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Hi all
This is my first post on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and I am looking for some help/advise.
My 10 year old son has requested a new book and it is in the Halo series, the ones the Xbox games are based on. The games have a uk certificate of 15 but the books do not seem to have any age advisory. Never having played the game or read the books I am a bit nervous of allowing this purchase.
My question, if anyone can help, is "does anyone know if these books might be suitable for this age group?"
Sorry if this seems a bit of a random question but a lot of his friends play the game and, being a bit strict on these things, I have not let him play. This is his idea of a compromise!
Thanks in advance for any advise.
Liz

Could you give us an Amzon's link to the book please, Elizabeth?

I can ask around at school tomorrow if I have a title/author.

Hi Patti
Thanks for your reply. I hope I am doing this correctly! All new to me

Halo: Contact Harvest
Liz

Elizabeth - your son must be a little angel if he hasn't already played this around his friends house, and forgotten to tell you!!! ;-)

You may be right Pete. I am sure he thinks what I dont know can't hurt him!!

Elizabeth

This might help about the right age for kids to play Halo, the games:

#

I've never read the books, but from what I can see in the reviews they are mostly science fiction war stories. I suspect they will be fine for a 10 year old.

Mind you, a 10 year old might find that the books are a relatively poor substitute for the games!

Some of the Halo games have a 13 rating, which might be closer to your son's age. The two I found on the internet were Halo Wars and Halo Spartan Assault.

Thanks for your help Willl, I think you are probably right. I was just a bit worried about language more than anything (plus the violence of cause). Then again probably no worse than he hears at school in the playground!

Hi Elizabeth, sorry I can help you with what you are asking, but I do sympathise, it's very difficult when you don't allow your kids to watch, or in your case play something and other parents do. This happened with our daughter and one night she wouldn't sleep with the light off and was very unhappy and unsettled, she was 10 same as your son. She finally admitted that they had watched a horror film at one of her friends houses and it really frightened her for months and months. I can't remember the name of the film but I do know it was an 18 at the cinema. I talked to the child's mother who really couldn't see any harm in her child watching horror films. Needless to say we didn't let Nikki go to that child's house again but It cured her of wanting to watch any other films that she knew we wouldn't allow her to watch for a very long time. We explained why such films were not intended for children and in a funny sort of way it wasn't a bad thing after all.
I hope you can reach a compromise with your son and maybe use the whole experience as a learning curve for him. Good luck !

Thanks Anita, it helps to get another parents point of view. I think part of the problem is that a lot of his friends have older brothers and have been allowed to play because of this. Sam is an only child and I think at times I am guilty of wrapping him in cotton wool, I've been told that you are a lot more relaxed with these things for second/third children but have no such experience myself!!!
I think I may order the books and read them myself first, I do this with "suspect" movies that are 12a , so ok for his age with parental advise. Not really my cup of tea but may have to just to put my mind at rest

As a fan of both the Halo games and the Halo books, this thread is right up my street!

I don't have kids but I haven't so far read anything in any of the Halo books that would render them unsuitable for a 15 year old. There's no sex, no excessive bad language, and no graphic depictions of violence.

In terms of which book he should start with, I'd very much recommend he starts with the initial trilogy that gives all the background:

Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Flood
Halo: First Strike

After that it doesn't matter.

The only ones you should be wary about him reading are the three books that were written by Greg Bear.

They are effing boring.

Thanks Michael
My son is 10, do you think they may be too much or is the violence "soft " enough for his age group?
Thanks for the suggestion of the order- it is not really clear on the book descriptions which are the first ones, he had chosen the "first" box set, thinking this would be the first books. Especially as the description says "this is where it begins" bit misleading for a beginner !

Elizabeth wrote: "Thanks Anita, it helps to get another parents point of view. I think part of the problem is that a lot of his friends have older brothers and have been allowed to play because of this. Sam is an ..."

Yes it does seem that having older brothers and sisters means it's ok for the youngest to be treated older than their years but I would still say stick to what you feel is right for your child and no I don't think you are wrapping him in cotton wool, if you don't want him to play/ watch something there is usually a very good reason why you consider it not suitable. Go with your gut instinct which will be the best for your son in the long run.

Yeah, that description can be misleading if you aren't familiar with the Halo story!

I reckon the books should be okay for a 10 year old. Although there's plenty of action in the books, there's no attempts at glamorising war and violence. In fact, the morality of what's going on in the story is often questioned.

