Hero Factory got a lot of flak from older Bionicle fans due to not having the deep story that Bionicle did. However, in 2012 and 2013, we got a total of five chapter books written by none other than Greg Farshtey, dedicated to expanding the world of HF, and creating a story for characters which haven’t appeared in the TV series, such as Core Hunter, XT4, and Thornaxx.
Has anyone here ever read those books? And if so, what did you think about them?
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I’ve read Legion of Darkness, but that’s about it.
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I didn’t even know their were books. I happen to like hero factory, so maybe I should check them out.
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What did you think about it?
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From what I’ve heard, they sound like the best story material in the whole theme, greater than even the lofty likes of Hero Factory FM.
I have not read them yet, but I hope to get my hands on them sometime; if and when such a time comes to pass, I am pretty sure that the result will be my giving them high accolades.
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It was decent, nothing TOO spectacular though.
I’ve read them all and they’re pretty decent but The doom box is my favorite
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I haven’t read it, but I’ve heard its really good.
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Doom box: pretty good, some good character moments for the heroes, and an interesting villain
Legion of Darkness: a solid OK, nothing spectacular. Not terrible, but the least interesting of the bunch.
Collision Course: easily the best, dare I say one of the best books from a Lego theme? Wouldn’t put it above bonkle greats like time trap or downfall, but it is definitely a solid book.
Robot Rampage: pretty good, about as good as the first I’d say. Sets up the overarching plot that never gets resolved since the books got sunsetted, so that’s a point against it. Also kinda contradicts book 3.
Mirror world: the archetypical alternate universe story every Lego theme has to do. Kinda continues the story set up in book 4, but not to any satisfactory level. Of course, that wouldn’t have been an issue were it not the final book. Also, kinda acts like Alpha Team are the only heroes at HF.
Overall: some highs and lows, I definitely recommend 3, maybe 1, any others, well, good if you like HF.
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I heard about the first “secret missions” book, but I never read it or any of the other books.
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I only own Doom Box and Robot Rampage, but I read the others after finding them at my library. I thought they were all pretty solid, easily on par with your average Bionicle book, though, apart from Doom Box, none really hit the same highs as, say, Voyage of Fear or Darkness Below (or really any Bionicle book about going through a tunnel, those are almost always the best ones).
Oh, and the Guide Book is really cool, too, I only wish it included the Invasion From Below stuff.
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Well that is nearly, like, half of them when you think about it. 
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Tales of the Masks (the last part), Darkness Below, Voyage of Fear, a 2005 book with Nuju on the cover that I forget the name of, and Legacy of Evil are the main ones I was thinking of. The only one of my favorites not in that list is Power Play. It really makes me depressed that we never got the book with the Mahri descending the Cord.
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I’d argue the 777 Stairs/Mol chamber is a tunnel, and the Mahri end up decending the cord briefly in one of the '07 books. There’s also a bunch of tunnels (including the one that enters the Bohrok nests) in the '02 novel.
You could almost argue the Codrex could be considered a tunnel. There’s definitely tunnels in it. I think Gali even quips about how often the Toa are going underground in that comic.
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Maze of Shadows, I believe. But I’d agree, Voyage of Fear and Maze of Shadows are some of my favorite Bionicle books.
But back on the topic of Hero Factory books , I never got the chance to read them. I was actually a fan of HF in the earlier parts of its run, but had moved on to other things by the time these would’ve come out. I’m honestly kind of interested in reading them, though I don’t know of a way to do so besides buying them.
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I have all the books, but I haven’t read through them in five years or so. I remember liking them a lot, actually. I thought they added a lot of depth to the 2012 and 2013 story arcs. For example, the reason Stringer didn’t get a 2013 set was because he was still on a Catch ‘em and Cuff ‘em mission. He got ambushed by Brains in Book 4 (I think?) and the team had to go rescue him. I’m glad we got the books, and I definitely enjoyed HF more for reading them.
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Check your library, that’s how I read most of them.
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That’s probably a good idea. I just don’t feel comfortable going to the library during the pandemic, personally. Also I’m a grown adult and I’d feel silly walking into there and checking out books with Furno on the cover. 
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The key is to put it on reserve, so you can just grab it from the reserve shelf without having to enter the kids’ section. Also, from my experience, at least, libraries are one of the few places people actually stand 6-feet apart (unlike Walmart and stuff), if that helps.
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Gotta say I have to reserve the books again, but I have a 25$ fine so I cannot renew or reserve books