Halo: The Fall of Reach
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- Create Date：2021-07-18 09:53:03
- Update Date：2025-09-14
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- Author：Eric S. Nylund
- ISBN：1982111615
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Summary
The New York Times bestselling origin story of the Master Chief—part of the expanded universe based on the award-winning video game series Halo！
The twenty-sixth century。 Humanity has expanded beyond Earth’s system to hundreds of planets that colonists now call home。 But the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command is struggling to control this vast empire。 After exhausting all strategies to keep seething colonial insurrections from exploding into a full-blown interplanetary civil war， the UNSC has one last hope。 At the Office of Naval Intelligence， Dr。 Catherine Halsey has been hard at work on a top-secret program that could bring an end to the conflict…and it starts with seventy-five children， among them a six-year-old boy named John。 And Halsey could never guess that this child will eventually become the final hope against an even greater peril engulfing the galaxy—the inexorable confrontation with a theocratic military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant。
This is the electrifying origin story of Spartan John-117—the Master Chief—and of his legendary， unstoppable heroism in leading the resistance against humanity’s possible extinction。
The twenty-sixth century。 Humanity has expanded beyond Earth’s system to hundreds of planets that colonists now call home。 But the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command is struggling to control this vast empire。 After exhausting all strategies to keep seething colonial insurrections from exploding into a full-blown interplanetary civil war， the UNSC has one last hope。 At the Office of Naval Intelligence， Dr。 Catherine Halsey has been hard at work on a top-secret program that could bring an end to the conflict…and it starts with seventy-five children， among them a six-year-old boy named John。 And Halsey could never guess that this child will eventually become the final hope against an even greater peril engulfing the galaxy—the inexorable confrontation with a theocratic military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant。
This is the electrifying origin story of Spartan John-117—the Master Chief—and of his legendary， unstoppable heroism in leading the resistance against humanity’s possible extinction。
Reviews
Mike Choromanski
，
One of the better Halo novels。 Reads like a simpler version of Enders Game， but with a deep dive into the halo universe。 The games contradict it like crazy， but it's still a cute origins story for the spartans。 One of the better Halo novels。 Reads like a simpler version of Enders Game， but with a deep dive into the halo universe。 The games contradict it like crazy， but it's still a cute origins story for the spartans。 。。。more
Chogan
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I'm a big Halo fan but for some reason I've never picked up any of the books。 This was a pretty good read in terms of action and just being a Halo story。 It doesn't offer anything particularly new for Halo but as a big fan of the series it definitely satisfied me in terms of action spectacle。 I'm a big Halo fan but for some reason I've never picked up any of the books。 This was a pretty good read in terms of action and just being a Halo story。 It doesn't offer anything particularly new for Halo but as a big fan of the series it definitely satisfied me in terms of action spectacle。 。。。more
Brad
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Much better than the video game
Luna
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A good read for fans of the games wanting to know more about the origin of the Spartans。 Despite being titled Fall of Reach it barely touches the matter， but of course you can play Halo: Reach if you want to know more （although there's contradictions）。 One thing that bothered me a lot though was the author referring to the MA5Bs magazines as clips。 A good read for fans of the games wanting to know more about the origin of the Spartans。 Despite being titled Fall of Reach it barely touches the matter， but of course you can play Halo: Reach if you want to know more （although there's contradictions）。 One thing that bothered me a lot though was the author referring to the MA5Bs magazines as clips。 。。。more
Werv
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Eric S。 Nylund’s The Fall of Reach is a short and solid introduction into the massive universe of Halo。 The novel is a military sci-fi with the usual findings in the genre interwoven with the interesting lore of the universe。 The Fall of Reach details the beginnings of the legendary Spartan Program: a project designed to create super soldiers。 These Spartans， as expected， will be a major part of the world moving forward。 Beyond that， the novel switches focus to a bootcamp-type story。 These e Eric S。 Nylund’s The Fall of Reach is a short and solid introduction into the massive universe of Halo。 The novel is a military sci-fi with the usual findings in the genre interwoven with the interesting lore of the universe。 The Fall of Reach details the beginnings of the legendary Spartan Program: a project designed to create super soldiers。 These Spartans， as expected， will be a major part of the world moving forward。 Beyond that， the novel switches focus to a bootcamp-type story。 