Before you even begin to start on Primordium there’s a question you need to ask yourself. That question is “Have I read Halo: Cryptum?” If your answer is no, then go read it. Don’t even bother trying to start with Primordium, you’ll just end up very lost. In the process she also made it so Forerunner and Human souls would attach themselves to the psyche of various individuals. Both Chakas and Grandfather (Gamelpar) have these souls in them, and they did battle thousands of years ago. During their lengthy journey, they notice that the planet they are nearby is becoming perilously closer and closer. Chakas is then tasked with making sure that Halo doesn't collide with the nearby planet, and to do so, he needs to navigate and rotate the installation so that the planet will pass through the Halo ring.

Greg Bear weaves an intriguing tale as Chakras tells his story of exploring the HALO and of actually meeting a Precursor. The story starts to clarify the Precursor / Forerunner conflict and the Floods connection to it all. In the epilogue, Riser, Vinnevra and other humans are relocated on Installation 00 among many other species, where Forerunners watch over them until they are returned to their homeworld. At Riser's request, his people are relocated to a series of islands. Riser meets with the IsoDidact one last time before the Forerunners leave and the humans begin settling their new home. Mendicant Bias is tried for his crimes, and imprisoned on the Ark to think about atonement.Where I'm beginning to think Bear's style failed is in describing the details of Forerunner technology. He stretched out details about technology in a way for our own imagination filled in the blanks, which I love. Stories become a very personal experience when recounting details in such a way. But, the details he did describe left you unsure of exactly what he was trying to describe and sometimes, it's function. What one would believe as a simple thing such as a Forerunner equivalent of a monorail were really hard to visualize as a tangible object in the world that our characters were in. In a phrase; instead of a definitive 'thing', it they became concepts. I haven't decided though, if this was done because the characters don't quite understand the god-like engineering prowess of the forerunners' technology and if this is the case, I must give credit where it's due to Bear's cleverness. That'll have to be something the reader has to experience and understand.

Halo: Primordium is continuing on the new story telling style and tradition as the first book, Halo: Cryptum; which for the first time, represents the most influential society of the Halo universe in the reading style and grand scale as the Greek Epic. As a reader of every Halo book and an all around scifi fan, I found the series to be a refreshing change from the past books: successfully emphasizing the reach and divinity of the demi-gods known as the forerunners while satiating my desire for not only learning the 'what' of the Master Chief era of Halo, but the 'Why'. We learn the complete truth about the Flood and the Halo Installations, their amazing capabilities not only as a super-weapon but what the Forerunners known as the Master Builder and Librarian truly intended in their creation, while juxtaposing their greatness with how childlike they still are; especially when we learn of the 'Precursor'. Didact and Chakas shrunk the halo to fit through a portal to the lesser Ark for repairs. Didact was on a mission from Librarian to save the species and specimens on the ring. The loyal forerunners to the council who were infected then stood down, as did Chakas. Bornstellar is now the Didact as the original Didact served as his template. He explains the humans are safe and will go with the survivors where they will live pleasantly. Silentium had its title, first cover and release date announced by Tor Books on July 11, 2012, with a release date of January 8, 2013. [16] [17] The book's draft was finished by August, [18] and complete by November. [19] The release was delayed until March 2013, to avoid revealing any plot details about Halo 4. [3] [20] Synopsis [ edit ] Setting and characters [ edit ] Frank O'Connor has mentioned that the story is "closer to the ground" than that of Cryptum, [2] and that it will have "resonant connections" to Halo 4. [3] Greg Bear has hinted at a connection between John-117 and one of the novel's human characters. He also confirmed that the novel will explore the Precursors' plan, and that it may cover events that occurred up to three billion years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. [3] Appearances [ ] Characters [ ] Shortly afterward, the Didact brings a mortally wounded Chakas — who is already undergoing conversion into a monitor — with him to confront the Primordial, who has been imprisoned. The ensuing conversation reveals that the Primordial is actually a Gravemind, and that more Precursors may have survived their war with the Forerunners. The Didact claims that war happened because the Precursors resented any who might take up the Mantle, but the Primordial explains that the Forerunners had been deemed unfit for the Mantle. The Primordial asserts that "there is no difference" between the Flood and the Precursors, although it does not reveal the precise nature of their relationship. It also reveals that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood, but the Flood can choose whether to infect or not infect. The Primordial states that the Flood is a test to judge a species' worthiness of inheriting the Mantle, stating that the Forerunners are to be eliminated and that humans will be tested next once they rise again. At the conversation's conclusion, the Didact kills the Primordial by activating a reverse stasis chamber that forces the Primordial to go through a billion years of aging in several seconds, causing it to disintegrate.The origin story touches on otherwise minor details and characters in huge way. We learn also the truth of Guilty Spark 343, his creation and not only what but who the monitors really are. I thought Bear's writing style truly captured the essence and desperation of this being a lynchpin time in the universe, where the librarian not only placed the fate of the Forerunner civilization in Chakas, but the fate of the entire universe itself. Greg Bear (August 25, 2012). "Greg Bear: Discussion Board". Greg Bear.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013 . Retrieved April 15, 2013.

Because it’s written in the same way as Bornstellar’s book it doesn’t make him feel like he’s someone out of his depth, caught up in bigger events and from a less developed society – it just makes him look like a frigging moron. To make matters worse, when you read the book you start to get the feeling Chakas was intended to be a mirror of Bornstellar – he was rebellious, youthful, sometimes naïve and his eventual fate has direct parallels to what happens to the forerunner. Now, well-read SF fans might have recognized some similarity shared between Primordium and Larry Niven’s seminal Ringworld. You’d be correct. In fact, it isn’t much of a stretch to say that Primordium takes some of the most interesting aspects of Ringworld and its immediate sequel, Ringworld Engineers, and uses them to construct a Halo narrative. Indeed, we’ve got the hapless, helpless crew crashing down. We’ve got a narrator who doesn’t really understand the severity of his situation because critical information is always being withheld. We’ve got lots of talk about impossible machinery, and enough jargon to make a man wish for some simple tanjin’ language. There’s the inevitable search for companions, the discovery of ignorant but charming(?) natives with strange cultures who have no real knowledge of what sort of world they live on. Present are the trip to the place where the ringworld’s material has been laid bare, to abandoned cities (though the Halo’s isn’t compacted with garbage), and, of course, the rush to save the ringworld from imminent collapse. Don’t forget that the main characters are so far beneath the mysterious creators (Forerunner, Pak, who can tell the difference? Neither have noses!) that they can’t see the purpose or grand scale. Primordium is a Ringworld Lite, I think. But is that a good thing?

The group is captured by Mendicant Bias, and their human imprints extracted; Mendicant Bias promises them revenge on the Forerunners, and kills those who oppose him. A fleet led by the Didact appears and the Didact purges Mendicant Bias from Installation 07. Chakas assists the Didact with moving the Halo and preventing its destruction. Hilary Williamson. "Halo Primordium: The Forerunner Saga #2". Book Loons . Retrieved April 15, 2013.