On Tuesday, Tor Books launched the latest in their Halo series of books, Halo: The Cole Protocol. Based on the tremendously popular “Halo” video games from Bungie Studios and Microsoft, the publishing franchise has featured two best sellers and looks to add to that record with this new title.
“‘The Cole Protocol’ may be the
closest reading experience to playing the games. The action is
non-stop, and it bores into some really interesting questions
concerning alliances in the greater Halo universe.”Tor Editor Eric Raab
Penned by Nebula nominee and Prometheus Award finalist Tobias S. Buckell, the book reveals the first, early days of the Human-Covenant War, when the UNSC has enacted the Cole Protocol in an attempt to keep Earth and it’s Inner Colonies from being discovered by their alien foe. In the Outer Colonies human survivors of Covenant attacks flee to the asteroid belt where they strike an uneasy alliance with the a Covenant settlement. It is an arrangement which is complicated by a three-man renegade squad, the Spartan Gray Team, on a mission to create havoc behind enemy lines and the Covenant’s counter, the brutal Elite on a quest for nobility, rank and Ascendancy.
While this is Buckell’s first “Halo” novel it is not the first time he has guided the Master Chief on a mission. Buckell is a long time “Halo” fan who has played every incarnation of the game. In a recent interview Buckell recalls, “I started playing ‘Halo 3’ in December after I wrapped up my third original novel that year: it was my ‘OMG I finished another book now it’s time to play until my brains leak out my ears’ sort of thing that happens after every major project.’”
Buckell is a Caribbean-born speculative fiction writer who grew up in Grenada, the US and the British Virgin Islands. He now lives (through many strange twists of fate) in a small college town in Ohio with his wife, Emily. Buckell was a first place winner for the Writers of the Future and has been nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the Nebula Award. He is also a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction Writing Workshop. His other titles include Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin and Sly Mongoose.
Halo: The Cole Protocol
Tobias S. Buckell
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (November 25, 2008)