Forum:What new media should I read before Halo 5? I'm kind of overwhelmed.

Before Halo 4 it was pretty clear-cut: the Forerunner trilogy and the Kilo-Five trilogy. I read them both and they were pretty essential to Halo 4's story. With this whole media explosion before Halo 5, I don't know what to read. I probably won't have time to read more than one book, though I could probably fit Escalation in there along with whatever I choose and that's at least what I KNOW I should read because of some pretty big canon things I've had semi-spoiled. Which books have the most importance on the overall lore of Halo and/or have the most important plot points relevant to Halo 5? I feel like most of this media is just origin stories for Fireteam Osiris and the continuation of Blue Team's story.-- Fluffy Emo Penguin ( ice quack! ) 09:44, 29 September 2015 (EDT)
 * I suppose Escalation is probably going to be the most relevant to the greater story, particularly the Absolute Record arc (Issue 19 onwards), though it probably helps if you read Issues 13-16 (or at least our summaries) first. Most of the rest is just basically character backstories and/or expansion (Hunters in the Dark for Vale, New Blood for Buck, Last Light for Fred, and Escalation Issues 17-18 for Tanaka). It's hard to say at this point which book will have the most relevance to Halo 5. I personally found Last Light to be the best of the bunch, but I can't see it having any meaningful impact on Halo 5 if that's what you're looking for. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 13:21, 29 September 2015 (EDT)

There was a deliberate pushback in plot necessity for these latest books. The others I haven't read yet, but Hunters In The Dark isn't too tied in. We get a few looks at the civil war state of Sanghelios, and are introduced to Olympia before she's a Spartan, but otherwise the majority of the plot is concentrated on the expedition at the Ark. Oh yeah, and it does introduce the new armiger enemies. It's still a great book in its own right, but I don't think it will affect Guardians all that much. Maybe Olympia will have a throwaway line about fighting armigers before or something. But there might always be a surprise. Very few expected pre-Halo 4 that the Composer would be part of its plot, for instance. Tuckerscreator (stalk ) 13:24, 29 September 2015 (EDT)


 * I own Hunters in the Dark, and it's a fine book, but it's hardly necessary reading to get insight into Vale's character. I haven't read New Blood yet, but I've heard very good things, both about continuing Buck's story and in justifying the Spartan-IV Program. And Tanaka's story in Escalation in Escalation is pretty good, barring some, er...disconcerting artistic choices. I still haven't seen Nightfall yet, but I've heard mixed things about it which hasn't made me eager to seek it out. Honestly, the only real pre-Halo 5 reviewing I plan to do is play through ODST, Reach and Halo 4 again, though perhaps looking at some of the H4 Terminals or the Cryptum books might be appropriate if we want to search for clues about the Guardians that may have gone over our heads before. --  Qura 'Morhek   The Autocrat     of Morheka   22:38, 7 October 2015 (EDT)
 * Eh, you should give Nightfall a shot just for Locke's character. Sith Venator Mega Blastoise.gif ( Dank Memes ) 22:45, 7 October 2015 (EDT)
 * Nightfall was okay. I liked Forward Unto Dawn better, not Nightfall isn't as bad as some people make it out to be. I'm just hoping the TV series is better. And yeah, New Blood was great and probably one of my favorite novels/novellas I read this year. As for Hunters in the Dark, I agree that's not that necessary. You could really just get all the info you need on Vale from her article here or from the novel's summary. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 22:57, 7 October 2015 (EDT)
 * Hunters in the Dark got me to start shipping characters. XD Sith Venator Mega Blastoise.gif ( Dank Memes ) 23:10, 7 October 2015 (EDT)
 * Usze x Vale for life. -- NightHammer (talk)(contribs) 23:42, 7 October 2015 (EDT)
 * Usze x Vale Locke x Tanaka Lasky x Palmer Thorne x Ray Jul x Halsey-- Sith Venator Mega Blastoise.gif ( Dank Memes ) 23:48, 7 October 2015 (EDT)


 * Lasky + Palmer = Lamer. Alertfiend - Team Chief 05:30, 8 October 2015 (EDT)


 * Julsey5eva --  Qura 'Morhek   The Autocrat     of Morheka   06:15, 8 October 2015 (EDT)