Halo is one of the biggest franchises in all of video games, but it has also, from the very beginning, been a pretty great scifi book series. Starting with Halo: The Fall of Reach, the books have expanded on the story presented in the games in often unique and interesting ways. The books have grown quite a bit over the last few years, mostly expanding beyond Master Chief and the central Covenant War story that was presented in the original trilogy. But the latest release takes readers all the way back, telling Master Chief’s story from his early combat days.
Halo: Silent Storm will hit book shelves on September 4th, but we’re already getting a good look at what readers can anticipate. According to the latest release from 343, Halo: Silent Storm will follow “the Master Chief and his fellow Spartan-II teammates within Blue Team as they fight for humanity’s survival on multiple fronts during the early days of the Covenant War.”
The description begins, “2526. It has been almost a year since humanity engaged in its destructive first contact with a theocratic military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant. Now the hostilities have led to open war, and the United Nations Space Command understands virtually nothing about its new enemy. There are only two certainties—the Covenant is determined to eradicate humanity, and they have the superior technology to do just that.”
While previous Halo books did go into the backstory of Master Chief and his squad, it looks like this new novel will offer a fresh glimpse into their early adventures. The real question is, will this tie into the expected Halo 6. The series has shifted its story significantly in the last two entries, so going back to the early Covenant War days is an odd choice, given where the games’ story is at the moment. But maybe 343 has a long term plan, or possibly they just wanted to let readers get a better look at their main character.
