Halo: The Flood
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- Create Date：2021-07-18 09:52:55
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：William C. Dietz
- ISBN：1982111631
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Summary
The bestselling adaptation of the iconic video game Halo: Combat Evolved featuring the Master Chief—part of the expanded universe based on the award-winning video game series！
2552。 Having barely escaped the final battle for Reach against the vast alien alliance known as the Covenant， the crew of the Pillar of Autumn， including Spartan John-117—the Master Chief—and his AI companion Cortana， is forced to make a desperate escape into slipspace。 But their destination brings them to an ancient mystery and an even greater struggle。 In this far-flung corner of the universe floats a magnificently massive， artificial ringworld。 The crew’s only hope of survival is to crash-land on its surface and take the battle opposing the Covenant to the ground。
But they soon discover that this enigmatic ringworld is much more than it seems。 Built one hundred thousand years ago by a long-lost civilization known as the Forerunners， this “Halo” is worshipped by the Covenant—a sacred artifact they hope will complete their religious quest for supposed transcendence， and they will stop at nothing to control it。 Engaging in fierce combat， Master Chief and Cortana will go deep into the Halo construct and uncover its dark secret and true purpose—even as a monstrous and far more vicious enemy than the Covenant emerges to threaten all sentient life on Halo and the galaxy beyond…
2552。 Having barely escaped the final battle for Reach against the vast alien alliance known as the Covenant， the crew of the Pillar of Autumn， including Spartan John-117—the Master Chief—and his AI companion Cortana， is forced to make a desperate escape into slipspace。 But their destination brings them to an ancient mystery and an even greater struggle。 In this far-flung corner of the universe floats a magnificently massive， artificial ringworld。 The crew’s only hope of survival is to crash-land on its surface and take the battle opposing the Covenant to the ground。
But they soon discover that this enigmatic ringworld is much more than it seems。 Built one hundred thousand years ago by a long-lost civilization known as the Forerunners， this “Halo” is worshipped by the Covenant—a sacred artifact they hope will complete their religious quest for supposed transcendence， and they will stop at nothing to control it。 Engaging in fierce combat， Master Chief and Cortana will go deep into the Halo construct and uncover its dark secret and true purpose—even as a monstrous and far more vicious enemy than the Covenant emerges to threaten all sentient life on Halo and the galaxy beyond…
Reviews
Chogan
，
This book isn't actually all that bad but not dragged down just by the simple fact that it's a reinterpretation of Combat Evolved， the first Halo game。 A lot of the depth from The Fall of Reach is gone and now it's all focused on action。 The twists and turns are pretty well executed but I just want often interested。 I think this is an average book， that is actually far better than it has any right being， because this could have been a complete travesty。 This book isn't actually all that bad but not dragged down just by the simple fact that it's a reinterpretation of Combat Evolved， the first Halo game。 A lot of the depth from The Fall of Reach is gone and now it's all focused on action。 The twists and turns are pretty well executed but I just want often interested。 I think this is an average book， that is actually far better than it has any right being， because this could have been a complete travesty。 。。。more
Mike Choromanski
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Worst in the halo series。 It is literally just a crappy novelization of the first game。 Literally just play Combat Evolved。 It will take you less time， will be much more entertaining， and not bog you down with useless details。 Yes， the story does give more perspective from the covenant and non-master chief humans， but they are honestly not worth it。 Not particularly compelling， and you won't be rewarded by seeing these stories reconnect anywhere else in the halo universe because they don't。 It w Worst in the halo series。 It is literally just a crappy novelization of the first game。 Literally just play Combat Evolved。 It will take you less time， will be much more entertaining， and not bog you down with useless details。 Yes， the story does give more perspective from the covenant and non-master chief humans， but they are honestly not worth it。 Not particularly compelling， and you won't be rewarded by seeing these stories reconnect anywhere else in the halo universe because they don't。 It was very apparent that the author just made up some BS and that Microsoft really didn't have an established cannon for what was happening outside of the main story。 They just said turn this game into a book and print us money。 The only compliment I can give it is that I did actually like Keys's perspective。 The tragedy in that story was the closest this book came to making me feel any emotion。 。。。more
Younerfherder
，
A good effort at an extended lore novel for one of my favorite video game series 。 One criticism I have is that it felt too much like the first game verbatim at times 。 I enjoyed the look at some of the covenant perspective in the book however 。
Ynievez
，
