News:Halopedia Reviews: Outcasts

The staff at Halopedia are happy to present our third ever review of a Halo novel! In this article, we will share our thoughts Troy Denning's latest novel, Halo: Outcasts. While the novel was released about a month ago (at the time of publishing this article) and we allow any of its content to be posted to the site, we have ensured that the first half of this review is spoiler-free, with only a few allusions to topics covered in the three chapter previews officially released prior to the novel. You can safely read the first five questions if you have yet to complete the novel yourself, but make sure to avoid the second set of questions and the summary section!

If you would like to experience the novel for yourself, you can find it at Amazon (US or UK), Forbidden Planet, Simon & Schuster, Waterstones, and 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 BaconShelf, 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: Outcasts? Was it what you expected?'

BaconShelf: I generally quite liked Outcasts. I've had a bit of an on-and-off relationship with the Halo novels released in the past decade, but Outcasts was definitely one of the higher highs in that list—with certain parts of the book being real page turners. In terms of expanding on both the wider Halo setting and the nature of the Created/their war, my immediate reaction upon finishing it was "this is exactly what we needed seven years ago". While Halo 5 is still a fairly controversial game in the community, I think that this book (and the Precipice short story that lightly ties in somewhat) would have done wonders to smooth the ripples in the setting caused by that game. Still, it's here now. I can't say much of what the book contained surprised me—at this point I think Halo stories generally have a certain rhythm to them that is both a good and bad thing in terms of the kinds of areas and subject matter they will or won't go near—and Outcasts, for the most part, delivered essentially what I was expecting. Except for closer to the end—if you know, you know. There's some particular element that gets more focus towards the end that really did take me out of left field, and was a very pleasant surprise.

JackVibe: My overall thoughts on Halo: Outcasts are very positive. I read the book not knowing what to expect; I avoided any discussion on the novel before its release and, since I have not read Halo: Silent Storm or Halo: Oblivion (having taken a long break on Halo media, including its literature, between 2014 and 2019), pre-release information teasing the Netherop setting didn't tell me much. Thus, all I knew it was that it would be the first time in a while for fans to spend time with the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Olympia Vale. I loved Denning's storytelling, his exploration on different types of characters, and watching these characters interact; it was a very enjoyable read.

Sith Venator: As I already told Troy Denning on Twitter when I finished the book, I liked it a lot! I did a much better job of not looking at spoilers this time around, at least plot-wise. I suppose it was largely what I expected, to an extent. There's an element of the book I for sure was not expecting. There's probably a question below where I can go more into detail.

TheArb1ter117: While I expected to see some specific characters given the setting of the novel, I really had no clue where the story would go, and I definitely did not see the ending coming. It was a very enjoyable read, resulting in it being one of the few Halo novels that I finished in less than a week. For fans of the Sangheili and Troy Denning's writing style, this really is a must-have book. I would say it's my third favorite Halo novel by Troy Denning, right behind Halo: Silent Storm and Halo: Last Light.

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

BaconShelf: Overall, Outcasts is probably the Denning novel most detached from other Halo content—especially when considering the last few books by him (Shadows of Reach and Divine Wind—which had very extensive required reading lists). Silent Storm and Oblivion are the two major recommendations, with Halo 5: Guardians as a hopefully-obvious further recommendation I imagine most people reading the novels would be familiar with already. As with all Denning novels though, there are smaller callbacks to things from all across the series. Hunters in the Dark is covered by Arby below, so I also want to shout out some callbacks to 2008's Halo: The Cole Protocol with the setting of Vadam keep on Sanghelios.

JackVibe: I would imagine Halo: Silent Storm and Halo: Oblivion are the most relevant, because Netherop serves as the main setting. Though, given my own experience with not having read either of them, they are not mandatory to understanding the story (though I am much more interested in both after reading Halo: Outcasts). In fact, I would not say a reader needs to read up any specific media; Denning did a brilliant job recapping previous events from other media (not just Halo: Silent Storm and Halo: Oblivion, but others like Halo 2, Halo 3, and even Halo: Ghosts of Onyx) in a way that felt natural and not out-of-place at all—the summaries did not interrupt the main narrative, but either informed the reader or fleshed out the characters further. If you have not played, read, or watched those previous media, the various narrative connections made the universe feel more expansive. If you have, then the various allusions might make you giggle; in my case, it made me appreciate Denning's deep understanding of the Halo universe. That being said, Halo: Outcasts features some direct connections to Halo: Oblivion, so I would suggest at least reading the latter for a better reading experience and more rewarding pay-offs.

