Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Halo: Evolutions | |
|---|---|
Original
 Volume I
 Volume II
 2019 Edition
 | |
| Attribution information | |
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Author(s): |
Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell, Karen Traviss, Robert McLees, B.K. Evenson, Jonathan Goff, Kevin Grace, Frank O'Connor, Eric Raab, Fred Van Lente, Jeff VanderMeer and Tessa Kum |
| Publication information | |
|
Publisher: |
Tor Books (original) |
|
Publication date: |
November 24, 2009 (original) |
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Media type: |
Print (Hardback, paperback), Audiobook |
|
Pages: |
528 pages (original) |
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ISBN: |
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| Other information | |
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Notable info: |
Three short-stories were adapted into motion comics by ONE |
Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe is a collection of short-stories and poems from Tor Books.[1][2] Like the Halo Graphic Novel, Evolutions features stories by a variety of writers, including Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell, Karen Traviss, Robert McLees, Fred Van Lente and many other critically acclaimed authors.[1] Production of the anthology was begun "around Christmas" of 2008,[3] and the book was released on November 24, 2009. The book also explores foggy corners and faces of the Halo universe. Some of Halo: Evolutions' short stories act like stepping stones to The Forerunner Saga, written by Greg Bear.
An audiobook version of Evolutions is available on Amazon.com, Audible.com, and iTunes. It is narrated by Steve Downes, Holter Graham, Frank O'Connor, and Jen Taylor.[4]
Halo: Evolutions was re-released as two separate volumes with one additional story in each, as well as new cover art for each of the original stories selected from the Halo: Evolutions community art contest.[5] The new stories Soma the Painter and Wages of Sin were added to the Volume I and II editions, respectively. These stories and artwork were only ever included in the volume releases of Evolutions, and were never included in the later versions of the book.
Some of the stories in Evolutions have been adapted into motion comics, with Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, The Return and The Mona Lisa animated by ONE and Headhunters by MoreFrames.
Official summary[edit]
| “ | When humanity expanded beyond the safety of Earth to new stars and horizons, they never dreamed what dangers they would encounter there. When the alien juggernaut known as the Covenant declared holy war upon the fragile human empire, millions of lives were lost—but, millions of heroes rose to the challenge. In such a far-reaching conflict, not many of the stories of these heroes, both human and alien, have a chance to become legend. This collection holds eleven stories that dive into the depths of the vast Halo universe, not only from the perspective of those who fought and died to save humanity, but also those who vowed to wipe humanity out of existence. | ” |
Content[edit]
Beyond[edit]
- Main article: Beyond
Beyond is a poem that describes an individual's opinion on the Halo rings and the implications of their existence. It was written by Jonathan Goff, with cover art done by Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier.
Pariah[edit]
- 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 afterward. It was written by B.K. Evenson.
Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss[edit]
- 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 is sent to investigate Brutes on Beta Gabriel. 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 Gevadim, to escape. While the pack's unity slowly breaks down, the prisoners make a distraction, which gives Brien and Dasc a chance to escape. The ONI agent and the spiritual guru eventually escape from the Brutes, but Brien is killed by Dasc before the help can arrive. It was written by Eric Raab.
Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian[edit]
- 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 UNSC The 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 and effectively acts as a sequel to the Halo Legends episode Prototype.
Dirt[edit]
- Main article: Dirt
Dirt follows a Harvest militiaman, named Gage Yevgenny, from his time before the Human-Covenant War as he joins first the CMA, and then the UNSC with his two friends Eric and Felicia. 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 Buckell, author of Halo: The Cole Protocol</