The Fall of Reach (Halo, Bk. 1)
by Eric Nylund

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Book Reviews of The Fall of Reach (Halo, Bk. 1)

Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars

The story of Reach is about John, AKA the SPARTAN master chief, his "selection" to be a guardian of the empire, the training he endures and his fight to save humanity. One of 75 SPARTAN II, children chosen by the government at the age of 6 to be super soldiers, he is neither the strongest nor the fastest; however, John is the bravest. His foe, the Covenant, is a group of aliens waging a jihad against humanity for an as yet unknown reason. They have superior technology and are only kept away from Earth by the Cole Protocol: any ship engaged with the Covenant must destroy all data and navigation concerning earth. And though the SPARTANS, protected with MJOLNIR armor (the name of Thor's hammer, which as long as the gods possessed would protect Asgard and Valhalla), never lose a battle, they are slowly giving way to the alien onslaught. The action cumulates to the climatic battle of Reach a galactic Thermopylae were all the SPARTANS, except Master Chief, fall in defense of the planet.

While the first book was a better novel its action was far less than Flood. The book starts where the game does with the Pillar of Autumn crashing onto Halo and ends with the master chief escaping, once again alone (it does not pay to be friends with a Spartan). The appeal of Flood was the introduction of game favorites 343 Guilty spark-a senile robot with the keys to a doomsday device straight from Dr. Strangelove- and the flood- a parasitic life form that's sole purpose is to fill its end less hunger. Fans will be pleased by the seamless flow that matches the game; however, there are no great literary aspects, nor any of those troubling ethical questions that plagued our hero in Reach.

More than just action the story offers a glimpse into the not so distant future of warfare and the ethical questions that need answering. Dr. Halsey, the founder of the SPARTAN II project, is unsure if the creation of an army that may be earth's only hope justifies the kidnapping of 6-year-old children, sending them to a life of military brutality and injecting them with drugs and implants that give them inhuman strength, but kill half the SPARTANS from side effects. And in the story we see not the thriving world of tomorrow, the Earth itself is only referred to in regards to the Cole protocol, but a harsh militant empire in a perpetual war with an enemy that they do not even know why wants to destroy them.

The story has a good mix of battles that range from space, jungle and zero gravity and are well described. The characters, though far from revolutionary, do change with the story as does the technology. One can tell the book was written by a civilian by the SPARTANS referring to each other by their first names. Mr. Nylund does a nice job of putting in enough Physics for Trekkers who actually care about the dynamics of slipstream, and knowing when to jump back to a battle scene. The Halo future is interesting precisely because of it's so close to our world: DNA modification, AI computers that are alive and battle armor that grants near superhuman abilities and all the while still containing shields, aliens and super weapons that dwarf the Deathstar and.

I enjoyed the two novels and finished them in a few hours. For those interested in information on the real Spartans they could read Gates of Fire, a historical novel about the stand at Thermopylae, and Greek Armies an illustrated history by Peter Connolly.

Summary of The Fall of Reach (Halo, Bk. 1)

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