History Literature / HaloBrokenCircle

Meanwhile, the Prophet of Inner Conviction, Mken 'Scre'ah'ben, prepares to lead an expedition to the Prophets' old homeworld, in hopes of finding females who will immigrate with them and increase their gene pool. But he too has his doubts about the Great Journey, and his unorthodoxy has made him enemies among the Prophets who might see this expedition as the best chance to kill him quietly. The expedition's chain of events will eventually lead to him confronting his old foe, Ussa 'Xellus, and bringing the Covenant to blows with Elites once again.

The first half of the novel takes place during the beginning of the Covenant, just after the Writ of Union ended the war between the Sangheili and San'Shyuum. Nevertheless, an Elite splinter group led by Ussa 'Xellus continues to fight against the Prophets, under the belief that their "Great Journey" is false and the Writ of Union nothing more than shameful surrender. At the same time, the Prophet of Inner Conviction, Mken 'Scre'ah'ben, has to deal with political intrigue coming from the highest levels of the Covenant leadership, while at the same time grappling with his own doubts about the validity of both the Covenant and its "Great Journey".

The second half takes place after a TimeSkip of over 3,000 years, during the beginning of the Great Schism, and follows up on the long term consequences of the events in the first half.

* DevouredByTheHorde: When one of the clan, secretly a Covenant spy, tries to kill the clan leader Ussa, the other clan members grab him and promptly rip him apart. Ussa is grateful for the lifesaving but wishes they hadn't killed the spy, as he could've been interrogated. A later clan defector, Crecka, suffers the same fate from his former clan, though the Covenant expected that would happen after [[UriahGambit they sent him to fight]] [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves his own clan in battle.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The Prophet of Exquisite Devotion has a nasty punishment for anyone he hates: locking them in a controlled gravity chamber. Those inside it feel the effects of rapid gravity increase, and Exquisite can even select ''where'' he wants the gravity to focus on, so he can crush limbs, divert blood, or force organs out of one's throat.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Part 1's conflict has few truly evil guys. The Prophet Mken just wants to get back home to his wife, Ussa 'Xellus and his Elites want to live away from the Covenant, and his dissenters led by Salus 'Crolon are afraid 'Xellus will lead them into ruin. The only fully unsympathetic bad guys in Part 1 are the Prophets R'Noh Custo and Excellent Redolence, who are motivated by racism for the borderline-genetically deficient. The clearest display of this trope is in the penultimate scene of Part 1, where Mken and Ussa discuss from either side of the conflict, and both reasonably explain why they can't reconcile.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The Prophet of Exquisite Devotion has a nasty punishment for anyone he hates: locking them in a controlled gravity chamber. Those inside it feel the effects of rapid gravity increase, and Exquisite can even select ''where'' he wants the gravity to focus on, so he can crush limbs, divert blood, or force organs out one's throat.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The Prophet of Exquisite Devotion has a nasty punishment for anyone he hates: locking them in a controlled gravity chamber. Those inside it feel the effects of rapid gravity increase, and Exquisite can even select ''where'' he wants the gravity to focus on, so he can crush limbs or force organs out one's throat.

* FriendOrIdolDecision: After a missile strike to the ''Vengeful Vitality'' creates hull breach, Mken must choose whether to save recruited female Burenn or the Luminary about to fly out in space. [[spoiler:He chooses Burenn, and the Luminary ends up falling out and burning up in the atmosphere.]]

* RapeAndPillage: The original plan for bringing some genetic diversity for the San'Shyuum was to outright kidnap females from Janjur Qom, though Mken's objections helped put a stop to that. Still, the females are still not recruited under the most truthful of pretenses.

* MarsNeedsWomen: Played with: Mken is tasked with returning to Janjur Qom, the Prophet homeworld, in order to recruit San'Shyuum females to prevent the Covenant San'Shyuum from becoming too inbred. While the mission is ongoing, the physical differences between the Reformist- and Stoic-descended San'Shyuum are noted a number of times, with the latter being much fitter.

* WorthyOpponent: Mken feels this way about Ussa, though the feeling is not quite mutual.

