It is 2553, and the three-decade long Covenant War that defined a generation has suddenly drawn to a close. Yet, in the remotest parts of human space, tensions remain that threaten to overflow into another full-scale conflict. Beneath the surface of the planet Gao lies a vast cavern system renowned for its therapeutic effects and rumored miraculous cures. But now Gao natives are turning up brutally murdered down there—violent acts that happen to coincide with the recent arrival of a UNSC research battalion protected by Spartan Blue Team, led by the renowned Spartan-II Fred-104.
Maverick detective Veta Lopis of the Gao Ministry of Protection is only trying to do her job as the Special Inspector assigned to catch a serial killer—one who is possibly hiding within the Spartan ranks—but she never anticipates the situation spiraling out of control into an all-out crisis. When Gao is revealed to harbor ancient Forerunner technology that could solidify the UNSC’s military supremacy for centuries to come, Insurrection loyalists within the planetary government will do anything—even align with a vicious faction of what remains of the Covenant—to ensure that never happens…
Source: Amazon.com
Author: Troy Denning
A decent book with some interesting insight into the minds of the Spartan III’s, which unlike the Spartan twos and fours are a bit of a mystery to me. That being said, when you read this, you’ll notice that the setting is a bit weird and it won’t be until you get to the author’s notes at the end that you’ll figure out why the setting is so oddly placed: turns out someone got themselves a new hobby and wanted to share it with everyone else. It was to a bad effect, just odd to have the Spartans running around in an obviously not normal local. It was a fun read, though may not really appeal to anyone that isn’t following the Halo universe.
As an aside, the main Spartan is “Spartan Fred”, who’s going to be on Spartan 117’s team in the upcoming Halo 5 game, so it’s nice to get a solid introduction to him before the game happens.
Just actually finished it recently myself. Feels like a set up for a new trilogy of Halo books. Nice to see more of the Spartan III’s and their SPI. While they were originally introduced in the Ghosts of Onyx book I feel as if a lot of their story was ignored by Noble team in Halo: Reach. But then again I felt as if Reach ignored a lot of The Fall of Reach book as well.
Forgive me, but what’s “SPI”?
I remember they were introduced in Ghosts of Onyx, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what happened in that story. I vaguely remember it ended on something of a cliffhanger with the Spartans being sucked into a shield world, but other than that, it’s all a blur.
Semi Powered Infiltrator armour. Basically fancy cloaking armour. Always wanted to see it used more in the games.
As I recall at the end of Onyx, Fred, Kelly, Linda, and some of the Spartan IIIs were marooned inside the Shield World of Onyx itself. Karen Traviss extracts them from it in Grasslands, the fi book of her Kilo Five trilogy. She then ties those plot points together with Halo 4’s story.