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Halo #5
Halo: Contact Harvest
The New York Times bestseller—part of the expanded universe based on the award-winning video game series Halo!
2524. Harvest is a peaceful, prosperous farming colony on the very edge of human-controlled space. But humanity has unknowingly trespassed on holy ground—straying into the path of the aggressive, theocratic empire known as the Covenant. What begins as a chance encounter between an alien privateer and a human freighter soon catapults all of mankind into a struggle for its very existence.
But humanity is also currently locked in a bitter civil war of its own: the Insurrection. With resources strained to the breaking point, the ultimate survival of Harvest’s citizens falls to a squad of battle-weary UNSC Marines and their inexperienced colonial militia trainees. In this unlikely group of heroes, one will stand above the rest—a young Marine staff sergeant named Avery Johnson....
2524. Harvest is a peaceful, prosperous farming colony on the very edge of human-controlled space. But humanity has unknowingly trespassed on holy ground—straying into the path of the aggressive, theocratic empire known as the Covenant. What begins as a chance encounter between an alien privateer and a human freighter soon catapults all of mankind into a struggle for its very existence.
But humanity is also currently locked in a bitter civil war of its own: the Insurrection. With resources strained to the breaking point, the ultimate survival of Harvest’s citizens falls to a squad of battle-weary UNSC Marines and their inexperienced colonial militia trainees. In this unlikely group of heroes, one will stand above the rest—a young Marine staff sergeant named Avery Johnson....
400 pages, Audiobook
First published October 30, 2007
559 people are currently reading
5524 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Staten
10 books81 followersJoseph Staten is the New York Times bestselling author of Halo: Contact Harvest. He started working with game developer Bungie Studios in 1998, and has since served as a writer and designer for Oni, as well as writer and cinematics director for Halo and Halo 2. He also works with Peter Jackson's game development studio, Wingnut Interactive, writing and designing in the Halo universe. Staten attended college at Northwestern University and earned a master’s in military history and political science at the University of Chicago.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/joseph...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/joseph...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 451 reviews
October 21, 2012
Though hardly a psychologically-deep drama, this part of the Halo novel franchise has more personal depth than its predecessors. My biggest complaint with the previous novels was that depth was lacking - no one is really fleshed out. Now, Avery isn't any Jane Eyre or Leopold Bloom in terms of intimate understanding, but, unlike most of the characters in the other novels, he is more than a cardboard cut-out. And one can argue that his rather stoic personality is a result of his past (which, though we are given hints, it is never properly brought to focus, unfortunately) and his military persona. The other characters weren't all that deep though, more often tropes of action sci-fi than realistic people (eg. Byrne, Jenkins) but for this type of novel they were done properly and served their purpose. You don't really read these novels for depth anyway, am I right?
One of my favorite aspects was the Covenant characters. They weren't too humanized (which I was afraid of) so it was great to see their perspective and their mindset. The previous novels had a bit of this, but the fact that there were a couple sympathetic aliens in the novel was the book's strongest aspect. I really cared about Lighter Than Some (so cute!) and I thought the female Kip-Yar's internal thoughts were pretty awesome and insightful to how their culture functioned. It also makes sense to show the aliens' worlds/lives because it adds another dimension to the story, making it more interesting.
I also liked was how "adult" the human characters were. The other books seemed almost censored, as if the authors were afraid of (or encouraged away from by the publishers) putting in too much violence (or even a hint of sexuality) for fear of younger readers (or something), which I think is total bullshit. It's a war novel; it's supposed to be gritty. This novel, while far from gritty, at least had some "adult" themes and moments. Let's hope the next ones follow suite.
AND, though it wasn't the best sex scene ever (far from it - though it was a little hilarious), at least this novel HAD one. Yay! The humans are actually human beings and like to get it on! I'm still hoping for a Spartan sex scene...
And, I must say, I loved the little AI love story. It was, to be girly for a second here, utterly adorable. It also served to show the depth of the AI's human emotions, and raises interesting questions about their existence.
Anyways, if you're reading this novel, I'm pretty sure you've read the other 4 or 5, so this review should be considered in the context of the series.
If I just picked this novel up as a stand-alone, I probably wouldn't have rated it as high, but for a Halo novel, I enjoyed it. The last line of the novel was super corny though. Just putting that out there.
One of my favorite aspects was the Covenant characters. They weren't too humanized (which I was afraid of) so it was great to see their perspective and their mindset. The previous novels had a bit of this, but the fact that there were a couple sympathetic aliens in the novel was the book's strongest aspect. I really cared about Lighter Than Some (so cute!) and I thought the female Kip-Yar's internal thoughts were pretty awesome and insightful to how their culture functioned. It also makes sense to show the aliens' worlds/lives because it adds another dimension to the story, making it more interesting.
I also liked was how "adult" the human characters were. The other books seemed almost censored, as if the authors were afraid of (or encouraged away from by the publishers) putting in too much violence (or even a hint of sexuality) for fear of younger readers (or something), which I think is total bullshit. It's a war novel; it's supposed to be gritty. This novel, while far from gritty, at least had some "adult" themes and moments. Let's hope the next ones follow suite.
AND, though it wasn't the best sex scene ever (far from it - though it was a little hilarious), at least this novel HAD one. Yay! The humans are actually human beings and like to get it on! I'm still hoping for a Spartan sex scene...
