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Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Outcasts” Author Troy Denning

 

Having read nearly all of the novels based on the Halo games, and having interviewed many of the people who’ve written them, I’ve always thought of these books (and the games, and the comics…) as sci-fi space opera stories. But in the following email interview with Troy Denning, the author of seven Halo novels — including the newest, Halo: Outcasts (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) — he explains why these books (and games, and comics…) are more hard science fiction and space marine stories than anything operatic.

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Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Exclusive Interview: “Gears Of War: Ephyra Rising” Author Michael A. Stackpole

 

Having explored the time before the first game (Karen Traviss’ Aspho Fields and The Slab), the time between the second and third (Traviss’ Jacinto’s Remnant, Anvil Gate, and Coalition’s End), after the fourth game (Jason M. Hough’s Ascendance), and both during the fifth and before the first (Hough’s Bloodlines), the novels based on the Gears Of War games are now mining the previously untapped era between the third and fourth games with Michael A. Stackpole’s military science fiction novel Gears Of War: Ephyra Rising (paperback, Kindle, audiobook). In the following email interview, Stackpole discusses what inspired and influenced this story, as well as why you don’t need to have played all of the Gears games, or any of them, to understand it.

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Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Divine Wind” Author Troy Denning

 

For Halo fans, Halo Infinite‘s December 8 release date can’t come fast enough. But it might come a little quicker — or at least seem to — if you read Troy Denning’s new Halo novel, Halo: Divine Wind (paperback, Kindle, audiobook). In the following email interview about it, Denning discusses what inspired and influenced this sci-fi space opera spy thriller, including why he thinks it might not work as a Halo game.

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Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Point Of Light” Author Kelly Gay

 

One of the breakout stars of the original Halo was 343 Guilty Spark. And like all good celebrities, Sparky parlayed his notoriety into a media empire that included a reality show [Keeping Up With The Reclaimers], a perfume [Eue De Digits], and even a line of decorative dish towels. And now he’s back, reuniting with his old pal Rion — and writer Kelly Gay — for the new novel, Halo: Point Of Light (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), the sequel to Gay’s Halo: Smoke And Shadow and Halo: Renegades. In the following email interview, Gay talks about how the Sparkster inspired her to write this sci-fi space opera story.

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Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One

Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Renegades” Author Kelly Gay

 

Unlike most of the stories inspired by the Halo video games, understanding Kelly Gay’s novella Halo: Smoke And Shadow doesn’t require you to have played Halo 5: Guardians et al. to completion. Now Gay is continuing where her novella left off with the novel Halo: Renegades (paperback, Kindle). In the following email interview, Gay discusses what inspired this story and how it connects to the Halo cannon (and not just the games, either).

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Books Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One

Exclusive Interview: Halo: Bad Blood Author Matt Forbeck

While Taylor Swift’s influence may be far-reaching and pervasive, in my new interview with science fiction writer Matt Forbeck, he explains that his new sci-fi space opera Halo: Bad Blood (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) — the latest novel in the Halo video game saga — is absolutely, positively not influenced by Ms. Swift or her song, “Bad Blood.” Well, maybe a little. 

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PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One

Best Games Of 2017

 

While 2017 wasn’t the best year for video games, there were a bunch that I had a lot of fun playing.

Here, in no particular order, are the best games I played in 2017.

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iOS PC PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita Reviews Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One

Star Wars Rogue One Pinball Review

Whenever the good people at Zen Studios make a virtual pinball table based on a movie, TV show, comic, or even another video game, they do their best to capture the spirit of the original inspiration. And that’s exactly what they’ve done with Star Wars Rogue One Pinball for Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Vita), Pinball FX 2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), Zen Pinball (iOS), and Zen Pinball HD (Android, Amazon)…for better or worse.

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PC PlayStation 4 Video Games Xbox 360 Xbox One

Best Games Of 2016

While 2016 wasn’t the best year for video games, there were a bunch that I had a lot of fun playing.

Here now, in no particular order, are the best games I played in 2016.