Halo gets booked in 'First Strike' novel @ Gaming Target

Written by Matt Swider on December 18, 2003

News: Master Chief is now a must-read in HALO: FIRST STRIKE, a mature novel from author Eric Nylund.

Critically acclaimed science fiction writer and HALO alumnus Eric Nylund leads thrilled readers back into the maelstrom of the Human-Covenant War and explores the further adventures of the enigmatic Master Chief?in HALO: FIRST STRIKE (Del Rey Mass Market Original; December 15, 2003; $6.99), the official prequel to the highly anticipated Xbox game HALO 2 from Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios.

HALO: FIRST STRIKE picks up where the previous novel, HALO: THE FLOOD, leaves off. The alien artifact Halo has been destroyed, and the threat it posed to sentient life has been neutralized. But victory has come at a terrible cost. Thousands of valiant soldiers fell in the battle to prevent the alien construct from falling into the enemy's clutches.

Now, everything depends on the Spartan known as the Master Chief. Even with the aid of the artificial intelligence Cortana, the Master Chief will be hard pressed to rescue survivors and evade the Covenant ships patrolling the remains of Halo in debris-strewn space.

Ahead lies a dangerous voyage home, through a gauntlet of Covenant forces. For the sake of all, the Master Chief and his war-torn squad must not only survive, but take the fight to the enemy with a decisive first strike.