Last night I finished reading Halo: Evolutions, Essential Tales of the Halo Universe (Tor). This is the latest entry in the successful series of novels based on the Halo video game series. However, unlike its predecessors, Evolutions is a collection of short stories by a variety of authors, including Halo novel veterans Eric Nylund and Tobias S. Buckell. This gives the collection a variety of flavors, like a seven-layer cake (see what I did there, Bungie?). Each story has its own distinct flavor and contributes to the richness of the book as a whole.
As someone who has read all of the Halo novels released thus far, I couldn’t resist Evolutions, and I have to say that I am not disappointed. While Evolutions doesn’t bring much to the overall Halo mythology in the ways that The Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, and Contact Harvest did, it is able to deliver engaging stories without getting bogged down by canonical fidelity.
As I said, Evolutions doesn’t expand much on the Halo mythology, so if this is why you’re reading the book then you will find very little to satisfy you. These readers will most likely be most interested in the story “Human Weakness,” which covers Cortana’s experience aboard the Gravemind-controlled High Charity. If tales such as this are what you are looking for I would also suggest reading “Headhunters” and “The Return.”
Evolutions is a strong entry in the series that holds its own against the more canon-focused novels. It delivers engaging stories that are easily digested like a good short story should be. I don't think any fans of the previous Halo novels will be disappointed with this entry in the series.
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