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Halo Fractures: An Anthology of Advertisements?

OP AlphaBenson

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AlphaBenson
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AlphaBenson

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This may come across as a bit behind the times, considering Halo: Fractures was released months ago, but I haven't gotten around to reading it until recently. Besides, this isn't meant to be a discussion of the lore from the book, but rather, of the product itself.

After reading "short story" after "short story" in Fractures, I couldn't shake the feeling that so many of these stories were ending the moment they started to get interesting, as if they were simply the prologue to a larger story. Well, this turned out to be more or less true. We've already had Halo: Smoke and Shadows, which is a continuation of Fractures' Into the Fire, and there are 3 more books slated for 2017 that appear to have strong narrative connections to "short stories" featured in Halo: Fractures. Which essentially makes Fractures a paid collection of previews, rather than a proper anthology of short, complete stories.

So, I ask: does this bother you? Are you fine with 343 selling people what is essentially the book equivalent of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, or would you prefer it if they focused on making a proper anthology of fully realized narratives?
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JNDreher
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JNDreher

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AlphaBenson wrote:
This may come across as a bit behind the times, considering Halo: Fractures was released months ago, but I haven't gotten around to reading it until recently. Besides, this isn't meant to be a discussion of the lore from the book, but rather, of the product itself.

After reading "short story" after "short story" in Fractures, I couldn't shake the feeling that so many of these stories were ending the moment they started to get interesting, as if they were simply the prologue to a larger story. Well, this turned out to be more or less true. We've already had Halo: Smoke and Shadows, which is a continuation of Fractures' Into the Fire, and there are 3 more books slated for 2017 that appear to have strong narrative connections to "short stories" featured in Halo: Fractures. Which essentially makes Fractures a paid collection of previews, rather than a proper anthology of short, complete stories.

So, I ask: does this bother you? Are you fine with 343 selling people what is essentially the book equivalent of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, or would you prefer it if they focused on making a proper anthology of fully realized narratives?
I think anthologies are a way of testing the water to see what aspects of the lore fans are most interested in exploring. They also help fans fill time and gives us something to talk about while we're waiting for the next novel or game to be released.

I really don't see why you view the stories as only teasers for larger stories. I didn't get that from any of them. Sure a few would easily expand into larger stories, but they, themselves are contained stories.
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AlphaBenson
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AlphaBenson

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JNDreher wrote:
AlphaBenson wrote:
This may come across as a bit behind the times, considering Halo: Fractures was released months ago, but I haven't gotten around to reading it until recently. Besides, this isn't meant to be a discussion of the lore from the book, but rather, of the product itself.

After reading "short story" after "short story" in Fractures, I couldn't shake the feeling that so many of these stories were ending the moment they started to get interesting, as if they were simply the prologue to a larger story. Well, this turned out to be more or less true. We've already had Halo: Smoke and Shadows, which is a continuation of Fractures' Into the Fire, and there are 3 more books slated for 2017 that appear to have strong narrative connections to "short stories" featured in Halo: Fractures. Which essentially makes Fractures a paid collection of previews, rather than a proper anthology of short, complete stories.

So, I ask: does this bother you? Are you fine with 343 selling people what is essentially the book equivalent of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, or would you prefer it if they focused on making a proper anthology of fully realized narratives?
I think anthologies are a way of testing the water to see what aspects of the lore fans are most interested in exploring. They also help fans fill time and gives us something to talk about while we're waiting for the next novel or game to be released.
How fast do you think the writers are churning out these novels? Smoke and Shadows released two months after Fractures. Even if its just 98 pages, there's no way that the story wasn't already in the making by the time Fractures was being assembled. And Envoy is slated for April, and is 400+ pages. I'm sure Tobias Buckell is talented, but not THAT talented.

Into the FIre is by no means a complete narrative. It cuts off at what would be the climax of Act ONE of a proper three act story. It's mainly just set up, a call to action in the form of Rion getting a lead about a ship connected to the Spirit of Fire, and then it ends on a cliffhanger. The first part of Lessons Learned, in which Tom and Lucy rescue Jun from the vacuum of space, is also just completely pointless. It doesn't reveal anything meaningful about these characters, nor does it establish the actual plot of Tom and Lucy going off to work in a Joint Occupation Zone. The story then ends after a minor conflict between a Sangheili female and a bunch of rowdy marines. Which exists for the sake of establishing that there is racial tension in the Joint Occupation Zone. There's a bit of character development when Tom and Lucy find themselves standing up for the Sangheili, but it hardly justifies Lessons Learned's page count.
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JNDreher
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JNDreher

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AlphaBenson wrote:
JNDreher wrote:
AlphaBenson wrote:
This may come across as a bit behind the times, considering Halo: Fractures was released months ago, but I haven't gotten around to reading it until recently. Besides, this isn't meant to be a discussion of the lore from the book, but rather, of the product itself.