Sith Venator: Everyone else is going to recommend novels so I'm gonna' be that guy and recommend Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite. Halo 5 to know what just happened and Halo Infinite to know what's about to happen.

TheArb1ter117: The book's setting on Netherop makes Halo: Oblivion an obvious answer, though I would argue that it's not required reading to understand Halo: Outcasts as Denning does a good job summarizing the key events from the novel. However, you will have a much better time reading Outcasts if you understand the history behind some of the key plots points. Aside from reading Oblivion, I also recommend checking out Halo: Hunters in the Dark, a novel which gave us an in-depth look at Olympia Vale's character. Also, if you plan to read Oblivion, I would strongly suggest reading Halo: Silent Storm before that given that Oblivion is its direct sequel.

Question 3
'Prior to Halo: Outcasts, Troy Denning's Halo novels always followed the Spartan-IIs of Blue Team and/or the Ferrets, while the main characters of this novel are Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Spartan-IV Olympia Vale—both of which have never appeared in any of his previous novels. How do you think Troy did in writing these two established characters?'

BaconShelf: The Arbiter's scenes in particular were the real star of the show in this book, and they were absolutely page-turners—and I find it criminal that it's been 15 years since we last got to see the world through his eyes! Overall, I think Denning pretty consistently shines when writing alien characters. Conversely, I've always found Spartan perspectives in Halo books fairly boring on a personal level, and I've never been the biggest fan of Vale. In that sense, I don't have much bad to say about Vale's POV in this book—but I don't think I have anything particularly noteworthy to say either. This is probably more a reflection on the character than of Denning's treatment as I had similar thoughts on her in Hunters in the Dark, too.

JackVibe: Like I mentioned, I have not read Denning's previous work, but I believe he has done a fantastic job taking on these two established characters. I love how introspective both characters are, dedicating paragraphs to their inner thoughts, which, in turn, reveal their personality and values. I appreciate how the novel allowed us to better know these characters, especially when compared to the games, which struggled to provide the same depth. I especially love 'Vadam's motivation for this mission, because it is very fitting of a brilliant strategist that would have brought humanity to its knees. Denning also nailed down their speech; I only wish we can hear the amazing voices of Keith David and Laura Bailey bring Denning's writing to life.

Sith Venator: Since Divine Wind is my favorite Troy Denning novel I'll actually make the argument that Denning writes Jiralhanae and Sangheili best. Which is good since both are featured in this novel. So I feel like Troy writes Thel 'Vadam pretty well. Olympia Vale is pretty professional so she's really not acting that different from the other Spartan characters Denning's written before.

TheArb1ter117: As you may or may not expect given my username, I quite enjoy the character of Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, and Denning did not disappoint! If you've read his previous works (particularly Silent Storm and Oblivion), you are well-aware of his talent for bringing Sangheili characters to life. In the case of Olympia Vale, I was already as fan as well, particularly due to her portrayal in Hunters in the Dark and because of her love for Sangheili culture. If you love diving deep into the history and psyche of characters, I definitely think you'll enjoy the portrayal of Arbiter and Vale in Outcasts.

Question 4
'Without revealing any key details, what did you think of the novel's exploration of the Created occupation of the galaxy and the lead-up to the Battle for Zeta Halo? How well does it bridge the gap between the two?'

BaconShelf: Despite the delay, the novel has some nice tie-ins to the intel drops and Precipice short story released with Season 3 of Halo Infinite, and I think people who like that will be rewarded later on in the story. Between them, I think the Created have started to get the kind of fleshing out they really needed eight years ago—and have begun to form their own identity separate from just being a discount SkyNet or Geth. As far as the occupation itself goes, I feel more could be done to explain what things are like; the brief interaction between some armigers and the Arbiter's party (shared in the pre-release previews) is fairly standard authoritarian crackdown stuff, but it'd be nice to get some more looks at how the Created uprising is affecting the lives of an average citizen who isn't in the upper echelons of the military of political hierarchy. Outcasts has probably done the most work of anything released since Halo 5 to flesh out this aspect of the Created, but even despite that I was left somewhat wanting in terms of details of how life has changed.

JackVibe: The novel has done some interesting worldbuilding on the Created uprising by telling the story from multiple perspectives, though I would say the Created took on the role of a Greater-Scope Villain, so we were only given a little exploration of the consequences of Created occupation (maybe both fortunately and unfortunately not enough!). I suppose the uprising was not as much of a bloodbath as I had imagined. Interestingly enough, with how little the novel had given on the major players of the Battle for Zeta Halo, I don't know if it has major links to the Battle for Zeta Halo. Without revealing any key details, it certainly made me wonder if the novel explains something we see in the open world of Halo Infinite. The novel did not bridge the gap, but it was not intended to. Instead, it told an excellent and self-contained story in another part of the universe without having too much baggage on existing narratives.

