List of changes in Halo novel reprints

When the first three Halo novels were reissued by Tor Books in 2010-2011, a number of changes were made to remedy several internal inconsistencies and canonical conflicts created by changes implemented to the fiction in subsequent media.

Halo: The Fall of Reach
There are two reissued editions of The Fall of Reach; the first one, released on August 3, 2010, retained many of the errors present in the original printing while spawning some new ones of its own, prompting Tor Books to publish an additional "Definitive Edition" with further revisions on June 28, 2011.


 * The dropship used by the SPARTAN-II trainees in chapter 5 is changed from a Pelican into an Albatross.


 * On page 46 of the original edition, Kelly hands out parts of a map to the seventy-five SPARTAN-II trainees. Then on page 48, when John checked to make sure the children arrived at the lake, he counted only sixty-seven. In the re-release, "sixty-seven" is changed to seventy-four.


 * In the original edition, when the Spartans are browsing through the cargo manifest of the freighter Laden, the ship is said to carry champagne of a "Beta Centauri vintage", implying the Beta Centauri system had been colonized by humanity. In the re-release, "Beta Centauri" has been changed to "Procyon". This is likely due to the fact the system is situated well beyond the known sphere of influence of humanity and thus unlikely to house a colony.


 * In the original edition, Captain Keyes refers to Ensign William Lovell as "Michael" when first meeting him. This has been corrected in the 2010 edition.


 * In the original edition, a UNSC frigate was referred to as the Alliance, and then shortly thereafter as the Allegiance. In the 2010 edition, the ship is referred to as the Allegiance in both instances.


 * In the original edition, the ship was referred to as a cruiser and then later as a carrier. In the 2010 edition, the ship is referred to as a cruiser in both instances.


 * On page 19 of the original edition, Michael Stanforth is said to be a Vice Admiral, and on page 95, it is said he was a Rear Admiral. In the 2010 edition, he is referred to as a Vice Admiral in both instances.


 * In the 2001 edition, the Pillar of Autumn is said to be missing its port-side emergency thrusters, though it later uses them twice. In the 2010 edition, the mention of the thrusters being missing has been removed.


 * In Chapter 22, James-005's left arm is burnt off by an assault cannon. In the original edition, it is said a few pages later that he saluted with his left hand. In the 2010 re-release, he salutes with his right hand.


 * Several references to the Sangheili being a never-before seen Covenant species prior to the Fall of Reach are altered. When Dr. Halsey briefs the Spartans for Operation: RED FLAG in chapter 26, the line
 * "We believe there is a 'race' of field commanders, which we are currently calling 'Elites'"
 * is changed into:
 * "We also know that there is a 'race' of field commanders we have historically called 'Elites'".
 * During the Spartans' mission to Reach Station Gamma in chapter 35, the following sentence:
 * "These must be the elite warrior class Dr. Halsey had conjectured. The Covenant's best? They were about to find out."
 * is changed into:
 * "These were Elites - the iron heart of the Covenant. Would they best the Spartans this time? They were about to find out."


 * In chapter 29, the sentence
 * "From this distance, the Pillar of Autumn could have been mistaken for an elongated frigate."
 * is changed into:
 * "From this distance, the Pillar of Autumn could have been mistaken for a Marathon-class carrier."
 * It should be noted that this is an error, as Marathon is actually a class of cruiser.


 * The number of the Covenant ships present at the battle over Reach is changed from 314 to "well over seven hundred" in the 2010 reissue. This may be due to a line spoken by Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood in Halo 2, where he states that the fleet that destroyed Reach was "fifty times" the size of the Fleet of Sacred Consecration. However the change is only done once while all other instances state the fleet consists of 314 ships. The number is changed back to its original form in the 2011 Definitive Edition.


 * In the 2001 edition, Admiral Roland Freemont recalls all UNSC warships in the "REACH, JERICO (sic) and TANTALUS systems" to the defense of Reach. The 2010 reissue changes the spelling of "JERICO" to "JERICHO", but the rest of the line remains unchanged. In the 2011 Definitive Edition, the reference to the Tantalus and Jericho systems has been removed.

Halo: The Flood

 * The original edition describes how a group of entrenched Marines could not be hit by Ghosts' plasma fire, as the vehicles' plasma cannons were fixed and the marines were on a hill. In the games, the Ghost's plasma cannons can easily increase or decrease their angle. The line is altered to be more vague in the new edition:


 * "Fortunately, the weapons that fired the energy bolts were fixed, which meant that the rise would continue to offer the humans a good deal of protection, so long as the Ghosts weren't allowed to climb the slopes."


 * is changed into:


 * "Fortunately, the Covenant vehicles couldn't get a fix on the Marines' position, which meant that the rise would continue to offer the humans a good deal of protection, so long as the Ghosts weren't allowed to climb the slopes."