These early chapters introduce many of the big players of the universe in Dr。 Halsey， Keyes， and John and his squad。 Halsey is the standout in these early chapters as she heads the Spartan Program itself。 Beyond that， the novel establishes the early interactions with the enemy Covenant forces and alternates between space and ground combat fully embracing the military setting with plenty of action。 The start of the novel is the strongest part with a heavy emphasis on the Spartan Program origins and the state of the universe at the beginning of the conflict with the Covenant。 Halsey and Keyes have a lot of fun banter here （not to mention the interesting AI they interact with） and keeps the story enticing while being mostly expository。 The Spartan Program also introduces fascinating ethical wherewithal that the program requires with solid potential for future storytelling。Unfortunately， the book favors action for much of the rest of the story。 While solid， it very much loses the appeal of the implications that the early chapters had。 John and his squad of Spartans get plenty of the spotlight here but tend to be too banal in characterization to stay interesting in equally banal space and ground combat。 Conversely， some readers might greatly enjoy the emphasis on action in the remainder of the novel。 The Fall of Reach captures the spirit of Halo and establishes a lot of the interesting lore the video games play with。 The interesting origins of the Spartan Program and Halsey herself is a highlight of the novel and some of the excessive action can be forgiven with such a solid potential for future storytelling。 Eric S。 Nylund’s first foray into the Halo universe is a must read for fans of the video games。 。。。more
Cole Hein
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Halo so good！
M。J。 Watson
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It is an extremely good book with a good story and tragic events。
Mike Tagg
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Does well in expanding the lore， great details that flush out the backgrounds of both master chief the USNC and the covenant。 My only complaint is that there could have been a bit more focus on master chief and the action in his missions。 The narrative lags a little with all the Halsey and Keys sections。
Psijic
，
Woah， I did not expect this to be that good！ Having read Assassin‘s Creed and Mass Effect novels， I expected another not so amazingly written， not really bold venture into known territory， and I was wrong。Not only is this filled with fundamentally important and forming information and moments， they are even referenced in later games （very actively too）。 This has blown my mind， not gonna lie， and made me appreciate the Haloverse even more - and I already think it‘s brilliant。 The worldbuilding is Woah， I did not expect this to be that good！ Having read Assassin‘s Creed and Mass Effect novels， I expected another not so amazingly written， not really bold venture into known territory， and I was wrong。Not only is this filled with fundamentally important and forming information and moments， they are even referenced in later games （very actively too）。 This has blown my mind， not gonna lie， and made me appreciate the Haloverse even more - and I already think it‘s brilliant。 The worldbuilding is top-notch and this novel does nothing but help in that regard。 Seeing the world through Keyes‘， but also John‘s intimate view is amazing， and especially his camaraderie with his fellow Spartans makes this worth it for any Halo fan。That being said， it‘s written a bit clunky sometimes。 I say sometimes， because usually it‘s written nicely and smoothly， albeit of course not with the prose of Frank Herbert or Matthew Stover。 But sometimes… Regardless， the experience is great， and not even the BioShock novel made such a well connection that it quite literally not only invited you to go back to play the games， but to see the series less as a game series with extra books， but a big series where you jump from one medium to the other。 That being said， this here will be pretty disappointing for non-gamers， as it obviously builds up to the beginning of Halo: CE。 For any other one， this gets a wild recommendation if you are a sucker for lore and not expectant of high classical prose all the time。Seeing the Navy， the Marines， their resources and how they perceive the Spartans， and seeing how Halsey is such a complicated woman and and and… all of this gave the universe a even more touchable feel。 Not unlike the terminals （especially of Halo 2）。 Awesome。 。。。more
Stephen Lewis
，
My son's friend， Tim， was not impressed at all at hearing about all the 'noble' books I'd been listening to。 He told me to listen to the audiobooks of the computer game he was then playing。 This review stands for this book and the others in the series that I've been playing in the background while painting n decorating and stuff。 You can tune in and out of these books and don't really lose much。 Sooner or later there's a shoot em all type battle。 Still Tim was right。 I've had an insight into sci My son's friend， Tim， was not impressed at all at hearing about all the 'noble' books I'd been listening to。 He told me to listen to the audiobooks of the computer game he was then playing。 This review stands for this book and the others in the series that I've been playing in the background while painting n decorating and stuff。 You can tune in and out of these books and don't really lose much。 Sooner or later there's a shoot em all type battle。 Still Tim was right。 I've had an insight into sci fi PC games， and listened to some sci fi that isn't bad。 All narrators， by the way， are excellent。 。。。more
