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Halo #1
Halo: The Fall of Reach
As the bloody Human-Covenant War rages on Halo, the fate of humankind may rest with one warrior, the lone SPARTAN survivor of another legendary battle… the desperate, take-no-prisoners struggle that led humanity to Halo—the fall of the planet Reach. Now, brought to life for the first time, here is the full story of that glorious, doomed conflict.
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 onslaught. But the personnel here 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 Master Chief—will live to fight another day on a mysterious and ancient, artificial world called Halo.…
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First published October 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,021 reviews
November 5, 2007
it describes my training and how i become famous and brave.
May 9, 2014
Ha! A book about Halo?! ROFL.
I was wrong.
Expected this: "Grenade, headshot, headshot. Two grunts down. More grenades. 360 no scoped an Elite." etc. A book about mindlessly shooting things up.
Got this: A book that doesn't focus on wars or engagements, but the thoughts and emotions of the Spartan's (yes, they have emotions!). You place yourself in their shoes and they are no longer dudes who are just good at shooting things. You see the painful life of brainwashing and conditioning they've gone through. They are not dumb, they think and feel. Most of all, you see how conflicted they are.
The video game never showed this. You never "felt" what happens behind the mask. Eric Nylund did a great job of bringing these characters to life and making you "believe" in what the Spartan's believed. You feel their passion, you want them to win, and are pained by their loss.
Instead, it reminded me of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and the idea of how you *create*, rather than recruit, elite soldiers. The books were way better than the game. I bought Halo 3 and barely played it because of the Halo book trilogy!
To wrap up, the book also takes place before the events in the Halo video game and explains the origins of the character you play. The game made a lot more sense after reading this book. It used lots of Navy jargon and tried to sprinkle military tactics in to most of the battle situations.
Verdict: I loved Ender's Game, and I'd place this right along side it. Solid read with some great character development. You will be a Spartan when this is over.
Disclaimer: I played Halo 1 before reading this series which may have helped me develop a relationship with the general story and characters. Also, I didn't like the 2nd book as much (The Flood). It was written by a different author who seemed to be more of a scribe for a gamer just playing thru the game. Basically it sounded like he never played the games himself and just watched someone play them and wrote down what they did. I didn't feel the emotion nearly as much. I'd recommend playing the first Halo in place of reading The Flood as it is virtually the exact same story.
I was wrong.
Expected this: "Grenade, headshot, headshot. Two grunts down. More grenades. 360 no scoped an Elite." etc. A book about mindlessly shooting things up.
Got this: A book that doesn't focus on wars or engagements, but the thoughts and emotions of the Spartan's (yes, they have emotions!). You place yourself in their shoes and they are no longer dudes who are just good at shooting things. You see the painful life of brainwashing and conditioning they've gone through. They are not dumb, they think and feel. Most of all, you see how conflicted they are.
The video game never showed this. You never "felt" what happens behind the mask. Eric Nylund did a great job of bringing these characters to life and making you "believe" in what the Spartan's believed. You feel their passion, you want them to win, and are pained by their loss.
Instead, it reminded me of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and the idea of how you *create*, rather than recruit, elite soldiers. The books were way better than the game. I bought Halo 3 and barely played it because of the Halo book trilogy!
To wrap up, the book also takes place before the events in the Halo video game and explains the origins of the character you play. The game made a lot more sense after reading this book. It used lots of Navy jargon and tried to sprinkle military tactics in to most of the battle situations.
Verdict: I loved Ender's Game, and I'd place this right along side it. Solid read with some great character development. You will be a Spartan when this is over.
Disclaimer: I played Halo 1 before reading this series which may have helped me develop a relationship with the general story and characters. Also, I didn't like the 2nd book as much (The Flood). It was written by a different author who seemed to be more of a scribe for a gamer just playing thru the game. Basically it sounded like he never played the games himself and just watched someone play them and wrote down what they did. I didn't feel the emotion nearly as much. I'd recommend playing the first Halo in place of reading The Flood as it is virtually the exact same story.
April 2, 2022
If I were to just compare this book with the grand majority of MilSF titles out there, I'd probably rank it as one of the best for pure grit and against-all-odds heroism, with a solid background for Master Chief and all the plausible extra SF bits like bio-enhancement, super armor, AI assists, etc. It's really quite good and the story is classic alien invasion. In comparison, it's decent with story, better than most, and it plays to its strengths.
However, I must point out that this book has a rather big history. It came out the same year as the first Halo game, the game that really defined first-person shooters back in 2001 so much that everyone and their fat dogs wanted to copy it. This is a companion novel more than anything else and as such, I think it deserves just a tad bit more love than anything that was particularly stand-alone.
Why, you ask? I mean, I probably would have asked that myself, for the simple reason that I used to pride myself on staying away form franchise novels in general, be it Star Wars or Star Trek or whatnot.
And yet, now that I've played the games and I've read this first novel, I really get the sense of them all being rather complimentary. It all builds on each other very nicely.
So this is a successful case of a product being much greater than the sum of its parts. :)
However, I must point out that this book has a rather big history. It came out the same year as the first Halo game, the game that really defined first-person shooters back in 2001 so much that everyone and their fat dogs wanted to copy it. This is a companion novel more than anything else and as such, I think it deserves just a tad bit more love than anything that was particularly stand-alone.
Why, you ask? I mean, I probably would have asked that myself, for the simple reason that I used to pride myself on staying away form franchise novels in general, be it Star Wars or Star Trek or whatnot.
And yet, now that I've played the games and I've read this first novel, I really get the sense of them all being rather complimentary. It all builds on each other very nicely.
