How to read all ‘Halo’ books in order

Since its conception in the early 2000s, Halo has gone on to become one of the most extensive sci-fi franchises out there, with a deep lore that spans thousands of years and builds upon the mythic struggle between humanity, the Covenant, and the enigmatic Flood, which is a collective sentience hell-bent on consuming life on a galactic scale.

Barring the numerous main installments in the game series — which spawned this fictional, multimedia universe in the first place — a lot of Halo novels have been released over the years. Some of these are official novelizations of said video game entries, while others serve as spinoffs or even sequels.

If you’re one of those Xbox customers who simply can’t get enough of Halo and want to have a more in-depth knowledge of its world, then these novels will prove to be fantastic reads. Here’s a rundown of every Halo novel in chronological release order.

How many Halo books are there, and how can you read them all in order?

While some Halo books jump back and forth in the story’s extensive timeline, it’s generally a good idea to stick with the order in which they came out, starting with the first book, which came out 22 years ago to the date of this writing (October 30, 2023).

2001-2014

• Halo: The Fall of Reach (October 30, 2001)
• Halo: The Flood (April 1, 2003)
• Halo: First Strike (December 2, 2003)
• Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (October 31, 2006)
• Halo: Contact Harvest (October 30, 2007)
• Halo: The Cole Protocol (November 25, 2008)
• Halo: Evolutions (November 24, 2009)
• Halo: Cryptum (January 4, 2011)
• Halo: Glasslands (October 25, 2011)
• Halo: Primordium (January 3, 2012)
• Halo: The Thursday War (October 2, 2012)
• Halo: Silentium (March 19, 2013)
• Halo: Mortal Dictata (January 21, 2014)
• Halo: Broken Circle (November 4, 2014)

2014-2022

• Halo: New Blood (March 2, 2015)
• Halo: Hunters in the Dark (June 16, 2015)
• Halo: Saint’s Testimony (July 27, 2015)
• Halo: Last Light (September 15, 2015)
• Halo: Shadow of Intent (December 7, 2015)
• Halo: Fractures (September 20, 2016)
• Halo: Smoke and Shadow (November 28, 2016)
• Halo: Envoy (April 25, 2017)
• Halo: Retribution (August 29, 2017)
• Halo: Legacy of Onyx (November 15, 2017)
• Halo: Bad Blood (June 26, 2018)
• Halo: Silent Storm (September 4, 2018)
• Halo: Battle Born (January 1, 2019)
• Halo: Renegades (February 19, 2019)
• Halo: Oblivion (September 24, 2019)
• Halo: Meridian Divide (October 1, 2019)
• Halo: Shadows of Reach (September 22, 2020)
• Halo: Point of Light (March 2, 2021)
• Halo: Divine Wind (October 19, 2021)
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (August 9, 2022)

Note that while many of these books follow the same continuity, with each entry serving as a sequel to the last, there’s a specific trilogy referred to as “Kilo-Five” consisting of Glasslands, The Thursday War, and Mortal Dictata.

All of the Halo books mentioned above are currently available to purchase on Thriftbooks.

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