 * A reference to a Hunter having a spine is changed in Chapter 4 in a scene where John-117 kills one with a Shade turret. In addition, the male pronoun used to refer to it is changed to the neutral "it" in some instances:


 * "The Hunter didn't have time to bring its shield fully into play, and plasma blasts burned through multiple layers of armor, and exited through his spine."


 * is changed into:


 * "The Hunter didn't have time to bring its shield fully into play, and plasma blasts burned through multiple layers of armor, and exited through its back."


 * However, the male pronoun remains unchanged in most instances and Ogada Nosa Fasu is still said to have a spine when John-117 kills it in Chapter 6.


 * In the original edition, Sergeant Parker, who is otherwise consistently referred to as a he, is referred to as a she on page 113. He is consistently referred to with the male pronoun in the new version.


 * The previously unidentified "loader-type exoskeleton" used by Oros when unloading cargo from the Pillar of Autumn is now identified as a Cyclops.


 * In Chapter 8, the original edition consistently mistakes the 8-gauge shotgun as 12-gauge. This has been corrected in the 2010 edition.


 * In Chapter 9, the Second Squad was implied to have been completely consumed by the Flood, specifically saying that their numbers dwindled until two PFCs remained, before the last of the Marines fell. On the next page, however, it is stated that Foehammer proceeded to pick up the Marines. The following change is made in the new edition:


 * "The Spartan had vanished, and there was little the pilot could do except pick up the Marines, and hope for the best."


 * is changed into:


 * "The Spartan had vanished, and there was little the pilot could do except hope for the best."


 * In Chapter 10 of the original version, it says that three weapons would be unwieldy for the Chief, not to mention "damned heavy." It then says he chose a shotgun and sniper rifle. During the ensuing engagement, it is then stated the Chief "switched to the pistol", despite the fact it was established he was only carrying a shotgun and a sniper rifle at the time. In the 2010 edition, "pistol" is changed to "shotgun".


 * In the original edition, First Lieutenant Melissa McKay's mission clock, seen in chapter headings, is prefixed by an extra 1, creating an inconsistency with the Master Chief's mission clock. This has been fixed in the 2010 edition.

Halo: First Strike

 * The Longsword used by the Master Chief and the other survivors from Installation 04 to land in the Ascendant Justice was repeatedly referred to as a Pelican in the original edition. The ship is consistently referenced as a Longsword in the reprint.


 * In the original edition, the headings for chapters 5 through 9 refer to the Soell system as an "uncharted system". In the 2010 edition, the headings identify the system as Soell.


 * The formerly unidentified Covenant excavation machines at Menachite Mountain are now stated to be Scarabs.


 * Vinh is referred to as "SPARTAN 029" twice in the original edition, even though the tag 029 is assigned to Joshua throughout the rest of the book. In the 2010 edition, Vinh is correctly referenced as "SPARTAN 030" in both instances.


 * Similar to the changes regarding the Elites in The Fall of Reach, references to the Jiralhanae as a supposedly "new" Covenant species are changed in chapter 33:


 * "Also be advised, Chief, that there are ceremonial guards in this temple—a race we have not encountered before. Roughly translated from Covenant dialects, they are called 'Brutes'. They shouldn't be a significant threat or they would have been used in previous military situations."


 * is changed into:


 * "Also be advised, Chief, that there are Brutes in this temple. They shouldn't be a significant threat."


 * Also, in the next paragraph, the sentence "The name "Brute" didn't sound promising." is removed.


 * On the same page, the sentence
 * "The creature Cortana had called a "Brute" stepped from the shadows and faced John."


 * is changed into:


 * "The Brute stepped from the shadows and faced John."


 * There are two instances in which the descriptions of the Covenant's glassing doctrine, given by certain characters, are modified. The first is located in chapter 11 during Lieutenant Wagner's debriefing by the UNSC Security Council. The line:


 * "When the Covenant destroys a planet, they typically move their large warships closer and blanket the world with a series of crisscrossing orbits to ensure that every square millimetre of the surface is covered with plasma bombardments."


 * is changed into:


 * "When the Covenant destroys a planet, they typically move their large warships closer and blanket the world with a series of crisscrossing orbits to ensure that nothing could ever survive on its surface."

Two pages prior to this, the line:


 * "Before I jumped to Slipspace, I witnessed the poles destroyed, and approximately two thirds of the planet's surface was on fire."


 * is changed into:


 * "Before I jumped to Slipspace, I witnessed the poles destroyed, and a significant portion of the planet's surface was on fire."

Additionally, Fred's description of the event in chapter 12 is also slightly modified:


 * "Something didn't fit. Covenant plasma bombardment had always proceeded in an orderly crisscrossing pattern across a planet until every square centimeter of the surface was glass and cinder."


 * is changed to:


 * "Something didn't fit. Covenant plasma bombardment had always proceeded in an orderly crisscrossing pattern across a planet until everything on its surface was glass and cinder."