Come up to the lab, see what's on The Slab

Come up to the lab, see what's on The Slab

I totally missed this for sure but The Slab novel is to be released next month - the fifth Gears of War novel by Karen Travis, it's focus appears to be on the Fenix family - Adam's dealings with that nasty Queen and Marcus' term in the Prison known as the Slab - those who played the original game will recall that's where it starts - with Dom taking Marcus out of his cell. 

Here's some promo guff for the novel.

MARCUS FENIX. WAR HERO. LOYAL SON. TRAITOR.

Ten years after Emergence Day, as the Locust Horde advances on humanity’s last defended area—Ephyra—in a bloody war that has seen billions die, Marcus Fenix does the unthinkable: he defies orders and abandons his post during a critical battle in a bid to rescue his father, weapons scientist Adam Fenix. But Adam is buried in the rubble during a ferocious assault on the Fenix mansion, and Ephyra falls to the enemy. Marcus, grieving for a father everyone believes is dead, is court-martialed for dereliction of duty and sentenced to forty years in the Coalition of Ordered Government’s brutal maximum security prison, known simply as the Slab.

But Adam is very much alive, snatched from the destruction by the elite Onyx Guard on Chairman Richard Prescott’s orders. He’s now a long way from home and in a prison of his own—a COG doomsday bunker on the tropical island of Azura, a place hidden from the rest of Sera since the Pendulum Wars. His own guilty secret has been exposed: Adam knew the Locust existed deep below the surface of Sera long before Emergence Day, and were being driven from their tunnels by a lethal parasite known as the Lambent. Now he has to find a way to destroy the Lambent while the dwindling COG forces fight to hold back a growing Locust army that’s threatening to overrun the city.

As Adam struggles to find redemption in his comfortable island jail, Marcus seeks his own atonement in the squalid, closed world within the Slab’s granite walls. While Dom Santiago and Anya Stroud fight to get him released, ready to make any sacrifice to free him, Marcus gradually finds unexpected kinship among Sera’s most dangerous criminals—and a way to carry on his personal war against the Locust.

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Interest? Order a copy from Amazon right now soldier!

Halo: The Thursday War novel announced

Tor Books has just announced the title and release date for the second novel in the Karen Traviss’s “Kilo-Five Trilogy” of Halo books, the follow-up to last October’s Halo: Glasslands. Halo: The Thursday War will release on October 2, 2012.

Halo: The Thursday War picks up immediately where Halo: Glasslands left off, with forces on Earth and among the Covenant threatening a peace that is precarious at best. With a splinter group among the Sangheili pushing for war, some human colonies rebel against earth authority; and as ONI policy continues to shift with the volatile situation in space, the discovery of a trove of Forerunner technology on Onyx provokes leaders on Earth to seek uses for it in the conflict. For the fight is far from over….

“I wanted to focus on what it feels like to operate in a fragile ceasefire that’s turning into a mass of small, unpredictable wars where the enemy is much harder to spot and define,” says author Karen Traviss. “It’s not about big set piece space battles, superheroes, and hardware; this is a messy conflict seen at close quarters by real people with their own problems, whether those people are human, alien, or artificial intelligences.”

Traviss, whose first foray into the Halo Universe came with the short story “Human Weakness” in fall 2009’s New York Times bestselling “Halo: Evolutions” anthology, launched her new trilogy last fall with the acclaimed bestseller Halo: Glasslands. A veteran author who has penned number one bestselling novels in the Star Wars universe, bestselling novels for the Gears of War franchise (she most recently served as lead game writer for Gears of War 3), as well as her own science fiction series “The Wess’Har Wars.”

“From the very first page, The Thursday War propels you into a universe on the brink of chaos,” says Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director, 343 Industries. “It will immerse you immediately and enthrallingly into the events and circumstances that will come to define the state of the Halo universe in Halo 4. I can’t wait for fans and newcomers alike to experience the sequel to Glasslands.”

Karen Travis talks Halo: Grasslands

Karen Travis is a name both Gears of War and Halo fans are becoming more and more familiar with - she's shaped the script for the Gears games, written a few books that tie into the franchise (such as Aspho Fields), dipped her toes into Halo with the short story Human Weakness and now she's jumped into the deep end of the Halo pool with her first full Halo novel, Halo: Grasslands. It's a sequel to the very popular Ghosts of Onyx novel.