And, I must say, I loved the little AI love story. It was, to be girly for a second here, utterly adorable. It also served to show the depth of the AI's human emotions, and raises interesting questions about their existence.
Anyways, if you're reading this novel, I'm pretty sure you've read the other 4 or 5, so this review should be considered in the context of the series.
If I just picked this novel up as a stand-alone, I probably wouldn't have rated it as high, but for a Halo novel, I enjoyed it. The last line of the novel was super corny though. Just putting that out there.
May 18, 2022
Honestly, I just didn't get into it. I was bored. I played the games and the one where we're actually ON Harvest was about 40 times more exciting than this book.
Other people might get more mileage out of it, of course. I missed the slow reveals and worldbuilding, the truly fascinating characters. Sadly, this was just pretty much a long, long sequence of jarheads doing jarhead things. It's pretty much all that I hate about MilSF. All Milspeak, go go go, little characterization, less worldbuilding. For those of you who like that kind of thing, I welcome you to it. For uberfans of the series, maybe this ticks your completionist boxes.
Me? I prefer well-rounded fiction with a little (or a lot) of everything.
Other people might get more mileage out of it, of course. I missed the slow reveals and worldbuilding, the truly fascinating characters. Sadly, this was just pretty much a long, long sequence of jarheads doing jarhead things. It's pretty much all that I hate about MilSF. All Milspeak, go go go, little characterization, less worldbuilding. For those of you who like that kind of thing, I welcome you to it. For uberfans of the series, maybe this ticks your completionist boxes.
Me? I prefer well-rounded fiction with a little (or a lot) of everything.
April 6, 2024
This was a speed read to see if it was suitable for DS#1 (age 9), who thinks Halo is the bee's knees.
Glad I did, because the book seemed fine until sexytimes abruptly showed in up in the last few pages.
It really is getting difficult to find anything published recently on-par with his fairly advanced reading level, and not spiced up for an older crowd that feels the need to have validated that the book they are reading is not for kids. Video game novels have definitely followed along with comic books in the hunt for older audiences.
Glad I did, because the book seemed fine until sexytimes abruptly showed in up in the last few pages.
It really is getting difficult to find anything published recently on-par with his fairly advanced reading level, and not spiced up for an older crowd that feels the need to have validated that the book they are reading is not for kids. Video game novels have definitely followed along with comic books in the hunt for older audiences.
July 30, 2023
My favourite Halo book of all. Pure perfection.
April 6, 2021
I can't even put into words how good this book was. Halo has always been my favourite game series, but, I kid you not, I think it is now also my favourite book series as well. Honestly, these books are tremendous. Every one I read ends up being my new favourite, which is a good sign of the quality of a series.
Spoilers will be discussed.
So much was covered in this book. It was fascinating to see the first official contact between Humanity and the Covenant. It's interesting to know that the first kill of the war was actually an Engineer killing a human, which is unexpected, as they are the most peaceful of the alien races in the franchise. That was a neat little twist. I also wasn't expecting to have the first ever battle between humans and the Covenant consist of Jiralhanae and not the Sangheili. I would've thought the Elites would've been the first soldiers sent in to any kind of conflict with a new threat. I'm glad it turned out this way, though, as the new brutes introduced were quite cool. Yet another twist that worked.
Maccabeus was badass, and I lost my mind when Tartarus became involved. That whole plotline was brilliant. Seeing Tartarus rise to overthrow his uncle and claim his iconic gravity hammer was an amazing thing to read.
I also really loved the plotline with Dadab and Lighter Than Some. I wondered in the beginning if it was going to end up going anywhere. Boy did it. I love both of those characters. Their endings are really tragic. I felt bad for both of them. The Halo universe is cruel; that's one of the reasons I love it so much, to be honest. Lighter Than Some was torn apart by Drones and Dadab was turned to mush by Tartarus' great hammer. Man, it's so sad. They were such an unlikely friendship.
The complicated relationship between the two AI, Mack and Sif, was really sad as well. This book hits a lot of depressing notes.
I am curious about one thing in this book; one thing that never got an answer and really makes me scratch my head. Why does Johnson not act like Johnson at all? He is nothing at all similar, personality-wise, to the character in the original Bungie trilogy. He basically just acts like any grizzled war veteran. He's that kind of stereotypical character here. I don't quite understand where, in the 27 years of the war leading up to CE, Johnson just miraculously gains a sense of humour and an appreciation for one-liners. Where in the road does his personality alter? I thought this book would give an explanation for that somewhere. It did not. Shouldn't he be even MORE grizzled and reserved after fighting an alien empire for 27 years, not less? Billions of Humans die in the war. I just don't get it.
I can't help but mention the really weird sex scene right at the end of this book. At first I hated it, as this is the only sex scene in the entire franchise, in any piece of media. But, thinking on it, the over-the-top, almost 80s action movie vibe to that scene was actually the only part of the book that showed me a glimpse of the Johnson I knew and grew up with. THAT was typical Johnson writing. I kind of appreciate its silly, masculine bravado fatuity in a way. I can see why others frown upon its inclusion, but it has a level of charm to it.
Now, the part of the book that blew my mind the most: the reveal of the three prophets. Seeing the buildup to the arcs of Truth, Mercy, and Regret had me shouting out loud as I read it. Everything regarding them was pure magnificence. I lost it when the choir of San-Shyuum sung what I assumed to be the iconic Halo theme as Truth showed the seven Halo rings to the peoples of High Charity. Just amazing.
