I've recently read the novel Halo: Glasslands by bestselling novelist Karen Traviss. Set between the flight from the Ark at the end of Halo 3 and the memorial scene in Halo 3, Glasslands and Traviss draw you into a world dealing with the after effects of war.
On Earth, the Office of Naval Intelligence sends out a team lead by a failed SPARTAN II candidate with a mixed-bag team compromised of a Spartan II named Naomi, two ODSTs called Val and Maz, an AI named BB, and a Sangheili (Elite) linguistics expert to sell weapons back to the Elites hoping they'll start a war with The Arbiter Thel 'Vadam. They do this all while killing Brutes and Jackals and planting fake footage of them attacking Elite ships.
Meanwhile, in the Dyson Sphere that used to be Onyx, the remaining Spartan 2s and 3s with their trainer Franklin Mendez and Spartan creator Catherine Halsey explore the world they were trapped in during the events of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund. They're trying to find a way out as well as new Forerunner technology while thinking that the Flood have overrun the galaxy or that the Halos have all fired and wiped out all life. They find a way out eventually with help from three original Forerunner-made Engineers.
On Sanghelios, the homeworld of the Elites, a group of Elite terrorists have started making plans to fight the Arbiter for dismissing the Forerunners as gods and for promoting peace with the humans. The three plots come to a head when one of the Elites is kidnapped by the ONI group before they race off to arrest Halsey for stealing war assets.
Admiral Hood invites Vadam to attend the memorial where they agree that The Master Chief is dead (as of the trailer for Halo 4, we know that's not true, but the characters believe this). The novel comes to a close as Halsey is shipped off to work with others on the Spartan-4 project while the captured Elite helps human technicians with acquiring Forerunner technology from the now open Dyson Sphere. The linguistics expert goes to Sanghelios as a guest of the Arbriter and the Elite Terrorists strike, signaling the end of the book.
A good book that provides enough detail and character moments as well as recaps of the storyline from the other Halo works for the average reader to easily follow along.
On Earth, the Office of Naval Intelligence sends out a team lead by a failed SPARTAN II candidate with a mixed-bag team compromised of a Spartan II named Naomi, two ODSTs called Val and Maz, an AI named BB, and a Sangheili (Elite) linguistics expert to sell weapons back to the Elites hoping they'll start a war with The Arbiter Thel 'Vadam. They do this all while killing Brutes and Jackals and planting fake footage of them attacking Elite ships.
Meanwhile, in the Dyson Sphere that used to be Onyx, the remaining Spartan 2s and 3s with their trainer Franklin Mendez and Spartan creator Catherine Halsey explore the world they were trapped in during the events of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund. They're trying to find a way out as well as new Forerunner technology while thinking that the Flood have overrun the galaxy or that the Halos have all fired and wiped out all life. They find a way out eventually with help from three original Forerunner-made Engineers.
On Sanghelios, the homeworld of the Elites, a group of Elite terrorists have started making plans to fight the Arbiter for dismissing the Forerunners as gods and for promoting peace with the humans. The three plots come to a head when one of the Elites is kidnapped by the ONI group before they race off to arrest Halsey for stealing war assets.
Admiral Hood invites Vadam to attend the memorial where they agree that The Master Chief is dead (as of the trailer for Halo 4, we know that's not true, but the characters believe this). The novel comes to a close as Halsey is shipped off to work with others on the Spartan-4 project while the captured Elite helps human technicians with acquiring Forerunner technology from the now open Dyson Sphere. The linguistics expert goes to Sanghelios as a guest of the Arbriter and the Elite Terrorists strike, signaling the end of the book.
A good book that provides enough detail and character moments as well as recaps of the storyline from the other Halo works for the average reader to easily follow along.
