Title: Weapon of the Times - I
Author: starkraving
Rating: M
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Pairing: None
Fandom: Halo/RvB
Chapter: 3
Words: 10,800
Status: Complete

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1059083/chapters/2122280

Summary: Remember that it was a time of war, that you were made for war, that you were made exceptionally well for war. But, if nothing else remember this: Maine is not your first code name. You should tell your story from the start -- let's begin with the SPARTAN-II Program.

I linked above the first part of this AMAZING trilogy, but the whole thing is complete too. This is my first submitted choice to the library and I was kinda surprised to not see this floating around.

I love this series for a lot of reasons. It takes a near mechanical character, gives him a weathered soul, and somehow still keeps him in character. The author doesn't do some OOC crap, and with the set up established, makes Maine's actions very much believable. To enjoy this story you don't need to understand Red vs Blue or Halo. If you got the basic premise of aliens killing humans and big fuckin' soldiers in armor fighting back, you'll understand it more or less. It's by no means nice and cuddly or sweet. It shows the horrors of fighting an enemy completely inhuman and utterly superior in terms of technology.

starkraving takes a character with no backstory and gives him a backstory that feels legitimate. With the way this is written, I honestly think if someone didn't know anything about Halo and suddenly dived in they would think this is canon. It's good. Hell, it's even great. The story doesn't follow through the main events in the show - instead, it focuses on the making of Maine. It goes all the way to the point where he's given Sigma, and then ends. This is a prelude, an intro - and it fucking works.

I didn't much think someone could mesh RvB and Halo really well. RvB's characters are extremely humorous - but by focusing on Maine/The Meta, starkraving somehow manages to give some otherwise boring character a semblance of a personality beneath his helmet.

Plus, it's written in the second person and done extremely well!

I highly recommend this, and in all honesty, think it should be in the library. Give it a read, it's amazing.

PS: Personally, the second and third parts are by far my favorites. It won't take long to get through part one, as it's only ten thousand words or so. I ask that you review this series as a whole, and not in disassembled parts.

All Books of the Series:

Weapon of the Times - II
Remember that it was a time of war, that you were made for war, that you were made exceptionally well for war. But, if nothing else remember this: They lied to you. They cannot teach you of war. There is a solider with a cat on his shoulder and battle rifle in his hands. And there is blood in the street and beneath your boots and this is what they say you are made for.

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1081535/chapters/2174061

Weapon of the Times - III
Remember that it was a time of war, that you were made for war, that you were made exceptionally well for war... and remember that they were too. The middle of your story is still a war story but in this chapter is not just about you. They called themselves Freelancers. They called you Maine.

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1254448/chapters/2581927

 

I didn't want to like this - past experience with Halo crossovers has led me to believe that it's a wholly illiterate fandom.

But holy shit.

Short as it is, I really enjoyed the style of writing the author chose to use. It's a snappy, evocative syntax which blends perfectly with the sci-fi opening. It's like the first scene of a movie, with the perfect background music to raise your excitement and get your blood pumping. Only the background music is done by the rhythm of the descriptive text.

Being split up into multiple smaller stories did reduce my interest a bit. I may read the later ones; I may not. In ten thousand words we've not seen any plot, just been introduced to a character with some fantastic descriptive writing. If this was the opening to a single cohesive story I'd be much more interested. Not being familiar with the source material for either Halo or RvB knocks my interest down a peg, too. Still, the writing is excellent.

4/5

 

RvB is... weird insofar as how it relates to Halo. It has its own unique cast, background, and plot, that just happens to have been made in-game for Halo. There's a couple of nods to Halo bits, where characters will mention Master Chief or somesuch else from the game, so it's ostensibly connected to the Halo universe in some way, but it's never expanded upon. Really, the best way to think about it is that it's an entirely separate universe that just happens to look eerily similar to Halo.

 

In all fairness, Part 1 is my least favorite, simply because 2 and 3 are so much better. This story is very much geared to it's middle and end, as that's where it really hits its stride.

As I said in my review, you should of have to review it as a whole. If you review it in single bits, it's okay. Just a story that I feel deserves to be read in its entirety.