This book was a marvel, and it has solidified Halo as my new favourite book series of all time. (I don't count LOTR, by the way. That's one book published in three parts.)
Spoilers will be discussed.
So much was covered in this book. It was fascinating to see the first official contact between Humanity and the Covenant. It's interesting to know that the first kill of the war was actually an Engineer killing a human, which is unexpected, as they are the most peaceful of the alien races in the franchise. That was a neat little twist. I also wasn't expecting to have the first ever battle between humans and the Covenant consist of Jiralhanae and not the Sangheili. I would've thought the Elites would've been the first soldiers sent in to any kind of conflict with a new threat. I'm glad it turned out this way, though, as the new brutes introduced were quite cool. Yet another twist that worked.
Maccabeus was badass, and I lost my mind when Tartarus became involved. That whole plotline was brilliant. Seeing Tartarus rise to overthrow his uncle and claim his iconic gravity hammer was an amazing thing to read.
I also really loved the plotline with Dadab and Lighter Than Some. I wondered in the beginning if it was going to end up going anywhere. Boy did it. I love both of those characters. Their endings are really tragic. I felt bad for both of them. The Halo universe is cruel; that's one of the reasons I love it so much, to be honest. Lighter Than Some was torn apart by Drones and Dadab was turned to mush by Tartarus' great hammer. Man, it's so sad. They were such an unlikely friendship.
The complicated relationship between the two AI, Mack and Sif, was really sad as well. This book hits a lot of depressing notes.
I am curious about one thing in this book; one thing that never got an answer and really makes me scratch my head. Why does Johnson not act like Johnson at all? He is nothing at all similar, personality-wise, to the character in the original Bungie trilogy. He basically just acts like any grizzled war veteran. He's that kind of stereotypical character here. I don't quite understand where, in the 27 years of the war leading up to CE, Johnson just miraculously gains a sense of humour and an appreciation for one-liners. Where in the road does his personality alter? I thought this book would give an explanation for that somewhere. It did not. Shouldn't he be even MORE grizzled and reserved after fighting an alien empire for 27 years, not less? Billions of Humans die in the war. I just don't get it.
I can't help but mention the really weird sex scene right at the end of this book. At first I hated it, as this is the only sex scene in the entire franchise, in any piece of media. But, thinking on it, the over-the-top, almost 80s action movie vibe to that scene was actually the only part of the book that showed me a glimpse of the Johnson I knew and grew up with. THAT was typical Johnson writing. I kind of appreciate its silly, masculine bravado fatuity in a way. I can see why others frown upon its inclusion, but it has a level of charm to it.
Now, the part of the book that blew my mind the most: the reveal of the three prophets. Seeing the buildup to the arcs of Truth, Mercy, and Regret had me shouting out loud as I read it. Everything regarding them was pure magnificence. I lost it when the choir of San-Shyuum sung what I assumed to be the iconic Halo theme as Truth showed the seven Halo rings to the peoples of High Charity. Just amazing.
This book was a marvel, and it has solidified Halo as my new favourite book series of all time. (I don't count LOTR, by the way. That's one book published in three parts.)
November 18, 2020
This is a solid video game tie-in that goes into great detail regarding the backstory of the Halo games. You might start this off thinking that it's just an origin story for Sgt. Johnson, but it's actually much more than that. You'll learn about the very beginning of the war with the Covenant, the reasons behind it, how the Covenant leadership was formed, the origin of some of their technology and more. The uneasy relationships between the different Covenant races are explored and are probably the most interesting part of this. Some chapters are told from a Grunt's perspective and they're very enjoyable. Some parts of this are a little hard to follow, but the battles are pretty well written. Not only would I recommend this to anyone who played the game, I would go so far to say that this is pretty much required reading for anyone with an interest in the story (if you just play multiplayer only, you might not care too much). The author of this book was not just some guy they brought in to write a Halo tie-in book; he was deeply involved in the creative process of the games themselves, which makes this feel very authentic and official. I wish I had read this when it was first released, but it's still enjoyable now. I replayed all of Bungie's Halo games this year and this was the perfect book to go along with it.
December 30, 2025
Such a good book that introduces the reader to the Halo universe and describes the beginning of the Human Covenant War. The book follows the points of view of Avery Johnson (marine leader), Sif (operations AI for the planet Harvest), Dadab (a grunt who held the role of Deacon in the Covenant), and Maccabeus (a Brute Chieftan and shipmaster of "Rapid Conversion").
Before reading this book I didn't really know who the Covenant actually was, why there were so many species involved in it, or why there was such a struggle between themselves and humanity, but this book explores that history as well as the internal Covenant politics that climaxes in the Halo 2 and 3 campaigns.
But even as a standalone narrative it's so good. It does well as a sci-fi military story with intense action sequences and brutal deaths, but the friendship, adventure, and loyalty between two Covenant nobodies, Dadab and Lighter Than Some, as well as the romance and sentience between two AIs really just elevate the story and tug on your emotions as you're forced to watch these characters navigate and grow together amidst the ongoing war for the planet Harvest. The story doesn't pull punches, and since you get to connect with characters on both sides of the conflict the stakes are that much more compelling.
