Halo Prequel Parasite's Wake Officially Releases October 20

Halo really feels like it has found something of a new lease on life over the last year or so, with the release of Campaign Evolved reminding us longtime fans of what made it so brilliant in the first place. That first game started a universe that has since grown exponentially, and the lore has become one of the main things that the community likes to explore.

Obviously, that has been expanded upon in all of the games we have played to date, but there are plenty of wider releases attached to the franchise that tell new stories in the same world. Now, the latest of those is about to release to the public for the first time, and it offers a whole new perspective on the chaotic events of the first game.

In case you missed the initial announcement, Halo: Parasite's Wake is an upcoming novel that's set to release on October 20. The story follows Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto (who you may know from Halo: The Flood), as he and his marines attempt to survive the outbreak of the Flood on Installation 04. As you might expect, that means it takes place during the events of the first game, and that makes it as prescient as anything right now.

The blurb for the new novel reads as follows:

"2552. As the planet Reach falls to the alien alliance known as the Covenant, a lone human ship—the UNSC Pillar of Autumn—fled into slipspace and has arrived at a place that could change the course of this decades-long war. An ancient, mysterious ringworld: Halo.

"With human forces scattered across the surface of this immense alien construct, Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto must now lead his fellow crewmates—survivors from the ship’s brig—back to the Autumn’s crash site to rally and regroup with their allies. Desertion, drunk and disorderly, and murder are only a few of the charges that Mobuto's squad carries—and keeping them in line might prove to be just as difficult as surviving the zealous, entrenched Covenant warriors who believe they have found the gateway to paradise.

"But as war rages across the ring's landscape for control of the installation’s weapons and secrets, a far more terrible threat from deep within Halo’s underworld is hellishly unleashed that transforms this conflict into a desperate battle of survival for UNSC and Covenant alike..."

The book is available for pre-order now from most online retailers ahead of its release later this month.

As for the Halo franchise more widely, the games have been given to Activision Blizzard after all the recent changes at Xbox, where they are building on a dedicated team for the next game. It also seems as though we will also be getting a similar remaster for Halo 2, if the teaser at the end of the Legendary run in Campaign Evolved was anything to go by, so that should give us plenty to do while we wait for the next game.

TV Show(s) Halo

Video Game(s) Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, Halo Wars, Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo: Spartan Strike, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Halo Recruit, Halo: Fireteam Raven, Halo Infinite

Genres Sci-Fi, Action

Cast Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, Keith David, David Scully, Pablo Schreiber, Shabana Azmi, Olive Gray, Christina Bennington, Kate Kennedy, Natascha McElhone, Natasha Culzac, Yerin Ha

Character(s) Master Chief, Cortana, Arbiter, Commander Jacob Keyes, 343 Guilty Spark, Miranda Keyes, Catherine Halsey

Comic Release Date 648567,648568,648569,516289

Halo is a sci-fi video game franchise set in the future where an enhanced super soldier known as Master Chief works with his AI companion Cortana to save humanity from an alien military alliance called the Covenant. The franchise has expanded into books, a TV series, comics, and more.