Eli B
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Love halo and its lore and always will
Brianne
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3。5 starsWell written and good story arc。 The middle battles dragged on a little because they didn’t serve to move the plot forward much， but they were still easy to get through。 You do not need to play the game to enjoy this book， don’t let that alienate you from reading it if you’re interested in scifi。
RougeMyst
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Despite the fact that Bungie just obliterated this story’s cannon rights with Halo: Reach， still an important read for a halo deep dive， despite half the book being technically noncanon。 As for the actual story it was enjoyable looking into the past of the focus of 5， soon to be 6， Halo games， Master Chief。 However， from what I’ve heard， infinite May make this a little less canon， I’ll update this review after I finish the story of Halo Infinte
Paul Carpenter
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really a 3 and a half。 There didn't feel like a lot of world building。 If you played the Halo games you will get into this book but if you are not into the games you will be a little lost of what creatures look like。 Since I played the games I enjoyed it。 really a 3 and a half。 There didn't feel like a lot of world building。 If you played the Halo games you will get into this book but if you are not into the games you will be a little lost of what creatures look like。 Since I played the games I enjoyed it。 。。。more
Jakko23
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I thought this would be one of my guilty pleasure type reads， but it was actually really cool to learn about how cold Master Chief is。 I think it suffers from one too many Space battles described as the Navy would describe a battleship battle though。 A pleasant surprise nonetheless
Francis Bagel
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returning to this after donkeys years was just a wonderful feeling of blinding nostalgia。 halo has such a huge place in my heart and this does a great job of establishing the characters who i've grown up with。 despite key moments very much being de-canonised， it is still a fab sci fi read and really got me interested in learning more about the world of halo。 the action scenes are written utterly beautifully and were just a joy to read。 one star off because the ending certainly feels oddly paced returning to this after donkeys years was just a wonderful feeling of blinding nostalgia。 halo has such a huge place in my heart and this does a great job of establishing the characters who i've grown up with。 despite key moments very much being de-canonised， it is still a fab sci fi read and really got me interested in learning more about the world of halo。 the action scenes are written utterly beautifully and were just a joy to read。 one star off because the ending certainly feels oddly paced and a little rushed， but was still very much worth my time。 。。。more
Paris McDonald
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I loved this book as a kid， though granted I read it over 10 years ago。 If you have to read a single book in the halo universe it’s this one。 It would be a better book if you knew literally nothing about halo， but it’s impossible to review this in a vacuum。 It’s very straight forward， no twists or turns。 A young talented kid gets picked to be a super soldier and rises in the ranks amongst his peers。 It’s an old tale， but a good one。
Aaron Jackson
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If you have a true love for science fiction and also for Halo， this is a great book to read！ I loved knowing more about John 117 and his background， how he became a spartan， and his rise to the top。 This book is ruthless and dark。 It builds up characters and kills them off just like that。 I enjoyed this read and this book really got me back into wanting to read books。
Melanie Foreman
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Summary: This is the origin story of John-117， Master Chief。 It begins with the story of his recruitment and training， then takes us deeper into the relationships he forms with his fellow Spartans and how he becomes the soldier he is "today"。 Then the book discusses the rise of the covenant forces and tells the story of how Master Chief becomes the last spartan of his class。 What I liked: I liked this book a lot more than I initially thought I would。 I really enjoyed getting to see Master Chief' Summary: This is the origin story of John-117， Master Chief。 It begins with the story of his recruitment and training， then takes us deeper into the relationships he forms with his fellow Spartans and how he becomes the soldier he is "today"。 Then the book discusses the rise of the covenant forces and tells the story of how Master Chief becomes the last spartan of his class。 What I liked: I liked this book a lot more than I initially thought I would。 I really enjoyed getting to see Master Chief's backstory and the relationships he had/has with other Spartans and UNSC。 The history of the Spartan project was also cool to learn。What I didn't like: I was disappointed by some of the writing and poor editing。 Some parts are confusing enough that I had to reread them to understand what was happening。 Also， there is a weird aspect of the relationship between Dr。 Halsey and Master Chief and I don't think I care for it。 。。。more