I will say though, there were many times when the author was describing a setting or a sequence and I just couldn't imagine what he was trying to convey. Having some background knowledge on the Halo video games comes very much in handy in trying to comprehend a scene. He also did not pull punches with his use of vocabulary either, using words like "enfilade" and "heuristic". For me it stinks because I have to pause and look these words up, but it actually elevates the story by establishing militaristic realism using military jargon, and giving a sense of history and archaism when such vocabulary is used by the religious Covenant. Avoiding slang and using a more formal diction really makes the story seem realer and I like that it takes itself seriously.
Before reading this book I didn't really know who the Covenant actually was, why there were so many species involved in it, or why there was such a struggle between themselves and humanity, but this book explores that history as well as the internal Covenant politics that climaxes in the Halo 2 and 3 campaigns.
But even as a standalone narrative it's so good. It does well as a sci-fi military story with intense action sequences and brutal deaths, but the friendship, adventure, and loyalty between two Covenant nobodies, Dadab and Lighter Than Some, as well as the romance and sentience between two AIs really just elevate the story and tug on your emotions as you're forced to watch these characters navigate and grow together amidst the ongoing war for the planet Harvest. The story doesn't pull punches, and since you get to connect with characters on both sides of the conflict the stakes are that much more compelling.
I will say though, there were many times when the author was describing a setting or a sequence and I just couldn't imagine what he was trying to convey. Having some background knowledge on the Halo video games comes very much in handy in trying to comprehend a scene. He also did not pull punches with his use of vocabulary either, using words like "enfilade" and "heuristic". For me it stinks because I have to pause and look these words up, but it actually elevates the story by establishing militaristic realism using military jargon, and giving a sense of history and archaism when such vocabulary is used by the religious Covenant. Avoiding slang and using a more formal diction really makes the story seem realer and I like that it takes itself seriously.
May 16, 2020
Does a great job and fleshing out some of the personalities of some of the supporting characters from the games.
Also a very horny novel
Also a very horny novel
November 11, 2019
“Avery shot Byrne an angry look: Let me handle this. ‘The warship is heading straight for town.’ He strode to Jekins around the warthog’s crumpled hood. ‘We go back and we’re all dead.’ ‘What about my family?!’ Jenkins shouted…”[Joseph Staten, 300]
That was just one of many conflicts in Halo: Contact Harvest. I really enjoyed the novel for a few different reasons: those being the different perspectives of each character and the amazing details.
With the different character's perspectives, it was good like Halo: The Flood. The novel obtained the perspective from three characters, Staff Sergeant Johnson, the Covenant Minister of Fortitude and the Covenant Deacon, Dabab while using third person point of view. There were others’ perspectives as well, but they only comprised of a few chapters/sections of a chapter. The reason why I think multiple perspectives are important is because it helps the reader understand what is going on or what is happening in the book better. For example, if it just focused on Johnson, we may not understand why the Covenant came to Harvest in the first place.
Secondly, I really enjoyed the details! In the novel, the author paid close attention to details. One example is “...the ones now shaking free of their harnesses looked like the improbable offspring of a gorilla and a grizzly bear; hirsute giants with shoulders as wide as an average human was tall and fists that could easily encompass Avery’s head.” [Joseph Satan, 243] The reason the details are important is because they help the reader better understand what is going on around them and what things look like. As a result, it helps the reader better relate to what is going on.
Halo: Contact Harvest is a 5/5 book. I’d recommend this book to fans of the Halo universe. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction and war books. This book is also a great way to find out information on Sergeant Johnson and the Prophets of Halo 2.
That was just one of many conflicts in Halo: Contact Harvest. I really enjoyed the novel for a few different reasons: those being the different perspectives of each character and the amazing details.
With the different character's perspectives, it was good like Halo: The Flood. The novel obtained the perspective from three characters, Staff Sergeant Johnson, the Covenant Minister of Fortitude and the Covenant Deacon, Dabab while using third person point of view. There were others’ perspectives as well, but they only comprised of a few chapters/sections of a chapter. The reason why I think multiple perspectives are important is because it helps the reader understand what is going on or what is happening in the book better. For example, if it just focused on Johnson, we may not understand why the Covenant came to Harvest in the first place.
Secondly, I really enjoyed the details! In the novel, the author paid close attention to details. One example is “...the ones now shaking free of their harnesses looked like the improbable offspring of a gorilla and a grizzly bear; hirsute giants with shoulders as wide as an average human was tall and fists that could easily encompass Avery’s head.” [Joseph Satan, 243] The reason the details are important is because they help the reader better understand what is going on around them and what things look like. As a result, it helps the reader better relate to what is going on.
Halo: Contact Harvest is a 5/5 book. I’d recommend this book to fans of the Halo universe. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction and war books. This book is also a great way to find out information on Sergeant Johnson and the Prophets of Halo 2.
January 8, 2024
My favourite halo book so far, great story, great character development. Recommend for any halo fans.
