News:Halopedia Reviews: The Rubicon Protocol

Following up on our promise to make this a regular series, we at Halopedia are happy to present our second ever review of a Halo novel. In this article, we will share our thoughts Kelly Gay's latest novel, Halo: The Rubicon Protocol. While the novel was released nearly two months ago (at the time of posting) and we allow any of its content to be posted to the site, we have ensured that the first half of the review is spoiler-free, so you can safely read the first five questions if you have yet to complete the novel yourself!

If you would like to experience the novel for yourself, you can find it at Amazon (US or UK), Forbidden Planet, Simon & Schuster, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble.

Given that collaboration between people of varied opinions and backgrounds is core to the concept of a wiki, our review consists of a number of talking points with multiple editors giving their thoughts individually. This time, we’ve got Halopedia staff members JackVibe, Sith Venator, and TheArb1ter117!

Please note that we were not asked by 343 Industries, Microsoft, or any other party to produce this review, nor were we asked to promote or praise the book.

Question 1
'What are your overall thoughts on Halo: The Rubicon Protocol? Was it what you expected?'

JackVibe: My overall thoughts on Halo: The Rubicon Protocol are positive. Having played Halo Infinite and hunted down the audio logs for the wiki, I was expecting a good deal of expansion on the events depicted in the logs. Kelly Gay did more than what I expected, adding more context to some of the logs and breathing life into characters we previously only knew through their voices.

Sith Venator: I liked it a lot! Kelly Gay met my expectations as per normal, as she has been doing since 2016.

TheArb1ter117: My opinion on Halo: The Rubicon Protocol is generally high; yet another quality Halo novel from Kelly Gay. I’m not quite sure what my expectations were going into it, but I know they were exceeded in many areas and just missed in only a few others.

Question 2
'Is there any other Halo media that you think fans need to play, read, or watch before picking up Halo: The Rubicon Protocol? Or any that you think would simply enhance the reading experience?'

JackVibe: Despite all of the narrative connections to Halo Infinite and the rest of the franchise, the novel can be someone’s first venture into the Halo universe. Most of the main cast have all appeared in some way or another in previous media, but they really shined here. If anything, I would even suggest reading the novel before playing Infinite, since it is a prequel to Infinite.

Sith Venator: I’m going to be bold and say nothing else is really necessary. This could easily be your first Halo book and I think you would be fine.

TheArb1ter117: I was going to say that readers of Halo: The Rubicon Protocol should play Halo Infinite first, but it could really be done either way. You will enjoy the connections that either story makes to the other. In addition to potentially playing Halo Infinite first, Halo Wars 2 could be useful to play to get further acquainted with the Banished, and a playthrough of Halo 5: Guardians might be good to get a sense of the state of the galaxy up until the events at Zeta Halo. As for novels, Halo: Shadows of Reach features some brief cameos of some of the major characters in Halo: The Rubicon Protocol and it gives a deeper look into Escharum’s character. However, none of these are required reading/playing in my mind except for Halo Infinite, whether that be before or after your reading of the novel.

Question 3
'Prior to Halo: The Rubicon Protocol, Kelly Gay had not written a Halo story outside of the Rion Forge & Ace of Spades series. How do you think Kelly did with a cast of characters that were entirely new to her?'

JackVibe: I haven’t read the Ace of Spades series, but I think Kelly has done a stellar job with the cast here. Fortunately most of the characters were relatively-blank slates, so Kelly was given plenty of space to play around with. The characters gave us a much more “human” look into different roles of the UNSC outside of the Spartan branch, and, as a big fan of narrative with multiple perspectives, I thoroughly enjoyed how she handled them. The Spartans also got a fair share of exploration; I particularly loved the topic of Spartans, the expectations of being Spartans, and the pressure that came with those expectations.

Sith Venator: I think she did pretty well! Especially for a more military style of story that’s happening here as opposed to the Ace of Spades series.