After reading "short story" after "short story" in Fractures, I couldn't shake the feeling that so many of these stories were ending the moment they started to get interesting, as if they were simply the prologue to a larger story. Well, this turned out to be more or less true. We've already had Halo: Smoke and Shadows, which is a continuation of Fractures' Into the Fire, and there are 3 more books slated for 2017 that appear to have strong narrative connections to "short stories" featured in Halo: Fractures. Which essentially makes Fractures a paid collection of previews, rather than a proper anthology of short, complete stories.

So, I ask: does this bother you? Are you fine with 343 selling people what is essentially the book equivalent of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, or would you prefer it if they focused on making a proper anthology of fully realized narratives?
I think anthologies are a way of testing the water to see what aspects of the lore fans are most interested in exploring. They also help fans fill time and gives us something to talk about while we're waiting for the next novel or game to be released.
How fast do you think the writers are churning out these novels? Smoke and Shadows released two months after Fractures. Even if its just 98 pages, there's no way that the story wasn't already in the making by the time Fractures was being assembled. And Envoy is slated for April, and is 400+ pages. I'm sure Buckell is talented, but not THAT talented.

Into the FIre is by no means a complete narrative. It cuts off at what would be the climax of Act ONE of a proper three act story. It's mainly just set up, a call to action in the form of Rion getting a lead about a ship connected to the Spirit of Fire, and then it ends on a cliffhanger. The first part of Lessons Learnt, in which Tom and Lucy rescue Jun from the vacuum of space, is also just completely pointless. It doesn't reveal anything meaningful about these characters, nor does it establish the actual plot of Tom and Lucy going off to work in a Joint Occupation Zone. The story then ends after a minor conflict between a Sangheili female and a bunch of rowdy marines. Which exists for the sake of establishing that there is racial tension in the Joint Occupation Zone. There's a bit of character development when Tom and Lucy find themselves standing up for the Sangheili, but it hardly justifies Lessons Learned's page count.
So you're writing off the whole book because of two stories?

Yes, Into the Fire seems like a teaser, but there are 13 other stories in Halo Fractures.

As for Lessons Learned, It did expand on the lore (such as the UNSC and Sangheili having joint-control over a Dyson Sphere). You may not have liked it, but there are a world of other opinions out there besides yours.
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AlphaBenson
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AlphaBenson

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Quote:
So you're writing off the whole book because of two stories?
Did I ever say that those two were the only examples?

A Necessary Truth and Oasis are also recieving larger novel counterparts. What is interesting about these two is while they're certainly closer to a complete story than Into the Fire and Lessons Learned, both mention an antagonistic entity who is indirectly responsible for the events of the stories, yet is never actually interacted with outside of the characters fending off a goon of theirs or two. Likely because the actual books will be where we properly learn about said antagonists, and see them defeated.

Quote:
Yes, Into the Fire seems like a teaser, but there are 13 other stories in Halo Fractures.
Saint's Testimony and Shadow of Intent were released long before Fractures, and consist of more than a quarter of Fractures' entire length. Combine this with stories that were announced to be getting a continuation or straight up expansion, and you're left with very little content that will remain unique to Fractures.

Quote:
As for Lessons Learned, It did expand on the lore (such as the UNSC and Sangheili having joint-control over a Dyson Sphere). You may not have liked it, but there are a world of other opinions out there besides yours.
Lore isn't story. If the only value a story had was to give you a couple details about the setting, then it could have offered the same entertainment value by just being a canon fodder article.
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I DR HALSEY I
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I DR HALSEY I

Spartan - Onyx
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I can see that reasoning. Compared to Evolutions, the Fractures collection of stories do seem to cut off at a point that do seem to lead naturally into larger stories. Not necessarily a bad thing, but hopefully the larger stories don't add the Fractures shorts to pad out the length like Smoke and Shadow did.
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Killer Orca
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Killer Orca

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I DR HALSEY I wrote:
I can see that reasoning. Compared to Evolutions, the Fractures collection of stories do seem to cut off at a point that do seem to lead naturally into larger stories. Not necessarily a bad thing, but hopefully the larger stories don't add the Fractures shorts to pad out the length like Smoke and Shadow did.
Yes, that really did kind of bother me...
I dont think they will though, at least, I HOPE not...
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