News:Halopedia Reviews: Divine Wind

We at Halopedia are happy to present our very first review of a Halo novel, a series that we plan to continue with each new release. In this article, we will share our thoughts Troy Denning's latest novel, Halo: Divine Wind. While the novel did release over a month ago and we allow any of its content to be posted to the site, we’ve endeavoured to ensure the half of the review will be spoiler-free, so you can safely read if you haven’t completed the novel yet!

If you have yet to get the novel, you can find it at Amazon (UK or US), Forbidden Planet, Simon & Schuster, Waterstones, WHSmith.

Given that collaboration between people of varied opinions and backgrounds is core to the concept of a wiki, we’ve decided to format our reviews by laying out a number of talking points and having multiple of our editors give their thoughts and responses. This time, we’ve got Halopedia staff members CIA391, Dab1001, Sith Venator, and TheArb1ter117 on, to give their opinions!

Please note that 343 Industries were kind enough to provide us with three review copies of the book, though our opinions are still our own - we weren’t asked to produce this review, nor asked to promote or praise the book.

Question 1
'What are your overall thoughts on Halo: Divine Wind? Was it what you expected? Were you pleasantly surprised?'

CIA391: The novel caught all my expectations in the best way possible, as I know Denning is familiar with the Halo Universe and the characters he writes, I trust him to write stories that are interesting and consistent!

As always with the recent Halo novels, I absolutely love the deeper ties to the fiction, and Denning and the lore team at 343i did it again. With Halo: Divine Wind having some very surprising stuff from what some would call “obscure” media getting mentioned throughout the novel in a natural way, but in a way that if you knew, you’d get excited reading all about it.

Overall I really enjoyed the novel and so so so want more!

Dab1001: Halo: Silent Storm remains probably my favourite Halo novel of all time, and Troy Denning is undoubtedly one of my favourite Halo authors. Thus, I was absolutely looking forward to Divine Wind, and I would say it delivered - to be honest, I’m not sure if it would be possible for Denning to write a bad novel even if he tried. Divine Wind is broadly speaking a character-driven story, juggling the perspectives of half a dozen characters, each with their own personalities and agendas, in that way that Denning does so well. It maintains that devotion to blending large-scale worldbuilding with an attention to fine-grained detail and respect for plausible realism (Forerunners and slipspace aside) that, for me, uniquely characterises Denning’s Halo work. What’s more, it kept me guessing as to the motivations of certain characters right up until the end, which is something I can rarely say for Halo novels. A thoroughly enjoyable read, all around.

Sith Venator:I really liked it! In fact it might be my favorite novel from Denning so far! It was probably roughly what I expected, but I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed a lot of the characters’ turmoil and their triumphs.

TheArb1ter117: Going into Divine Wind, I was extremely excited. I had enjoyed Troy Denning’s previous novel, Halo: Shadows of Reach, immensely, and I was looking forward to seeing that story continue. I remember when the novel was announced earlier this year in a Canon Fodder post and all the speculation surrounding the characters in the cover art - namely the strangely thin alien in the back of the artwork. Halo fans coming together to share their theories is one of my favorite things about interacting with the community. Thankfully, the speculation didn’t end there. Denning kept me guessing throughout Divine Wind. There was one character whose loyalties were incredibly difficult to guess, and I was on the edge of my seat until the end of the story waiting to see what they would do when it hit the fan. Much like Dab, I think that Halo: Silent Storm has remained my favorite Halo novel, but Divine Wind has definitely reached my top five. It’s a great read especially if you’re a fan of Castor, Veta Lopis, Spartan-IIIs, or the Halo Wars series of games.

Question 2
'Is there any other Halo media that you think fans need to play or read before picking up Halo: Divine Wind? Or any that you think would enhance a reader's experience?'

Dab1001: Halo: Shadows of Reach comes to mind first and foremost, as it is the book which directly set up this one. You’ll definitely also want to read the Sacrifice short story that was bundled in to some Shadows of Reach copies - if yours doesn’t include one, it has since been released for free; you can find a copy on Halopedia itself, here. Besides that, I would also advise playing Halo 3 and Halo Wars 2 first, given that this story has narrative ties to both. Finally, it would probably be a good idea to read Halo: Last Light and Halo: Retribution first too, to get the back story on Veta Lopis and the Ferrets, this book’s main characters. If you’re looking for extra reading beyond the above, I’d suggest giving Halo: Shadow of Intent a go, to familiarise yourself with the concept of Prelates, and potentially Halo: Hunters in the Dark for some more lore surrounding the Ark in the post-war era - though these two are by no means required reading for Divine Wind.

Sith Venator: Pretty much what Dab said, but I’d really recommend Awakening the Nightmare from Halo Wars 2. Great DLC that introduced my favorite pair of Jiralhanae brothers. I really enjoy their dynamic there and Denning was able to translate that dynamic very well for Divine Wind.

TheArb1ter117: There’s not much that I can add to Dab’s response, other than that Sacrifice and Shadows of Reach are a must-read before picking up this novel. Halo Wars 2 is very important to this novel’s plot as well. I won’t specify why, but playing the Awakening the Nightmare DLC would also be a good idea for some extra background.

Question 3
' Halo: Retribution (2017) was the last novel to follow Veta Lopis and her Ferret team. Did it come as a surprise that fans would receive another novel following them after four years and three other novels written by Denning? Were you glad that their story was resumed?'

