a Forerunner A.I (not unlike Halo: Last Light). The strengths of this novel were certainly the interspecies relations and the themes revolving around them, from the Sangheili of Rakoi's civil conflict revolving around their distrust of humanity and Grey Team in particular, to the Jiralhanae's bitterness at the Sangheili for their treatment of the species, while the novel was weakened by yet another Forerunner plot McGuffin. Maybe I'm just weary of stories being centralised around the Forerunners and the technology they left behind, however I felt that their presence in the novel had done more to harm the narrative than they did to support it.
Whilst more action packed then previous Grey Team novel “The Cole Protocol” it was an interesting concept for a story and I would recommend it as the place for a Halo newcomer to start. It was interesting to learn more of the impact the Human-Covenant War had on various characters , and to understand more background to the various Spartans who made up Grey Team. The various Sangheili and Human settler characters really expanded on areas not explored in 343’s post Halo 3 era. This adds a little depth and shading to the Halo universe, and while the writing is not going to blow you away, it is pitched as it should be for this genre. It is nothing more than pure Military sci-fi fun.
All in all, Halo: Envoy is a very interesting story. I thoroughly enjoyed Grey Team’s return, and new story and was glad to see they were the focal point of this story. The story keeps you guessing and then ends with a satisfactory conclusion. This is a great follow up to the author's previous book, The Cole Protocol, which introduced Gray Team. I'm looking forward to a follow up to this story. This book definitely holds its own in the Halo universe, and definitely as good as other Halo books like the Fall of Reach or First Strike in my opinion. -
Yes... that was, another halo book. Yep... God its just so many fight scenes. Its exhausting, please give me some interesting character development, some plot for anyone older than 12, anything please
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My favourite book in years!
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Writing and plotting for 12 year old readers.
Someone should educate the author. A fission nuclear bomb is not a battery into which you can plug an extension cord to power a city. Fission bombs contain a radioactive core element such as U-235. It emits heat if not shielded. It does not emit electricity without a steam engine. A radioactive power source such as the one powering the Voyager spacecraft is very low power heat that is converted to electricity by convection (I believe that's the term?).
At any rate, the plot is stupid and I really don't think this author should be writing sci-fi, even if it is for a series.
That said, I'm not overly hard on it because I enjoy the Halo universe. Just not this bad writer. I will avoid him like I avoid the author of The Martian for the same reasons. -
Sangheili carried this book through. The brief backstory of Rojka was a treat to read, and how they're coping with the loss of the Covenant and beginning the alliance with the humans is a new breath for me as far as i've read into the 343 era books. The governor Ellis story is not fun or entertaining to read, as her story feels forced into the mix. Gray team also feels unique from all other Spartan teams, more isolated and doing their own thing with not that much UNSC chains in their command. Overall;nice pace, if a bit tired plot of forerunner artifact the factions must race to obtain. some dull characters here and there(mostly humans).
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Halo Envoy is not just one of the best halo novels I have read, it is one of the best sci-fi novels I have read. Buckell’s first book Cole Protocol was fun but had lots of dead chapters and doesn’t come together until the 2nd half. With Envoy he not only fixed any writing mistakes he had, he ascends to Eric Nylund levels of Greatness.
Set 6 years after the end of the Human/Covenant war the planet Carrow is in disarray. Both humans and Elites have settled on it and have a strained peace. Our book starts in the middle of an elite civil war where Melody Azikiwe, a human envoy to the elites is caught in the middle. She is primarily seen alongside Rokja , an elite leader who wants peace. Not only is Melody there to bring peace, but is also there to free Spartan Gray Team who have been held in cryo stasis by the elites for 6 years. Gray Team was deep behind enemy lines when the war ended and without realizing the war had ended destroyed an Elite world massacring billions. Once Gray Team joins the fray a Brute working with the elites who don’t want peace with the human’s lands on Carrow he reveals he is there to find a Forerunner tech that could change everything. On top of, this we also follow the human Governor of Carrow who must protect her people from the Brute and his tribe who are looking for the Forerunner artifact in their city.
Envoy is an absolute page turner. While Cole Protocol sometimes struggled to keep your attention that is not a problem here. We start in the middle of action and things keep moving until the very end. Fast paced and lean. Buckell knows where to spend his time. The depiction of action is great. His descriptions make this a fully realized world.
All that I mentioned in the last paragraph is not what makes Envoy great. What makes it truly great is the character work. Halo in general has always been the perfect balance of excitement and genuine human emotion in space. EVERY and I mean every character arc here is great. The usually cool Gray Team are having some trouble coming to terms with what they did. The Covenant killed billions of innocent humans during the war, Gray team despite being super soldiers trained since the age of 6 struggle with the choice they made. Are they any better than the enemy? Ellis the governor’s arc of wanting freedom for her people at any cost is great and her big choice in the book is the most logical conclusion. Rokja is the best arc. We see him go from proud elite to realizing that the future of his people may require him to be something else besides a warrior. Realizing humans are not that different from his own kind.
