Halo: Evolutions

Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe is a story collection set from Tor Books. Like the Halo Graphic Novel, Evolutions features stories by a variety of writers, including Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell, Karen Traviss, Robert McLees, and many other critically acclaimed authors. It was released on November 24th, 2009. Halo: Evolutions' short stories act like stepping stones to the Forerunner Trilogy, to be written by Greg Bear in 2010. The book also explores foggy corners and faces of the Halo Universe.

Content

Beyond

Main article: Beyond

Beyond describes an individual's opinion on the Halo rings and the implications of their existence. Cover art by Sparth and written by Jonathan Goff.

Pariah

Main article: Pariah

Pariah tells the story of Soren-066, a Spartan who was one of a dozen unfortunate candidates who washed out of the program due to complications arising from the biological enhancements, and the struggles he faced afterwords. It was written by B.K. Evenson.

Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss

Main article: Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss

Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss tells the story of an ONI agent named Connor Brien, who was sent to investigate Brutes on a remote colony world. Brien eventually gets captured by Hammadus while watching the Brutes from a tree and is thrown together with the rest of the human survivors. The human prisoners are used as amusement and food. The ONI agent conspires with a spiritual guru, Dasc, to escape. While the pack's unity slowly breaks down, the prisoners make a distraction, which gave Brien and Dasc a chance to escape. The ONI agent and the spiritual guru eventually escaped from the Brutes, but Dasc then killed Brien before the help could arrive. It was written by Eric Raab.

Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian

Main article: Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian

Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian tells the story of an ODST who is put under for a surgery to remove a tumor before participating in his next mission. When the ODST awakens, he finds that he is the only human left alive on the the UNSC Heart of Midlothian after a Covenant Special Operations team has boarded and taken the ship. Living on borrowed time, the ODST has to stop the Covenant from capturing the shipboard AI and learning the location of Earth. It was written by Frank O'Connor.

Dirt

Dirt follows a Harvest militiaman from his time before the Human-Covenant War as he joins first the CMA, and then the UNSC. After joining the ODSTs, the Covenant destroy Harvest, leaving him no home to go back to. After nearly thirty years of war, he is reunited with a few of his old friends from his CMA days, but is presented with a moral crisis that eventually leads to his heroic death. It was written by Tobias S. Buckell.

Acheron-VII

Main article: Acheron-VII

Cover art was done by Sparth and it was written by Jonathan Goff.

Headhunters

Main article: Headhunters (Short Story)

Headhunters follows the story of a two-man SPARTAN-III team, sent deep into Covenant territory to deal serious damage behind enemy lines. It was written by Jonathan Goff.

Blunt Instruments

Main article: Blunt Instruments

Blunt Instruments follows SPARTAN-II Black Team which is given the task to disable a Covenant energy supply station. During the course of the operation, Black Team made an uneasy alliance with the Yanme'e, who tricked them into organizing their escape. It was written by Fred Van Lente.

The Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa follows the crew of the UNSC Red Horse as they are sent to investigate the fate of the UNSC Mona Lisa, which has mysteriously come to rest near the destroyed Installation 04. After boarding the ship, a team of Marines discovers that the ship has been overrun by the Flood, and begin a desperate struggle for survival against the parasite. It was written by Tessa Kum and Jeff VanderMeer.

Icon

Main article: Icon

Icon describes the lives of John-117, the SPARTAN-IIs and Spartan-IIIs, and the legacy they left. Cover art was done by Robogabo and it was written by Jonathan Goff.

Palace Hotel

Main article: Metropolis

Palace Hotel follows the Master Chief's movements from getting on the other side of the bridge in the Halo 2 level "Metropolis" to right before he boards the Scarab. It also discusses Master Chief's discovery of a childhood friend. The story was written by Robert McLees.

Human Weakness

Main article: Human Weakness

Human Weakness tells what happened at the end of Halo 2, with Cortana in the clutches of the Gravemind. The Gravemind manages to break Cortana by introducing the fallacies of her existence and the purpose of her service, but through it all he cannot get her to give up one last secret. It was written by Karen Traviss.

Connectivity

Main article: Connectivity

Connectivity describes the connection between Cortana and John-117. Cover art was done by Robogabo and it was written by Jonathan Goff.

The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole

Main article: The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole

The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole is a series of email transcripts from Codename: SURGEON to Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS, and details in length the life and times of UNSC military leader Preston Cole, including his possible death or survival during his famed last stand. It was written by Eric Nylund.

The Return

Main article: The Return

The Return follows a Sangheili Ship Master as he travels back to the human colony world Kholo, which he had led the destruction of years earlier, to reflect on his actions and look for guidance in the wake of the Great Schism. It is set after the events of Halo 3. It was written by Kevin Grace.

From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal

From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal is an email transcript from Dr. William Arthur Iqbal to his colleagues, and details the progress of their research on the Forerunner structure in Mombasa, Kenya.

Links

Internal

• Halo Graphic Novel

External

• Tor Books Announces HALO: EVOLUTIONS—Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
• Collection: Halo Evolutions