CIA391: I loved seeing the Ferrets get a major focus again, I know a lotta fans (and you lot know you are, I am one of them also) wanted more from the rowdy Gamma Spartans and their “mom” Veta Lopis. After the Ferrets appeared in “Halo: Shadows of Reach”, I almost expected the Ferrets to become characters that pop up in fun ways in other media like how a lot of the Star Wars Legends Expanded Universe treated characters like Kyle Katarn at times. But I am very glad I was wrong there, as I said above I wanted to see more of the Ferrets and this pulled me in and took me for a ride.

Dab1001: Not after Halo: Shadows of Reach, no. Another story following the Ferrets seemed inevitable after the setup presented in that book, and so it was no surprise to me when one was announced earlier this year. Before reading Shadows of Reach, though, I had feared they might slip into obscurity like so many other characters from older Halo novels (remember Ignatio Delgado? Admit it, you don’t - I didn’t either). I’m glad to be proven wrong, though, with both the Ferrets and Keepers returning for another story in Divine Wind.

Sith Venator: I was not at all surprised that Veta and the Ferrets would get more books. While the young Blue Team books are nice, it was time to get back to the “present”.

TheArb1ter117: I was pleasantly surprised to see Veta and the Ferrets make a brief appearance in Shadows of Reach, especially given how much time had passed in-universe since their last appearance: Halo: Retribution was set in late 2553, with the events of Shadows of Reach occurring in late 2559. Perhaps my second favorite Halo novel is Halo: Last Light, which also features Veta Lopis, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291, and Mark-G313, so of course I was very excited to see more of them again. While I love getting to read or play through the stories surrounding Spartan-IIs and Spartan-IVs, I was itching to get more Spartan-III content, and Denning certainly delivered.

Question 4
Without giving anything away, what did you think of the expansion of the Second Ark Conflict in this novel?

Dab1001: The expansion given to the conflict by this and Sacrifice is certainly very interesting. It’s difficult to discuss without giving anything away, so this response will likely be relatively brief. The conflict now has a whole extra dimension, with the addition of a certain new faction to the proceedings, as well as the introduction of the portal that was created in Halo: Shadows of Reach, which creates a massively strategically significant location that all factions will be striving to hold on to. It makes me wish we could experience some of this in the framework of a Halo Wars game, but alas, it was not to be.

Sith Venator: The Second Ark conflict is becoming the ultimate battle royale and I’m all for it. You like this faction? Good, because they’re on the Ark trying to get a piece of the Forerunner pie.

TheArb1ter117: Given the ultimate importance of Installation 00, the Ark, it certainly makes sense that it would see some of the fiercest conflict (its big sister, the Greater Ark, certainly did). I’m glad Divine Wind was able to double-down on the scope of this massive, prolonged battle. Then you toss the Keepers of the One Freedom into the mix and the conflict has a whole new dimension. I don’t imagine the Ark will see peace any time soon, and I’m glad.

CIA391: I found it really interesting, it added depth to areas I never thought about when I played through Halo Wars 2 and read through Sacrifice. To quote Dab1001 it “has a whole extra dimension”. With so many factions on the Ark now, you feel like no one is safe from each other, and the Ark itself.

Question 5
'This is the fourth Denning novel to heavily feature the Keepers of the One Freedom. What do you think of them as a faction and how they are written in this novel, as well as any of Denning's previous works?'

CIA391: The Keepers were always interesting to me, a faction that was similar to the Covenant in that they followed its religion but the big difference being that they considered the Prophets as false. I always liked seeing how the Covenant remnants took to the Covenant essentially breaking up as realistically not everyone would just follow what the Arbiter was trying to do. The development that they get in this novel pushes the faction to the limits, I’ll say this much Denning definitely is able to show how far the Keepers will go in a realistic way for their beliefs.

Dab1001: When they were first introduced in Last Light, I didn’t have many strong feelings on the Keepers - they simply appeared to me as just another Covenant remnant faction introduced for the purposes of spicing up the conflict on Gao. However, as time has gone on, and they have featured in several successive books, they’ve been delved into and explored much further, to the point where I’d consider them among the most developed Covenant remnant factions we’ve seen. I also appreciate how we see the faction as it changes over time, starting fairly strong in Last Light and Retribution, but coming upon harder times in Shadows of Reach, being forced to ally with the Banished for protection after a devastating conflict with the UNSC. It gives the impression that they are a living, breathing organisation, rather than being a static entity that just exists to provide an antagonistic force in the story. Along with all this, we’ve also gotten more development on the leadership of the Keepers, primarily focussing on Castor, but also including his direct subordinates and close friends. This has helped to humanise the Keepers a lot, I feel, when compared to other remnant factions.

Sith Venator: I mostly think the Keepers are kind of tragic. They’re clinging onto their beliefs from the Covenant as best they can in a galaxy that has largely caught wind of the Hierarch’s lies. They mostly suffer and cause suffering for others for these beliefs.

TheArb1ter117: I used to not care about the Jiralhanae as a species. They simply never interested me. That is, they never interested me until I read Last Light. The idea that there were some Jiralhanae still clinging to the Covenant faith (and that they would welcome humans into their ranks) was intensely interesting to me. With the Jiralhanae being absent from the past few Halo games, it was nice to see the species get some time in the spotlight. As one would expect, my favorite aspect of the Keepers has got to be Castor. He’s just so well-written, and his character was a highlight of both Halo: Retribution and Halo: Shadows of Reach for me. Thankfully, he’s also very enjoyable in Divine Wind.

Question 10
That concludes our first book review! We hope you enjoyed it, and found it useful or interesting. We intend to continue this with future Halo book releases, starting with next year’s Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (hopefully in a more timely manner next time), so any feedback on the format and content of these would be welcome!

We’ll leave you with our pitch for Divine Wind 2, entitled Pavium and Voridus’ Excellent Adventure:

(Call us, 343. Our rates are very reasonable.)