Halo: Battle Born
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Halo: Battle Born | |
|---|---|
| |
| Attribution information | |
|
Author(s): |
|
|
Cover artist(s): |
Antonio Javier Caparo |
| Publication information | |
|
Publisher: |
|
|
Publication date: |
|
|
Media type: |
Print[1] |
|
Pages: |
304 pages[1] |
|
ISBN: |
|
Halo: Battle Born is a print novel by Cassandra Rose Clarke, released on January 1, 2019.[1] This novel is the first of a novel series called Battle Born: A Halo Young Adult Novel Series[4] The book was followed by a sequel, Halo: Meridian Divide, with a third sequel planned but ultimately cancelled by the publisher.[5] A re-release of the novel was published by Simon & Schuster on March 26, 2024.[2]
Official summary[edit]
| “ | Saskia, Dorian, Evie, and Victor aren't exactly friends at their small high school on the middle-of-nowhere colony world of Meridian. Each has their own problems, from absent parents to supporting their family, getting into a good college to making the next hit holo-film. But those problems were nothing next to the threat now facing their world: The alien alliance known as the Covenant is laying siege to Meridian, for reasons that aren't so easily explained.
With their village in flames, the four teens find themselves stuck above ground, locked out of the town shelter where the rest of the survivors are gathered. Together, Saskia, Dorian, Evie, and Victor are thrust into battle with nothing but a few scavenged weapons and an injured Spartan, one of the UNSC's super-soldiers. What's forged from the destruction will determine the fate of Meridian, and tilt the battle for humanity's survival. [1] |
” |
Plot synopsis[edit]
On the planet Meridian, in the coastal town of Brume-sur-Mer, Evie strategically asks her father, Mikal Rousseau, if she can go to a rock concert with her friend, Victor Gallardo. To her delight, Mikal cautiously agrees. She meets up with Victor at his car outside her neighborhood, who is filming a rare sighting of a Sardans cat, sitting in the tree-line. Rain begins to fall, and a crack of thunder scares it away. The two drive across town to the emergency shelter where the concert is taking place. Inside, Victor films the scene with his comm pad for Dorian Nguyen, the percussion engineer of the band. Evie walks around and bumps into Saskia Nazari, the odd duck of her school. The power cuts out. The town AI, Salome, announces on everyone’s comm pad that a town-wide power failure has been noted. The lights come back on, and the concert continues.
The next day, a hung-over Dorian is driven by his Uncle Max, towards Brume-sur-Mer’s fusion reactor, outside of town. They inspect it to see if they can find why the power went out the day prior, and they find a scorch mark on its surface. The security footage, & AI Salome’s observations, are inconclusive. The wind & rain intensify. Dorian & his uncle head back to the house before their next job, to check on his nephew, Remy. On their way to the docks, Dorian receives a message from one of his bandmates telling him that they have a new opportunity for a show out at sea. Mr. Garzon instructs Dorian to fly a Scud-rider out to repair the light signals out at sea, which went dark after the power outage. Dorian sets a course and flies out into the deep ocean. Distracted by the euphoria of flight, he overshoots it, and veers back to the first lone light signal. He finds the entire inside charred & burned.
The next day, Victor takes advantage of the pause in the rain, and convinces Evie, over messaging, to sneak out to help him with his holo-film. He meets Evie outside of town, bringing his film equipment, a wood model village, and an advanced animatronic dragon that they would record decimating the scene. The two find a perfect location to set up and film. Evie remotely controls the dragon’s pre-coded programs, while Victor records using his holo-cam. To Victor’s annoyance, the rain starts up again earlier than expected. A loud crack pierces the silence, despite no signs of a storm or clouds. A 2nd one tears through the air, this time coming from the direction of town. Victor remembers his sisters (Camila & Maria) in the UNSC, of their warnings & advice if The Covenant were ever to appear here. Although worried, Victor insists on finishing the scene.
Out at sea, Dorian’s band, Drowning Chromium, is about to play in front of a massive crowd on the concert host’s boat. All band members are anxious as the preceding band raps up their song and exits the stage passing them. Drowning Chromium deploys their equipment, and adrenaline and purpose surges through Dorian. They blast through their song, only to be met with silence. Up in the sky an eery purple twilight emanates, a white flash as bright as day, and then darkness. A bright purple light looms towards the boat. The crowd begins to panic. The Covenant ship passes over, dropping off numerous flying drones that tear plasma fire through the crowd. Dorian yells for his band members to hide backstage. He grabs one of his bandmate’s guitars and manages to slam a hovering drone off the side of the deck with it. The boat that was once filled with screams is silent now. Exploding fire embers burn him. Dorian flings himself into the water and swims back towards land in the darkness, not knowing if his friends made it.
Evie & Victor argue over technical issues regarding equipment. They witness the bright purple flash and smell smoke. Mortifying thoughts flash through Evie’s head, as she tries to contact her dad; the networks are down. They decide to head back to the emergency town shelter. Driving back towards town, they encounter an unarmed Jackal in the middle of the road. Victor tries to drive past it, but it leaps onto the car, causing him to crash it. Evie & Victor scramble over each other, trying the escape through the trunk of the car. The jackal breaks through the windshield, digs its claws into Evie’s ankle, and drags her out of the car. Evie flails and fights it until a gunshot kills it. Saskia Nazari stands nearby holding a rifle. She tells Evie & Victor to follow her to her place, not back to town, because the Covenant are already there.
Saskia guides Evie & Victor to her fortress of a home, with towering walls. Her parents, who work for Chalybs Defense Solutions, are away. Inside, and while Saskia retrieves a Health pack, the three observe a massive covenant ship descend near town. Saskia tends to Evie’s injured ankle, and guides them to the safe room. A room with prototype weapons is hidden adjacent to this, but Saskia decides not to mention it. Evie uses a holo-panel to try contacting anyone out there. They hear Covenant chatter on the other end, and quickly change it to the emergency broadcast channel. They decide the only logical course of action is to stay hidden in the safe room.
This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.
Appearances[edit]
Characters
Species
Organizations
Locations
|
Events
Vehicles
WeaponsTechnology and equipmentMiscellaneous
|
Re-releases[edit]
In spring 2024, both Battle Born and Meridian Divide were re-released by the publisher Simon & Schuster. For the updated release, Battle Born was given an Adjunct section similar to those found in The Original Series of novels written by Eric Nylund and reissued in 2010. While the re-released Battle Born contains only a few minor wording differences from the original, the Adjunct contains two uncredited short stories:
- Free Frontier Education: The Sundered Legion (6 pages)
- Glassed (5 pages)
The updated release also saw the novels given new audiobook releases, with unique voice actors for each of the point-of-view characters:[3]
Gallery[edit]
A user on Reddit came across an early version of the book with a slightly different cover than the final release.
Cover art for the 2024 re-release of Halo: Battle Born.
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Amazon.co.uk - Battle Born(Halo)
- ^ a b c d Simon & Schuster, Halo: Battle Born (Retrieved on Jan 11, 2024) [archive]
- ^ a b c d e f g Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - If They Want Lore, We'll Give 'Em Lore (Retrieved on Mar 26, 2024) [archive]
- ^ Amazon.com - HALO: Battle Born (Battle Born: A Halo Young Adult Novel Series #1)
- ^ Cassandra Rose Clarke, Halo: Battle Born Officially Announced: "The publisher decided not to publish the third one (it was a huge disappointment to me as well!) I'm hoping if people let them know they want a sequel, they'll change their mind." (Retrieved on Jun 1, 2020) [archive]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
