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Halo Encyclopedia
Everything you ever wanted to know about Master Chief and the Halo universe is now at your fingertips. Learn about the origins of the game, its place in gaming history, the mechanics behind it, and--of course--EVERYTHING about weapons, villains, heroes, vehicles, locations, and more.
Hardcover
First published October 19, 2009
20 people are currently reading
653 people want to read
About the author
Tobias S. Buckell
216 books463 followersBorn in the Caribbean, Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times Bestselling author. His novels and over 50 short stories have been translated into 17 languages and he has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. He currently lives in Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 27, 2016
This book is okay. I really enjoy tomes like this which detail an imaginary universe and history, all the cool worldbuilding stuff that goes into imaginary worlds.
I grew up reading things like The Silmarillion but I really liked the ones where they combined art with text, such as The Terran Trade Authority books from the late '70s like Spacecraft: 2000 To 2100 AD and Great Space Battles, as well as the The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. I still read RPG Sourcebooks because I enjoy the worldbuilding aspects. Also the cool art.
I was also a huge fan of the original Halo game. It's the closest I've ever come to experiencing addiction. Alcohol, gambling, drugs, food... none of these do anything for me. But man, Halo... I had to sell my copy to get my life back. So I was looking forward to this.
And there's a lot of cool info in here. The Halo universe has really grown since that first game. (I don't do consoles, so I've never played the other installments.) A ton of stuff happened after John stopped the Flood on the first Halo.
The downside is that the information is incomplete. Some bits are extensively illustrated (the section on weapons obsessively so), but in other cases they skip the art entirely. I'm all about spaceships, so it was disappointing to see so few of them in this book, despite the pages and pages of entries. The ones given the most attention are those from the first game. They get multiple entries each. But I wanted to also see the new ones, and the ones that played a pivotal role in the epic story. While reading I had to go online to see pictures, such as the Chiroptera-class Beatrice. That kind of defeats the purpose of a book like this. I didn't need four pages and ten angles of the Pelican dropship. That's the Millenium Falcon of the Halo universe; we all know it. Sometimes it's not clear which ship is being depicted. A little less artsy-fartsy book design and a little more "be an encyclopedia" would have made this book superb.
There are also a number of misspellings throughout the text. I get how a copy editor could miss "lose" when they meant "loose", but some words were simply spelled incorrectly.
If you like holding a giant book in your lap and looking at these sorts of things, get it from your library. If you're actually interested in the specific details of the characters and vehicles used in the Halo universe, go to the Halo Wiki page.
I grew up reading things like The Silmarillion but I really liked the ones where they combined art with text, such as The Terran Trade Authority books from the late '70s like Spacecraft: 2000 To 2100 AD and Great Space Battles, as well as the The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. I still read RPG Sourcebooks because I enjoy the worldbuilding aspects. Also the cool art.
I was also a huge fan of the original Halo game. It's the closest I've ever come to experiencing addiction. Alcohol, gambling, drugs, food... none of these do anything for me. But man, Halo... I had to sell my copy to get my life back. So I was looking forward to this.
And there's a lot of cool info in here. The Halo universe has really grown since that first game. (I don't do consoles, so I've never played the other installments.) A ton of stuff happened after John stopped the Flood on the first Halo.
The downside is that the information is incomplete. Some bits are extensively illustrated (the section on weapons obsessively so), but in other cases they skip the art entirely. I'm all about spaceships, so it was disappointing to see so few of them in this book, despite the pages and pages of entries. The ones given the most attention are those from the first game. They get multiple entries each. But I wanted to also see the new ones, and the ones that played a pivotal role in the epic story. While reading I had to go online to see pictures, such as the Chiroptera-class Beatrice. That kind of defeats the purpose of a book like this. I didn't need four pages and ten angles of the Pelican dropship. That's the Millenium Falcon of the Halo universe; we all know it. Sometimes it's not clear which ship is being depicted. A little less artsy-fartsy book design and a little more "be an encyclopedia" would have made this book superb.