April 21, 2015
He has been through every kind of engagement imaginable against rebels to the U.N.S.C. An alcoholic spec-ops solider with no family and a bad attitude named Staff Sargent Avery, Johnson, has been assigned to stop pirates in the outer rim. Along with him his partner Nolan Byrne have been sent to raise a militia to stop the rebels. When Johnson finds out that the rebels are actually a deadly alien covenant that wants to destroy mankind. The Covenant are invading Harvest an outer edge farming colony and the U.N.S.C. has made their first contact and Johnson is against impossible odds to evacuate the planet and save the civilians. Halo: Contact Harvest promises readers that if you like Johnson you are going to learn more about him and you are going to like him more. I couldn't agree with that anymore the book started in a different atmosphere not usually associated with Johnson. He was not hooah and bullets he was depressed from mourning his aunt who had passed away and it really helps you appreciate his character more. A theme that commonly reoccurred to me was "When you are down you have to get up and help because there are people who depend on you." I found this to be one of my favorites in the Halo saga that if you want an easy read that is rewarding then this is the book for you. If sci-fi is not your piece of cake or just war books in general then you should just avoid this book because it has of both and plenty.
Read
June 22, 2010This book is about colonies that manages the food production for humans and are forced to do battle with an enemy that chooses to revolt against them. Avery Johnson is a part of the Marines group that responds to the attack and the battle begins. Avery is the protagonist in this particular book that is a part of the Halo series. The antagonist is a group named “Kig-Yar and they want what the Marines are protecting, which is the food supply. The book is part of the science fantasy and the style of the words is definitely for an older teenager who does not mind all of the military jargon that is used throughout the book. The tone is fairly caustic over the entire story that is centered on combat and protecting territory. I did not like this book because it too closely resembled the military and I had enough of that after twenty plus years of duty myself. It certainly would appeal to a young man that glorifies the military and finds anything connected really exciting.
December 1, 2021
Halo: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten is a video game tie-in novel based on the Halo video game franchise.
Halo: Contact Harvest is set at the very beginning of the Human-Covenant War, 27 years prior to Halo: Combat Evolved. What makes the tale even more unique is that there are no Spartan-II's, as they're still in training back on Reach. In fact, this is one of the few Halo novels that doesn't feature a single Spartan.
Who it does feature is fan favorite Sergeant Major, Avery J. Johnson; at this point a simple Staff Sergeant. Set in the year 2524. The UNSC is still dealing with the Insurrectionist conflict, groups of humans who want to break away from the UN and strike it out on their own. Johnson, as well as several other Marines, are sent on an anti-terrorist mission, and everything begins to go downhill for A.J. Johnson right from the get-go.
Disgraced and broken, Johnson is mysteriously reassigned to the outer-colony world of Harvest along with Staff Sergeant Byrne, a man Johnson has an unpleasent history with, to train several local colony recruits into a functional militia to further resist any Inserectionist activity. What Johnson, Byrne, and the recruits could never hope to realize is that they'll take part in and bare witness to the birth of the most destructive conflict humanity will ever face.
As any fan of the franchise knows, Harvest is the first human world the Covenant encounters, and they completely destroy the world, claiming we are an afront to their gods. We've all heard this story, summarized in a few simple sentences as it's ancient history by the time of the Halo game trilogy, but the events leading up to Harvest's destruction are much more detailed than a simple assault.
For those of you who loved the Arbiter's storyline from Halo 2 and were, like me, disappointed to see it and most of the Covenant politics dropped from Halo 3, you will love Halo: Contact Harvest. Why? Because there's a lot of Covenant politics, and it's written very, very well.
You'll get to read about the Prophets we know from the trilogy before their rise to power, you'll learn more about the tedious relations between the Prophets and the Elites, and how the Brutes fit into the overall plan. Oh yes, the Brutes are part of the Covenant prior to the war, as are Drones, it's just that they didn't exactly have the best standing in the Covenant at the time. In fact, the Brutes feature much more prominently in Halo: Contact Harvest than the Elites, and the way Staten fleshes them out has granted me a whole lot more respect for those space apes.
I'm also happy to say that many of the Covenant background details, cut from the Halo 2 cinematics but glimpsed at in the Halo 2: Limited Edition's bonus disc, are brought to light in Halo: Contact Harvest and add much further detail to the Covenant's political background. And of course, what would Halo be without Grunts? While we don't get Yayap, the lead Grunt everyone loved from Halo: The Flood, we do get Dadab, a very interesting Grunt who's not a soldier. Think of it as a new and unique twist on a classic Halo character.
Simply put, Halo: Contact Harvest is a must read for any fans of the franchise. Not only do we get to see several key characters from the Halo trilogy early on, and I've neglected to mention a few on purpose to leave some surprise, but you get to read how everything started, and how the seeds were planted for many of the major events that bare fruit during the Halo trilogy itself.
Halo: Contact Harvest is set at the very beginning of the Human-Covenant War, 27 years prior to Halo: Combat Evolved. What makes the tale even more unique is that there are no Spartan-II's, as they're still in training back on Reach. In fact, this is one of the few Halo novels that doesn't feature a single Spartan.
Who it does feature is fan favorite Sergeant Major, Avery J. Johnson; at this point a simple Staff Sergeant. Set in the year 2524. The UNSC is still dealing with the Insurrectionist conflict, groups of humans who want to break away from the UN and strike it out on their own. Johnson, as well as several other Marines, are sent on an anti-terrorist mission, and everything begins to go downhill for A.J. Johnson right from the get-go.
Disgraced and broken, Johnson is mysteriously reassigned to the outer-colony world of Harvest along with Staff Sergeant Byrne, a man Johnson has an unpleasent history with, to train several local colony recruits into a functional militia to further resist any Inserectionist activity. What Johnson, Byrne, and the recruits could never hope to realize is that they'll take part in and bare witness to the birth of the most destructive conflict humanity will ever face.