** In fact, the original plan was to outright kidnap the females, though Mken's objections helped put a stop to that, but they are still not recruited under the most truthful of pretenses.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Both Mken and his descendent Zo Resken are the first major Prophet characters in the franchise to be sympathetic. Mken loves his wife, expresses his dismay at the shadier plots of the Covenant leadership, even when he's forced to take part in them, and even ultimately [[spoiler:allows Ussa and his followers to find safe haven away from the Covenant]]. For his part, Zo Resken makes the decision to follow his conscience and [[spoiler:side with the Elites during the Great Schism]], and does not budge from his choice even when [[spoiler:facing execution]].
** Additionally, even the High Prophets in the first half of the book, with the exception of Excellent Redolence, seem to be relatively decent types, especially compared with Truth and his cronies in the second half.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The Prophet of Exquisite Devotion has a nasty punishment for anyone he hates: locking them in a controlled gravity chamber. Those inside it feel the effects of rapid gravity increase, and he can even select ''where'' he wants the gravity to focus on, so he can crush limbs or force organs out one's throat.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Part 1's conflict has few truly evil guys. The Prophet Mken just wants to get back home to his wife, Ussa 'Xellus and his Elites want to live away from the Covenant, and his dissenters led by Salus 'Crolon are afraid 'Xellus will lead them into ruin. The only fully unsympathetic bad guys in Part 1 are the Prophets R'Noh Custo and Excellent Redolence, who are motivated by racism for the borderline-genetically deficient.

** In fact,the original plan was to outright kidnap the females, though Mken's objections helped put a stop to that, but they are still not recruited under the most truthful of pretenses.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Both Mken and his descendent Zo Resken are the first major Prophet characters in the franchise to be sympathetic. Mken loves his wife, expresses his dismay at the shadier plots of the Covenant leadership, even when he's forced to take part in them, and even ultimately [[spoiler:allows Ussa and his followers to find safe haven away from the Covenant]]. For his part, :Zo Resken makes the decision to follow his conscience and [[spoiler:side with the Elites during the Great Schism]], and does not budge from his choice even when [[spoiler:facing execution]].

* CompleteMonster: The Prophet of Exquisite Devotion. Not only is he fully onboard with Truth's plans to wipe out the Elites, he personally executes several of the captive Sangheili Councilors. Worse, he ''tortures'' them first.
''torturing'' the captured Elite Councilors

* IronicNickname: In what is becoming a tradition for the Prophets in ''Halo'', Mken 'Scre'ah'ben is known as the "Prophet of Inner Conviction" because of the purity he displayed in his youth. By the time the Covenant is established, he's already begun to have private doubts that the Halo Array is a means of divinity, thinking it sounds more like a weapon, showing he lacks inner conviction. Unlike most Prophets in the series, he's self-aware enough to recognize this and chastise himself for it.
-->'''Mken:''' "Inner Conviction" indeed. Find your own inner conviction!
* MarsNeedsWomen: Played with: [[spoiler:Mken is tasked with returning to Janjur Qom, the Prophet homeworld, in order to recruit San'Shyuum females to prevent the Covenant San'Shyuum from becoming too inbred. While the mission is ongoing, the physical differences between the Reformist- and Stoic-descended San'Shyuum are noted a number of times, with the latter being much fitter.]]
** In fact, [[spoiler:the original plan was to outright kidnap the females, though Mken's objections helped put a stop to that, but they are still not recruited under the most truthful of pretenses]].
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Both Mken and [[spoiler:his descendent Zo Resken]] are the first major Prophet characters in the franchise to be sympathetic. Mken loves his wife, expresses his dismay at the shadier plots of the Covenant leadership [[spoiler:even when he's forced to take part in them]], and even ultimately [[spoiler:allows Ussa and his followers to find safe haven away from the Covenant]]. For his part, [[spoiler:Zo Resken]] makes the decision to follow his conscience and [[spoiler:side with the Elites during the Great Schism]], and does not budge from his choice even when [[spoiler:facing execution]].

* SchizoTech: [[spoiler:Due to their religious beliefs, most of the technology of the Stoic-descended San'Shyuum seems to be barely more advanced than that of 21st-century humanity's (though their firepower seems to be more on par with the UNSC's pre-contact tech), but their bioengineering is far beyond our own, presumably because their ignorance of Forerunner biotech means that they don't have to worry about any divine punishment for their hubris.]]

''Halo: Broken Circle'' is the 14th book in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' franchise, written by John Shirley. Unlike previous novels, the Covenant are the sole focus here, with attention primarily on the Sangheili (Elites) and San'Shyuum (Prophet).

The second half takes place after a TimeSkip of nearly 3,000 years, during the beginning of the Great Schism, and follows up on the long term consequences of the events in the first half.

The first half of the novel takes place during the beginning of the Covenant, just after the Writ of Union ended the war between the Sangheili and San'Shyuum. Nevertheless, an Elite splinter group led by Ussa 'Xellus continues to fight against the Prophets, under the belief that their "Great Journey" is false and the Writ of Union nothing more than shameful surrender. At the same time, the Prophet of Inner Conviction, Mken 'Scre'ah'ben, has to deal with political intrigue coming from the highest levels of the Covenant leadership, while at the time grappling with his own doubts about the validity of both the Covenant and its "Great Journey".

* WorthlOpponent: Mken feels this way about Ussa, though the feeling is not quite mutual.

* WorthlyOpponent: Mken feels this way about Ussa, though the feeling is not quite mutual.