So this is a successful case of a product being much greater than the sum of its parts. :)
February 4, 2009
I have played all of the Halo games and followed the story in the games and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was given this book several years ago and never got around to reading them, until I got my hands on the audio book version!
This book was incredible. It was not predictable at all. It begins when Master Chief was selected as a child for the Spartan program. Putting the setting well before the first Halo game. The author does a great job describing Master Chief and getting the readers following his development as a strong, complex character.
This book is not a fun, light hearted read either. Master Chief experiences some terrible things and in the end, all he has is his orders and missions that keep him focused and determined.
I'm not much of a Sci-fi guy or a fantasy guy either, but I have to admit, this book was unlike any sci-fi book I have read. Simply awesome! A must read!!
This book was incredible. It was not predictable at all. It begins when Master Chief was selected as a child for the Spartan program. Putting the setting well before the first Halo game. The author does a great job describing Master Chief and getting the readers following his development as a strong, complex character.
This book is not a fun, light hearted read either. Master Chief experiences some terrible things and in the end, all he has is his orders and missions that keep him focused and determined.
I'm not much of a Sci-fi guy or a fantasy guy either, but I have to admit, this book was unlike any sci-fi book I have read. Simply awesome! A must read!!
June 23, 2020
Maybe not totally deserved, but this book made me feel something, damn it. And I haven't felt things in MONTHS.
August 10, 2011
This book is based on a video game...and it's pretty good. I was in the mood for a straight forward even simple story. Good guys vs bad guys, military space opera, aliens who want to conquer the universe, or burn it...
Cool.
Okay, so it's not Tolstoy or Dickens (not that Dickens is necessarily all that hot LOL). But these books (there is a series based on the game) are fun, action packed and really pretty well written.
We open with the "founding of" or "recruiting of" the Spartans. "Of course" our hero is "Master Chief" (anyone who's played the game would know that of course). At the beginning of the book we know little (or nothing) about "The Covenant". These are our "bad guys" and they'd rather destroy a planet than leave it in human hands!
So, enjoy, read, soak up all the wonderful mindless violence. You can read something "worthwhile" later.
Cool.
Okay, so it's not Tolstoy or Dickens (not that Dickens is necessarily all that hot LOL). But these books (there is a series based on the game) are fun, action packed and really pretty well written.
We open with the "founding of" or "recruiting of" the Spartans. "Of course" our hero is "Master Chief" (anyone who's played the game would know that of course). At the beginning of the book we know little (or nothing) about "The Covenant". These are our "bad guys" and they'd rather destroy a planet than leave it in human hands!
So, enjoy, read, soak up all the wonderful mindless violence. You can read something "worthwhile" later.
December 6, 2010
This is essentially a military Sci-Fi book with echoes of both Starship Troopers and Ender's Game. I haven't played the Halo games as I don't own an XBox, although I did dip into Combat Evolved at some stage (the one Halo that came out on PC). I remain intrigued by the concept of the Halo (a Ringworld-like structure - albeit much smaller). At this stage I would like to insert a comment on some of the negative reviews listed. This book is based on a video game franchise, yes, and is likely aimed at a younger market or niche market. In all fairness, it can not be compared to, for example, Dune for complexity. This is the kind of book that is likely to turn younger readers onto reading, especially if they've played the game, and how can that be a bad thing?
The book itself is extremely readable. It is very well paced and I flew through it. So, no time wasted. It is also a lot of fun, and surprisingly well written, considering its roots. Like I said, I'm not a Halo-player and yet I really enjoyed this novel. Kudos to Eric S. Nylund for taking the available back story info and crafting it into something rather promising. I'm continuing with the series, since it now has my attention.
I would certainly recommend The Fall Of Reach to readers who enjoy military science fiction, but who will appreciate something just for the heck of it too. If you're a fan of the game, this is required reading. Great stuff!
Edit: the edition I read (Del Rey) did have one or two grammatical errors / typos - let's hope the Tor edition coming out will have fixed that.
The book itself is extremely readable. It is very well paced and I flew through it. So, no time wasted. It is also a lot of fun, and surprisingly well written, considering its roots. Like I said, I'm not a Halo-player and yet I really enjoyed this novel. Kudos to Eric S. Nylund for taking the available back story info and crafting it into something rather promising. I'm continuing with the series, since it now has my attention.
I would certainly recommend The Fall Of Reach to readers who enjoy military science fiction, but who will appreciate something just for the heck of it too. If you're a fan of the game, this is required reading. Great stuff!
Edit: the edition I read (Del Rey) did have one or two grammatical errors / typos - let's hope the Tor edition coming out will have fixed that.
December 3, 2024
If you are familiar with the Halo story I highly recommend reading this! I personally have not played the Halo games too much since I was never an Xbox fan, but I am familiar with some elements of the story. So even if you have not played much of the games, you can still enjoy this story! Although it does help having played or seen someone play the game for the purposes of being able to picture the various elements and characters of the story.
The book does not spend a lot of time describing things (which is nice) because you have the games to help get you the picture. It is easier to know what Grunts, Jackels, Banshees, Elites, Prophets, etc. look like if you just play the game rather than have them described in immense detail. Plus we all know how Master Chief is supposed to look in his armor as well as how Cortana looks.
This book gives a great backstory to the creation of the Master Chief and the Spartans. I loved reading about how John 117 grew to be the Master Chief that he is as well as the bond he has with the other Spartans. The story starts off with John as a little child being noticed by Dr. Halsey who enlists him into the new program. John grows to be immensely loyal to the ‘missions’ he is given (no questions asked) and even if the mission feels impossible, he will get it done.
