Halo: Glasslands

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Halo: Glasslands

Author(s)

Karen Traviss

Publisher

Tor Books

Date Released

October 25, 2011

Length

464 pages

Availability

Paperback, hardcover, audiobook

ISBN

ISBN

Product Dimensions

Shipping Weight

Price Listing

$10.87 (paperback)
$18.47 (hardcover) 
 
£8.24 

Buy this book from Amazon

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Halo: Glasslands is the first novel in the yet-untitled post-war series by Karen Traviss.^[1] It was released on October 25, 2011 on hardcover, paperback and audiobook.^[2]

[edit] Official summary

Though the Covenant has collapsed, humanity's war is far from over... "The galaxy is in chaos. The aftermath of a star-spanning war has left everything in doubt - and the ruins of two once-mighty civilizations teetering on the brink of collapse. From this chaos, new adversaries will emerge, including a cruel and dangerous organization bent on exploiting the still-fresh passions and prejudices of the war for its own gain (and that's just on the human side). The Covenant-that-was, a seething mixture of religious zealotry and rival alien species, is trying to regain its primacy and find a new path back to its former glory." "Secrets and tragedies from humanity's distant and recent past will return to haunt us, and familiar heroes will be lost and found. And out of the chaos could come a new hope for mankind: a weapon unlike anything the galaxy has ever seen... but only if Dr. Catherine Halsey and the secrets she vanished with still survive and can be brought back home."[3]

[edit] Plot Synopsis

Set around the events of Halo 3 in 2553,^[4] Halo: Glasslands explores the volatile political situation in the Halo universe following the end of the Human-Covenant War.^[1]

The novel picks up directly where Halo: Ghosts of Onyx left off, with Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez along with a group of SPARTAN-IIs and SPARTAN-IIIs stranded on the Sharpened Shield, a slipspace-based Dyson sphere now lying in the remnants of the artificial planet Onyx.

While they explore the Forerunner construct and attempt to find a way out, Office of Naval Intelligence Director Admiral Margaret Parangosky assembles a black ops team known as Kilo-Five, which is led by Captain Serin Osman, a failed SPARTAN-II candidate and a protege of Admiral Parangosky. The team also consists of a SPARTAN-II, Naomi-010; three Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, Vasily Beloi, Malcolm Geffen, and Lian Devereaux; and the AI construct Black-Box. They are accompanied by civilian academic Evan Phillips, who is notably one of the few humans fluent in the Sangheili language.

Kilo-Five is assigned on a covert mission to sow discord between disparate Sangheili factions by any means necessary, as well as to arrest Dr. Halsey once she has been located. Their mission takes them to various planets, including New Llanelli, Venezia and Sanghelios. At one point, they accompany Admiral Hood on a diplomatic mission to meet Arbiter Thel 'Vadam on Sanghelios.

In the Dyson sphere, Lucy-B091 discovers a local population of Huragok, who assist the human survivors in establishing communications with the ONI ships prowling Onyx's debris field. The Sharpened Shield is eventually brought into normal space from its slipspace bubble by the Huragok, and Serin Osman personally arrested Halsey on Parangosky's orders. ONI dispatches science teams to recover Forerunner technologies from the construct, designating the sphere as ONI Research Facility Trevelyan at Dr. Halsey's request.

Throughout the story, the moral implications of the SPARTAN-II program and those involved with it - including Dr. Catherine Halsey are explored. In addition, the societal and religious impact the sundering of the Covenant had on Sangheili culture is explored in detail.

It has been noted that threads of the story will have connections to Halo 4.^[5]

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Trivia

• The cover of the novel was illustrated by former Bungie concept artist Eddie Smith.^[6]
• Halo: Glasslands features Easter eggs that reference Red vs Blue, as Karen Traviss is an avid fan of the machinima series.^[5][7]
  • These include Black-Box saying "Yoink", one of the ODSTs commenting on thinking a Sangheili said "Blarg.", and a Sangheili mispronouncing the name "Phillips" as "Phyllis", which is the phonetic pronunciation of the AI F.I.L.L.S from Red vs. Blue.
• An excerpt of the novel's first chapter was released in the September 2011 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. The excerpt was then republished on Tor's official website.^[8]
• An excerpt of the novel's second chapter was released on October 12th's Halo Bulletin on Halo Waypoint.^[9]

[edit] Sources

1. ^ ^{a b} Halo Official Site: Tor Books reveals title, cover art of first Halo novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss
2. ^ Amazon.com: Halo: Glasslands (hardcover)
3. ^ Halo: Glasslands back cover
4. ^ YouTube: SDCC 2011: Halo Universe Panel Part 1
5. ^ ^{a b} Halo Waypoint - 343 Sparkast 005
6. ^ halo.bungie.org: Re: Might be my favorite cover.
7. ^ IGN, Halo Universe Fiction - Halofest
8. ^ Tor.com - Halo: Glasslands excerpt, Chapter 1
9. ^ Halo Waypoint - Halo: Glasslands excerpt, Chapter 2