It was difficult to finish the book。 I continued to read it for First strike。
Mike Jahans
，
A very solid book that people are far too critical of。 Yes part of it retells events from the game， but it's beautifully written and gives the Chief far more of a detailed human feel。 The Covenant and UNSC parts are great and neatly tie into the game in a seamless manner。 A very solid book that people are far too critical of。 Yes part of it retells events from the game， but it's beautifully written and gives the Chief far more of a detailed human feel。 The Covenant and UNSC parts are great and neatly tie into the game in a seamless manner。 。。。more
Francis Bagel
，
This is like someone read the sparknotes version of the fall of reach， played the first game and decided to write a bad walkthrough of it。 the potential of this book could have been FANTASTIC; an opportunity to expand upon other stories during the battle of installation 04 （Fritz tries to do this but creates some of the most uninteresting generic military characters）; and an opportunity to expand on the relationship between Chief and Cortana that Nylund set up BEAUTIFULLY in the fall of reach。 F This is like someone read the sparknotes version of the fall of reach， played the first game and decided to write a bad walkthrough of it。 the potential of this book could have been FANTASTIC; an opportunity to expand upon other stories during the battle of installation 04 （Fritz tries to do this but creates some of the most uninteresting generic military characters）; and an opportunity to expand on the relationship between Chief and Cortana that Nylund set up BEAUTIFULLY in the fall of reach。 Fritz instead reduces their dynamic to the absolute most simplistic level as shown in the games。 i'm also convinced Fritz didn't understand the character of Cortana at all， as what little original dialogue he wrote makes her out to be a gcse students computer program written in python。 all while chief has been diminished to his in-game character of a faceless protagonist who now also spouts the occasional one liner（？？？）i can only imagine what kind of creative and exciting world someone with a more original bone could have come up with， the halo ring is written so rigidly in the confines of the game that it lacks the character that even the game managed to portray。 i don't even know how that's possible。 it also relies heavily on experience with the game itself in order to understand the environments， and makes no further efforts to immerse you in the alien architecture of the halo ring。the action is written poorly and the threat of the covenant has been transformed into what seems like a minor nuisance for even basic marines， as oppose to the fall of reach where every threat offered tension and developed our characters in some way。 turns out， every solution to a problem is a rocket launcher。it's hard to grade this on its own merits， when the fall of reach set up master chief's story so eloquently， and this leaves so much to be desired。 I'm looking forward to reading Nylund's follow-up， first strike， which i hope will continue to be as strong as fall of reach was。overall， a definite 2 stars， only because of Yayap and it gets a lil better around the 200 page mark。 。。。more
Paris McDonald
，
It’s a literal play-by-play of the first Halo game， Combat Evolved， I’m not exaggerating。 Nothing new or interesting is added。 Complete waste of time。
David
，
Consistent with the overall Halo theme， The Flood was pretty bleak。 Compared to its predecessor The Fall of Reach， the narrative was focused much more on combat action and gore， rather than character development。 Because of this， The Flood felt more adrenalizing and more similar to what the video game experience is， but also， unfortunately， a little more shallow。
James Hogan
，
This book continues my read-through of the Halo books。 This middle book in the original Halo trilogy isn't bad， but it's definitely the weak link of the trilogy。 And I'm not sure that's entirely the fault of the author？ This is the book based on the actual original Halo game and writing a book that's supposed to mirror a video game。。。well， doesn't leave a lot of room for creativity and originality， right？ And I think that's the main problem with this book。 My favourite parts of this book are all This book continues my read-through of the Halo books。 This middle book in the original Halo trilogy isn't bad， but it's definitely the weak link of the trilogy。 And I'm not sure that's entirely the fault of the author？ This is the book based on the actual original Halo game and writing a book that's supposed to mirror a video game。。。well， doesn't leave a lot of room for creativity and originality， right？ And I think that's the main problem with this book。 My favourite parts of this book are all the parts that don't feature the Master Chief （the protagonist of the video game） because those are the parts the author had freedom with。。。the characters that the author could shape on his own， without having to bow to the game's authorial fiat。 Still， I enjoyed reading this book！ The Halo universe worldbuilding is strong， and the mythology of Halo is fascinating and so this book wasn't entirely terrible。 Faint praise， eh？ Having played the game， I couldn't help but picture different scenes as I read about the adventures of the MC。 The Silent Cartographer （always my favourite part of the game！） was a joy to read。 And as I said before， all the scenes with the Marines and the ODSTs were very well done， as they were mostly free of the game's strictures。 But。。。some of the parts with the MC very much did read as if they were based off a video game。 Because。。。they were？ The author used some neat little tricks and shortcuts to try and hide this fact， but alas for the source material not being at all times great art。 I've been probably far too harsh on this novel。 I did still enjoy reading it， for all its faults and flaws！ 。。。more
