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Book Review – Halo: The Cole Protocol By: Tobias S. Buckell

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Halo: The Cole Protocol is one of the later books in the Halo novel series to feature characters from the games. Later books focused more on aliens from the distant past. Still, the book is more than five years old, and I’m only looking at it because I read it after picking it up second hand, not because it’s relevant.

Kinda generic cover really

Kinda generic cover really

I’m going to try and not focus on the story, because the whole thing sounds silly when you say it out loud; and to avoid confusion, as I’m not the most up on the Halo lore. From what I understand it is cannon, but sometimes it seems to not be.

The book is written decently, though it seems more like a draft. There are some very clunky transitions, and a spelling error here and there. The narrative does flow, and I’m not sure whether I’m just enthralled with the Halo universe, or the book is super good, but I read fast and didn’t want to stop.

It doesn’t interfere with any of the established Halo lore, so people infatuated with the franchise wouldn’t be frustrated reading it. Even so, it deals with quite a bit, and jumps around so much that one-page chapters are more frequent than I’ve seen outside of the work of Michael Crichton.

The point of view is interesting and the narrative compelling. I liked many of the characters, perhaps even the ones I wasn’t supposed to, and empathized with them, but maybe that’s me and not the writer at work. It looks at the world of Halo from a variety of perspectives including that of an alien enemy. Still, it isn’t anything more than a video game tie in. The Spartans of Grey team and the Covenant Elites aren’t any more flushed out or dramatic than their video game counter parts. It’s really just mindless fun (kinda, a lot of characters die, something else similar to Crichton).

If you’re a fan of Halo and missed this one it’s worth at least a look, though new I’m not sure I’d go for it. It was fun, but there isn’t much there. Beyond that I could only really see it appealing to more dedicated science-fiction fans who read any sci fi book they can get their hands on. Anyone looking for a serious book won’t find it here, but if they were looking, they’d be looking in the wrong place.

Table Topics Family 44 #87-88

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QUESTIONS

1. How will you know when you’re “grown-up”?

2. What would you like to be famous for someday?

ANSWERS By: Austin Smith

1. From what I can tell, never, nothing ever feels as different as I expect it to, so one day I’ll just find that I’ve been “grown-up” for years.

2. Anything that isn’t heinous.

Review – Scotch Transparent Tape

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If reviewing Scotch Tape means I’m out of ideas, then call me out of ideas (I do have plenty more things to look at, though). But really, who doesn’t have a use for tape? And when buying that tape, couldn’t shaving off several pennies save quite a bit of money over time? Is the brand name really worth it (It’s pretty generic-sounding, now, isn’t it)? Let’s see.

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First thing, the container: Scotch Tape comes with a clear plastic, simple, but quite durable dispenser. The roll of tape is clicked into place on the wheel and at the front are several teeth for separating the tape into strips. Is any of this the best quality? No, but it gets the job done, and very cheaply. If one has a tape dispenser that they like, individual rolls can be bought, so I’d say that this works quite well.

Now onto the tape itself, which certainly isn’t “magic” or “invisible”. The stuff I’m looking at is just labeled “transparent”, and that it is. The tape is easy to see through and sufficiently sticky that it will hold most documents together without a problem in either holding or reading. In fact, the tape itself is very strong, and the adhesive is more likely to break than the tape itself (or perhaps what it’s taped to). Given that it does have a certain rigidness to it, though, it isn’t a tape for repairing any item that, like a tool, will be used, or will move. It is surprisingly strong, but really only good for paper products.

Now, is it worth it to buy Scotch Tape and not some other tape? Given how inexpensive Scotch Tape is already, I’d say yes. And if it isn’t right where you’re shopping, I’d even hunt around for it. The two rolls that come in a pack for around a dollar will last for quite some time. And I’ve seen other brands for around the same price that cease to be sticky once they came off the roll. In short, there’s a reason we say “Scotch Tape” and not “transparent adhesive tape”.