Book Review: Halo: First Strike SPOILERS!

Halo: First Strike is written by Eric Nylund, as is his second in the Halo novel series. First Strike picks up where Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood ended. Well... somewhat. Halo has been destroyed, and the threat it posed to sentient life, neutralized. But victory has come at a terrible cost for the UNSC. Thousands of valiant soldiers fell in the battle to prevent the alien construct from falling into the enemy's clutches. Now, everything depends on the Spartan known as the "Master Chief." Yet even with the aid of the artificial intelligence Cortana, the Master Chief will be hard-pressed to rescue survivors and evade the Covenant ships patrolling the remains of Halo in debris-strewn space. Ahead lies a dangerous voyage home, through a gauntlet of Covenant forces. For the sake of all, the Master Chief and his war-torn squad must not only survive, but take the fight to the enemy with a decisive first strike.

The novel opens with the final moments of Reach. No, not the game, the events of The Fall of Reach. Fred, Kelly, William, and a few others not only fought, but survived to make it to a stronghold where Dr. Catherine Halsey is located. The Covenant glasses the planet and power is cut. Fast-forward to the end of The Flood, and the Master Chief, with Cortana, sit in the Longsword, scanning the debris field for survivors. The Covenant armada descends and Cortana identifies a low ping off a Pelican. They slingshot around Basis and Staff Sergeant A. J. Johnson comes aboard first. The Master Chief accuses Johnson of being a Flood victim and Johnson rebuffs this by saying the Flood passed him up. Cortana confirms this but John-117 wants to make sure, but is willing to wait until they get back to UNSC controlled space. The rest come aboard and the Chief tells them they're going to take the Covenant's flagship. They do so and plot a course for Reach, as it is no longer in UNSC hands. The ship is mostly full of Huragoks.

One of the Huragok repairs the MJOLNIR armor for the Master Chief and Lt. Elias Haverson kills it, believing that if given the choice, it'll turn on them and report back to the Covenant. They jump to slipspace and arrive at Reach to find what's left of the human fleet in debris fields with a couple of Covenant cruisers placed above the planet. John-117 overhears a rhythm being played on a com channel and makes preparations to land on the planet. In a meeting, it's almost revealed that Colonel Ackerson has a back up plan for the SPARTAN-IIs. What it is is any one's guess. Ackerson insults the Spartan-2s despite Lord Admiral Terrence Hood telling him to shut up and show them respect. Ackerson says sending a recon team to Reach is pointless as there can be no survivors.  Back on Reach, Halsey finds a file labeled "King Under The Mountain" with contents such as CPOFM and S-III. The ONI base continues to collapse.

Five days later, The Master Chief lands on Reach and stumbles across Admiral Danforth Whitcomb with a couple of Spartans. The Chief tells them everything he knows and Johnson and the others fill in the rest. They find and extract Halsey, Fred, Kelly and the rest and high-tail it off Reach. They rendezvous with Insurrectionist Jacob Jiles and borrow his ships to fight off the Covenant. Halsey says the reason Johnson couldn't be infected by the Flood is because of Boren's Syndrome (which is a cover for his time in the ORION Project, the Spartan-I program). She panics, drugs Kelly and flees for Ackerson's S-III base. Hood saves the day and John-117, Fred-081, Linda-058, and William-043, with several copies of Cortana take the fight to the Covenant aboard the Unyielding Hierophant. They succeed in delaying the Covenant from attacking Earth and the Inner Colonies. The Prophet of Truth summons Tartarus to bring him the one who failed.

All in all, Eric Nylund wrote one hell of a novel and in 2003, it made the New York Times Bestseller list. Well crafted, great characters, good plot, and a fantastic read for any Halo fan.

Book Review: Halo: The Flood SPOILERS!

The one and only novelization in the Halo Universe, Halo: The Flood accurately portrays not only the events in the game, but the Marines and Covenant as they all deal with each other on Installation 04. Written by William C. Deitz, a former Navy and Marine Corps medic, Deitz portrays the Marines with in-depth characterizations instead of the unhelpful idiots the NPCs (non-playable characters) are in game. As the fortress wold of Reach and its brave defenders were bombarded to rubble, a single cruiser fled the carnage with the battle's only human survivors--Captain Keyes, his crew of a few hundred Marines, and the last remaining SPARTAN super-soldier, the Master Chief. With the cruiser's artificial intelligence, Cortana, concealed in his battle armor, the Master Chief crash-lands on Halo in the midst of a massive Covenant occupation. Curiously, the alien soldiers appear to be searching for something hidden on the ring. Built by a long-dead race, Halo harbors many dead secrets, but one overshadows them all. Now the Master Chief must lead the scattered troops in a brutal race to unravel Halo's darkest mystery--and unleash its greatest source of power...

I'm barely going to mention the game-stuff as anyone familiar with the game is all ready familiar with it. I'm going to talk about the rest of it. So, the novel opens up with a tech officer unsealing the Master Chief while Keyes and Cortana fight the Covenant Task Force in orbit above Halo. A Sangheili warrior is tasked with capturing Keyes for information that may lead them to Earth. Needless to say, Foehammer, the rest of the pilots and Marines and ODSTs exit the ship. The Master Chief and Keyes also exit and everyone ends up stranded. Keyes is captured by the Covenant by a betrayal from a fellow officer. Major Silva takes a Covenant base and converts it to the humans headquarters. The Master Chief and Cortana rendezvous with Staff Sergeant Johnson and pick up the remaining stranded Marines. Back at base, Silva berates the Master Chief for being a freak and shows hatred for the entire SPARTAN-II program. Then, they form a plan to rescue Keyes. It's a hit and the Covenant react slowly to stop the Master Chief and a squad of Marines from their task.