Brendan Kraus
，
The Flood by William Dietz is a truly awful book。 Dietz takes one of the greatest sci-fi stories of the 21st century and turns it into a boring slog。 A retelling of the original Halo that adds some side stories。 The side stories are whatever but ironically the actual game parts are by far the worst part。 The Chief is horribly out of character for most of it。 The book has the worst portrayal of elites I have ever seen。 A bad book from start to finish 1/5
Joshua Gatchalian
，
3。5
Ivan Talachev
，
Не очень
Indio
，
Worlds better than Hunters in the Dark。
Nicolas
，
If you played the game you know this book， repetitive。
Jason Ray Ray Carney
，
This was an entertaining and faithful novelization of the first Halo video game， *Halo: Combat Evolved。* It is preceded by *The Fall of Reach，* which tells the back story of the main character， the Spartan Super Soldier， "Master Chief，" and the genocidal war between humanity and the Covenant Alien Alliance。 If you've played the game， *Halo: Combat Evolved，* you will be familiar with the plot of this novel， which aligns precisely with the missions from the solo campaign。 Dietz does a great job re This was an entertaining and faithful novelization of the first Halo video game， *Halo: Combat Evolved。* It is preceded by *The Fall of Reach，* which tells the back story of the main character， the Spartan Super Soldier， "Master Chief，" and the genocidal war between humanity and the Covenant Alien Alliance。 If you've played the game， *Halo: Combat Evolved，* you will be familiar with the plot of this novel， which aligns precisely with the missions from the solo campaign。 Dietz does a great job rendering exciting sci-fi combat， but the sustained intensity of combat--scene after scene after scene--becomes tiring。 As a fan of the game， I appreciated learning more about the Covenant Alliance， the Elites， Vultures， and Grunts。 You get a look into their culture， their personalities， and their motivations; in the video game， they are two-dimensional bad aliens that you kill without much thought。 Perhaps my biggest complaint is how faithful to the video game plot this was。 The first book was unique and ambitious in world building and story and revealed surprisong facets of the Halo settong。 This one was comparably safe but nevertheless more exciting and cohesive。 I am looking forward to reading more in this series。 。。。more
Aaron
，
I found myself way more interested in the story following the marines， but that's probably cause I knew the story of Master Chief。 I found myself way more interested in the story following the marines， but that's probably cause I knew the story of Master Chief。 。。。more
Hellerzilla
，
Man， it's 1:30am here， and I couldn't stop until I finished this crazy rollercoaster of a book。 The Masterchief and Cortana banter was adorable。 However， I didn't understand much of the HALO jargon and equipment and species and。。。。everything？ Thank goodness， boyfriend was on standby to answer my questions。 Will continue on with series， in hope it will peak my interest enough to play the video game。。。。though if there is a easy level， that is。 Man， it's 1:30am here， and I couldn't stop until I finished this crazy rollercoaster of a book。 The Masterchief and Cortana banter was adorable。 However， I didn't understand much of the HALO jargon and equipment and species and。。。。everything？ Thank goodness， boyfriend was on standby to answer my questions。 Will continue on with series， in hope it will peak my interest enough to play the video game。。。。though if there is a easy level， that is。 。。。more
T。R。 Preston
，
It's official， I don't get it。 This book is not very well received among the fandom。 Now that I've finished it， I can say y'all are on crack。 This was great。 I think I might like it more than Fall of Reach。 As a matter of fact， I'm sure I do。 Granted， the reason for this might only be because I read the newer improved edition of this book， while I read the old flawed version of Fall of Reach。 One day I will reread FOR with the best edition and see if my mind changes。 But as of this moment， The F It's official， I don't get it。 This book is not very well received among the fandom。 Now that I've finished it， I can say y'all are on crack。 This was great。 I think I might like it more than Fall of Reach。 As a matter of fact， I'm sure I do。 Granted， the reason for this might only be because I read the newer improved edition of this book， while I read the old flawed version of Fall of Reach。 One day I will reread FOR with the best edition and see if my mind changes。 But as of this moment， The Flood reigns supreme。 Getting to see more detail added to the Battle of Installation 04 was so much fun to read。 It really paints a clear picture from start to finish of what goes down in Combat Evolved。 As somebody who has been obsessed with Combat Evolved since I was young enough to be scared by the Flood （I asked my dad to turn it off the first time）， I loved this damn book。 The Flood was also brutally terrifying in here。 I love to see just how gruesome and horrific the Flood are。 