Halo: Glasslands

Template:Book Info 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 around 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 on the Sharpened Shield, a slipspace-based Dyson sphere now lying in the remnants of the artificial planet Onyx.

While they explore the Forerunner construct and attempt to find a way out, Office of Naval Intelligence 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 civilian academic 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, as well as to arrest Dr. Halsey 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.

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 Sharpened Shield is eventually brought into normal space from its slipspace bubble by the Huragok, and Serin Osman personally arrested Halsey on Parangosky's orders. ONI dispatches science teams to recover Forerunner technologies from the construct, designating the sphere as ONI Research Facility Trevelyan at Dr. Halsey's request.

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

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

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.
  • These being in one part where Black-Box says "Yoink" and where a Sangheili says "Blarg."
• 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.