Honestly, I liked Halo better when the Forerunners where a mysterious, extinct race. I think that's why I liked the older Halos' campaigns/lore (especially ODST and Reach) in comparison to Halo 4's.

[quote]I've read the first two and heard the third is supposed to be good. [/quote] i loved the entire trilogy! [quote]I have such a negative feeling toward the first two [/quote] :( [quote]because (I guess) the Forerunner are not close to what I expected them to be. [/quote] now that's not really a valid complaint against them "ruining" the lore is it? unless you mean it from a totally subjective point of view in which case i can absolutely see why. [quote]On top of that it doesn't feel like Halo to me, [/quote] see your complaints are predicated more on subjectivity. what [i]is[/i] the halo feel? what do you consider to be the real "feeling" of halo. unless you can prove that there's an objective shift in tone [a difficult task indeed] that is both alien and jarringly out of place to the halo series there's really no true flaw with the novels. you can't really just ask people to prove to you why the books are good, as they'll end up posting their own subtextual analyses/value judgements and you might just end up saying "well i disagree with all of it." basically: instead of giving us a blanket statement and saying it doesn't feel like halo, can you tell us what [i]exactly[/i] you dislike about the forerunner saga? perhaps if you state that we can then actually get around to proffering alternate explanations and counterpoints that might change your opinion of the saga. until then it's just going to be "nah it was good." [quote]it's almost as if it was written for a totally different universe [/quote] i disagree. it feels completely in tune with the tone of the godlike forerunners that we've got. think about it: [i]all[/i] of the lore that we've got detailing the forerunners prior to halo 4/forerunner saga [almost all of which is actually from halo 3's terminals/IRIS ARG] can fit nicely into the forerunner saga can't it? is there really that jarring a change in character prose, if any at all? the way iso and librarian both speak, with consistently eloquent-yet-comparatively-grounded [comparative to the covenant's shakespearean tune, that is] lines and referencing of forerunner jargon is something that could fit right in with silentium [or, in your case as you haven't read it, cryptum]. [spoiler]and gosh don't even get me started on how completely perfect the depiction of the flood is in the forerunner saga. i could go on and on for days... but i have an analysis of that forthcoming [which i really should get around to doing sometime] so i'll remain kinda tight-lipped about that until said analysis rolls out.[/spoiler] [quote](which would have worked if it was it's own in my opinion.)[/quote] i suppose it could, but i would always probably be wondering in the back of my mind that it would actually be a perfect way to expand upon the forerunner lore in halo whenever reflecting on it. [quote]So I'd like some convincing as to why I should like what 343 does instead of just being so damn negative toward them.[/quote] well you've first gotta try and convince us that your negativity towards 343 [i]is[/i] warranted so we can actually counter and combat it :P

The Forerunner Saga serves to explain the background of the Forerunners, which has never been touched on before. I'm not sure what disappointed you in the depiction of the Forerunners or what you expected them to be like, since we have never heard much of anything about them before. However, I will say that Greg Bear can be very confusing. On to the direction of the franchise, I'm not sure the Forerunners will have the main role in the next installment. Keep in mind ONI's activities against the Arbiter to keep Sanghelios divided while at the same time the Arbiter is in the need of the Chief's help fighting the insurrection. ONI might determine Chief is getting in the way, yet the rest UNSC regards him as a hero, which adds complexity to the story. Not to mention Halsey is working with the Storm Covenant to exact her revenge on the UNSC. This means she is against the Arbiter, which conflicts with the Chief. All of that doesn't leave much room for the Forerunners, unless the Janice Key gets involved. Long story short, everything is about to hit the fan, and I recommend you stick around to see what happens.

Halo 4 is the best game ever made, what other reason would you need?