Any detail on them gets me excited。 Learning more about poor Captain Keyes' possession was so sad， too。 Keyes really can't catch a break。 He got the worst death in the franchise， I think。 Jenkins is now up there too， but Keyes really got screwed。 Still no word on how the hell Johnson got outta there， but I think it's explained somewhere in the Expanded lore。 I'll get to it eventually if it is。 I do have one complaint that I must bring up， though。 Master Chief was not very well written。 He just doesn't act like himself at all。 He just talks like 'generic soldier number 4' for the whole book。 As much as the author absolutely nailed everything else in here， his portrayal of Chief was very lackluster。 But that is really my only gripe。 Some people might not like Zuka and Yayap， but I say they're nuts。 I thought they were an interesting addition to the universe。 And Yayap is just a meme at this point。 If this is as bad as the Halo books get， then I'm in for the best ride of all time。 I'm fully aware that I am enjoying these books this much only because I am such a fanboy of the games， but I don't care。 I'm eating up every word of these things。 I'm so glad I bought a ton of them in bulk last month。 This is going to be the year of Halo books for me。 I'll read other things too， but it will mostly be this from now on。 I couldn't be happier。 It's like my mother used to say: 'I'm like a pig in shit'。 Not the most graceful analogy， but I suppose it's accurate。 。。。more
Achos Warfarmer
，
Don’t read it。 Glad this shitfest ist over。It’s Halos short story without the gameplay。 It also doesn’t fit the style of “The Fall Of Reach” which actually tried to give every story relevant character some depth and emotional range。 This shitshow is just shooty bang bang and too much detail on rooms， locations and explosions。 Rooms and rooms of firefights。 Just play the game。
Bradley Murray
，
A really good book on the events of the flood。 As a fan of the halo game series it was awesome to get more information about how the flood came to be。
Stig
，
Huge disappointment for me。I have read no 1。 of the series and that is just fine I think。This one - no 2- in the series， is by another writer and consists almost solely of very boring combat scenarios。 I recommend you just do not bother to read this one。 It is a waste of time and moneyNo 3 in the series is written by Nylund who has also written no 1 in the series。I am going to give that one a try as he imo is a fine author。
Lesha
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The story， the main character of which is called Master Chief or SPARTAN-117， takes place in 2552 on an unknown planet to humans that holds many mysteries。 His ship the Pillar of Autumn， together with other crew personnel， went down after a battle in space to a mysterious holy alien artifact called Halo。 At first， Master Chief feels lost and doesn't know what to do， but he is sure that they must survive against the Covenant， a race of advanced alien species trying to destroy the human race。 A la The story， the main character of which is called Master Chief or SPARTAN-117， takes place in 2552 on an unknown planet to humans that holds many mysteries。 His ship the Pillar of Autumn， together with other crew personnel， went down after a battle in space to a mysterious holy alien artifact called Halo。 At first， Master Chief feels lost and doesn't know what to do， but he is sure that they must survive against the Covenant， a race of advanced alien species trying to destroy the human race。 A large portion of the book focuses on the battles between Spartan-117 with his army of Marines against Covenant forces。 After many struggles， while exploring Halo and its secrets， the people from Earth discover another race called the Flood， an infectious parasitic species capable of exterminating all living things。I enjoyed the parts where William Dietz describes the advanced technology of this unknown place and the portrayals of the Flood。 I liked that the story is presented from different points of view of many characters and is very descriptive。I would recommend this book to people who enjoy action and Sci-Fi novels。 However， if you read the first book of the whole series called The Fall of Reach， it would make more sense and easier to understand and follow the storyline of The Flood。 。。。more
Matthew Ochal
，
Why did I do this
Patrick Frazier
，
Halo: Combat Evolved is arguably one of the most important games to come out in the early 2000s。 It's also an incredibly exciting game， aside from the pointless tedium of The Library。 So， a novelization of that game， and one hot on the heels of "The Fall of Reach，" an almost as exciting book that details the origin of the Master Chief， should be sci-fi gold， right？Sad to say， it's not。 The bits featuring the Master Chief are an overall dull point-by-point retelling of CE's plot， coming across li Halo: Combat Evolved is arguably one of the most important games to come out in the early 2000s。 It's also an incredibly exciting game， aside from the pointless tedium of The Library。 So， a novelization of that game， and one hot on the heels of "The Fall of Reach，" an almost as exciting book that details the origin of the Master Chief， should be sci-fi gold， right？Sad to say， it's not。 The bits featuring the Master Chief are an overall dull point-by-point retelling of CE's plot， coming across like watching the campaign on YouTube， just more boring。 Meanwhile， the subplot involving the Covenant feels overall pointless， and a subplot involving a team of Marines and ODSTs really picks up and gets interesting after the Flood gets released。 There's also a lot of little things that are at odds with the lore that was being developed right around when this game was being written， like the Covenant's seeming ignorance of the SPARTAN-IIs， Master Chief being called "the human in the strange armor" and not "the Demon，" or a irreverence for the constructs of Halo。 So， given the plot that only a third of the book grabs my attention in the second half of the book， I can see why Halo 2 and onwards never got books made out of their plots。 。。。more