As any fan of the franchise knows, Harvest is the first human world the Covenant encounters, and they completely destroy the world, claiming we are an afront to their gods. We've all heard this story, summarized in a few simple sentences as it's ancient history by the time of the Halo game trilogy, but the events leading up to Harvest's destruction are much more detailed than a simple assault.
For those of you who loved the Arbiter's storyline from Halo 2 and were, like me, disappointed to see it and most of the Covenant politics dropped from Halo 3, you will love Halo: Contact Harvest. Why? Because there's a lot of Covenant politics, and it's written very, very well.
You'll get to read about the Prophets we know from the trilogy before their rise to power, you'll learn more about the tedious relations between the Prophets and the Elites, and how the Brutes fit into the overall plan. Oh yes, the Brutes are part of the Covenant prior to the war, as are Drones, it's just that they didn't exactly have the best standing in the Covenant at the time. In fact, the Brutes feature much more prominently in Halo: Contact Harvest than the Elites, and the way Staten fleshes them out has granted me a whole lot more respect for those space apes.
I'm also happy to say that many of the Covenant background details, cut from the Halo 2 cinematics but glimpsed at in the Halo 2: Limited Edition's bonus disc, are brought to light in Halo: Contact Harvest and add much further detail to the Covenant's political background. And of course, what would Halo be without Grunts? While we don't get Yayap, the lead Grunt everyone loved from Halo: The Flood, we do get Dadab, a very interesting Grunt who's not a soldier. Think of it as a new and unique twist on a classic Halo character.
Simply put, Halo: Contact Harvest is a must read for any fans of the franchise. Not only do we get to see several key characters from the Halo trilogy early on, and I've neglected to mention a few on purpose to leave some surprise, but you get to read how everything started, and how the seeds were planted for many of the major events that bare fruit during the Halo trilogy itself.
October 9, 2023
An interesting and well-paced story, written by the lead writer of the games.
Ships around Harvest are disappearing, and the local colonists want to raise a militia to defend themselves from human rebels. ONI sends Johnson to train such a force, unaware that a Covenant fleet is in the area, attracted by readings of Forerunner relics on Harvest. Eventually, Johnson and his troops encounter the Covenant for the first time. The book also provides background on Private Jenkins, the Prophets (they adopt their titles at the end of the story), and Tartarus, and even an origin story for the Brute Choppers.
Johnson is pretty well-developed. Action and character motivations are handled well. The Halo universe is fleshed out well, and the differing perspectives of different Covenant species is told well through alternating chapters, skipping between Harvest and High Charity. Some readers may find that the action isn’t as good as, say, Eric Nylund’s books, but his writing about settings and details is pretty good. The book can be humorous, too. The book can drag a bit when there’s no action, though. There’s also a few typos. The book also includes a very random and out-of-place sex scene that felt very gratuitous. The sexual tension in the book feels very 90s, too.
A rich, grounded and well-written story.
Ships around Harvest are disappearing, and the local colonists want to raise a militia to defend themselves from human rebels. ONI sends Johnson to train such a force, unaware that a Covenant fleet is in the area, attracted by readings of Forerunner relics on Harvest. Eventually, Johnson and his troops encounter the Covenant for the first time. The book also provides background on Private Jenkins, the Prophets (they adopt their titles at the end of the story), and Tartarus, and even an origin story for the Brute Choppers.
Johnson is pretty well-developed. Action and character motivations are handled well. The Halo universe is fleshed out well, and the differing perspectives of different Covenant species is told well through alternating chapters, skipping between Harvest and High Charity. Some readers may find that the action isn’t as good as, say, Eric Nylund’s books, but his writing about settings and details is pretty good. The book can be humorous, too. The book can drag a bit when there’s no action, though. There’s also a few typos. The book also includes a very random and out-of-place sex scene that felt very gratuitous. The sexual tension in the book feels very 90s, too.
A rich, grounded and well-written story.
March 10, 2024
Probably my favorite installment so far, Contact Harvest blends likable, complex (ish/enough) characters and high stakes with the somber knowledge of whats about to occur in later installments, hitting a lot of the emotional beats that I loved so much in playing Halo: Reach. Staten demonstrates both strong writing craft and his love for the world of Halo (he’s an OG Bungie creative who worked on all five Bungie-developed Halo games).
The book also connects a LOT of dots and contributes much of the most critical background/lore to the franchise, so is a great supplement to the games or other books. There is a *very* cringy/gratuitous sex scene that came close to ruining the ending for me, though the rest of the characters’ resolutions did manage to save it and do the rest of the novel justice.
The book also connects a LOT of dots and contributes much of the most critical background/lore to the franchise, so is a great supplement to the games or other books. There is a *very* cringy/gratuitous sex scene that came close to ruining the ending for me, though the rest of the characters’ resolutions did manage to save it and do the rest of the novel justice.
September 13, 2021
This one dragged on for a while. I enjoyed the glimpse into first contact with the Covenant, as well as an inside look at the Covenant itself. I also enjoyed seeing into Johnson's past, but the whole story line with the AIs didn't really do much for me and this book kind of just fell flat in the end. There was just too many characters I couldn't keep track of or didn't care enough to remember, and there being 3 or 4 story lines all going at once with varying degrees of quality made this book harder to get through than any previous one.