The book will switch point of views every once in while to give you a full picture of what is happening, but a lot of time is spent with John which I enjoyed all those scenes. My main complaint is that sometimes the language was not consistent and could sometimes be confusing on who was speaking or narrating (i.e. one sentence would John may be referred in narration as John and in the next he is referred in narration as Master Chief). It is a minor complaint but sometimes it felt it took me out of the story for a second.
Overall this is a great fan-fiction novelization of the Halo story and I enjoyed this even as a reread. I recommend if you enjoy the Halo games and are looking for a good backstory to the Master Chief.
The book does not spend a lot of time describing things (which is nice) because you have the games to help get you the picture. It is easier to know what Grunts, Jackels, Banshees, Elites, Prophets, etc. look like if you just play the game rather than have them described in immense detail. Plus we all know how Master Chief is supposed to look in his armor as well as how Cortana looks.
This book gives a great backstory to the creation of the Master Chief and the Spartans. I loved reading about how John 117 grew to be the Master Chief that he is as well as the bond he has with the other Spartans. The story starts off with John as a little child being noticed by Dr. Halsey who enlists him into the new program. John grows to be immensely loyal to the ‘missions’ he is given (no questions asked) and even if the mission feels impossible, he will get it done.
The book will switch point of views every once in while to give you a full picture of what is happening, but a lot of time is spent with John which I enjoyed all those scenes. My main complaint is that sometimes the language was not consistent and could sometimes be confusing on who was speaking or narrating (i.e. one sentence would John may be referred in narration as John and in the next he is referred in narration as Master Chief). It is a minor complaint but sometimes it felt it took me out of the story for a second.
Overall this is a great fan-fiction novelization of the Halo story and I enjoyed this even as a reread. I recommend if you enjoy the Halo games and are looking for a good backstory to the Master Chief.
January 15, 2024
In my attempt to expand my media tie-in fiction, I’ve decided to read the Halo novels. I read one of the short novels, “New Blood”, and while I really enjoyed it, I don’t remember too much about it. I asked people where to start and they all suggested The Fall of Reach.
This book definitely has a military sci-fi feel to it. I really enjoyed the training sequence with John and Chief Mendez in the beginning of the book, and I also really enjoyed the background given to Dr. Halsey and the Spartan project.
I thought it was an odd choice to jump 30 years, as we don’t really see John 117 develop after completing his training. Perhaps there is another novel that can fill in that time, or perhaps it simply isn’t needed.
The whole action sequences were excellently written, and I usually do not care for action sequences. Eric Nylund didn’t make them too technical or difficult to understand.
I also loved reading about Captain Keyes, who is an interesting character to me.
The one thing I thought was odd was that the book is titled “The Fall of Reach”, but we don’t see the fall of reach until the last 60 pages. Just an odd choice for the title, which I think they could have saved and hidden the surprise.
Overall, I really enjoyed the novel. Not only was it an engaging story, but it makes me want to play the game now. So I’ll give the book a 9.3 out of 10! Well done Eric Nylund!
This book definitely has a military sci-fi feel to it. I really enjoyed the training sequence with John and Chief Mendez in the beginning of the book, and I also really enjoyed the background given to Dr. Halsey and the Spartan project.
I thought it was an odd choice to jump 30 years, as we don’t really see John 117 develop after completing his training. Perhaps there is another novel that can fill in that time, or perhaps it simply isn’t needed.
The whole action sequences were excellently written, and I usually do not care for action sequences. Eric Nylund didn’t make them too technical or difficult to understand.
I also loved reading about Captain Keyes, who is an interesting character to me.
The one thing I thought was odd was that the book is titled “The Fall of Reach”, but we don’t see the fall of reach until the last 60 pages. Just an odd choice for the title, which I think they could have saved and hidden the surprise.
Overall, I really enjoyed the novel. Not only was it an engaging story, but it makes me want to play the game now. So I’ll give the book a 9.3 out of 10! Well done Eric Nylund!
May 8, 2022
Počela sam gledati seriju Halo i totalno se navukla na nju. S obzirom da epizode dobijamo na kapaljku, a i bit će ih samo devet u prvoj sezoni, reko, idem vidjeti ima li koja knjiga. I na moju veliku sreću, ima, i to ne jedna, nego hrpa! Odmah sam se uhvatila prve.
Igricu nisam gledala pa ju ne mogu komentirati, ali zato ću sad nakon što sam pročitala knjigu, usporediti malo nju i seriju.
Prvo bih rekla da sam, kao i obično kad je SF u pitanju, apsolutno neobjektivna, a sad pogotovo jer su me i serija i knjiga oduševile. Ko luđakinja sam čekala nove nastavke, pogledala ih sve dvaput i onda progutala knjigu. Sad bih najrađe uzela i drugi dio, ali naučila sam na teži način (uz Takeshi Kovacsa) da ne pretjerujem, jer ću sama sebi upropastiti užitak. A i realno, imam neke druge čitateljske planove kojih bih se kao trebala držati.
Dakle, prvo serija. Upoznajemo Master Chiefa Johna 117 i njegov elitni tim super vojnika (Spartance). Oni su jedina prava obrana od Sangheilija (Covenanta), nadmoćne izvanzemaljske rase koja želi uništiti ljudsku rasu. Kroz seriju saznajemo kako je Master Chief postao super vojnik i pratimo njegovu preobrazbu.
S druge strane, knjiga nas vodi u jednom drugom smjeru. U prvom dijelu detaljno pratimo Master Chiefovo djetinjstvo i preobrazbu u super vojnika. Nakon toga je najviše naglasak na ratu s Covenantom i tu upoznajemo kapetana Keysa.