The next day, The Master Chief and Cortana try and secure the Silent Cartographer while Keyes, with Johnson and his Marines attempt to take a weapons cache. It turns out to be home to something horrible and it kills everyone but Johnson, Keyes, and Jenkins. Cortana and the Master Chief find the Cartographer and head to a terminal on a snowy mountainous level where Cortana informs the Chief that Keyes is in trouble. The Master Chief arrives to find the half-dead Marines which try and kill him. With the help of 343 Guilty Spark, the Master Chief manages to retrieve the Index. Major Silva, meanwhile, is pissed with the Chief because a lot of Marines died when a Sangheili named Zuka 'Zamamee and his team of special operations Unggoy and Sangheili infiltrate the human's base and kill them while looking for the Master Chief whom they call the Demon. Zuka's Unggoy friend, Yayap, are the only survivors from that attempt and head to the remains of the Pillar of Autumn to wait for the Master Chief.

After taking down three energy pylons, the Master Chief heads for the Truth and Reconciliation's remains to rescue Keyes. They're too late and the Chief takes his neural relays to find the Autumn. Meanwhile, the humans have captured the Flood-form of Jenkins. Jenkins keeps trying to kill himself because he knows he's a threat. Silva wants to bring back a live member of each Flood-form for Earth to study. Another officer, after the Chief cleared out Truth and Reconciliation, arms a frag grenade and blows up the ship, killing all the Marines. The Master Chief destroys the Autumn's engines, much to the displeasure of 343 Guilty Spark, and kills Zuka along the way to the docked Longsword. Halo detonates and the Master Chief and Cortana sit the explosion out in the safety of space.

All in all, a very well crafted novel from William C. Deitz. He writes believable characters and situations that could very easily have been cut-scenes in the game. Reading this novel always makes me want to replay the game.

Book Review: Halo: The Fall of Reach SPOILERS!

The very first Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund tells not only the Battle and Fall of Reach, but how the Spartan-2 project came into existence, how Jacob Keyes became a Captain, and how Cortana was created into being. While the brutal Covenant juggernaut sweeps inexorably through space, intent on wiping out humankind, only one stronghold remains--the planet Reach. Practically on Earth's doorstep, it is the last military fortress to defy the alien onslaught. But Reach's defenders have another, higher priority: to prevent the Covenant from discovering the location of Earth. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers seem to have little chance against the Covenant, but Reach holds a closely guarded secret. It is the training ground for the very first "super soldiers." Code-named SPARTANs, these highly advanced warriors, specially bioengineered and technologically augmented, are the best in the universe--quiet, professional, and deadly. Now, as the ferocious Covenant attack begins, a handful of SPARTANs stand ready to wage ultimate war. They will kill, they will be destroyed, but they will never surrender. And at least one of them--the SPARTAN known as the Master Chief--will live to fight another day on a mysterious and ancient artificial world called Halo...

The prologue beings with the Battle and Fall of Jericho VII. The Master Chief and Blue Team prevent Covenant forces from getting a fortress up and running, but lose the planet to the Covenant's glassing. Back in the past, Lt. Jacob Keyes and Dr. Catherine Halsey land on Eridanus 2 where Halsey looks over a boy called John. For the next few years, John and the other children, trained by CPO Franklin Mendez and an AI called Deja to fight against the Insurrectionists. Halsey has them bioengineered for super strength and speed. Not all make it through. A few months later and their first mission against the Innies goes well but dark times approach soon.

Admiral Stanforth, in a private meeting, reveals that Harvest has fallen to an unknown alien race. John-117 and the rest of the SPARTANs are being accelerated to Project MJOLNIR. During a fight against the Covenant, the SPARTAN known as Sam dies. In the Sigma Octanus Star System, the Covenant appear and attack. Jacob Keyes, now a Commander, fight the enemy. Admiral Stanforth arrives with the second largest space fleet ever seen and help retake the system while the Master Chief and three teams of SPARTANs retake the planet. During the battle, Keyes is promoted to Captain. The Covenant retreat, but not before placing a tracing beacon onto Keyes' ship. It leads them to Reach.

John-117 is given the MJOLNIR armor and tests it out with the AI Cortana. They pass with flying colors. A new mission is assigned the entire SPARTANs and Keyes. They are to take Pillar of Autumn and perform a hit in Covenant Space and capture a Prophet. Just as they are about to leave, the Covenant show up and being to destroy the planet. The Master Chief sends all of the SPARTANs down to defend Reach except Linda. Johnson and his strike team are disabling every vessel that's been damaged, wiping data so the Covenant can't find Earth. Linda and John end up in cryo. (This whole ending part of the novel takes place over the events of Halo: Reach, which shows the SPARTAN 3's waging war against the Covenant). Pillar of Autumn flees Reach and ends up in the Threshold system, where a mysterious ring is balanced between Threshold and its moon Basis.

All in all, a very well crafted and fast-paced novel from Eric Nylund. Despite being an 11-year-old novel, it's still one of the best in the Halo franchise.