The Fall of Reach, by
Eric Nylund, is the official
prequel to the
X-box game,
Halo: Combat Evolved.
It is a suprisingly good novel for being based on a
video game. Even people who have not played Halo will enjoy, but not as much as those who have as it is suprisingly game accurate. It also has some amazing
space battles which causes fans to yearn for in-game space battles.
It's three main characters are
Master Chief John 117 (who you play as in the game),
Captain Keyes (who also appears in the game), and
Doctor Halsey (who appears in the game in a different for).
The
back cover reads:
While the brutal Covenant juggernaut sweeps inexorably through space, intent on wiping out humankind, only one stronghold remains--the planet Reach. Practically on Earth's doorstep, it is the last military fortress to defy the alien onslaught. But Reach's defenders have another, higher priority: to prevent the Covenant from discovering the location of Earth.
Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers seem to have little chance against the Covenant, but Reach holds a closely guarded secret. It is the training ground for the very first "super soldiers." Code-named SPARTANs, these highly advanced warriors, specially bioengineered and technologically augmented, are the best in the universe--quiet, professional, and deadly.
Now, as the ferocious Covenant attack begins, a handful of SPARTANs stand ready to wage the ultimate war. They will kill, they will be destroyed, but they will never surrender. And at least one of them--the SPARTAN known as the Master Chief--will live to fight another day on a mysterious an ancient artificial world called Halo...
340 pages, 37 chapters (plus
prologue and
epilogue), and divided into six sections. It takes place from the years
2517 to
2552.
*Minor
Spoilers Ahead!*
Section 1: Reveille-Details the collecting of the seventy five trainees for the SPARTAN program and their initial years at boot camp.
Section 2: Boot
-After the augmentation of the children in the SPARTAN program, their training continues and they are sent on a mission to deal with some
rebels. Then they meet the Covenant.
Section 3: Sigma Octanus
-The SPARTANs and the Covenant battle it out on a planet, but why have the Covenant invaded instead of destroying it like the others?
Section 4: Mjolnir
-The SPARTANs recieve their final upgrades.
Section 5: Reach
-The deadly space battle for Reach begins.
Section 6: Halo
-How did they get from Reach to Halo?
Known SPARTANs
Master Chief John 117-The main character, all-around good guy, and head of the SPARTANs.
Kelly/Blue-Two-The fastest of the SPARTANs.
Samuel-The biggest and strongest of the SPARTANs.
Linda-The best sniper of the group.
Fred-Always gets second in all the competitions, but John believes he could get first if he wanted. He just doesn't want the attention. Good at blending in.
James-The unfortunate one, in my opinion.
The book typically costs $6.99 and was published by
Ballantine Books as a
Science Fiction Novel.
I highly recommend it to
fans of
Sci-Fi,
Halo, and people
bored and
looking for something to do.