Halo: Contact Harvest Releases Next Month

As the Earth-shaking release of Halo 3 continues to send shockwaves extending far beyond the gaming world, another exciting event in the Halo universe will be taking place next month...

On October 30, Tor Books, the largest publisher of science fiction in the world, will release the next novel in its New York Times bestselling series based on Microsoft and Bungie Studios' Halo video games. Halo: Contact Harvest is written by Joseph Staten, Bungie Studios' lead writer and one of the original creators of the Halo game trilogy.

This latest novel is the perfect gift for gaming fans, reading enthusiasts, or those looking to learn even more about the Halo universe.

Halo: Contact Harvest reveals the state of the Halo universe leading up to humanity's devastating first contact with the Covenant— a chance encounter that catapults mankind into a struggle for its very existence. Readers will experience the start of the Human-Covenant war from the perspective of Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, Master Chief's legendary confidant and mentor. As readers follow the young Sergeant's adventures, they will gain terrifying insights into both the Covenant's genocidal fury and the vicious civil war that threatened to destroy humanity's fledgling interstellar empire, even before the Covenant got their chance.

First-time novelist Joseph Staten started with Bungie Studios in 1998, and has since served as a writer and designer for ONI (2001) as well as writer and cinematics director for HALO (2001) and HALO 2 (2004) and is currently working on the much-anticipated, HALO 3.

"It goes without saying that Joseph has great, intimate knowledge of the Halo universe, so who better to tell the harrowing tale of humanity's first contact with the Covenant?" says Tor Editor Eric Raab. "In the novel, Joseph not only reveals exciting nuances of known events and characters such as Sgt. Johnson. But he also breaks new ground —takes readers on an action-packed journey to a little-known but vital part of the Halo universe: the far-flung, ill-fated word of Harvest."