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  • HALO: Glasslands

  • HALO, Book 11
  • By: Karen Traviss
  • Narrated by: Euan Morton
  • Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (108 ratings)

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HALO: Glasslands

By: Karen Traviss
Narrated by: Euan Morton
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Publisher's Summary

The first novel of the Kilo-Five Trilogy by number-one New York Times best-selling author Karen Traviss - part of the expanded universe based on the award-winning video game series Halo!

It's 2553. The theocratic military alliance known as the Covenant has collapsed after a long, brutal war with humanity that saw billions slaughtered on Earth and its colonies. For the first time in 30 years, however, peace finally seems possible. But though the fighting has stopped, the war is far from over: It’s just gone underground. The United Nations Space Command’s feared and secretive Office of Naval Intelligence recruits Kilo-Five - a clandestine team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, a Spartan supersoldier, and a diabolical AI - to accelerate the insurrection within the Covenant’s warrior species, the Sangheili, even as their notable defector turned leader, Thel ‘Vadam - the Arbiter - struggles to stave off civil war among his divided people.

Across the galaxy, a woman thought to have died in the Covenant attack on the planet Reach is actually very much alive. Chief scientist Dr. Catherine Halsey broke every law in the book to create the Spartan program, and now, she’s broken some more rules to save them. Marooned with Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez and a Spartan team in a Forerunner slipspace bubble hidden in the destroyed planet Onyx, Halsey finds that this place has been guarding an ancient secret - a treasure trove of Forerunner technology that will change everything for the UNSC and mankind. As Kilo-Five joins the hunt for Halsey, humanity’s violent past begins to catch up with all of them as the disgruntled colony Venezia has been biding its time to strike at Earth...and its most dangerous terrorist has an old, painful link with both Halsey and Kilo-Five that will test everyone’s loyalty to the limit.

©2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about HALO: Glasslands

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

gg

the voice actor barely changed the voice foe each character and most the time base of the voices I could not tell who was male or female

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Voice acting

Great lore story that fills in the gaps between Halo 3-4 and good voice acting, the Australian accents were actually done quite well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

AWESOME!!!!!!!

Oh that sweet Halo lore, I want more!
A thank you to Brian David Gilbert for recommending this trilogy!
And a big thank you to Karen Travis for this amazing story I look forward to the next book! :)

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, really enjoyable

Overall great. My only criticism is the way the narrator pronounced New Llanelli. I would have thought a professional narrator would have taken the time to learn how to pronounce place names or words correctly.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Huw
  • 07-08-2020

just awesome. great lore

havent been so engrossed by a book in a long time. already bought the sequel

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A great listen.

An excellent addition to the lore and will have you wanting more in the franchise and other content.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A halo trilogy for adults

This applies do the whole trilogy because I have listened to all, three times now. These books bring the halo universe so far into reality the previous books are great but have a lot of inconsistencies. K5 trilogy gives you a more nuanced depiction of doctor Halsey. A person who at best is a criminal solipsistic narcissist. the sangheili, in previous lore they talk about honour While slaughtering non combatants. This book explores all.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good story

in headphones it only plays on one side but overall good story, would recommend if not using Bluetooth headset

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good listen but unusual characterization of Halsey

I found Glasslands really compelling, listened through it on Audible in a few days. The three subplots were well balanced and tie into each other in a fairly natural way. However I was disappointed by the characterization of Halsey.

The author seems to have decided Halsey is the worst person imaginable and does everything to paint her in black and white as an evil person. Even if you’re not a fan of Halsey, you’ll be surprised at how every character seems to have an unbridled HATRED towards her, very regularly spatting out how unjustified the Spartan II program was and how Halsey deserves to die for what she’s done. This is in fairly stark contrast to the ‘emotionally torn’ image of her in other books and the games which pay attention to her misgivings but acknowledge the grey area in which she worked and that her actions, regardless of ethics, were vital in winning the war. These justifications are briefly mentioned in Glasslands, but just to be mocked as ‘excuses’ for ‘who she really is’. It’s just very over the top and unusual.

I’ll also mention that one ONI officer in the book, described as the the best ONI’s apparently got, just cannot keep their mouth shut! Every secret, from the Spartan II program to the secret mission they are currently running, is told to anyone, even civilians, for NO reason. And then they cry poor when there’s a risk it might be leaked. Absolutely infuriating and so out of character with the ONI theme of subterfuge.

The narration was good, but the female voices were a bit too nasal (like a man mocking a female voice, but unironically). And the middle eastern accents for the Sangheili were overdone.

The reveal at the end made me groan and I’m not in a rush to read the sequel, just for this reason.

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