Thank you everyone for your very helpful comments. I must say this seems like a lovely forum, much friendlier than the Amazon kindle readers forum - always seems to be arguing over there and I would be very nervous of posting a non kindle related question! These always seem to get shot down by one or two posters.
Once again thanks everyone, I have ordered the first couple of books and hope that this continues to encourage my son to read - never an easy task with young boys !
Liz

Michael wrote: "As a fan of both the Halo games and the Halo books, this thread is right up my street!

I don't have kids but I haven't so far read anything in any of the Halo books that would render them unsuitab..."

I arrived at the thread after Michael found it, but as I was reading it my first thought was 'Has anybody asked Michael :-)'

But to follow on to Elizabeth's comment, 'hope that this continues to encourage my son to read'. Yes, I hope it does.
I've seen a lot of lads discover 'reading' because they got involved in roleplaying (the table top variety)
So I see no reason why the games shouldn't generate an interest as a spin-off

I appear to be late to the party however I've only read one book based on a video game. It was a Mass Effect book which had very little to do with the actual fighting and more the reasons to go in to the danger zone and the world the character lived on and how it affected his choices etc.

I can only imagine a Halo game book being fairly similar. Yes the game is a first person shooter but it's often the mission you are sent on and not the how or the why. You get more of an understanding of the world through the books and as such I think your son may value the reason for the main character going into the danger zone

I hope whatever your decision he gains a better understanding and more importantly enjoys the books.

Elizabeth wrote: "Thanks for your help Willl, I think you are probably right. I was just a bit worried about language more than anything (plus the violence of cause). Then again probably no worse than he hears at s..."

Hi Elizabeth, as a comprehensive school teacher, I can say hand on heart that the language in the playground is er... Fruity, for want of a better word, but it's really good to see parents taking an active roll in preventing it and not the general attitude that their kids are going to hear it 'sometime'.

Hi Willl
You are right I do try to make sure that things at home are age apropriate wherever possible. I grew up with a policeman for a dad and I am not sure if this is the reason that my parents were able to instill a level of respect into us kids - maybe, or could just be they were good parents. Mum still is, unfortunately dad passed a some years ago.
I was horrified the other day when my son came home from school and asked what the "C" word meant, I thought he meant cr@p but when he whispered the word in my ear it was THE "C" word instead. When I asked where he had heard that word, he said that one of his class called the teacher this word. I did not know what to say for a moment, then explained that it was a really nasty word used against women and that it should never be used by anyone who has any respect for themselves or others. I though 10 was a bit too young for the literal translation!! Apparently the boy was excluded for the rest of the day and his parents informed, I can only assume he heard the word at home, hopefully not by another child in the school.

Elizabeth

Hearing that sort of language in the playground at 10 is pretty normal, I think, especially for a boy. That is more or less when I first heard serious swearing at a pretty average comprehensive school.

My son is now 14 and going to much better schools than I did, but he heard the fruity language in the playground at roughly the same age.

I invented a sliding scale for swearing so he knew where each word ranked. The most extreme words were 10 out of 10, falling to the "only slightly naughty" words like bum and boob at 1 out of 10. That way he knew which words he could use and which were out of bounds. They do need to know this,

The important thing, I think, is to be honest with our kids and not to glamorise or demonise swearing. That hopefully means that they will come and ask us if they hear a word that they don't understand.

But we need to be careful not to make swearing exciting because it is something you shouldn't do. Forbidden fruit are sometimes sweeter. Yes, the C word exists. Yes, it is a 10 out of 10.

The fact that your son came to talk to you about the C word shows that he has a mature attitude to swearing and you and he have a very good relationship. That's probably the best possible outcome and one worth nurturing, because he was going to hear that word sooner or later.

G.J. wrote: "Hi Elizabeth, as a comprehensive school teacher, I can say hand on heart that the language in the playground is er... Fruity, for want of a better word, but it's really good to see parents taking an active roll in preventing it and not the general attitude that their kids are going to hear it 'sometime'. ..."

In my first year of school I casually told another child to 'stop bing about and **** off home.'

I was left in the centre of a zone of silence that seemed to be expanding exponentially as shocked adults and children tried to work out whether I had indeed said what they thought I'd said.

They suddenly realised that I'd mixed with working men at work on the farm for a lot of my life up until that point and hadn't actually realised it was anything other than a form of standard English you used when under stress.

So they explained to me there were words that you did use in civilised company and words that you most definitely didn't.
They also stressed that swearing was often just the sight of a reduced vocabulary and a poor education.

