The Original Series is the retroactive name given to the original four Halo novels. It consists of Halo: The Fall of Reach (2001, Eric Nylund), Halo: The Flood (2003, William C. Dietz), Halo: First Strike (2003, Eric Nylund), and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (2006, Eric Nylund).
The series covers the origins of SPARTAN-II program and SPARTAN-III program, with a particular focus on John-117 and Blue Team. These novels set up the events of the original trilogy of Halo games, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3.
Novels
| Title | Cover | Author | Audio book narrators | Publication | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halo: The Fall of Reach | 
|
Eric Nylund | Todd McLaren | 2001 | Details the SPARTAN-II program, the Covenant attack on Reach, and how the UNSC Pillar of Autumn escaped to Halo. |
| Halo: The Flood | 
|
William C. Dietz | Todd McLaren | 2003 | The novelization of Halo: Combat Evolved. Also features a number of additional subplots which expand on the events on Installation 04. |
| Halo: First Strike | 
|
Eric Nylund | Todd McLaren | 2003 | Fills in the gap between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, explaining the Master Chief's return to Earth and the survival of a number of characters from Reach and Halo. |
| Halo: Ghosts of Onyx | 
|
Eric Nylund | Jonathan Davis | 2006 | Follows Kurt-051, the training of the Spartan-IIIs on Onyx, and the three-sided battle for the planet in 2552. |
Continuity
As the original novels, these novel form the groundwork for the majority of Halo lore released after 2006.
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