The book does a good job developing Jul, but unfortunately this book has many flaws that outweigh its bright spots. 1). Blue Team and the Spartan-IIIs are completely ignored in this book. This may be for the better since Traviss only managed to butcher characters in [i]Glasslands[/i], but considering this is an informal sequel to GoO, not having any of the characters that made Nylund's novels so great in their original characterizations is a bad decision. 2). The plot almost seems to rationalize the reason for Maggie's harsh behavior. How did the doctor on Onyx let Jul escape in a way that was completely preventable? 3). In the one scene that Halsey directly participates in, she is portrayed as a confused child. Am I supposed to believe that she is outsmarted by an AI whose entire infrastructure she developed in the first place? The same woman that managed to design MJOLNIR and the Spartan augmentations? Not believable. 4). Naomi's portrayal irks me. Traviss attempts to humanize her while simultaneously keeping her Spartan personality. It doesn't work. If Traviss wants to know how to pull this off more effectively, she should see how 343i handled the MC in Halo 4. That was a good combination of humanized soldier and killing machine.