Totally agree, last night I finally got past all of the pointless "journey across the Halo" stuff and actual interesting events began occurring. 20 chapters/approx. 200 pages of ponderous drudgery. I remember enjoying Cryptum more last year, but I can't remember a damn thing about it.
Are Glasslands and Thursday's War directly tie-ins to Halo 4?
At least a significant portion of their story directly tie in to what's going on, yes (in terms of introducing characters, factions, human tech, etc.)