You might have missed this info in the Cannon Fodder article I posted. There is some exciting news in the way of Halo novels coming soon.
Halo: New Blood, the new book by Matt Forbeck tells a story of Gunnery Sergeant Buck. Himself a highly decorated ODST, the UNSC comes with a proposal to him. It had already been said of Buck that if he were any better, he’d be a Spartan. Well now it seems like he has his shot at it. But will he take it?
The character of Buck has been voiced by long time Halo fan, Nathan Fillion of both Firefly and Castle fame. We’ve already heard his voice in the trailer for the Beta. Well, presumably it’s him.
If that’s the case, might the decision he’s made in Halo New Blood been made? Regardless, this is a story I MUST read. I highly suggest it to you as well.
Armed with this knowledge, we can start to make some guesses as to what Buck’s role will be in Halo form here on out.
First, let’s go the route of him deciding to become a Spartan. Will he factor into Halo 5? I would say, YES. Consider that Agent Locke has three other Spartans with him, to search for Master Chief.
If I had to guess which one of the three behind Locke, I’d say Buck is either the Purple or Green visored Spartan. Regardless of which of the three he may be, might this also me Buck will again be a playable character in Halo? My hopes are that when playing as Locke, his team of Spartans are playable in co-op campaign. Getting Fillion to come back to Halo after having a large voice role in Destiny would be HUGE. I hope his love for Halo is still strong enough that he’s take on a voice-over role.
As for the story, since this takes place AFTER the war with the Covenant, what would bring the UNSC to give Buck this opportunity? We’ve not heard word of any new alien threat. The Didact seems to have been killed off in the comic books. So the one thing remaining that makes the MOST sense is his becoming part of the squad to bring Master Chief back.
This decision to join the ranks of the Spartans to hunt down Master Chief could weigh heavily on Buck. First, does he even want to be a Spartan? The notoriety of being a Spartan aside, there are all of those augmentations. And let’s not forget, Buck is a seasoned soldier. He’s been in the UNSC for awhile now, which would make him one of if not the oldest Spartan IV. Secondly, would he want to be a Spartan who hunts down Master Chief? That in and of itself could dissuade him. There would be one part of the UNSC that would hail him a hero for bringing Master Chief back, while another demonizing him for turning in a fellow soldier. Thirdly, there’s the task of bringing Master Chief in. It’s not like that’s going to be easy. It might be possible that he could die on that mission, given Chief’s decades of experience.
Will these questions be asked in this book? Who knows? (Well, technically 343 and author, Matt Forbeck know.) But as for the rest of us, these would be some great questions to have answered while waiting for Halo 5 to be released.
Regardless, if I’m way off base in my guess, I still expect this to be an exciting story.
What do you think?
The book is due out March 2, 2015. That’s 36 days from today. The one thing about it though, as of right now, that seems to be a digital only version. I can’t find anything about a paperback version of the book and when that might come out. It will be available on Amazon via their Kindle version. You can get a free Kindle app for your computer and/or phone. (Follow that link above for details.)
Forgot to say, thanks to Laird Maclean for giving me the intel to get the full front cover to post here.
-Sal
Those are some really interesting ideas! I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Spartan Buck would be part of Locke’s team – I hope it’s true! Locke, Macer, Buck and one other in a team; that would be so freaking awesome!
So who would the fourth be? Jun is already a Spartan III, so unfortunately it probably wouldn’t be him. Maybe it’ll be Chips Dubbo or Marcus Stacker.
Hmm, good question. Yes, I also believe Macer will become a Spartan, as well as be one of Locke’s squad. Heh, good ol’ Chips. I don’t think he’d be the fourth, but you never know. Not Stacker though. He’s a bit too old to become a Spartan. Perhaps there is yet another character that will be introduced before Halo 5 that will fill in the fourth spot.
I can’t wait for this on; i’m very excited!
I do hope that it comes out in paperback though………
Me too. While I’ll read the digital version, I always like to have a printed version as well.
Don’t forget, Buck still has (or is it had now?) his own squad of ODSTs and while I’m not sure how they will factor into the continuation of Buck’s story, I’m sure they will be important, especially Dare who was his former lover. Personally, I can’t see him leaving his ODST squad to become a Spartan. And even if he did become a Spartan, it would probably be better for him to lead his own squad (maybe his ODST squad became Spartans too?) instead of being part of another squad he isn’t in control of since he’s definitely more of a leader type guy.
Anyways, I feel ODSTs in general are being pushed aside in favor for Spartan IVs with ODSTs not appearing in Halo 4 (besides the armor permutation in multiplayer) which is a shame so it would be nice if Buck stayed an ODST. But that’s just me.
See, at first I thought the same thing Wilson. However, this takes place several years after the events of ODST. As well, Locke is a Lieutenant Commander and clearly out ranks Buck. Perhaps Buck would be second in command of the squad though.
As for ODSTs being pushed aside, yeah, that was a real shame. It seems many were being recruited into the Spartan ranks, as in this case, Buck. The issue is that ODSTs have had a thing against Spartans for a long time. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I for one am looking forward to it.