Halo Book Series in Order
Halo has been Microsoft’s premiere shooter for decades, spawning stories across many branches of media. The massive success of the games spawned numerous TV shows, spinoff games, books, and comics that have been released since 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved. The cool thing about the books is they’re considered canon to the games, expanding the franchise’s lore.
Consistency is tricky, though, with such a vast network of multimedia content. 343 Industries sought to resolve consistency problems by connecting the books with the games. Knowing where to start amongst the nine series of books and numerous stand-alone novellas can be pretty intimidating. So, that’s what this list is for. Below are three different recommended orders to read the Halo books: release date, by series, and chronologically. Without further ado, here areall 34 Halo booksand the best orders to read them in.
Release Order
Release order works well for a variety of reasons. First, it starts with one of the very best Halo novels: The Fall of Reach.The Fall of Reachis good to sink your teeth into first if you’re a fan of the games because it establishes the events leading up to Halo Reach. Second, the narrative flow between trilogies has good pacing and internal consistency. Publishers made sure to keep the connective tissue between books so they could be understood by returning readers. Here are all 34 books in their release order.
Series Order
This order is organized in groupings of trilogies and series. Each set of series is loosely ordered chronologically from each other. Some individual books in a series occasionally go out of chronological order, so this isn’t considered the strict chronological order. However, each grouping does share thematic material to have a smooth reading experience.
The Forerunner Saga
The Original Series
Gray Team Series
Kilo-Five Trilogy
Alpha-Nine Series
The Ferrets Series
Rion Forge & Ace Of Spades Series
‘A Master Chief Story’ Trilogy
Battle Born
Standalone Books
Chronological Order
Chronological order starts with the Forerunner saga, a plot that occurs way before the events in the games andshows. First-time readers are recommended to dive into the books inrelease orderdue to the publishers accounting for returning customers through recaps and explanations. The two anthology books (Evolutions and Fractures) will be divided based on their short story’s particular in-lore date. Each era is based on the conflict that they’re known for representing.
Forerunner Era, 100,000 BC
Beginnings of the Human/Covenant War, 2524 – 2551
Master Chief Era (Halo 1-3), 2551 – 2556
After the Human/Covenant War, 2557-2559
Those are our three recommended ways to read theHalo books. And those 34 books aren’t the end of the Halo written word either. 2023 saw the release of Halo: Outcasts, and we’re anticipating the release of Halo: Epitaph in 2024. If you enjoyed this breakdown, be sure to check out our article laying out theHalo games in order.
