Just hours following their climactic battle on the Forerunner planet Genesis, the Spartans of Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris find themselves running for their lives from the malevolent machinations of the now-renegade artificial intelligence Cortana. But even as they attempt to stay one step ahead, trouble seems to find Spartan Edward Buck no matter where he turns.A secret mission enacted by the Office of Naval Intelligence could possibly help turn the tide, and has Buck reluctantly agreeing to reform his old team, Alpha-Nine. Because if the band is really getting back together for this one, that means everybody—including the Spartan who Buck never wants to see again, the one who committed the ultimate betrayal of trust…

It should be no surprise that 343 continues to mismanage the Halo franchise, but here we are yet again, if you don’t read this book, you’re really not going to have a good time in the next game. That being said, this is a great book, well written, well paced, and Matt Forbeck has done an amazing job continuing the story from Halo 5, but this is a thankless, pointless task. Why is the story from the game being continued in this book? Why not in the next game?

oh the next game is set years after Halo 5?

sigh.