Halo: Glasslands

Halo: Glasslands is the first novel in the yet-untitled post-war series by Karen Traviss. It is to be released on October 25, 2011 on hardcover, paperback and audiobook.

Plot
Set after the events of Halo 3 in 2553, Halo: Glasslands will explore the volatile political situation in the Halo universe following the end of the Human-Covenant War. Though the story of the characters from Ghosts of Onyx will be continued in the novel and they will play a pivotal role, the main focus of the story is on a UNSC black-ops team sent by the Office of Naval Intelligence to Sanghelios. Although officially a diplomatic mission, their main objective is to sow discord between disparate Sangheili factions by any means necessary.

Led by Captain Serin Osman, a failed SPARTAN-II candidate and a protege of ONI director Margaret Orlenda Parangosky, the team consists of a SPARTAN-II, Naomi-010; three Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, Vasily Beloi, Mal Geffen and Lian Devereaux; and the AI construct Black-Box. They are accompanied by a civilian academic known as Evan Phillips, who is notably one of the few humans fluent in the Sangheili language. The team's allegiances are tested as they are asked to commit questionable actions, including surrendering a captured Huragok to ONI. At one point, they meet with the survivors from the Battle of Onyx.

It has also been mentioned that the Office of Naval Intelligence will be fleshed out and the moral implications of the SPARTAN-II Program and those involved with it - including Dr. Catherine Halsey - will be explored. In addition, Sangheili culture and the impact the sundering of the Covenant had on their society will be explored in detail.

It has been noted that threads of the story will have connections to Halo 4.

Characters

 * Avu Med 'Telcam
 * Black-Box
 * Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
 * David Agnoli
 * Evan Phillips
 * Franklin Mendez
 * Jul ‘Mdama
 * Kelly-087 (Mentioned only)
 * Kurt-051 (Mentioned only)
 * Lian Devereaux
 * Lucy-B091
 * Malcolm Geffen
 * Margaret O. Parangosky
 * Naomi-010
 * Olivia
 * Prophet of Truth (Mentioned only)
 * Ruth Charet (First mentioned)
 * Serin Osman
 * Thel 'Vadam
 * Tom-B292
 * Vasily Beloi

Locations

 * Brunel system
 * New Llanelli
 * Fied, Joori, and Urs system
 * Sanghelios
 * Mdama
 * Bekan Keep
 * Sol system
 * Earth
 * Australia
 * Sydney
 * HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6
 * Zeta Doradus system
 * Onyx
 * Micro Dyson sphere

Organizations

 * United Nations Space Command
 * UNSC Marine Corps
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * UNSC Navy
 * Naval Special Warfare Command
 * SPARTAN-II Program
 * Office of Naval Intelligence
 * Section Three
 * Beta-5 Division
 * SPARTAN-III Program
 * Servants of Abiding Truth

Species

 * Human
 * Huragok
 * Jiralhanae
 * Kig-yar
 * Sangheili
 * San 'Shyuum
 * Unggoy

Vehicles

 * Unidentified human shuttle
 * Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle
 * Type-48 Light Assault Gun Carriage
 * Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle
 * Type-48 Light Assault Gun Carriage

Trivia

 * The cover of the novel was illustrated by former Bungie concept artist Eddie Smith.
 * Halo: Glasslands features Easter eggs that reference Red vs Blue, as Karen Traviss is an avid fan of the machinima series.
 * An excerpt of the novel's first chapter was released in the September 2011 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. The excerpt was then republished on Tor's official website.
 * An excerpt of the novel's second chapter was released on October 12th's Halo Bulletin on Halo Waypoint.