Travis sat down with her publicist for an interview as part of the promotional round for Grasslands. Here's a taste of the interview.

Justin Golenbock: How did you first become involved with the HALO franchise?

Karen Traviss: I was asked if I wanted to write a novella for HALO: Evolutions. I’m endlessly curious and always up for anything new if it sounds cool so I was interested. I was working on Gears at the time (as I still am) so I wanted to be sure they were cool with it, and they thought it was a great idea. If it’s military, if it’s a game, if it’s an IP I know nothing about (essential—I can’t work on things that I might have a pre-existing opinion on) and it has the moral grey areas I work best in, then I’ll probably give it a go if I have the time.

JG: Glasslands has been highly-anticipated by HALO fans as the first book or game in the franchise to delve deep into the chaos of the post-HALO 3 universe. Can you reveal anything about the plot for eager gamers and readers?

KT: As a former defence correspondent and a military writer, I approach HALO as a real situation. War is bad enough, but when a relatively straightforward war—two sides, clear stakes—ends, then fragmentation usually takes place. Hostility doesn’t end cleanly. Factions emerge. You’re not sure where the threat is coming from, and it keeps changing. In HALO, it’s like the end of the Cold War. So who operates best in this uncertain landscape, where conventional force – weapons and ships – have no targets or conventional wars to fight? Intelligence. Enter ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence. If your enemy is off balance and licking his wounds, you grab that chance to knock him down so hard he never gets up again. You use black ops techniques using smart, adaptable people who can operate off the grid and handle themselves in the most dangerous environments in deniable operations. ONI assembles a team of ODSTs, a Spartan II, a civilian Sangheili expert, and an AI spy. It ought to be a simple case of doing the dirty on the bad guys by sneaky means, but things get very complicated when the secret roots of the Spartan programme is blown wide open….

ONI also has its hands full with another problem—Halsey has been a very bad girl and strolled off with a few Spartans mid-battle. While they’re hunting for her, she’s stranded in a Dyson sphere with “her” Spartans, some Spartan IIIs she views as third rate, and Chief Mendez. It’s a sealed world. They could be the last sentient life in the galaxy. They don’t know if the Dyson sphere will turn out to be a haven or a hell, or indeed if it’s already inhabited. They’re cooped up with one another for what might be forever and now they have to face the previously unspoken tension, guilt, and blame about a shocking era in Earth’s history – the terrible abuse of kidnapped children to create Spartans. It’s very uncomfortable and now it’s about to get personal and really painful. Cue mayhem!

Get the full Karen Travis interview over here!

Terminal Teaser: This ring is not just a weapon

Anya Stroud cosplay form Comic Con

A little teaser about the Terminals that will be found in Halo: Aniversary which was captured by an Panel audience member.

Are you ready RECLAIMER?




Extra for Experts: I mightily endorse this call for the Halo movie to be finally made!

HALO: PRIMORDIUM announced

Book Two in the New York Times bestselling Forerunner Saga

A long time ago, I was a living, breathing human being. I went mad. I served my enemies. They became my only friends…

New York, NY – July 19, 2011 – Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC–the largest publisher of science fiction in the world–is excited to reveal the title, cover, and release date for the second novel in the Halo Forerunner Saga, HALO: PRIMORDIUM, written by legendary science fiction author Greg Bear. Book One of the Forerunner Saga, Halo: Cryptum, is currently available in hardcover, and will be released in a trade paperback this fall. Book Two, HALO: PRIMORDIUM, will be released January 3, 2012 simultaneously alongside its audio edition.

The New York Times bestselling Halo series, based on the hugely successful Halo videogame franchise for the Xbox 360, has sold millions of copies, and is part of a global phenomenon that has dominated the science fiction landscape over the last decade.

With Halo: Cryptum, Greg Bear began a three-novel saga set in the era of the Forerunners, the ancient and enigmatic builders of the mysterious Halos, and the story continues in HALO: PRIMORDIUM. In Halo: Cryptum, a young, rebellious Manipular embarks on a dangerous search for artifacts belonging to the Precursors—long-vanished super-beings of unknowable power and intent. This quest sets off a devastating chain of events that nearly ends the Forerunner empire. In HALO: PRIMORDIUM, two humans who were former companions of the Manipular find themselves captives pawns in a cosmic game whose madness knows no end—a game of ancient vengeance between the powers who seeded the galaxy with life, and the Forerunners who expect to take up their sacred Mantle of duty to protect all living things.