Postoje naravno razlike između serije i knjige. U seriji je više naglasak na Johnu kao glavnom liku, dok knjiga najviše ističe kapetana Keysa, koji ima veliku ulogu u ratu, a John nekako pomalo pada u drugi plan. U seriji John, izazvan određenim izvanjskim utjecajem, propituje svoj život i ono što mu je učinjeno, a u knjizi poslušno slijedi zapovjedi i rijetko kad što propituje. Ok, knjiga ima još dva nastavka pa se tu može još štošta dogoditi.
U knjizi se zasad ne spominje ni Makee koja, uz određene artefakte, u seriji ima veliku ulogu. AI Cortana, opet ima važnu ulogu i u knjizi i u seriji, ali mi je njen lik u knjizi zasad bolji. Ima tu još dosta razlika, ali neću ih sad baš sve nabrajati. Inače mi razlike između knjige i serije/filma dosta smetaju, ali ovdje mi nekako sve odgovara jer mi sve one proširuju priču i čine ju zanimljivijom.
U seriji mi se jako svidio taj Johnov put od slijepog vjerovanja i poslušnosti, do istraživanja, propitivanja, suočavanja s lažima. Baš me zanima kako će se to dalje odvijati. Jedan prijatelj, ljubitelj igrice, nezadovoljno je komentirao kako mu se uopće nije svidjelo što su u seriji Spartanci skinuli kacige, a meni je to opet bilo odlično jer sam željela vidjeti da su i oni ljudi, a ne neki strojevi za ubijanje. Željela sam da mi se svide, željela sam navijati za njih.
Jedina stvar koja me je baš zasmetala kod knjige bila je što me je prvi dio (Johnovo djetinjstvo i trening) jako podsjetio na Enderovu igru. Koncept stvaranja ratnika od djece mi je prilično odbojan pa sam jedva čekala da taj dio knjige završi.
A ono što mi je bio najbolji i najžešći dio knjige bile su svemirske bitke ljudi s Covenantom. Koji zakon brodovi, koji arsenal čudesnog oružja, manevri i strategije, fenomenalni opisi samih bitaka. Totalni nabrijanac. Osjećala sam se kao da sam tamo s njima. Uživala sam ko mali majmun!
Igricu nisam gledala pa ju ne mogu komentirati, ali zato ću sad nakon što sam pročitala knjigu, usporediti malo nju i seriju.
Prvo bih rekla da sam, kao i obično kad je SF u pitanju, apsolutno neobjektivna, a sad pogotovo jer su me i serija i knjiga oduševile. Ko luđakinja sam čekala nove nastavke, pogledala ih sve dvaput i onda progutala knjigu. Sad bih najrađe uzela i drugi dio, ali naučila sam na teži način (uz Takeshi Kovacsa) da ne pretjerujem, jer ću sama sebi upropastiti užitak. A i realno, imam neke druge čitateljske planove kojih bih se kao trebala držati.
Dakle, prvo serija. Upoznajemo Master Chiefa Johna 117 i njegov elitni tim super vojnika (Spartance). Oni su jedina prava obrana od Sangheilija (Covenanta), nadmoćne izvanzemaljske rase koja želi uništiti ljudsku rasu. Kroz seriju saznajemo kako je Master Chief postao super vojnik i pratimo njegovu preobrazbu.
S druge strane, knjiga nas vodi u jednom drugom smjeru. U prvom dijelu detaljno pratimo Master Chiefovo djetinjstvo i preobrazbu u super vojnika. Nakon toga je najviše naglasak na ratu s Covenantom i tu upoznajemo kapetana Keysa.
Postoje naravno razlike između serije i knjige. U seriji je više naglasak na Johnu kao glavnom liku, dok knjiga najviše ističe kapetana Keysa, koji ima veliku ulogu u ratu, a John nekako pomalo pada u drugi plan. U seriji John, izazvan određenim izvanjskim utjecajem, propituje svoj život i ono što mu je učinjeno, a u knjizi poslušno slijedi zapovjedi i rijetko kad što propituje. Ok, knjiga ima još dva nastavka pa se tu može još štošta dogoditi.
U knjizi se zasad ne spominje ni Makee koja, uz određene artefakte, u seriji ima veliku ulogu. AI Cortana, opet ima važnu ulogu i u knjizi i u seriji, ali mi je njen lik u knjizi zasad bolji. Ima tu još dosta razlika, ali neću ih sad baš sve nabrajati. Inače mi razlike između knjige i serije/filma dosta smetaju, ali ovdje mi nekako sve odgovara jer mi sve one proširuju priču i čine ju zanimljivijom.
U seriji mi se jako svidio taj Johnov put od slijepog vjerovanja i poslušnosti, do istraživanja, propitivanja, suočavanja s lažima. Baš me zanima kako će se to dalje odvijati. Jedan prijatelj, ljubitelj igrice, nezadovoljno je komentirao kako mu se uopće nije svidjelo što su u seriji Spartanci skinuli kacige, a meni je to opet bilo odlično jer sam željela vidjeti da su i oni ljudi, a ne neki strojevi za ubijanje. Željela sam da mi se svide, željela sam navijati za njih.
Jedina stvar koja me je baš zasmetala kod knjige bila je što me je prvi dio (Johnovo djetinjstvo i trening) jako podsjetio na Enderovu igru. Koncept stvaranja ratnika od djece mi je prilično odbojan pa sam jedva čekala da taj dio knjige završi.
A ono što mi je bio najbolji i najžešći dio knjige bile su svemirske bitke ljudi s Covenantom. Koji zakon brodovi, koji arsenal čudesnog oružja, manevri i strategije, fenomenalni opisi samih bitaka. Totalni nabrijanac. Osjećala sam se kao da sam tamo s njima. Uživala sam ko mali majmun!