May 28, 2024
Okay but that ending though 😅😩
This book takes a big shift tonally from the previous books, but it still holds its own. I definitely think it excels on its time with the Covenant characters, it really flushed out so much and deepened the universe.
The writing style was a bit weird to me in the first half of the book, it’s much more conversational than it is narrative and it took me a while to get used to it as the previous books are very visual and heavily narrated, while this tends to get off on more side tangents when explaining something.
Overall still a good book and a great installment in the franchise that gave new perspectives to old notions and beliefs.
This book takes a big shift tonally from the previous books, but it still holds its own. I definitely think it excels on its time with the Covenant characters, it really flushed out so much and deepened the universe.
The writing style was a bit weird to me in the first half of the book, it’s much more conversational than it is narrative and it took me a while to get used to it as the previous books are very visual and heavily narrated, while this tends to get off on more side tangents when explaining something.
Overall still a good book and a great installment in the franchise that gave new perspectives to old notions and beliefs.
October 5, 2017
Vaya pues este libro a sido un viaje bastante divertido.
La historia es entretenida y al desarrollarse desde el punto de vista de ambos bandos le da un sentido interesante. Tiene momentos tristes y momentos de acción bien escrita.
La relación entre SIF y MACK (dos inteligencias artificiales que trabajan de manera conjunta en el planeta Harvest) fue de lo mejor de este libro.
Recomendable para los fans de la saga Halo y para quienes gusten del SCI-FI militar.
La historia es entretenida y al desarrollarse desde el punto de vista de ambos bandos le da un sentido interesante. Tiene momentos tristes y momentos de acción bien escrita.
La relación entre SIF y MACK (dos inteligencias artificiales que trabajan de manera conjunta en el planeta Harvest) fue de lo mejor de este libro.
Recomendable para los fans de la saga Halo y para quienes gusten del SCI-FI militar.
April 11, 2024
Johnson
April 17, 2024
I like visualizing drunk San’Shyuum plotting and floating
April 29, 2024
Glad to see Avery Johnson getting some action at the end good job tiger keep it up
December 26, 2024
It was alright. Adequately written military sci Fi which would entertain fans of the series. Not particularly memorable as a novel but would've made a good game/series of cutscenes.
June 24, 2025
Ain’t no way the author made me read through an epilogue of halo smut…
August 20, 2025
“I help because that is who I am” - Lighter, Than, Some
4.5 ⭐️
4.5 ⭐️
January 16, 2026
The beginning of humanity’s fight against extinction at the hands of the alien Covenant. Fantastic book.
September 21, 2021
I loved the book I just don't know how to explain how much
May 15, 2025
I don't play video games. I've never played Halo. I'm not a fan. My son is. He challenged me to read this book. He said it was a solid story even if you're not familiar with the game. He thought I would like it. He was incorrect. If you love Halo, you will probably like this book. If you don't, save yourself the pain.
November 1, 2013
I read “Contact Harvest” by Joseph Staten. The majority of this book takes place on the planet Harvest, after Avery Johnson fails to follow the order to shoot an insurrectionist because there were too many civilians around, and was sent there to train the police who volunteered to become the only force on the planet to fight the insurrectionists. There are various destinations around Harvest that this book takes place such as the space station orbiting Harvest, the base that the training occurs on and the main hall where all of Harvest's festivities occur. The situation on Harvest is about to get much more dire than even Staff Sergeant Avery would have predicted when the Covenant invade.
The main character that this book follows is Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson who is an African-American man serving in the Marines. Sergeant Johnson deals with many different problems internal and external. Some other important characters in the story are Staff Sergeant Bryne who is one of Johnson’s comrades, Jenkins who is a man who has lived on Harvest all his life and is looking to join to militia to protect the planet, and also Mack, Harvest’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) who runs everything on the planet Harvest and Al Cygni is a female ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) officer that runs many of the missions throughout the books. There are also multiple breaks in the book that look at the conflict through the Covenant’s so there are also many alien characters that are briefly making appearances in the book.
Most of the story takes place on planet and there is very few things in the time or placing of events that affect the story except the brief skirmish that was in outer space and caught Avery and Brynes off guard because they were not used to shooting a gun in a zero-gee environment and were flung around the ship at first. Otherwise the only thing that would be different would be the technology because this book takes place in the years around 2500 and our technology is much more advanced like the automatic farm equipment that are all run together by the planet’s AI and the weaponry and transportation is all much more advanced though with the same ideas as future technology such as helicopters, trains, and cars.
The main idea of this story is to keep fighting even though the odds may say that you are doomed because the people on this planet are constantly fighting against steep odds. The enemy they are fighting outnumber us and are much more technologically advanced than us. The people that are volunteering to fight against the insurrectionists have to look fear in the face everyday in this story because they are actually going to end up fighting a threat that seems impossible to be defeated.
I would recommend this story to any other person that is a fan of the Halo series, like me, or also anyone who enjoys reading science fiction especially if they enjoy a lot of fast paced action with good descriptive words and a rich back story to the Halo story that I have come to love as more than just the video game series but also as the book series.