Shelby
，
Not as good as the first one， more complex plot but it literally follows Halo like shot for shot。 I think if I were to reread this series I would probably skip this and just play Halo instead。 Spoilers: RIP Keyes， that hurt。 Also I think it was a bit tooo dramatic， but only because the writing wasn't my favorite。 I understand Dietz's reasoning for wanting it to be dramatic it was just executed very poorly。 Not as good as the first one， more complex plot but it literally follows Halo like shot for shot。 I think if I were to reread this series I would probably skip this and just play Halo instead。 Spoilers: RIP Keyes， that hurt。 Also I think it was a bit tooo dramatic， but only because the writing wasn't my favorite。 I understand Dietz's reasoning for wanting it to be dramatic it was just executed very poorly。 。。。more
Lightgazer
，
Книга пересказывает игру Halo: Combat Evolved от лица нескольких ПОВ。 Прочитав эту книгу вы немного лучше поймёте хронологию и стратегию сюжета игры。Главы написанные от лица Мастера Чифа， максимально скучные， автор пересказывает вам геймплей игры。 Главы написанные от лица других людей это средняя боевая фантастика。 Главы написанные от лица инопланетян， в теории могли бы много рассказать о их культуре и взглядах но не делают этого。
Dawson
，
Overall， I’d say this is a decent book。 It recaps the events of the first game which can be a little annoying at times but the inclusion of stories about ODSTs， Covenant， and other soldiers makes this book worth checking out。 My biggest gripe is probably Master Chiefs dialogue which usually doesn’t sound like something a hardened super soldier would say and sounds more like what someone would say if they were playing the game for an audience。
Tyler Bennett
，
This book isn’t terrible， but it isn’t great。 For what it is， it’s okay。 This book is basically a play-by-play of Halo: Combat Evolved。 If you’re really into the lore of Halo， and want a little more perspective on the events of the original game， you’ll get something out of this。 Personally， I was bored with most of Master Chief’s story because I know the story already， and when you get to the halfway point of this book it just becomes him mindlessly clearing out enemies and it gets pretty numbi This book isn’t terrible， but it isn’t great。 For what it is， it’s okay。 This book is basically a play-by-play of Halo: Combat Evolved。 If you’re really into the lore of Halo， and want a little more perspective on the events of the original game， you’ll get something out of this。 Personally， I was bored with most of Master Chief’s story because I know the story already， and when you get to the halfway point of this book it just becomes him mindlessly clearing out enemies and it gets pretty numbing （this of course is because in the game that’s what you do， there’s not a whole lot more the author could add to it）。 The parts of the book I really enjoyed were the other storylines， with McKay， ‘Zamamee， Jenkins， and Keyes。 The extra story lines are what kept me invested。 If you have already played CE this book is skippable， but you may still find something you enjoy。 。。。more
Samuel R。
，
Second time I read this and the first time I added it to my library here。 Was reading it with my son， and I enjoy this universe。 I have been in love with the HALO universe since the first game and was ecstatic when the various writers took up the task of building into a vast story arc。
Lorenzo
，
It’s interesting and very action packed。 There is a lot of violence depicted and there’s firefights on almost every page。 For those that have played the original Halo game or the remastered one that has been released “Master Chief Collection” can appreciate how much the author stuck to the essence of the game and the storyline from the game itself。 Some readers saw this as a flaw as it’s all very predictable if you’ve played the game。 I haven’t played the game in like 14 years so it was a little It’s interesting and very action packed。 There is a lot of violence depicted and there’s firefights on almost every page。 For those that have played the original Halo game or the remastered one that has been released “Master Chief Collection” can appreciate how much the author stuck to the essence of the game and the storyline from the game itself。 Some readers saw this as a flaw as it’s all very predictable if you’ve played the game。 I haven’t played the game in like 14 years so it was a little familiar。 Anyway， not a bad story and I thought it was well written。 How does 343 Guilty Spark speak English？ Also， how does Master Chief carry all this ammo？？ 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Halo: The Flood
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Halo: The Flood&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Halo: The Flood&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0