“I’m having great fun working through the action and growing mysteries in HALO: PRIMORDIUM, as humans engage in an epic odyssey across a damaged, war-torn Halo, facing the Flood, rogue AIs, and the stunning testament of the Last Precursor,” says author Greg Bear. “This is classic SF territory for me, and it’s a terrific opportunity to work with the 343 team, and to contribute through these books to both future games and the Halo universe in general.”

“In Cryptum, Greg began an exploration of a vast and imposing part of the Halo universe,” says Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director for 343 Industries. “In PRIMORDIUM, he takes that story closer to the ground, exploring characters, motivations and mysteries that began in Cryptum and continuing a journey that’s fascinating, horrifying and inspiring, all at once.”

Tor Books has proudly partnered with Microsoft and 343 Industries to publish every book set in this iconic universe. Along with the first two books of the Forerunner Saga, Tor has also announced another all-new Halo trilogy penned by Karen Traviss that will explore the Halo Universe in the wake of the final events of Halo 3. Traviss’s first Halo novel, Halo: Glasslands, will be on shelves October 25, 2011.

The Halo franchise is an award-winning collection of properties that have grown into a global entertainment phenomenon. Beginning with the original Halo: Combat Evolved for Xbox in 2001, the rich fiction of the franchise has since inspired a series of blockbuster Xbox and Xbox 360 video games, New York Times best-selling novels, comic books, action figures, apparel and more. To date, sales in the Halo franchise have eclipsed $2.3 billion. Microsoft recently dropped a bombshell on Halo fans at E3 with two big announcements: on Nov. 15 2011, Microsoft will release Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a spectacularly remastered version of the original Halo campaign bundled with some of the most beloved multiplayer maps in Halo history–all created in celebration of the 10th anniversary of one of the greatest franchises in gaming history. Also announced was Halo 4, the hugely-anticipated next blockbuster installment that will mark the beginning of a new Halo trilogy when it releases in-stores during the 2012 holiday season.

Halo: Grasslands - new Karen Travis novel

HBO reports that member Archilen was playing round the interwebs and noticed a page at Audio Editions website touting a book from Karen Traviss, entitled "Halo: Glasslands" which is set for publication on October 25. This is matched by some playing around on Amazon.

Keen Readers may aleady know that Travis wrote a short story for the Halo: Evolutions collection of short stories and Gears of War fans may have come across her books for that realm. And I just realised there's a volume 2 for evolutions!

I love it when this happens when Gears collides with Halo!

Sequel to Ghosts of Onyx to be written by Karen Traviss

Keen Halo Fans may have heard of science fiction author, Karen Travis - she wrote a piece for the Halo Evolutions short story collection a while back. Now she has been bought in by Micosoft to go the whole hog and write a series of Halo Novels including a follow up to one of the favourite Halo books, Ghosts of Onyx which was written by Eric Nylund,.a long time Halo writer.

As part of the announcement Traviss said:

“When I was invited to write Halo fiction I already knew it’d be right up my street; not just because military fiction is my specialty, but because there’s also huge unexplored depth, grey areas, and really uncomfortable moral dilemmas that underpin the Halo story, and that’s like catnip to a writer like me. I write what’s known as tight third person – that is, I get right inside each character’s head and see the world as they see experience it – and Halo offers some terrific chances to explore some fascinating psyches caught in complex situations.”

Which all sounds nice and promising. And she'd be able to deliver on those promises too (if she made them!) as she has experience writing for other science fiction worlds including Star Wars and The Xbox's own Gears of War.

Everyone's favourite Frankie, Frank O’Connor, know to fans as 343 Industries Director of Franchise Development backed up Travis's statement with:

“Halo fiction fans are incredibly passionate about the fate of the Spartans of Onyx and the state of the Halo universe in the aftermath of the game events. We know that Karen has the talent, skill and passion to not only bring those stories to life, but also bring her experience a fresh new perspective too.”

So, given the books will apparently be set after the events of the classic Halo 3 - will the books tie in with the as yet unannouced Halo project that 343 Industries are not so secretly working on? Bet the farm, and the entire Harvest!