When you compare the story of the Halo Reach game with the novel Halo: the fall of reach it turns out many events contradict eachother.
What's your take on this?
What's your take on this?
Halo Reach; does it kill the novel?
- Thread starter Trillovinum
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Sigh. I'm sure it does, having not read the book, but still I'd like to point out that the books in the Halo universe are NOT CANON.
The games = canon for Halo, the books do not.
The games = canon for Halo, the books do not.
But the problem is that they use some things from the books but not others. They selectively pick and choose from the books what is canon and what is not. This causes a bit of a clusterfuck because when some things are canon and some not from the same material, it becomes hard to keep track of it. At least George Lucas had the sense to avoid the book canon altogether when making the prequels. As bad as those movies were, that's the way you do it.No_Remainders said:
personally I just feel like halsey's journal was just an excuse by bungie to justify their story writing. The whole thing just feels rushed and very 'last minute'.HG131 said:
From Halopedia, this explains it perfectly in the order of "Superior Canon"believer258 said:
Often times, one source of canon may say something different than other sources. There are many reasons why this may be so; ranging from a typo to a line taken out of context. Therefore, a policy of "superior canon" is in act to make sure that the content of Halopedia reflects the most accurate canon of the Halo universe. Thus, a "ladder" of canon sources exists, with the sources higher on the ladder having "superior canon" which is considered more "official" than the sources below them.
The concept of superior canon is as follows:
Current Bungie Employees are the highest source of Canon. They design, authorize, and sanction every detail about Halo that is revealed to the public. Their statements take the highest authority among Halo canon because, obviously, they created it all.
Halo Games are, with certain exceptions, the most elaborate of the Halo works and, as they come directly from the producers of Bungie, they are the largest creations of the Halo universe. The information in the video games was produced by Bungie employees directly. This gives them the most credit as canon sources.
Halo Literature, Soundtracks, and Other Media are below the games as sources of canon for various reasons. Some of this media is presented by Bungie Affiliates and thus not direct canon from the studio, and some is for promotional purposes or Halo ideas that were released in incomplete development. Bungie Studios has given great creative license to its affiliates as long as their material falls within basic guidelines, and may not be what Bungie itself wanted for the Halo universe.
Bungie Affiliates are just below Bungie employees. This group includes companies and people who work on Halo products but are not part of Bungie studios. This group includes 4orty2wo Entertainment employees, Joyride Studios employees, and Halo novelists like Eric Nylund and William C. Dietz.
*Announcement Trailers are usually considered not to be canon, as details in an announcement trailer are usually a very early draft of the storyline, and do not necessarily contain content that made it into the final game. Thus, Trailers are considered to be canon until the official game is released.
Halopedia Canon The lowest form of Canon, Halopedia Canon is the result of heated debate among the Halopedia community to arrive at conclusion and decision on said piece of Halo Universe. Halopedia Canon is trumped by all other higher Canon unless it is determined that a mistake by Bungie has been made. Some examples of "mistakes" can be found here.
The concept of superior canon is as follows:
Current Bungie Employees are the highest source of Canon. They design, authorize, and sanction every detail about Halo that is revealed to the public. Their statements take the highest authority among Halo canon because, obviously, they created it all.
Halo Games are, with certain exceptions, the most elaborate of the Halo works and, as they come directly from the producers of Bungie, they are the largest creations of the Halo universe. The information in the video games was produced by Bungie employees directly. This gives them the most credit as canon sources.
Halo Literature, Soundtracks, and Other Media are below the games as sources of canon for various reasons. Some of this media is presented by Bungie Affiliates and thus not direct canon from the studio, and some is for promotional purposes or Halo ideas that were released in incomplete development. Bungie Studios has given great creative license to its affiliates as long as their material falls within basic guidelines, and may not be what Bungie itself wanted for the Halo universe.
Bungie Affiliates are just below Bungie employees. This group includes companies and people who work on Halo products but are not part of Bungie studios. This group includes 4orty2wo Entertainment employees, Joyride Studios employees, and Halo novelists like Eric Nylund and William C. Dietz.
*Announcement Trailers are usually considered not to be canon, as details in an announcement trailer are usually a very early draft of the storyline, and do not necessarily contain content that made it into the final game. Thus, Trailers are considered to be canon until the official game is released.
Halopedia Canon The lowest form of Canon, Halopedia Canon is the result of heated debate among the Halopedia community to arrive at conclusion and decision on said piece of Halo Universe. Halopedia Canon is trumped by all other higher Canon unless it is determined that a mistake by Bungie has been made. Some examples of "mistakes" can be found here.
Note how the literature comes after the games in the order of Halo canon.
I'm a big Halo fan and even I admit that the game contradicts the novel, but the games are taken as canon over the books every time. Besides, the Halo fans at Bungie.net are too busy arguing whether or not its John-117 in the Cryo-tube easter egg or not to argue over the plot (Trust me, I wish I was kidding when I said that.)believer258 said:
Also, according to rumors, Bungie plans to have Eric Nylund rewrite the Fall of Reach Novel so they both correspond with one another.
To me, its two different takes on the same story. Look at it like its all just one big historic moment and the games and books are recalling the events. Many different theories as too how everything happened will form. You just have to pick the one or come up with on that works for you... I guess.
It absolutely destroys the novel. I actually went back and read the book to get ready for Reach, but I ended up screaming at the game on a regular basis for being so non-canon.
Compared to the book, the game didn't make a whole lot of sense. The Reach campaign was by far the worst in Halo
I'm not a fanboy, first of all, I'd just like to throw that out there thanks.believer258 said:
And I'm hardly defending it, I'm just making a statement, I'll agree that changing what once was fact is a bad idea as a storytelling mechanic, I'm just saying that when it does come to Halo, that's how things work.
It's because the story was flimsy as shit to begin with.
I liked both. The book was well written and the game was well made. Inconsistencies are going to be prevalent in the two because, well, it's two completely different medias. If you read some song lyrics from many mainstream hits as a book or poem or short story, it sometimes means something different from the song. Perspective is what's important. On a personal note, I liked the book story better, but that was a story made by someone that wasn't part of the game itself. And don't say that The Flood was exactly like the game. It was made after the game and framed around it. Fall of Reach was made a long time before Halo: Reach. I don't care which is real cannon or which is the keystone or turning point or any of that. I liked one better. Personal opinion. But both are great and amazing as they are. If you look at them as complements rather than competitions then it works so long as you use reason to explain the differences. Reach got fucked. Both stories told that. Thats what truly matters IMHO.
while i love the book, quite possibly my favorite book ever (i've read it 4 times already), i will say it contradicts quite a few times with the game, however i dont think bungie was intending to go exactly from the book from the start, so i dont know why there is so much arguing over it..