Lulu
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Weakest point is that that it relies on the reader having played at least one of the games in the past， thus skipping some details/descriptions。
James Hogan
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This book always takes me back。 I bought this book ages and ages ago。。。not even sure why anymore （yes I enjoyed playing Halo， but who's ever heard of good video game books？）。 Anyways， this book thrilled me when I first read it and I still love it now and I'm not guilty about that fact at all。 It's a prequel to a video game plot。 Which means。。。what exactly？ Well， Nylund seems to have had plenty of freedom to tell the story he wanted to tell and shape the characters that he cared about。 And his wr This book always takes me back。 I bought this book ages and ages ago。。。not even sure why anymore （yes I enjoyed playing Halo， but who's ever heard of good video game books？）。 Anyways， this book thrilled me when I first read it and I still love it now and I'm not guilty about that fact at all。 It's a prequel to a video game plot。 Which means。。。what exactly？ Well， Nylund seems to have had plenty of freedom to tell the story he wanted to tell and shape the characters that he cared about。 And his writing is thrilling。 Yes， it helps plenty to have had experience playing Halo （reminds me how bad I was at it， but yet still loved it so！） so you recognize all the weapons and vehicles， etc， etc。 But at the end of the day？ This book tells the story of multiple people and somehow humanizes them all， despite the fact that multiple of the main characters （nominally the good guys） commit acts that are not exactly kosher。 But the author acknowledges the fact that crimes have been committed and so doesn't excuse the horrors。。。but simply tells the story that results。 And the story is better for it， as this is not a thesis on the morality of war and the means to execute victory。 No， this is a book about a boy who is torn away from his family， finds a new one in the cauldron of hardcore military training。。。and then is shaped into a soldier who will do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission。 Whatever that mission may be。 John is a character sympathetic and foreign both。 You see his loneliness and the way he has been forged into purest soldier material and you weep。 You see his connection and passion for his fellow brothers and sisters in arms and you smile。 You read of battles and campaigns and your pulse thrills to well-written and most enjoyable action set pieces。 These books just have so many fun-to-read moments， that again。。。I always enjoy a re-read。 I love the early training sequences when they are all kids。 I love seeing young Captain Keyes （before he is captain！） and young Dr。 Halsey。 The early battle scenes while the Spartans are still figuring things out yet are a well-oiled machine nonetheless？ Beautiful。 The space combat is so delightful to read - love seeing the genius of Captain Keyes and feeling like I kind of understand the tactics being used （sort of）。 I love seeing competent people do what they're best at， and you have that in spades here， with both the Spartans and Keyes and his crew。 And then you have a totally terrifying alien enemy， an impending sense of doom， heroes sacrificing themselves and then you see the book set up the beginning of that great game Halo。。。and so it ends。 I can't believe I've already written so much about this book， and while I feel I keep qualifying it because this book is "a video game book" and while no， this book isn't perfect， it is simply fun。 I enjoy reading it and not gonna apologize for it。 One last thing？ Again， I love the characters。 Even acknowledging the fact that the Spartans are brutal war machines。。。they still seem so human。 Love seeing their interactions and getting to know the people inside the armor。 John， James， Fred， Sam， Kelly， Linda， Joshua。。。they're characters that I enjoy reading about and wouldn't mind meeting。 As long as they knew I was on their side。。。 。。。more
Cody
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Enjoyed this one a lot！ Been replaying all of the Halo games in order lately， and the books help get me in the mood to play lol
Rhys
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This was a really great way to learn more Halo lore。 I grew up playing Halo for hours with my dad， and while we spent a good amount of time slapping each other around in multiplayer， I really enjoyed playing the story missions with him， too。 I never thought I'd actually pick up the books， but I'm really glad I did。 It took me back to those lazy Saturdays。I think Halo often has this misconception that it's a game about war， and that it glorifies violence。 But when you look deeper into it， there's This was a really great way to learn more Halo lore。 I grew up playing Halo for hours with my dad， and while we spent a good amount of time slapping each other around in multiplayer， I really enjoyed playing the story missions with him， too。 I never thought I'd actually pick up the books， but I'm really glad I did。 It took me back to those lazy Saturdays。I think Halo often has this misconception that it's a game about war， and that it glorifies violence。 But when you look deeper into it， there's some interesting commentary to be found。 This book serves to humanize Master Chief， which is something that I missed out on just playing the games。 。。。more