There are also a number of misspellings throughout the text. I get how a copy editor could miss "lose" when they meant "loose", but some words were simply spelled incorrectly.
If you like holding a giant book in your lap and looking at these sorts of things, get it from your library. If you're actually interested in the specific details of the characters and vehicles used in the Halo universe, go to the Halo Wiki page.
February 8, 2010
If there is ANYTHING you want to know about the Halo Universe, this is your definitive guide. It holds great information and greater insight than the games and books were ever able to give. I wonder what will happen with the release of "Halo:Reach" this coming Fall. This encyclopedia will already be out of date. I understand there is a Forerunner series coming out soon, too. If that is true, it will be interesting to see if they create an updated version of this encyclopedia.
October 13, 2011
I really thought this was a great great book! I posted some pictures from it here:
http://angelasanxiouslife.blogspot.co...
http://angelasanxiouslife.blogspot.co...
April 29, 2022
Many have called it outdated, and they are technically very correct, but I can't think of a better book to get a newbie bootstrapped into the Halo Universe. Complete up to the point it was written, and lavishly illustrated, you NEED this book!
March 5, 2024
Despite what the title says, it's not the definitive guide. There's a newer version. I've rated it based on that. Has much more info so you probably want to read that one. Or not if you're nostalgic, whatever your preference.
April 29, 2024
A really cool encyclopedia for the time that fans of reference books will enjoy. Very dated at this point, and some of the lore has changed since this came out. Because of that, I would say that this should be treated as a collectible now more than anything else.
November 8, 2023
Everything you need to know about the Halo universe up to Reach.
Currently reading
January 27, 2010This is the greatest and least boring encyclopedia I have ever read (not that I've read many encyclopedias). With everything from Johnson's missions before he met 117 to the details of the Covenant Hierarchy to the Forerunner-Flood war, and some hints of why the prophets cant activate the rings themselves, and why they have to capture a human to do it for them, and why 343 Guilty Spark tried to kill you. Hint: its like insanity for AIs... we all knew Sparky was nuts.
July 24, 2011
This was an interesting read for anyone that has played any of the Halo games. Anything you might be interested in knowing is in this encyclopedia and there is a lot of nice Halo themed artwork to look at.
The writing isn't Shakespeare, and it sometimes feels like later entries are just rehashing earlier ones, but it was interesting.
It would be even better if you could get this at your local library since it is pretty expensive for what you get.
The writing isn't Shakespeare, and it sometimes feels like later entries are just rehashing earlier ones, but it was interesting.
It would be even better if you could get this at your local library since it is pretty expensive for what you get.
February 21, 2011
My nephew likes killing me in Halo so I got this for us to look at. He loved it, and it has so much information here, great pictures and wow so much work went into this. Dont think it will stop him killing me though!
September 9, 2012
Very informative, although an updated version will be needed very soon; especially with the Forerunner book trilogy finishing up (Greg Bear), the newer post-Halo 3 book trilogy (Karen Traviss), and the release of Halo 4 coming in November.
October 30, 2012
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Halo universe is in here. As a fan of Scifi, I find my attention is dreawn to the methology of the univrse the material is set is as well as the story itself. I loved it!
September 28, 2010
i am reading it
December 28, 2010
It was interesting to find out other little tidbits about the Halo universe.
September 3, 2011
This book is so good!!!!! It clarified most of the questions I had, and will ever have!!!
August 27, 2013
Great Art! Great background! But got a little repetitive after a while. Still a great read for Halo fans.
February 21, 2014
It was awesome. Don't want to miss out.
March 16, 2014
A truly amazing, beautifully illustrated, inspiring and stunning work. Filled with all you could and would want to know about that galaxy not so far away.
Want to read
June 21, 2016FALSE
November 1, 2011
i loved it. It helped me with pepakura because of all the reference.
June 26, 2012
Halo + Story = AWESOMENESS IDEA EVER!! (Right next to Star Wars: Republic Commando novels).
September 29, 2014
best info for halo fans and I don't know where else to look except here!.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews