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Halo: Primordium: Book Two of the Forerunner Saga: 9

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This, of course, is literal; much of the book is spent with the readers following one character’s geas, which “pulls” her in the right direction. Having nothing better to ride hopes on, and some experience with the infallibility of the Librarian’s strange geas, Chakas follows along with it. This is perhaps the one real point of criticism that I have with the novel; it does seem meandering and aimless, and often (this is the Two Towers Syndrome: overlong and aimless). It’s also another point that mirrors Ringworld and a common complaint about Niven’s novel, too. However, Bear smartly plays with the rules of the Librarian’s geas as a plot device, which allows for the introduction of some horror into the novel. Through Chakas’ eyes we see plenty of Flood-based nightmares, and we catch a glimpse of the bizarre, beetle-like Primordial for which the book takes its name. It is made clear that after humans were defeated at Chatham Hakkur, the Lifeworkers kept their genetic code to pass down through generations as they knew how to defeat the flood, and forerunners may need that same information. Lord of Admirals, Forthenko, was placed in Chakas. Yprin, who lives in Riser, was a rival of Forthenko and first discovered, revived, imprisoned and interrogated the primordial to find its secrets. It began leaking extraordinary answers. Yprin helped prepare human forces for the advanced forerunners. The composer is what made this possible. Chakas and Riser get a hold of themselves and continue with Vinnevra and Mara along Halo. As it turns out this when the Master Builder was given permission to build the Halo's the Librarian demanded to be allowed to bring species from around the galaxy, to the Halo's as a means of preserving life since the weapons kill everything. The Forerunner investigator Catalog gathers testimony from witnesses about the battle at the Forerunner Capital, and demands testimony from the Librarian and Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting—now known as the IsoDidact. While Catalog accompanies the Librarian, she tells it about the events that led to her becoming a Lifeshaper, and her growing split from the original Didact due to their differing opinions about humanity. She reveals that years previous, Lifeworkers undertook an expedition to a nearby galaxy to learn of the Flood's origins. The Librarian and her crew discovered that the Forerunners sent here to destroy the last Precursors instead refused to commit genocide and remained in exile. They find a gravemind imprisoned that is made of forerunners. They hear cries for help. It is in a cage and a shield barrier as well. It shakes the whole city. They leave across the lake, and see two more bizarre shapes form up from the water. They see an illusion of a cone, perhaps used to power the Halo, as a vision of the Halo’s plan to heal itself.

This entire book, and I do mean the ENTIRE book, is complete and utter filler. It exists for no reason. It tells no story. It is a total waste of your time.Greg Bear (October 12, 2011). "News: Halo Primordium". Greg Bear.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013 . Retrieved April 15, 2013. Halo: Primordium is continuing on the new story telling style and tradition as the first book, Halo: Cryptum; which for the first time, represents the most influential society of the Halo universe in the reading style and grand scale as the Greek Epic. As a reader of every Halo book and an all around scifi fan, I found the series to be a refreshing change from the past books: successfully emphasizing the reach and divinity of the demi-gods known as the forerunners while satiating my desire for not only learning the 'what' of the Master Chief era of Halo, but the 'Why'. We learn the complete truth about the Flood and the Halo Installations, their amazing capabilities not only as a super-weapon but what the Forerunners known as the Master Builder and Librarian truly intended in their creation, while juxtaposing their greatness with how childlike they still are; especially when we learn of the 'Precursor'.

