Yeah, I forgot to post back here after finishing the book, but it was godly. Great book. Confusing at bits, but still great book.
Also, when you look at the cover in real life, you'll notice that the Spartan on the front is wearing CQB-ish shoulders, a Mk IV helm, and what looks like a CQB chest (there's a knife, but on the back of the shoulder). Hope that clears stuff up... on the original cover, it was regular shoulders and regular CQB, but they changed it.