And interestingly because they explained it to me, and it made sense, I still try not to swear in civilised company :-)

I totally aggressive. We have explained from an early age that there are some things you just don't say in company, I am sure the odd "bugger" or "dam" has slipped out in front of my son, when you drop that dish on your foot you sometimes don't think before exclaiming out loud! However the one thing we have stressed all along is that there is nothing he can't tell us or confess to if needed, the worst thing he could do is to lie to me - everything else can be sorted if acting promptly. It is better to here of things direct from him, and if it's needed, the consequenses are likely to be less than if I hear from a teacher or another mum. This seems to have worked so far, he will sometimes come home from school and "confess" that he was told off in maths for chatting or some other minor transgression and wait with baited breath to hear what I have to say. We will then sit down and have the discussion about concentrating and listening to the teacher, not distracting the other kids or not being distracted, yet again! Normally this will result in revocation of tv or iPod rights for a period, depending on the confession. Let's hope that as he approaches his teenage years he continues to come to me and doesn't sink into the grunts and sulks with ear buds permanently embedded :). Not holding my breath though!!

Anita wrote: "she was 10 same as your son. She finally admitted that they had watched a horror film at one of her friends houses and it really frightened her for months and months. I can't remember the name of the film but I do know it was an 18 at the cinema."

I remember an episode of Dr Who that did the same thing to me, I must have been about 10 and it totally freaked me out. Even today, more than 40 years later, I won't watch that story, and it's the only Dr Who DVD I refused to buy. And that was "tea time family viewing". Yes I know Dr Who is and always has been properly scary, but the point I think, is that it doesn't have to be an 18-rated horror to be a trigger.

I do love that auto-correct typo at the very start of Elizabeth's last post, it lends it an edge that was very much unintended.

Whoops, I hadn't spotted that, bit of a Freudian slip considering the subject matter!
I too remember an episode of Dr who that has stayed with me since childhood, I was staying at my grandmothers house and had woken up for a drink. My grandad let me sit with him and eat a penguin biscuit and watch Dr who. I remember being terrified of a man with red eyes, I can't remember anything else of the story now just those eyes, all red, no whites or irises at all, ahh still makes me cringe even now.

It was giant glowing green maggots for me.

I remember the first ever Doctor Who programme! I was one of a generation of kids hiding behind the sofa :-)

We didn't have a TV till around 1970. Jon Pertwee was definitely "My Doctor"

Me too Jim. I remember the first ever dalek episode. It scared the living daylights out of me (but I still went back for more. Geekdom started earlier, then...)

Oh, and my children learnt to swear by listening to their mother, and to moderate their language by listening to me...

I think most of my memories of Dr Who are from re-runs, born in 71 and scarred whitless in 76 so did not return to watching until I was in my teens. By then I did not like the guy playing the Dr, can't remeber his name but he always remindes me of Timmy mallet! I think I started enjoying it again with David Tennant so some years later!!

I can't contribute much to the original question, I didn't realise there were Halo books. Think I've found something else to add to my tbr list.

I remember watching The Witches as a child and it terrified me. I still refuse to either watch the film or read the book. Funny how these things stick with you.

Until I started this job, I very rarely swore. I'm guessing being told to Foxtrot Oscar enough times relaxes your view on swearing a bit! Still won't swear in front of my parents though and there are words I definitely wouldn't say.

✿C±ô²¹¾±°ù±ðâœ� wrote: "I'm guessing being told to Foxtrot Oscar enough times relaxes your view on swearing a bit!"

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? And there was me thinking only pilots swore phonetically! I must get out more! ;)

Policemen do too, at least my dad would (under his breath of cause)!!
Pants! Is a favourite in our household. Can release that need to vent but is relatively inoffensive :)

Tim wrote: "✿C±ô²¹¾±°ù±ðâœ� wrote: "I'm guessing being told to Foxtrot Oscar enough times relaxes your view on swearing a bit!"

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? And there was me thinking only pilots swore phonetically! I must..."

And Americans ... Bravo Sierra

Teachers are very creative swearers.

One of my favourites is 'oh, crayons!'

'Prune juice' is a good one. Or 'spinach' works for me.

Tim wrote: "Anita wrote: "she was 10 same as your son. She finally admitted that they had watched a horror film at one of her friends houses and it really frightened her for months and months. I can't remember..."

Nikki is the same, she still wouldn't watch that film,( I will have to ask her which film it was ) It scared her that much.

I remember my sister asking Mother what the F word was, she had her mouth washed out with soap for asking. Not fair really as she had heard it in the park and was just curious.

Ah, the scarring of young minds. My brother watched The Terminator many years ago in the presence of my nephew. He still cannot watch anything about robots even though he is now in his forties.

I don't blame him Geoff, I'm the same

Me too.

Oh wait, that's Roberts.

Tim wrote: "Me too.

Oh wait, that's Roberts."

I haven't met any particularly scary Roberts...

I should introduce you to my cousin then...

Oh you needn't bother.