A sci-fi masterpiece.
The ending for Halo fans will leave us excited. ONI putting Spartans and elites together? Brilliant. ONI Doesn’t trust our new allies. Pair them up with Spartans who don’t trust anyone. -
Grey Team Awakens
I always enjoy a good Halo story, and this one fits the bill. Glad to finally have a stockpile of new Halo books to read. On to the next! -
I listen to this book via Audible.
Halo: Envoy features the return of Gray Team, who we last saw in Cole Protocol, also written by Tobias Buckell. It's nearly seven years after the Human-Covenant War ended (the events of Halo 3), but Jai-006, Adrianna-111, and Mike-120 have been in cryosleep the entire time, oblivious to the changing world around them.
The story takes place on Carrow, a planet in the Joint Occupation Zone, and one of the few that features both human and Sangheili colonies. As a result, the United Earth Government and the Swords of Sanghelios are willing to go to great lengths to keep the peace. We start out by learning of a power struggle among the Elites and UEG Envoy Melody Azikiwe is caught in the middle of the conflict. That is just one facet of the tension that exists between the various factions, and the plot sees allegiances shift and evolve. Carrow at the end of the book is a very different Carrow from the beginning, but I'll let you discover the how and why.
In addition to Melody and Gray Team, there are a number of other important characters that get their moment in the spotlight - humans, Sangheili, and more. Buckell does a great job separating the perspectives of the different species and factions and uses their culture and beliefs to help further denote the individuals. I enjoyed looking at things from all of the different points of view as the story grew and developed.
Envoy is a solid addition to the Halo series - it teaches us some new things about the universe but also brings us back a little to the wartime mindset (at least at first). Fans of the games or the universe as a whole will find a lot to like in this book. -
The story has a good premise in post-war times. It just took too long to get the point, a common theme among a few of the newer Halo novels. It seems like the authors aren’t allowed to go too deep. Maybe that’s because 343 Industries wants the deep, space-opera level stories to be told by the games. The conversations in “Envoy” between the Elites and the main character are the best part of this novel. It’s interesting to see the Elites as victims of their own religion and war, struggling to survive and just as suspicious as humans when it comes to earning trust.
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Slow to get going, but excellent in the end
As a Halo book addict, I have hard tastes to match when it comes to these novels. While this book took a while to get interesting, the second half was very exciting. Looking forward to more such novels in the future. -
Another great halo novel
Another great halo novel. Love the Spartans, love the continuing storyline in the halo universe. I look forward to more. -
this book is awesome! it keeps you reading. this book tells an amazing story that keeps you wondering what will happen next. even when you think it's something else keeps you reading till you finish.
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This is a post war, non-UNSC based book. Focusing on a high-school aged girl and Covenant members of the same age makes this hardly a Halo type novel but is entertaining either way.
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3.75 Stars
This is my second foray into the Halo universe. I have NEVER played the game, though I've watched a couple walkthroughs to familiarize myself with some of the mechanics.
I am basically reading these books (out of order) for background info...so that when I watch the Paramount+ TV series...I will have some basic knowledge. I know that the TV series is adjacent, and not in line with the game. I also believe the novels are adjacent, too (may be wrong about that).
I previously read Halo: Silent Storm...which was about Master Chief. I enjoyed it. This book was/is about Grey Team and Jai006 and what happened on Carrow.
The Covenant is no longer...and now they are infighting...which is actually a lot more dangerous.
Grey team has missed the war and been dropped into the middle of this situation...where BOTH sides want them killed...for they are not supposed to be there.
I really enjoyed the story, though some of the creatures in this universe where unknown to me (until I looked them up).
I will be reading more of these books. I might even start from the beginning, now. -
This book is peak 'Halo', featuring a cast of Sangheili (Elites), Jiralhanae (Brutes), Spartans and Insurrectionists. Set just months before the apocalyptic events of Halo 5/The Created Takeover. Grey team is an interesting contrast to other Spartans such as John-117 (Masterchief), dealing with their own mental battles from their previous mission, while handling local Elite and Brute forces. Alongside the Spartans you get to experience the thoughts and actions of various insurrection/outer colony leaders and the excellent Elite Kaidon/Fleetmaster (Rojka Kasaan). I recommend this to anyone who wants a suspenseful, action packed, and lore intensive Halo novel.
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A superb Halo novel. With Broken Circle the best since the Bungie era, imo.
The themes handled are varied and very well done. Some standard, but done in an original way, and most importantly, done very well.
The characters are very well worked out, both old and new. Their arcs and personalities interesting, complex and dynamic.
The plot is a bit lacking, but this does not detriment, as the aforementioned aspects of the novel more then compensate, and a nice sprinkling of Shark-like (Or Koi-like? ;) ) destruction for ultimate enjoyment.
Kudos to Mr. Buckell!