May 20, 2017
Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.
*** 1.5 stars ***
Well... at least I tried.
I have a friend who is a big Halo: The Fall of Reach fan and in his attempt to get me interested in the story, he convinced me to give it a shot.
I really, really tried to like the story, the book, the writing... I couldn't.
Halo: The Fall of Reach to me was poorly written and rather dreary, shallow and messy. Many events came to be in the book, but the story moved so little in terms of world-building. Yes, of course there were big events, but most of them were battles between the Covenant vs Deus ex machina. And my curiosity about the essence of this world was hardly nourished.
For starters, the core of the story were the war and the creation of the Spartans because of the war. But those two ideas were developed in such a strange way that I couldn't really make myself take the story seriously. The Spartans were described in very contrasting ways, which could make sense if developed properly (the people who support the idea of the Spartans' creation - the Spartans themselves - the horrors of their creation - the people who would like to see them fall), however the majority of these contrasts were written in a very off-hand manner, so it just seemed like that was "writing for the purpose of filling pages" in between epic battles.
And don't even get me started with the battles. There was so much... I would say, "military jargon"? Just commands, terms, words that may make sense to gamers, but not to a casual reader... More so, however, the battles were lead solely relying on miracles, a.k.a deus ex machina. Half of the battles scenes between generic ships and ship crews went on like this:
In general I just couldn't get engaged in the story. Not my cup of tea at all, I admit, but I still thought it might surprise me. It didn't.
*** 1.5 stars ***
Well... at least I tried.
I have a friend who is a big Halo: The Fall of Reach fan and in his attempt to get me interested in the story, he convinced me to give it a shot.
I really, really tried to like the story, the book, the writing... I couldn't.
Halo: The Fall of Reach to me was poorly written and rather dreary, shallow and messy. Many events came to be in the book, but the story moved so little in terms of world-building. Yes, of course there were big events, but most of them were battles between the Covenant vs Deus ex machina. And my curiosity about the essence of this world was hardly nourished.
For starters, the core of the story were the war and the creation of the Spartans because of the war. But those two ideas were developed in such a strange way that I couldn't really make myself take the story seriously. The Spartans were described in very contrasting ways, which could make sense if developed properly (the people who support the idea of the Spartans' creation - the Spartans themselves - the horrors of their creation - the people who would like to see them fall), however the majority of these contrasts were written in a very off-hand manner, so it just seemed like that was "writing for the purpose of filling pages" in between epic battles.
And don't even get me started with the battles. There was so much... I would say, "military jargon"? Just commands, terms, words that may make sense to gamers, but not to a casual reader... More so, however, the battles were lead solely relying on miracles, a.k.a deus ex machina. Half of the battles scenes between generic ships and ship crews went on like this:
"- We have to fight!
- Sir, they are turning around!
- Oh no, we will die!
- At least we are going to die in honor!
- There's nothing more to do! We will die!
- UNLESS! Turn the ship, yeah, hit them Covenant bitches, uh uh, how do you like me now?!
- Oh sir, you saved us! How did you come up with this brilliant plan?
- Nah, it wasn't anything special."
In general I just couldn't get engaged in the story. Not my cup of tea at all, I admit, but I still thought it might surprise me. It didn't.
January 26, 2021
I can't even summarize how much I loved this. Halo is my favourite fictional universe of all time, so I'm always eager to dive deeper when I can. I actually read this book already when I was a kid, but I couldn't remember a bloody thing about it so I picked it up again as an adult.
As wonderful as the story is, something must be said: the editing for this book was hot garbage. I have read many fanfictions with less typos. I don't recall ever reading a traditionally published novel with more errors in it. I genuinely believe this takes the cake. I hope this doesn't sound mean, but I hope this editor was fired. They were entirely useless. I can't even imagine this book having an editor at all. That makes me sound like an asshole, but seriously, this was unreal. It's not just the editor in question, either. Did the author not reread his rough-draft a single time? I'm so confused at how this was allowed out of the gate.
The only reason I'm still giving this a 5 star is because I know this book was republished with new editions, which I'm only assuming fix the myriad of problems. I read the original release, so I was subject to this madness. I highly recommend anyone to read the newer editions.
Story = Fantastic
Editing = Absolutely Abysmal
I can't wait to read the other Halo books. Infinite comes out this year, so I want to catch up before then. You'll be seeing a lot of Halo reviews from me this year.
As wonderful as the story is, something must be said: the editing for this book was hot garbage. I have read many fanfictions with less typos. I don't recall ever reading a traditionally published novel with more errors in it. I genuinely believe this takes the cake. I hope this doesn't sound mean, but I hope this editor was fired. They were entirely useless. I can't even imagine this book having an editor at all. That makes me sound like an asshole, but seriously, this was unreal. It's not just the editor in question, either. Did the author not reread his rough-draft a single time? I'm so confused at how this was allowed out of the gate.
The only reason I'm still giving this a 5 star is because I know this book was republished with new editions, which I'm only assuming fix the myriad of problems. I read the original release, so I was subject to this madness. I highly recommend anyone to read the newer editions.
Story = Fantastic
Editing = Absolutely Abysmal
I can't wait to read the other Halo books. Infinite comes out this year, so I want to catch up before then. You'll be seeing a lot of Halo reviews from me this year.
June 24, 2022
To make a long story short, no the suit does not jack him off.
