Reception
Upon release, Contact Harvest debuted at #3 on The New York Times Bestseller List; it remained on the list for four more weeks. The novel also appeared on the USA Today bestseller's list at the same time. Reviewers noted that despite being an unproven writer, Staten had succeeded in crafting an excellent novel; complaints included the perceived overly descriptive prose and use of military jargon. In response to the success of the novel, Will Tuttel of Gamespy.com said that "it makes sense" because videogames are increasingly about the story. A ten-CD audiobook was later released, featuring the voices of Holter Graham and Jen Taylor; Publishers Weekly enjoyed Graham's performance, but felt Taylor's over-emphasis and cheesy dialects detracted from the tension of the novel.
Contact Harvest's success was surprising to some; National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" segment ran a story in which the interviewer asked Staten if gamers read, as well as acting surprised that Halo had a story. Several writers covering the story believed that the "All Things Considered" piece was biased against gamers and insulting. Scott Siegel of Joystiq, in particular, railed against interviewer Chana Joffe-Walt, saying that she "takes unfair jabs at video game fans".
Read more about this topic: Halo: Contact Harvest
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)