Celebrating Halo’s 25th anniversary with one of its best pieces of media
It’s nice to be back into the world of Halo. Xbox’s quintessential property has always been bigger than just video games, expanding into TV shows, graphic novels, toys and books. It’s that last one, the purely written prose, that has perhaps filled the lore and history of the series and its world best. Eryc Nylund’s The Fall of Reach, the first ever book based on the series, released in 2001 to much praise — it’s one of my own favorite books based on a game. Being a written work it’s lasted 25 years, easy to come back to because it doesn’t care about graphics or gameplay or whatever platform it’s trapped on. It’s just paper or digital text.
Well, it was.
Now, to celebrate the game’s 25th Anniversary, it’s also an audiobook. Or rather a full-on, sound-effect and voice cast filled audio drama. And it’s good! Real good.
The book itself is great, focusing on events well before the original game, Halo: Combat Evolved. The Fall of Reach focuses on the beginnings of the SPARTAN-II program and how Master Chief became Master Chief. It’s a great read, with earnest storytelling of how a child becomes a famed hero amid a growing threat. I’d only read it once, though, and that was nearly 5 years after it originally was published, but I loved it.
The audiobook takes the great writing and ratchets it up, turning it into an intense and engaging depiction that will often have us leaning forward and closing our eyes to envision what we’re hearing. The added sound effects and lite soundtrack buoy the stellar performances by Steve Downes as John-117/Chief and Hanok Larson as the young version, as well as the 18 other voices and narrators we hear. Having Downes continue the voice of Master Chief from the games into this audiobook is the only way that it could have been done, tying the book even tighter into Halo proper.
There are some fun moments, like hearing the inflection in the voices as the surprised SPARTAN-II leadership interact with the quickly advancing John, and Chief making evaluations on the field as he earns his stripes. Some of the perils and action-filled moments later, as well, hit some particularly high notes when we’re treated to the increasingly tense mood as the reality of the expanding war starts to set in.
The 11 hours of the book may seem like a big number but its well-paced writing and the performances make it feel breezy, a perfect addition to a few work days. The Fall of Reach is so well put together that we’ll want to listen to it all in one sitting, like a binge-worthy TV series that never has a low point.
Simon & Schuster Audio have taken the text off the page and added even more drama and energy to Nylund’s already terrific piece of fiction. We need more Halo like The Fall of Reach.
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great
This review is based on a digital copy sent to the Editor by the Publisher/PR. Read about how we do our reviews here.