Halo: Glasslands

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

Plot

Set after the events of Halo 3 in 2553, Halo: Glasslands explores the volatile political situation in the Halo universe following the end of the Human-Covenant War.

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 in a massive Dyson sphere within a slipspace bubble, now lying in the remnants of the artificial planet Onyx. While they explore the Forerunner construct and attempt to find a way out, ONI 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 a civilian academic known as 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, and later bring Dr. Halsey in 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. Meanwhile 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 shield world is eventually brought into normal space from its slipspace bubble by the Huragok, and Parangosky sends Kilo-Five inside to arrest Halsey, while ONI dispatches science teams to recover Forerunner technologies from the construct.

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

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

Appearances

Characters

• Akeyo Oduya (Mentioned only)
• Ash-G099
• Avu Med 'Telcam (First appearance)
• Black-Box (First appearance)
• Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
• Cortana (Mentioned only)
• David Agnoli (First appearance)
• Evan Phillips (First appearance)
• Emanuel Barakat Template:First mentioned
• Franklin Mendez
• Fred-104
• Jul ‘Mdama (First appearance)
• John-117 (Mentioned only)
• Kelly-087
• Kurt-051 (Mentioned only)
• Lian Devereaux (First appearance)
• Linda-058
• Lucy-B091
• Malcolm Geffen (First appearance)
• Margaret O. Parangosky
• Mark
• Miranda Keyes (Mentioned only)
• Naomi-010 (First appearance)
• Olivia
• Prone to Drift (First appearance)
• Prophet of Truth (Mentioned only)
• Ruth Charet Template:First mentioned
• Serin Osman (First appearance)
• Terrence Hood (Mentioned only)
• Thel 'Vadam
• Tom-B292
• Vasily Beloi (First appearance)
• Tom Muir (First appearance)

Locations

• Brunel system (First appearance)
  • New Llanelli (First appearance)
• Fied, Joori, and Urs system
  • Sanghelios
    • State of Mdama (First appearance)
      • Bekan Keep (First appearance)
    • State of Ontom (First appearance)
• Sol system
  • Earth
    • Australia
      • Sydney
        • HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6
• Zeta Doradus system
  • Onyx
    • The Sharpened Shield
• Venezia (First appearance)

Organizations

• Unified Earth Government
  • United Nations Space Command
    • UNSC Marine Corps
      • Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
        • 105th Shock Troops Division
          • 10th Shock Troops Battalion (First appearance)
    • UNSC Navy
      • Naval Special Warfare Command
        • SPARTAN-II Program
      • Office of Naval Intelligence
        • Kilo-Five (First appearance)
        • Section Three
          • Beta-5 Division
            • SPARTAN-III Program
• Servants of Abiding Truth (First appearance)

Species

• Flood (Mentioned only)
• Human
• Huragok
• Jiralhanae
• Kig-yar
• Sangheili
• San 'Shyuum (Mentioned only)
• Unggoy (Mentioned only)

Vehicles

• UNSC Battle of Minden (First appearance)
• UNSC Dusk (Mentioned only)
• UNSC Glamorgan (First appearance)
• UNSC Infinity (Mentioned only)
• UNSC Port Stanley (First appearance)
• Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle
• Type-48 Light Assault Gun Carriage
• Tarasque-class heavy fighter
• M12 Force Application Vehicle

Trivia

• The cover of the novel was illustrated by former Bungie concept artist Eddie Smith.
• Halo: Glasslands features Easter eggs that reference Red vs Blue, as Karen Traviss is an avid fan of the machinima series.
• 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.
• An excerpt of the novel's second chapter was released on October 12th's Halo Bulletin on Halo Waypoint.