March 30, 2020
I wasn't expecting too much from this book, so I was more than surprised at the quality of the novel. It's wonderfully fun. The author has very fluid prose that keeps you addicted to the story but doesn't rush you through it. Also, given this is a prequel to the games, the author was kind of stuck writing within certain parameters, meaning that he had to conform to the series' history/locations, and he has to ensure his writing was accessible to everyone - that leaves little room for experimentation with regards to prose or ideological concerns. So, I forgive the very conventional format/style.
On that note, the only real issue I had with the story was the character development. The characters were unique to themselves, but no one was very deep. The characters read like typical action-movie stars: they are likeable and their motives are very black and white. It wouldn't have detracted from the story to have more background on the characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel.
On that note, the only real issue I had with the story was the character development. The characters were unique to themselves, but no one was very deep. The characters read like typical action-movie stars: they are likeable and their motives are very black and white. It wouldn't have detracted from the story to have more background on the characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel.
November 20, 2025
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but as someone who loved and played the shit out of halo, I am more than satisfied
May 12, 2023
This book was pretty good. I wasn't sure what to expect. Sometimes tie-in novels are amazing and other times . . . not so much. This one was good. I've played the Halo games, but am not a super-fan who knows all the mythology. So, this book was fun to read because it covered how Master Chief came to exist, how Cortana was implanted into his armor, and some other important events I don't want to spoil.
If you are a Halo fan, you'll like this book. If you aren't a Halo fan, it is still entertaining, but might not have enough world-building to fully understand it.
If you are a Halo fan, you'll like this book. If you aren't a Halo fan, it is still entertaining, but might not have enough world-building to fully understand it.
August 7, 2025
I can't believe how much I enjoyed this. I thought any video game-adjacent book would be so dumb. Of course any book is elevated when you're reading it sitting on a porch with a beautiful mountain view, and there was a huge nostalgic factor, but it also was a genuinely interesting story of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
Never in the last 13 years have I wanted to play Halo more than after reading this book, enough so that I broke out my old 360 and figured out that it still works if and only if I continually smack it for 30 seconds while it's reading the disc. This was super fun, I'm really glad I picked it up.
Never in the last 13 years have I wanted to play Halo more than after reading this book, enough so that I broke out my old 360 and figured out that it still works if and only if I continually smack it for 30 seconds while it's reading the disc. This was super fun, I'm really glad I picked it up.
August 22, 2018
I am a huge fan of the Halo universe and doubly-so it's Expanded Universe. Long before I got my copy of the Master Chief collection, I was enjoying the books by Eric Nylund and William Dietz that set up a surprisingly awesome science fiction universe. They were written in conunction with the original game and I suspect provided much of the backstory which would eventually be incorporated into the game's lore.
The premise is surprisingly dark. John-117 is a six-year-old boy kidnapped from his family by the Office of Naval Intelligence. Doctor Catherine Halsey proceeds to teach John and seventy-four other candidates bruttal combat techniques as well as strategy for the next decade. He is part of the SPARTAN-II program that is designed to produce super-soldiers.
Rather than vilify her for, the books show the children thriving under their training until they are surgically enhanced to become cyborgs capable of wearing Mjolnir armor. It's just in time, too, because the human race is being invaded by the Covenant and they want to exterminate us. Determined to defend their home, the Spartans fight a desperate holding action against a foe with far more advanced technology.
Despite the dark backstory, which helps it stand out from the rest, Halo: The Fall of Reach is a really entertaining action novel as well as uplifting. We see John and his Fireteam bond with one another as well as learn the lessons which will allow them to delay the Covenant even if they can't stop it. The action in the book is tremendous and the characters stand out. I liked Doctor Halsey a lot despite the fact she's a kidnapper, a mad scientist, and quite possibly crazy.
The events of the books were so entertaining they've been adapted twice with Halo: The Fall of Reach as a CGI movie I first saw on netflix as well as a somewhat looser adaptation of the novel's second half in the Halo: Reach video game. I shouldn't give this book such a high score as I'm going to but I've read the books like three times now and will probably read them again, I haven't done that with any other book.
10/10
The premise is surprisingly dark. John-117 is a six-year-old boy kidnapped from his family by the Office of Naval Intelligence. Doctor Catherine Halsey proceeds to teach John and seventy-four other candidates bruttal combat techniques as well as strategy for the next decade. He is part of the SPARTAN-II program that is designed to produce super-soldiers.
Rather than vilify her for, the books show the children thriving under their training until they are surgically enhanced to become cyborgs capable of wearing Mjolnir armor. It's just in time, too, because the human race is being invaded by the Covenant and they want to exterminate us. Determined to defend their home, the Spartans fight a desperate holding action against a foe with far more advanced technology.
Despite the dark backstory, which helps it stand out from the rest, Halo: The Fall of Reach is a really entertaining action novel as well as uplifting. We see John and his Fireteam bond with one another as well as learn the lessons which will allow them to delay the Covenant even if they can't stop it. The action in the book is tremendous and the characters stand out. I liked Doctor Halsey a lot despite the fact she's a kidnapper, a mad scientist, and quite possibly crazy.
The events of the books were so entertaining they've been adapted twice with Halo: The Fall of Reach as a CGI movie I first saw on netflix as well as a somewhat looser adaptation of the novel's second half in the Halo: Reach video game. I shouldn't give this book such a high score as I'm going to but I've read the books like three times now and will probably read them again, I haven't done that with any other book.
10/10
April 21, 2011
Mass market paperbacks covering someone else's IP must be a pain to write, since you're probably under a huge time constraint to come up with 250 pages worth of story constrained by existing canon. But even more constricting is the fact that your work is permitted to exist only to further sales of the primary product. In essence, your book is a commercial.