Sith Venator: I feel pretty positive that this book has done the most to establish what living in a Created occupied Orion Arm is like. Halo: Bad Blood was too fresh after Halo 5: Guardians so nothing had quite settled down yet. Outcasts does a good job of making the Created even more scary, while also putting some limits on their power. The Battlestar Galactica mood remains from Shadows of Reach; if a Guardian shows up, you better already be gone. I'll save some of my thoughts for Zeta Halo in the spoiler section. Just know I knew where the Guardian killer plot point was going, at least in regards to Halo Infinite.

TheArb1ter117: As the others touched on, Outcasts does cover what it's like to live in a Created-occupied galaxy. As such, it feels like a worthy continuation of the scenario set up in Bad Blood. I also wouldn't say that this novel alone bridges the gap between Created occupation and the events of Halo Infinite's campaign, but I don't think that was necessarily the point of the novel. Yet, there is one aspect of the book's ending that might directly lead into something shown in Halo Infinite, but at the moment it's unclear. I do hope a future novel or other piece of media covers this aspect further.

Question 5
'For fans who haven't read any previous Halo novels and are unsure if they should start with Halo: Outcasts, what advice would you give to them? For the fans who have read previous Halo novels, which novels would you say feel most like Outcasts?'

BaconShelf: Outcasts is definitely not a beginner-friendly novel; it's steeped in lore ranging from a massive array of prior novels and games while of course, building into the events of Infinite, that I can't imagine how any of it would make sense at all if you weren't already a fan. Denning does a decent job in bringing prospective readers up to speed on the necessary bits, but much of the payoffs of this novel are probably a lot less meaningful without knowing where they came from and what they're building towards. For new fans, I'd never recommend anything but release order for at least the first four or five books. As far as similarities to other novels in the series go, I think this is probably one of the more unique entries out there. The sheer breadth and scope of perspectives and events covered is something hard to match in many other novels in the series.

JackVibe: For fans who have not read any Halo novels, this novel prominently features Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Vale, two of the more interesting player characters in the games. It is a satisfying continuation of 'Vadam's story and we get a fair amount of expansion of Vale's history; the games were unable to provide either of those, so I love the novel for it. It is difficult to pick a novel that is similar to this one, however. The large and diverse cast of characters, along with having the pleasure to have the story told from their own perspective, made this quite a unique read, regardless of which franchise the book belonged to. This is a novel I would recommend to anyone who follows the universe, but it is especially good for fans that want a story set during the Created uprising while having a large focus on non-human perspectives.

Sith Venator: First thing's first, real Chads start with Halo: Cryptum. Boomers like me who started with Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved will just never have that flex. But yeah, I would advise against this being your first Halo novel, though some young Zoomer out there feel free to prove me wrong. As for other Halo novels with a similar feel, I'll actually say Halo: Envoy. Multiple factions post-war fighting and negotiating on an arid world go brrrt.

TheArb1ter117: Personally, I would never recommend any novel aside from Halo: The Fall of Reach as someone's first Halo novel. It's not that Outcasts would be a terrible place to start; it's moreso that I believe The Fall of Reach to be the perfect introduction to the broader Halo universe. However, if someone knows the characters of Thel 'Vadam and Olympia Vale from the games (as well as the overall story presented in the games), I don't think they'd have much trouble following the story of Outcasts. As for fans who have read previous Halo novels...I'm having trouble pointing to any previous novel for comparison. Outcasts has a wholly unique feel and a particularly direct main plot. For its themes of humans and Sangheili learning to work together, I could point out Hunters in the Dark and even Breaking Strain, but these stories really only have superficial similarities.

Summary
Ultimately, we at Halopedia greatly enjoyed Halo: Outcasts, particularly how it expanded Sangheili culture and our understanding of the state of the galaxy under Created occupation. We have agreed on giving the book a rating of 8.1/10!

This concludes our third review of a Halo novel! We will be continuing this with Kelly Gay's Halo: Epitaph next year, so any feedback on the format and content of this review is appreciated! In the meantime, you can check out our reviews of Halo: Divine Wind (here) and Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (here).

We’ll leave you with some Halo: Outcasts-themed memes originating from Halopedia staff discussions about the novel, arranged in order of appearance:

SithVenator really went crazy with the memes this time around.