Halo has been Microsoft’s premiere shooter for decades, spawning stories across many branches of media. The massive success of the games spawned numerous TV shows, spinoff games, books, and comics that have been released since 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved. The cool thing about the books is they’re considered canon to the games, expanding the franchise’s lore.
Consistency is tricky, though, with such a vast network of multimedia content. 343 Industries sought to resolve consistency problems by connecting the books with the games. Knowing where to start amongst the nine series of books and numerous stand-alone novellas can be pretty intimidating. So, that’s what this list is for. Below are three different recommended orders to read the Halo books: release date, by series, and chronologically. Without further ado, here are all 34 Halo books and the best orders to read them in.
Release Order
Release order works well for a variety of reasons. First, it starts with one of the very best Halo novels: The Fall of Reach. The Fall of Reach is good to sink your teeth into first if you’re a fan of the games because it establishes the events leading up to Halo Reach. Second, the narrative flow between trilogies has good pacing and internal consistency. Publishers made sure to keep the connective tissue between books so they could be understood by returning readers. Here are all 34 books in their release order.
2001-2014
- Halo: The Fall of Reach (2001)
- Halo: The Flood (2003)
- Halo: First Strike (2003)
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (2006)
- Halo: Contact Harvest (2007)
- Halo: The Cole Protocol (2008)
- Halo: Evolutions – Essential Tales of the Halo Universe (2009)
- Halo: Cryptum (2011)
- Halo: Glasslands (2011)
- Halo: Primordium (2012)
- Halo: The Thursday War (2012)
- Halo: Silentium (2013)
- Halo: Mortal Dictata (2014)
- Halo: Broken Circle (2014)
2015-2022
- Halo: New Blood (2015)
- Halo: Hunters in the Dark (2015)
- Halo: Saint’s Testimony (2015)
- Halo: Last Light (2015)
- Halo: Shadow of Intent (2015)
- Halo: Fractures (2016)
- Halo: Smoke and Shadow (2016)
- Halo: Envoy (2017)
- Halo: Retribution (2017)
- Halo: Legacy of Onyx (2017)
- Halo: Bad Blood (2018)
- Halo: Silent Storm (2018)
- Halo: Battle Born (2019)
- Halo: Renegades (2019)
- Halo: Oblivion (2019)
- Halo: Meridian Divide (2019)
- Halo: Shadows of Reach (2020)
- Halo: Point of Light (2021)
- Halo: Divine Wind (2021)
- Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (2022)
- Halo: Outcasts (2023)
Series Order
This order is organized in groupings of trilogies and series. Each set of series is loosely ordered chronologically from each other. Some individual books in a series occasionally go out of chronological order, so this isn’t considered the strict chronological order. However, each grouping does share thematic material to have a smooth reading experience.
The Forerunner Saga
- Halo: Cryptum (2011, Greg Bear)
- Halo: Primordium (2012, Greg Bear)
- Halo: Silentium (2013, Greg Bear)
The Original Series
- Halo: The Fall of Reach (2001, Eric Nylund)
- Halo: The Flood (2003, William C. Dietz)
- Halo: First Strike (2003, Eric Nylund)
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (2006, Eric Nylund)
Gray Team Series
- Halo: The Cole Protocol (2008, Tobias Buckell)
- Halo: Envoy (2017, Tobias Buckell)
Kilo-Five Trilogy
- Halo: Glasslands (2011, Karen Traviss)
- Halo: The Thursday War (2012, Karen Traviss)
- Halo: Mortal Dictata (2014, Karen Traviss)
Alpha-Nine Series
- Halo: New Blood (2015, Matt Forbeck)
- Halo: Bad Blood (2018, Matt Forbeck)
The Ferrets Series
- Halo: Last Light (2015, Troy Denning)
- Halo: Retribution (2017, Troy Denning)
- Halo: Divine Wind (2021, Troy Denning)
Rion Forge & Ace Of Spades Series
- Halo: Smoke and Shadow (2016, Kelly Gay)
- Halo: Renegades (2019, Kelly Gay)
- Halo: Point of Light (2021, Kelly Gay)
‘A Master Chief Story’ Trilogy
- Halo: Silent Storm (2018, Troy Denning)
- Halo: Oblivion (2019, Troy Denning)
- Halo: Shadows of Reach (2020, Troy Denning)
Battle Born
- Halo: Battle Born (2019, Cassandra Rose Clarke)
- Halo: Meridian Divide (2019, Cassandra Rose Clarke)
Standalone Books
- Halo: Contact Harvest (2007, Joseph Staten)
- Halo: Broken Circle (2014, John Shirley)
- Halo: Hunters in the Dark (2015, Scott Brick)
- Halo: Legacy of Onyx (2017, Matt Forbeck )
- Halo: The Rubicon Protocoll (2022, Kelly Gay)
- Halo: Saint’s Testimony (2015, Frank O’Connor)
- Halo: Shadow of Intent (2015, Joseph Staten)
- Halo: Evolutions – Essential Tales of the Halo Universe (2009, Steve Downes, Holter Graham, Frank O’Connor, and Jen Taylor)
- Halo: Fractures (2016, Scott Brick)
Chronological Order
Chronological order starts with the Forerunner saga, a plot that occurs way before the events in the games and shows. First-time readers are recommended to dive into the books in release order due to the publishers accounting for returning customers through recaps and explanations. The two anthology books (Evolutions and Fractures) will be divided based on their short story’s particular in-lore date. Each era is based on the conflict that they’re known for representing.
