Halo: First Strike
ISBN 0-345-46781-7 | | |
Preceded by | Halo: The Flood | |
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Followed by | Halo: Ghosts of Onyx |
Halo: First Strike is a military science fiction novel by Eric Nylund, based on the Halo series of video games. The book was released in December 2003 and is the third Halo novel; Nylund's second contribution to the series. The novel serves as a bridge between the events of the games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2. First Strike was also released as an audiobook, narrated by Todd McLaren.[2]
Halo: First Strike opens with the arrival of the
Background
First Strike was Nylund's second Halo novel after his task of writing the prequel to the first game, 2001's Halo: The Fall of Reach. Nylund said in an interview that he wrote the book within sixteen weeks, a much longer deadline than the seven weeks he had to complete The Fall of Reach.[3] However, due to more Halo canon already being published Nylund found it harder to write First Strike into the existing story; "There were more events and characters to link and keep track of…timelines to sync up…like threading three needles at once with one hand."[4] To write a better novel than The Fall of Reach, Nylund read military combat manuals and biographies of soldiers, he also tried to improve where fans had criticized the first Halo book.[3]
Synopsis
Setting
First Strike takes place in the 26th century, where humanity, under the governance of the
Plot
The novel begins in orbit above planet Reach, as humanity fights the Covenant invasion forces. The last line of defence for the planet is an array of magnetic accelerator cannons (MACs) orbiting the planet. The Master Chief sends a team of Spartans to the surface of Reach to protect the MAC's planet-based power generators. Ultimately, the Covenant are able to destroy the generators and begin bombarding the planet's surface – melting its surface to glass ('glassing the planet'). The surviving Spartans flee underground to the hidden headquarters of the
The book then shifts to events occurring soon after Halo, as the Master Chief and Cortana drift through the ruins of Halo, they discover other survivors including
Seeking the Forerunner shard, the Covenant attack, severely damaging Ascendant Justice, but are temporarily defeated. In order to make repairs, the UNSC forge an alliance with human separatists hidden in an asteroid field whose help also allows them to partially repair the crippled Gettysburg. Halsey, after saving the clinically dead Spartan Linda-058, abducts Spartan Kelly-087 and flees in a stolen ship, leaving Corporal Locklear with instructions to stop the crystal from falling into Covenant hands. Locklear decides to destroy the crystal, inadvertently killing himself, but stopping the Covenant from tracking the crystal's radioactive emissions and by extension the Ascendant Justice. However, the Covenant attack the asteroid base in overwhelming force, forcing the UNSC forces to flee into slipspace and abandon the separatists to destruction.
With the knowledge that the Covenant are en route to Earth, the Master Chief and his fellow Spartans decide to disrupt the invasion force at their rendezvous point. The Spartans successfully infiltrate the Covenant space station, Unyielding Hierophant, set it to self-destruct and escape in a drop-ship. On board the Ascendant Justice, Whitcomb tricks the Covenant fleet into following the ship closer to the Unyielding Hierophant; when the station explodes the entire Covenant armada is destroyed or damaged. Master Chief and the surviving Spartans take the partially repaired Gettysburg, which has been equipped with Ascendant Justice's slipspace drive, back to Earth with Sgt. Johnson and Cortana to warn of the approaching invasion. Meanwhile, the Covenant leadership discuss the fate of the "incompetent one," an Elite who allowed Halo to be destroyed and Ascendant Justice to be captured; setting the stage for Halo 2.
Reception
Upon release, First Strike was a critical and commercial success, being the first Halo novel to make
References
- ^ "Halo: First Strike – Written by Eric Nylund". Random House. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ a b Bakehorn, Cliff (2008-08-06). "Review: "First Strike" – Halo Audiobook". Talking About Games. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ a b Green, Marty (2003). "Halo: First Strike Author Eric Nylund". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ Callaham, John (2006-08-21). "Eric Nylund Interview". The Firing Squad. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Carter, John (2007-05-04). "Inside the Video Games: Halo crosses over into print format". Tulsa World. p. D2.
- ^ Perry, Douglass (2004-11-02). "Countdown to Halo 2: A Good Read". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
- About.com. Archived from the originalon 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "The Halo Novels". Digital Monkey Box Reviews. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
The biggest failing with Halo: First Strike is that by the time Master Chief meets up with Fred, his character and that of the other Spartans has already been built up to the point that they have lives of their own. Once the story becomes the Master Chief's again what had been building completely dissolves. The other Spartans essentially fall back into the role of faceless props.
- ^ Carter, Josh (2006-01-31). "Halo: First Strike (Eric Nylund)". Multipart/Mixed. Archived from the original on 2016-01-08. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Jones, Phil (2005-01-06). "Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund". SFCrowsNest.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ISBN 0-345-46781-7.
External links
- Halo: First Strike on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
- First Strike title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database