James, Andrea (April 19, 2009). "Sci-fi author Greg Bear to feed Halo fans hungry for details". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Williamson, Hilary. "Halo Cryptum: Book One of the Forerunner Saga". Book Loons . Retrieved March 20, 2013. Alexander Sliwinski (October 11, 2010). "Halo: Cryptum novel by Greg Bear launching in Jan. 2011". joystiq . Retrieved March 21, 2013. Jason Hamilton. "Book Review: Halo: Cryptum (2011) by Greg Bear". Story Hobby. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013 . Retrieved March 20, 2013. Final Book in the Halo: Forerunner Saga Revealed!". Tor Books. July 11, 2012 . Retrieved April 14, 2013.In the present, the original (Ur) Didact is discovered alive in a Flood-infected star system, having been captured by the Flood intelligence known as the Gravemind. Though he reaches safety, the UrDidact is severely shaken by the experience. The Gravemind revealed that the Forerunners rebelled upon learning humanity was to receive the Mantle, and killed nearly all the Precursors. A few survived by converting themselves into a powder to later regenerate their forms, but time rendered this powder defective, and gave rise to the Flood, which seeks to consume all sentient life. At the Lesser Ark, the remaining Halos are assigned monitor caretakers in preparation for their distribution across the galaxy. The IsoDidact has a brief conversation with Chakas/343 Guilty Spark and assigns him to Installation 04. The Librarian sneaks aboard Requiem and confronts the Ur-Didact, who is using the essences of humans and his warriors to create an army of mechanical Promethean Knights to fight the Flood and ensure Forerunner supremacy. The Librarian betrays the Ur-Didact and seals him in a cryptum, before returning to earth to oversee the conservation of its life forms before the activation of the Halo Array. I think what the problem a lot of people might have with Greg Bear's trilogy (again, I've only read two so far), is that they are more "interesting" books than they are "compelling". There is a distinct level of emotional detachment for the most part, and often events just happen without you realizing. It's like some things aren't described in great detail while massive plot points end up being almost footnotes. It seems like a deliberate writing style, if you ask me, and so I appreciate what Bear is doing here. Also I appreciate the way he weaved so many disparate elements of the lore into his own unique creation.

A preview of the novel's first chapters was released on December 28, 2011 on Tor.com and Halo Waypoint, with the first chapter released on Tor.com and the second and third chapters as well as part of the fourth chapter on Halo Waypoint. [6] Set primarily on the "rogue" Halo ring Installation 07 used by Mendicant Bias during the events of Halo: Cryptum, [3] the novel follows the journey of the humans Chakas and Morning Riser, former companions of Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting. After crash-landing on the Halo ring during Mendicant Bias' assault on the capital, they discover it has been used by the Master Builder's researchers to conduct research on humans. [4] They are forced to make their way across the embattled Halo installation, facing the Flood and rogue A.I. constructs on the way, while the Precursors' ancient plan of vengeance against the Forerunners is revealed. [2] During their journey, they find their way into the Palace of Pain, the lair of the ancient entity known as the Timeless One, which has unleashed The Flood on the Master Builder's researchers on the installation. [4] Mendicant Bias will also play a major role in the story. [5] The Didact and company travel to Charum Hakkor. Many of the Precursor structures on the planet, thought indestructible, have fallen into ruin. The Didact also discovers that a prisoner, protected by Precursor and human containment methods, has escaped. They travel to the nearby planet of Faun Hakkor to find it stripped of all sentient life. The Didact sponsors Bornstellar's first mutation—a vital part of Forerunner growth—and imprints his personality and memories upon the young Forerunner. Along the way the device tells a story that at times the science team finds hard to believe except that some key pieces of information match that from other sources Chakas story starts with his regaining consciousness on a planet. He was ejected from the Forerunner ship and landed in a protective pod. What he thought was a planet turns out to be a HALO over 30,000 miles in diameter. The people are barely surviving on the HALO and there are experiments being done on them in a place called the Palace of Pain.

This means that until the final couple of chapters not much "happens" - where Cryptum followed Bornstellar's journey through the galaxy to become the IsoDidact (which I still don't understand fully), Primordium follows Chakas as he travels the length of Installation 07. I can imagine that if you're reading this book and not listening to the audiobook version while doing something else, much of this book would be kind of boring. I didn't find that to be the case, but I was also painting miniatures and stuff while listening to I didn't really have to worry about being bored. Halo: Silentium Book Text Holds Codes for Additional Halo Content". Tor Books. February 13, 2013 . Retrieved April 14, 2013. Where I'm beginning to think Bear's style failed is in describing the details of Forerunner technology. He stretched out details about technology in a way for our own imagination filled in the blanks, which I love. Stories become a very personal experience when recounting details in such a way. But, the details he did describe left you unsure of exactly what he was trying to describe and sometimes, it's function. What one would believe as a simple thing such as a Forerunner equivalent of a monorail were really hard to visualize as a tangible object in the world that our characters were in. In a phrase; instead of a definitive 'thing', it they became concepts. I haven't decided though, if this was done because the characters don't quite understand the god-like engineering prowess of the forerunners' technology and if this is the case, I must give credit where it's due to Bear's cleverness. That'll have to be something the reader has to experience and understand.

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