Halo: Cryptum

Halo: Cryptum is the first novel in the upcoming Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear. The novel explores the events leading up to the Forerunner-Flood War and the shared history of humans and Forerunners.

It was released on January 4, 2011.

Plot synopsis
The story follows Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, a young Forerunner Manipular who refuses to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Builder. Bornstellar's rebellion forces his father to send him to live with the Miners; one of the lowest classes of Forerunner society. After living with the Miners on Edom in the Sol system for some time, he is inspired by his ancilla to hunt for artifacts left by the Precursors—beings of extraordinary power that preceded the Forerunner civilization. Bornstellar escapes to Erde-Tyrene, where he crosses paths with two humans - Chakas and Riser, who guide him on his search for Precursor artifacts. In the Djamonkin Crater, they find an artifact that appears to be a Cryptum—a mysterious object created by a Forerunner group known as the Prometheans.

Forerunners

 * Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting
 * Confirmer
 * Didact
 * Faber
 * Librarian
 * Splendid Dust of Ancient Suns

Humans

 * Chakas
 * Morning Riser

Trivia

 * Greg Bear had stated at the Emerald City Comic Con that the novel's working title was "Antediluvian". The title was later changed.
 * Illustrated by Sparth, the cover of the novel depicts two small figures, possibly Forerunners or humans, standing on a ledge overlooking a large Forerunner structure. Given the different heights of the two, it is possible that these two figures are either the Didact and Bornstellar or Chakas and Riser.
 * A preview of the novel containing the first two chapters was released online on December 22, 2010.
 * The events detailed in the book appear to conflict with the series of events described in the Terminals in Halo 3. Terminals two and three indicate that the Didact had been fighting in the Forerunner-Flood war for some time; however, according to Halo: Cryptum, the Didact had been in hibernation for over one thousand years, and therefore could not have been involved in the war, which had begun 300 years prior. Also, Terminal three describes the Didact's plans for Mendicant Bias, speaking as though the Flood had already begun assaulting the galaxy; according to the novel, by the time the Didact was awakened, Mendicant Bias had been sent on his mission 43 years prior, while the Didact was unconscious.
 * Additionally, the terminals dictate that contact with humanity is made in the last days as the Librarian finishes out the remainder of her life on Earth and hastily building a portal to the ark to preserve humanity. Halo Cryptum depicts human contact with Forerunners, and in fact contact with Earth ten thousand years prior to the start of the Forerunner-Flood war as the Forerunner went to war with humanity.
 * Another inconsistency is that the Didact knew that the Precursor and Forerunner went to war and that the Precursors created the flood. It is demonstrated with this passage in the book, "I am the last of those your kind rose up against and ruthlessly destroyed. I am the last Precursor. And our answer is at hand." If the Didact knew this then his message to the Librarian in Terminal 2 saying that "We can halt this thing! And we can follow in Their footsteps!" would seem to be inconsistent to say the least. The precursors created the flood, and in halting it they are not following in the footsteps of the Precursors.