TheArb1ter117: Given that many of the characters within the Rion Forge & Ace of Spades series were entirely new (and also fantastic!), I think Kelly did a similarly great job with the characters in this novel. My main hope is that the story doesn’t end here for many of these characters and they continue to be expanded in a potential sequel novel or a game.

Question 4
Without revealing any key details, what did you think of the novel’s expansion of the Battle for Zeta Halo and the events portrayed in Halo Infinite?

JackVibe: In the end, Halo Infinite, despite its ambitions, was limited with how it depicted what happened on the ring. The depiction of characters, vehicles, weapons, and even events were constrained to the scope of a video game. The novel was able to work outside of these constraints; it managed to expand on what the game has established, all the while making small nods to previous media and telling a story with the main cast.

Sith Venator: This novel does an excellent job of showing scenes you thought were already kind of sad and doubling down on them to make you feel super depressed. Then on the more lighthearted side I just like the extra details Kelly added to things. Such as UNSC forces having access to vehicles that the player doesn’t get to see in the game itself.

TheArb1ter117: I think Halo Infinite did a fantastic job with the emotional characterization of the main characters–The Weapon, John-117, Fernando Esparza, and Escharum. However, we never really got to know many friendly side characters, primarily because the UNSC presence on the ring is so scattered and most of the Spartans we encounter are already dead. Halo: The Rubicon Protocol develops a number of these Spartans and those we only briefly hear from in the audio logs. It makes the conflict feel so much more personal and dire, with the UNSC just barely scraping by battle after battle. In Halo Infinite–and pretty much every other Halo game–the Master Chief is a whirlwind of unstoppable force and it rarely feels like the battle can be lost when he’s there to help, but this novel shows just how hard the UNSC had it leading up to the Master Chief’s awakening and it resonated with me greatly.

Question 5
For fans who have read many of the previous Halo novels and are unsure if they would like Halo: The Rubicon Protocol, which novel does this feel most like and why?

JackVibe: If Halo Infinite is a spiritual successor to Halo: Combat Evolved, then Halo: The Rubicon Protocol is that to Halo: The Flood. Both novels ran on multiple perspectives, though this time, there is no view from the non-human side of the conflict. It’s a shame, but I understand why.

Sith Venator: Maybe not too surprisingly this feels pretty similar to Halo: The Flood, though I would argue The Rubicon Protocol is the stronger of the two stories. Both novels cover events that were already covered in games. The Rubicon Protocol gets the benefit of avoiding retreading combat sections the player has already done while greatly expanding on the many audio logs sprinkled across Infinite.

TheArb1ter117: Like Jack and Sith said, Halo: The Flood is the clear comparison as it covers events referenced within the game and expands on the same conflict. However, in terms of plot, I’d liken Halo: The Rubicon Protocol to Troy Denning’s Halo: Oblivion. Both novels follow UNSC personnel stranded on an alien world as they attempt to regroup and consolidate their forces while dealing a blow to an enemy that currently has the upper hand. Like how Oblivion gives the reader time to explore the personalities of Blue Team and other UNSC personnel, The Rubicon Protocol explores the histories and characters of several Spartans and members of the ’s crew, seeing how they act in dire and seemingly unwinnable circumstances. The Rubicon Protocol is a book that puts as much weight on character development and relationships as it does the overall plot, which is an aspect of Kelly’s novels that I have always enjoyed.

Summary
Ultimately, we at Halopedia greatly enjoyed Halo: The Rubicon Protocol and how it expanded the story introduced in Halo Infinite. While there were areas that we think could have seen further attention, the novel overall is fantastic and has earned from us a rating of 8.5/10!

This concludes our second ever book review! We will be continuing this with Troy Denning’s Halo: Outcasts next year, so any feedback on the format and content of this review is appreciated! Also, if you have yet to check out our review of Halo: Divine Wind, you can do so here.

We’ll leave you with JackVibe’s beautiful mock-up of a poster for a theoretical Halo movie following the boat crew of Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (or TRP) inspired by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the discussion that led up to it.

(Editor's note: Jack has been promoted to the wiki's Graphics Lead.)