Given that, Nylund does a pretty decent job putting some life into a killing game. While the protagonist, John 117, hardly rises above the automaton of the game, here he at least has some back story, some sense of connection to his fellow Spartans, and a deep seeded drive to "win". This makes him only a little less despicable than, say, Robert Howard's Conan. But the reason you end up liking Conan is because he is better than the rest of the world he lives in. The same is true of Master Chief. He is essentially kidnapped and forced by a world-spanning government (the UN) to become a killing machine, one specifically aimed at human beings who are seeking their own autonomy through resisting UN's rule. While Nylund's account avoids explicit moral judgment regarding the insurrectionists, one can only imagine Master Chief as the moral equivalent of Darth Vader hunting down rebels or "the Operative" hunting down River Tam & the crew of Serenity.
Thankfully for the franchise, all this become moot when humanity is threated by the alien Covenant and the Evil Empire -- I mean, United Nations -- get's to serendipitously turn it's killing machines on the alien invaders. And for us, since we don't have to think about the moral quandaries, and can sit back and enjoy, since all of the violence and killing is morally good.
Given that, Nylund does a pretty decent job putting some life into a killing game. While the protagonist, John 117, hardly rises above the automaton of the game, here he at least has some back story, some sense of connection to his fellow Spartans, and a deep seeded drive to "win". This makes him only a little less despicable than, say, Robert Howard's Conan. But the reason you end up liking Conan is because he is better than the rest of the world he lives in. The same is true of Master Chief. He is essentially kidnapped and forced by a world-spanning government (the UN) to become a killing machine, one specifically aimed at human beings who are seeking their own autonomy through resisting UN's rule. While Nylund's account avoids explicit moral judgment regarding the insurrectionists, one can only imagine Master Chief as the moral equivalent of Darth Vader hunting down rebels or "the Operative" hunting down River Tam & the crew of Serenity.
Thankfully for the franchise, all this become moot when humanity is threated by the alien Covenant and the Evil Empire -- I mean, United Nations -- get's to serendipitously turn it's killing machines on the alien invaders. And for us, since we don't have to think about the moral quandaries, and can sit back and enjoy, since all of the violence and killing is morally good.
October 18, 2013
Having gotten used to reading very deep, character driven series like Game of Thrones, it was an abrupt switch to read a novel in which character development and differentiation took a bit of a back seat to the action. That isn't the author's fault, per se, but I would be lying if I didn't say I wanted some depth added.
That said, God bless this guy, he wrote this book in under two months so that its release could roughly coincide with the original release of the first Halo videogame, and he wrote the book within a universe that was still being developed as he wrote it. So hats off for creating a generally compelling novel under duress.
The battles, which drive much of the story, are predictable: set up the impossible odds of a battle, and allow a couple of clever moves overcome those odds. Like many such stories, there is a meta-awareness that the author isn't about to kill every main character in a gun blaze, so the stakes feel low. What is more interesting to me is the moral grey area surrounding the creation of the SPARTAN soldiers, the simultaneous intellectual genius/infant of Master Chief as a mission-driven killing machine, and what will eventually become an extremely interesting Oedipal relationship between Master Chief and Cortana.
Unfortunately, the story of Reach is my favorite so far in the Halo canon, and I preferred the Reach video game's approach to the story to this one. For me, that means that the novels can't get much better plotwise unless they deviate from canon or head into some more ancillary events. We'll see how that goes.
That said, God bless this guy, he wrote this book in under two months so that its release could roughly coincide with the original release of the first Halo videogame, and he wrote the book within a universe that was still being developed as he wrote it. So hats off for creating a generally compelling novel under duress.
The battles, which drive much of the story, are predictable: set up the impossible odds of a battle, and allow a couple of clever moves overcome those odds. Like many such stories, there is a meta-awareness that the author isn't about to kill every main character in a gun blaze, so the stakes feel low. What is more interesting to me is the moral grey area surrounding the creation of the SPARTAN soldiers, the simultaneous intellectual genius/infant of Master Chief as a mission-driven killing machine, and what will eventually become an extremely interesting Oedipal relationship between Master Chief and Cortana.
Unfortunately, the story of Reach is my favorite so far in the Halo canon, and I preferred the Reach video game's approach to the story to this one. For me, that means that the novels can't get much better plotwise unless they deviate from canon or head into some more ancillary events. We'll see how that goes.
June 19, 2012
This was a bit better than I expected for a book based on a video game. This is the prequel to the game Halo, which involves a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier battling aliens over possession of a massive ring in space built by a long-dead species. The plot is pretty thin and goes through some major contortions to get all the major characters where they need to be to begin the game. The characters themselves are fairly one-dimensional, with most of the soldiers being either cowards or noble, quick-thinking warriors. The book explains how the main character, Master Chief, came to be selected for the super-soldier project (at age six), his early training, and a few major missions. The action scenes were competently written and used enough visual cues from the game that you can imagine what the scenes looked like without having to go into excessive detail. The book nicely fills in some plot points and background for the game. Bottom line: if you played and liked the game, you'll probably enjoy the book. If you haven't played the game, you could give it a pass.
August 3, 2022
I enjoyed this one. The combat was fun and story interesting. The Spartan age range threw me off though, either everyone felt way to old to be that young, or they seemed to young to be that old. I liked most of the space battles too, although the ending wasn’t my favorite. Spoilers: I was hoping to get a ground war for the final battle. I didn’t care for the zero gravity space fighting here and glazed over a bit of it. I haven’t played Halo enough to understand the significance of the epilogue, but I liked the idea there. Overall a good popcorn ride with some nice technical aspects.
January 26, 2016
A wonderful background on how the SPARTAN's were created.
