HALO: The Cole Protocol

HALO, Book 6

By: Tobias S. Buckell

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-seller - part of the expanded universe based on the award-winning video game series Halo!

It's 2535. It is the first, desperate days of the Human-Covenant War, and the United Nations Space Command has enacted “the Cole Protocol” to safeguard Earth and its inner colonies from discovery by its merciless alien foe. Many are called upon to rid the galaxy of lingering navigation data that could potentially reveal the location of Earth and ensure the destruction of humanity. Among those tasked with eliminating any trace of such dangerous information is Navy Lieutenant Jacob Keyes - now saddled with a top-secret mission by the Office of Naval Intelligence...one that will take him to a corner of the galaxy where nothing is as it seems.

Out beyond the Outer Colonies lies the planet Hesiod, a gas giant surrounded by a vast asteroid belt. As the Covenant continues to glass the human-occupied planets near Hesiod, many of the survivors, aided by a stronghold of human insurrectionists, are fleeing to the asteroids for refuge. They have transformed the tumbling satellites into a tenuous yet ingenious settlement known as the Rubble - and have come face-to-face with a Covenant settlement of Kig-Yar...yet somehow survived. News of this unlikely treaty has spread to the warring factions.

Luckily for the UNSC, this uneasy alliance is in the path of the Spartan Gray Team, a three-person renegade squad whose simple task is to wreak havoc from behind enemy lines in any way they see fit. But the Prophets have also sent their very best - an ambitious and ruthless Elite whose quest for nobility and rank is matched only by his brutality....

©2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (P)2008 Macmillan Audio. All rights reserved.

GG

It was wonderful. Gave a tick down on performance due to a few skips, and there really should be a toggle for the weird combat music. Regardless, it gives a beautiful insight to the minds of Thel and the Elites, and shows just how brilliant commander Keyes is.

Good book, awful sound effects

The random sound effects and background/ambient “music” sprinkled in seemingly at random is all kinds of annoying. I’ve read this book before so I could get away with skipping past those sections, but I feel bad for anyone who is going through this for the first time and has to endure it.

Nostalgic

Loved it. First Audible file ever. Now I'm hooked. Can't wait to get started on all the rest of the books.

Great story, fantastic performance

Narrator did a great job. Good changing of voices with the different characters made out that much more interesting. Loved the little bit of audio effects added as well.

A fun adventure

You can tell a good book from a poor book when it knows to stop adding in new characters. There were multiple "Introductions" in this book, but after the fourth set of characters it had introduced, it finally stopped, and started building on them.

I really did enjoy this book, and it was paced well enough that I could listen to it for about 45 minutes (driving), work at my job, come back and pick it back up without hitting too many "I GOTTA FINISH THIS NOW" moments. Not the most gripping story I've read, but it's Halo. You get to hear some small bits of music (mostly from the first game I believe) and it helped set the tone for more of the intense moments. The Narrating was also done surprisingly well, no complaints from me. Wasn't monotone, didn't really drag on and was pleasant to listen to.

Would definitely recommend for a Halo fan.

Skips

Skips in places and can be disrupting. I don’t think it was due to my device. Otherwise great.

great narrator and story

the background noises like music and gunfire were a little distracting however. but a great story with captain keys.

Good story!

Good story. Voice performance was good, Background music helped story! A good listen & addition to series

Weird music choices

love the story. good narrator. weird music choices considering the style of halo games typically uses.

Just as good as I remember it!

I read this book years ago when it first came out. Getting to listen to this story was an absolutely phenomenal experience.
The Cole Protocol is by far my favorite book from the franchise. It has a little bit of everything in it. We get to see the inner machinations of the political turmoil in both the UNSC and the Covenant. We get some great action sequences throughout. Plus, we get to delve into some of our favorite characters lore such as Jacob Keyes and Thel Vadam’ee (aka The Arbiter). It’s such a fantastic story and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Hats off to you Tobias S. Buckell.