Forerunner Era, 100,000 BC
- Halo: Cryptum – 100,000 BC
- Halo: Primordium – 100,000 BC
- Halo: Silentium – 100,000 BC
- Halo: Fractures: Defender of the Storm 100,000 BC
- Halo: Fractures: Promises to Keep – 100,000 BC
- Halo: Fractures: Untitled Story – 100,000 BC
Beginnings of the Human/Covenant War, 2524 – 2551
- Halo: Contact Harvest – 2524/2525
- Halo: Oblivion – 2526
- Halo: Evolutions: Pariah – 2528
- Halo: Silent Storm – 2526
- Halo: Oblivion – 2526
- Halo: Evolutions: Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian – 2532
- Halo: Cole Protocol – 2535
- Halo: Fractures: The Ballad of Hamish Beamish – 2535
- Halo: Battle Born – 2548
- Halo: Meridian Divide – 2548
Master Chief Era (Halo 1-3), 2551 – 2556
- Halo: Evolutions: Headhunters – 2551
- Halo: Evolutions: Blunt Instruments – 2552
- Halo: Bloodline – 2552
- Halo The Fall of Reach – 2515-2552
- Halo: Evolutions: Dirt – 2552
- Halo: The Flood – 2552
- Halo: Breaking Quarantine – 2552
- Halo: Evolutions: Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss – 2552
- Halo: First Strike – 2552
- Halo: Broken Circle – 2552
- Halo: Evolutions: Palace Hotel – 2552
- Halo: Evolutions: Mona Lisa – 2552
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx – 2552
- Halo: Evolutions: Wages of Sin – 2552
- Halo: Uprising – 2552
- Halo: Evolutions: Human Weakness – 2552
- Halo: Evolutions: The Impossible Life and Impossible Death of Preston Cole – 2552
- Halo: Glasslands – 2553
- Halo: Evolutions: From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal – 2553
- Halo: Fractures: Breaking Strain – 2553
- Halo: Thursday War – 2553
- Halo: Mortal Dictata – 2553
- Halo: Shadow of Intent – 2553
- Halo: Fractures – A Necessary Truth – 2553
- Halo: Fractures: A Lesson Learned – 2554
- Halo: Hunters in the Dark – 2555
- Halo: New Blood – 2555
- Halo: Fractures: Anarosa – 2556
After the Human/Covenant War, 2557-2559
- Halo: Fractures: Into the Fire – 2557
- Halo: Smoke & Shadow – 2557
- Halo: Renegades – 2557
- Halo: Saints Testimony – 2558
- Halo: Fractures: Oasis – 2558
- Halo: Point of Light – 2558
- Halo: Envoy – 2558
- Halo: Legacy of Onyx – 2558
- Halo: Fractures: What Remains – 2558
- Halo: Fractures: Rossbach’s World – 2558
- Halo: Bad Blood – 2558
- Halo: Evolutions: The Return – 2559
- Halo: Shadows of Reach – 2559
- Halo: Divine Wind – 2559
- Halo: The Rubicon Protocol – 2559
- Halo: Outcasts – 2559
Those are our three recommended ways to read the Halo books. And those 34 books aren’t the end of the Halo written word either. 2023 saw the release of Halo: Outcasts, and we’re anticipating the release of Halo: Epitaph in 2024. If you enjoyed this breakdown, be sure to check out our article laying out the Halo games in order.