April 23, 2022
Halo: The Fall of Reach is #goatedwiththesauce
May 17, 2022
I read this garbage book because I started to watch the garbage TV series. No one is making me do this and I regret every choice that led me here.
November 30, 2025
A well-written prequel to the excellent video game, Halo: Combat Evolved. It fleshes out Master Chief as a character, and the lore and history of the universe in which these stories are told, adding much depth to the game. It takes a little while to get going, but is ultimately worth it for the ultimate deconstruction of Master Chief as a character, highlighting that despite his harsh, inhumane training, he comes out a naturally good person willing to do anything to save those he cares about and respects, even at the jeopardy of his objective - this is what makes him so likeable and human in the games, and I love seeing that develop here, despite him being taught to be cold and careless. I also like the morally grey and completely immoral parts of the book on the side of the humans, with Dr. Halsey's experiments leading to the Spartans being near evil, if you ask me, and incredibly horrific, the motives making it even worse, but she is still a really intriguing character who you enjoy reading about and even feel some sense of sympathy and understanding for despite totally disagreeing due to how well she is written. My only complaints are that it took a bit longer than I wished it would to get going, there was a lot more space battles than the boots-on-the-ground, close quarters battles I love in Halo and wanted more of in this book, and that it could do with something to make it a little bit more if you know what I mean. Regardless, it's still a very good tie-in to the Halo series and is absolutely worth reading if you like the games, it adds a lot to the series and has a lot of good characters and a good story to go with it.
April 2, 2025
The Fall of Reach
+ Cortana section was really interesting and fun, really intriguing AI pov. I think he nailed her introduction. I loved the pace and detail of that one sequence.
+ Naval battles were really well done, loved this pov also. In general anything to do with the ships: action, technical exposition, lore building was a treat.
+ Overall setup for the universe is mostly well done and interesting.
- Spartan sections were least enjoyable for me. I think I disagree with some of the characteristics the author really leaned into (like really leaned into), particularly their speed and reaction times, and the manoeuvrability and deftness they apparently still maintain within their armour despite now weighing over 500kg, and standing over 2m tall.
“Blue-Two leaped gracefully atop the ridge—three meters straight up. There was no sound as the half ton of MJOLNIR armor and Spartan landed on the limestone.”
Seriously?
Yet they’re still pitifully vulnerable against basic covenant weapons and infantry. It’s a delicate balance to maintain the impact of the Spartans training and augmentations, but I think the conflict in description vs. some fundamental laws of physics push the readers suspension of disbelief too far. I think you can still maintain impact on the reader without such extreme descriptions.
Overall a fun, straightforward introduction to the universe.
+ Cortana section was really interesting and fun, really intriguing AI pov. I think he nailed her introduction. I loved the pace and detail of that one sequence.
+ Naval battles were really well done, loved this pov also. In general anything to do with the ships: action, technical exposition, lore building was a treat.
+ Overall setup for the universe is mostly well done and interesting.
- Spartan sections were least enjoyable for me. I think I disagree with some of the characteristics the author really leaned into (like really leaned into), particularly their speed and reaction times, and the manoeuvrability and deftness they apparently still maintain within their armour despite now weighing over 500kg, and standing over 2m tall.
“Blue-Two leaped gracefully atop the ridge—three meters straight up. There was no sound as the half ton of MJOLNIR armor and Spartan landed on the limestone.”
Seriously?
Yet they’re still pitifully vulnerable against basic covenant weapons and infantry. It’s a delicate balance to maintain the impact of the Spartans training and augmentations, but I think the conflict in description vs. some fundamental laws of physics push the readers suspension of disbelief too far. I think you can still maintain impact on the reader without such extreme descriptions.
Overall a fun, straightforward introduction to the universe.
September 3, 2021
When you say halo in any circle of gamers you'll often hear stories of their battles against the Covenant or against friends and strangers online. If you ask the more hardcore fans you might instead hear about a whole other medium of storytelling, books.
I recently read the mass effect tie-in novels while going through the trilogy again and thoroughly enjoyed my time with them (except deception, that one burns in hell). The books weren't any masterpieces of sci-fi but added details that added in meaningful ways to certain characters and factions in the world, but never at all necessary to the over-arching narrative of the trilogy. I expected the same here... I got a bit more.
Reading this book completely changes how you look at the master chief and the beginning of the first game, adding a great layer of extra depth to our main character and the entire human/Covenant war. Well done emotional moments and questions on the morals around the Spartan program and its creator. A ton of important characters were introduced here that would later show up in the halo sequels and this gives you a better perspective on how these characters fit into the overall narrative.
If you are a fan of Halo read this book, it only makes you appreciate the lore even more!
I recently read the mass effect tie-in novels while going through the trilogy again and thoroughly enjoyed my time with them (except deception, that one burns in hell). The books weren't any masterpieces of sci-fi but added details that added in meaningful ways to certain characters and factions in the world, but never at all necessary to the over-arching narrative of the trilogy. I expected the same here... I got a bit more.
Reading this book completely changes how you look at the master chief and the beginning of the first game, adding a great layer of extra depth to our main character and the entire human/Covenant war. Well done emotional moments and questions on the morals around the Spartan program and its creator. A ton of important characters were introduced here that would later show up in the halo sequels and this gives you a better perspective on how these characters fit into the overall narrative.
If you are a fan of Halo read this book, it only makes you appreciate the lore even more!
January 30, 2025
The Rogue One of Halo books
October 28, 2025
Playing the games growing up was always a blast, but getting deeper into the Halo lore one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time was even better! This book from start to finish had me trying to read more and more about the Master Chief, highly recommended and excited to start book two
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