The main character that this book follows is Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson who is an African-American man serving in the Marines. Sergeant Johnson deals with many different problems internal and external. Some other important characters in the story are Staff Sergeant Bryne who is one of Johnson’s comrades, Jenkins who is a man who has lived on Harvest all his life and is looking to join to militia to protect the planet, and also Mack, Harvest’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) who runs everything on the planet Harvest and Al Cygni is a female ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) officer that runs many of the missions throughout the books. There are also multiple breaks in the book that look at the conflict through the Covenant’s so there are also many alien characters that are briefly making appearances in the book.
Most of the story takes place on planet and there is very few things in the time or placing of events that affect the story except the brief skirmish that was in outer space and caught Avery and Brynes off guard because they were not used to shooting a gun in a zero-gee environment and were flung around the ship at first. Otherwise the only thing that would be different would be the technology because this book takes place in the years around 2500 and our technology is much more advanced like the automatic farm equipment that are all run together by the planet’s AI and the weaponry and transportation is all much more advanced though with the same ideas as future technology such as helicopters, trains, and cars.
The main idea of this story is to keep fighting even though the odds may say that you are doomed because the people on this planet are constantly fighting against steep odds. The enemy they are fighting outnumber us and are much more technologically advanced than us. The people that are volunteering to fight against the insurrectionists have to look fear in the face everyday in this story because they are actually going to end up fighting a threat that seems impossible to be defeated.
I would recommend this story to any other person that is a fan of the Halo series, like me, or also anyone who enjoys reading science fiction especially if they enjoy a lot of fast paced action with good descriptive words and a rich back story to the Halo story that I have come to love as more than just the video game series but also as the book series.
August 26, 2020
So far my exposure to the Halo universe has been Spartan heavy. Each of the stories has centred around the super soldiers in one way or another and while I think they have interesting aspects, they are hardly the most riveting characters (Kurt aside). However, with them being the focus of the video games’ and being such an important part of the story, I was hesitant to read a book without them. That trepidation could not have been more wrong as Halo: Contact Harvest is a great Halo novel with some of the best characterisation so far.
Halo: Contact Harvest follows the story of humanities first contact with The Covenant. Set on an agricultural world that believes it is being targetted by insurrectionists, it explores the reasons why The Covenant are hell-bent on the destruction of the human race. Throughout the book, we spend a lot of time with Sargent Avery Johnson. Johnson played an important role in the original Halo game and the novelisation The Flood. And while his character in that story is fun, he was never fleshed out or given any space to develop. That isn’t the case in Contact Harvest as this is his story and we see him go through highs and lows and become the character we recognise.
For the full review, please visit Bits & Pieces - https://bitsandpieces.games/2020/08/1...
Halo: Contact Harvest follows the story of humanities first contact with The Covenant. Set on an agricultural world that believes it is being targetted by insurrectionists, it explores the reasons why The Covenant are hell-bent on the destruction of the human race. Throughout the book, we spend a lot of time with Sargent Avery Johnson. Johnson played an important role in the original Halo game and the novelisation The Flood. And while his character in that story is fun, he was never fleshed out or given any space to develop. That isn’t the case in Contact Harvest as this is his story and we see him go through highs and lows and become the character we recognise.
For the full review, please visit Bits & Pieces - https://bitsandpieces.games/2020/08/1...
August 10, 2016
Halo always had a special place in my heart.
It all started when my father bought the xbox360 for the release of Halo 3. Of course I got to play too, and my 9 year old self was immediatly sold. It might've been the weapons, it might've been the thrill to "explore" the new world, anyway I sticked to it through my entire child- and teenhood. It has accompanied me many days, playing every game on legendary over and over again, cursing at the online matchmaking and wasting precious time as my parents would say.
After a couple of years, I reach my 18th birthday and I get this trilogy bundle as a present, which contained Contact Harvest, Cole Protocol and Ghosts of Onyx. And I can tell you one thing for sure, it was definitly not a waste of time.
The Halo universe has grown so much on me and I am truly relieved this book is as good as I hoped it would be.
I love the way of storytelling, it creates a wonderful backstory for Avery Johnson, someone who I admired through the games, you get to see the war from the Covenant's side of view, the ascension of the Prophets, rampancy of A.I. and many more.
It's a book I would highly recommend for anyone who shows interest in the Halo series, especially of you have already played the games.
I'm not a critic, I'm just here to report my experience with the book. And well, it was a damn good one.
It all started when my father bought the xbox360 for the release of Halo 3. Of course I got to play too, and my 9 year old self was immediatly sold. It might've been the weapons, it might've been the thrill to "explore" the new world, anyway I sticked to it through my entire child- and teenhood. It has accompanied me many days, playing every game on legendary over and over again, cursing at the online matchmaking and wasting precious time as my parents would say.
After a couple of years, I reach my 18th birthday and I get this trilogy bundle as a present, which contained Contact Harvest, Cole Protocol and Ghosts of Onyx. And I can tell you one thing for sure, it was definitly not a waste of time.
The Halo universe has grown so much on me and I am truly relieved this book is as good as I hoped it would be.
I love the way of storytelling, it creates a wonderful backstory for Avery Johnson, someone who I admired through the games, you get to see the war from the Covenant's side of view, the ascension of the Prophets, rampancy of A.I. and many more.
It's a book I would highly recommend for anyone who shows interest in the Halo series, especially of you have already played the games.
I'm not a critic, I'm just here to report my experience with the book. And well, it was a damn good one.
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