Halo: Cryptum Review
This is a non-spoiler review of the book, so feel free to read without squinting!
Yeah, I know, Jake108 doing a book review. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Believe it or not, that’s the best intro I got. If I go any further, I’m going to sound like Zach Galifianakis on the rooftop at the beginning of Hangover. So I’ll spare you my wolf speech and get right into it. This novel, written by Greg Bear, takes place thousands of years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and centers around a young Forerunner. It is the first of three books and is put out by 343 Industries. You can find some interviews about the book on Waypoint, but they’re a little spoiler-ish, so make sure to read the book first!
Halo: Cryptum Review from a Fan, to Fans
Having read the other Halo books that have come before this, I wasn’t expecting anything drastically different. I’m not saying the previous titles were bad, but rather what is to be expected from a Science Fiction novel based on a best-selling video game franchise. See what I’m saying? It comes to be expected for drawn out action sequences describing which Spartan is using what weapon, which includes the model number so we can say, “Hey, I know that gun! Though I do say, I much prefer the MA5C over the MA5B when dealing with a horde of Grunts.” With Halo: Cryptum, you can expect a full on story without action scenes being a prominent role in the book. When you open this book, you may think you know a lot about Forerunners, their relation to humans, even Covenant. Let me tell you right now that I did too.
But never mind that! Already, I’m going too much into the game. First and foremost, if you are a dedicated Halo fan reading, then know this: By reading Halo: Cryptum, the Halo universe will become so big, so expanded, that it will make playing Halo: Reach, or any other Halo game for that matter, a TINY portion of Halo universe as a whole. Is it a bad thing? Not even in the slightest.
Never read a Halo novel before? Didn’t delve into the terminals in Halo 3? Did you accidentally skip a cutscene in Halo 2? No problem! You can delve into this novel without any prior knowledge of the universe. The novel centers on a Forerunner, whose full name is Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting. But, you know, we can just call him Bornstellar for short. Borstellar, like me when I was his age, is a rebellious little Forerunner and has become a handful for his prominent, widely respectable, higher-up father and caring mother. It is then that Bornstellar is sent away from his family, which can be regarded as the highest class of Forerunner, to live with Miners on a different world. But little ‘ol Bornstellar doesn’t care! You see, he loves to study these ancient artifacts that are usually dug up by miners. This artifacts belong to a race known as the Precursors. I don’t need to say that name twice for you to know these beings existed long before Bornstellar and his family.
Now, story-wise, I’m going to have to stop myself right there so I won’t give too much away. There’s been quite a few comments regarding the cannon of the book and it’s relation to the games. Would I say it destroys cannon, even a tiny bit? No way. In fact, some of the dialogue sequences found in the cutscenes of Halo: Combat Evolved, 2, and 3 are starting to make sense in a different way and much more sense at that. Does this tie in with the Halo: Legends Episode Origins? Absolutely.
This is the book for the Halo fan and I have not been more impressed since finding out what Onyx really was. If you still haven’t bought his book, you need to do it now.
Crpytum comes in at 342 pages and is available to buy through Amazon or wherever you buy your books from.
