Out of the loop error, please add info: is this a new book?

I don't know how I feel about Traviss in this fandom-- she wanked up a storm in my other one. Hmm.

It was one of the short stories in "Halo: Evolutions".

It's nothing like Cortana saying she wanted to have John's baby or anything, LOL. But, it's a good look into Cortana during the end of Halo 2 all the way through to when John finds her in Halo 3.

She did tweak the scene between them in Halo 3...slightly...so if you have strong feelings about that, then it may make you shed a tear.

I thought the insight she gave with the whole Halsey/Cortana relationship was interesting...But, it was the whole what John really means to Cortana is what made my heart skip a beat.

I'm going through the rest of the book now...each short story is by a different author...I've only read three of the short stories, but they are overall pretty good. (And the fact that Amazon has the book on sale now for about 6 bucks--as opposed to 15 is pretty sweet.)

Oh good, that sets my fears to rest! And cool, 6 bucks-- I was going to buy the audio version, but it was like $30 and I thought that was insane. The Halsey/Cortana relationship is one of the things I've been musing on for a long time, so I'll be interested to read that. There's another story in that which I'm already spoiled for that gave me a ton of headdesks, though. (The one about the disabled Spartan.)

I just need Traviss to not randomly decide she doesn't like part of canon and rewrite it to focus on the people she does like made up. I more-or-less agreed with her opinion on the Jedi, but I generally *like* this canon and don't want anyone taking a monkeywrench to it.

Ooh, is there a new book or something? I like some of KT's work, and I'll definitely want to read this one if it's to do with John/Cortana relationship :D

Well, it's part of Halo: Evolutions. It takes place on High Charity after the last scene in Halo 2 (that scene is the start of the story) and runs until John finds Cortana in Halo 3.

Like I mentioned above, it's not a full on "I love John and wanna marry him" but it is a fantastic insight into Cortana about her feelings towards John.

Some snippets...

"John," his gravelly voice said slowly. "John. So that's what you call him. Most touching."

It was the use of John's name that made Cortana feel suddenly violated. And it was more than realizing that the Gravemind had breached the mainframe--not just the metal and boards and composites, but the software processes themselves. It was the invasion of something personal and precious.


Will John miss me? Will he prefer the other AIs? Will he forget me? Does he really understand how much he matters to me? I don't actually know what he thinks. Maybe he doesn't care any more than Dr. Halsey. Maybe--

The realization hit Cortana like a powerful electric shock throughout her entire body. She squealed. It was agony.


John's real. Even if he's not here, he still exists. That's all that matters.

Cortana clung to that thought. If John had really made it back, then she would be happy, not because she might survive but because he'd kept his promise. He cared enough to come back. If he hadn't--then she decided to be satisfied that the last coherent thought she might have would be about him.



There are a ton of paragraphs like that--the ending scene between the two of them is sweet, though she did change the scene we see in Halo 3 slightly. But, dude, it's enough for my shippy fanigirly heart. LOL

Some of the other stories are meh...The idea that John finds his childhood girl crush (on Earth, no less!) and she has been holding his picture since he "died" was, um, a bit of a stretch. And in the same story we have a solider who hates Cortana (surprise! Read the previous sentence) and if John "were to ask nicely [she'd] give up [her] lucrative carrer in the Corps and start pumping out [his] babies..." Ick. Just ick.

But, dude, I can forgive all that since we got "Human Weakness".

Ick, that other story indeed sounds ick XD

But that Human Weakness one sounds great, I'd have to read Evolutions sometime then :)