Emyl Ferland
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Bon livre pour comprendre l'histoire des Spartans et leur mentalité。 Diverge un peu du jeux vidéo， mais c'est Bungie qui en avait rien à foutre vu qu'ils avaient perdu le contrat。 Bon livre。 Bon livre pour comprendre l'histoire des Spartans et leur mentalité。 Diverge un peu du jeux vidéo， mais c'est Bungie qui en avait rien à foutre vu qu'ils avaient perdu le contrat。 Bon livre。 。。。more
TaioSkywalker
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Super cool book for any Halo fan。
Wesley F。 F。
，
Definitely enjoyed this book。 There were moments that I felt were a little slow but overall it was good。 Watching how 117 became the Chief was different than I expected for some reason but in a good way。
Abhishek
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I don't know why I expected more from a videogame book。 It's competently written but it's basically just setting up the events of the first game。 There's no real plot or character arc to speak off。 The worst part is that Master Chief comes off as a massive dweeb。 The guy is completely indoctrinated by the space military and can't even conceive of a life outside of that structure or get his head around interacting with civiilans。 Keyes is the first character in the book I actively felt like rooti I don't know why I expected more from a videogame book。 It's competently written but it's basically just setting up the events of the first game。 There's no real plot or character arc to speak off。 The worst part is that Master Chief comes off as a massive dweeb。 The guy is completely indoctrinated by the space military and can't even conceive of a life outside of that structure or get his head around interacting with civiilans。 Keyes is the first character in the book I actively felt like rooting for。 The idea that the UNSC - and by extension the Master Chief since he's only a tool with no inner life beyond what the UNSC wants him to have - aren't the good guys but bad guys facing even worse guys is an interesting wrinkle but isn't really explored further and ends up being just texture。 It's a breezy read but I came away less enamoured with the Halo universe than I was before。 。。。more
Sam Bakos
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I've been trudging through this book for months。 For the most part， I felt it was written like one of the halo games- as in good for an action shooter， not enough for a book。 I liked the set up of the book and most of John's training， but the latter part of the book was just action movie schlock。 When it comes to character I really liked Cortana， Dr。 Halsey and Keyes; john-117， the main character， felt bland however。 I really enjoyed the interactions Keyes has with his crewmates， and any part wh I've been trudging through this book for months。 For the most part， I felt it was written like one of the halo games- as in good for an action shooter， not enough for a book。 I liked the set up of the book and most of John's training， but the latter part of the book was just action movie schlock。 When it comes to character I really liked Cortana， Dr。 Halsey and Keyes; john-117， the main character， felt bland however。 I really enjoyed the interactions Keyes has with his crewmates， and any part where Cortana and Halsey get to interact with other people or with themselves was interesting。 As for John-117， his thinking processes mostly revolve around following orders and trying to win。 It's actually well put considering his training and brainwashing， but it's way too little spread way too wide。 Every time he thinks about the situation it feels the same， and past the first third of the book his character doesn't change whatsoever。My biggest problem was probably that there is a lot of fight scenes， and that most of them comprise of just 'john shot the bad covenant man in head' kind of bad writing， this also applies to most of the space battles。 It gets really boring。 I did really like the first battle around Sigma Octanus IV where Keyes had to fend off multiple enemy ships on his own， because there was some actual planning involved for once， rather than just mindless shooting。 On the other hand， the final fight around Reach was one of the worst for me， and a prime example of mindless violence， hundreds of ships（with only one that has characters you know） shoot at each other and explode for pages and pages。 And it ended with a manoeuvre that was already used earlier in the book。 I'm really glad that most people enjoyed this book; I just wanted to get it over with this one。。。 。。。more
Indio
，
Worlds better than Hunters in the Dark。
Thom
，
A book released a couple of days before Halo 1， and holy hell what a solid book。 It’s been largely retconned by Reach， but it’s still an excellent story， I think as a sci-fi overall rather than just for fans of the games。 Definite recommend， even to someone who's never played any of the games。 A book released a couple of days before Halo 1， and holy hell what a solid book。 It’s been largely retconned by Reach， but it’s still an excellent story， I think as a sci-fi overall rather than just for fans of the games。 Definite recommend， even to someone who's never played any of the games。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Halo: The Fall of Reach
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Halo: The Fall of Reach&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft