Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC—the largest publisher of science fiction in the world—announces the launch of Halo: Contact Harvest. The new novel is the latest of the New York Times bestselling series based on the hugely successful Microsoft and Bungie Studios' Halo video games for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system. Halo: Contact Harvest is written by Joseph Staten, Bungie Studios' lead writer and one of the original creators of the Halo game trilogy.
Though Halo: Contact Harvest marks Joseph Staten first foray into novel writing, he has served as a writer and cinematics director for Halo (2001) and Halo 2 (2004) and the record-breaking Halo 3.
In Halo: Contact Harvest, Staten reveals the state of the Halo universe leading up to humanity's devastating first contact with the Covenant —a chance encounter that catapulted mankind into a struggle for its very existence. Readers will experience the start of the Human-Covenant war from the perspective of Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, Master Chief's legendary confidant and mentor. As readers follow the young Sergeant's adventures, they will gain terrifying insights into both the Covenant's genocidal fury and the vicious civil war that threatened to destroy humanity's fledgling interstellar empire, even before the Covenant got their chance.
"It goes without saying that Joseph has great, intimate knowledge of the Halo universe, so who better to tell the harrowing tale of humanity's first contact with the Covenant?" says Tor Editor Eric Raab. "In the novel, Joseph not only reveals exciting nuances of known events and characters such as Sgt. Johnson. But he also breaks new ground —takes readers on an action-packed journey to a little-known but vital part of the Halo universe: the far-flung, ill-fated word of Harvest."
Halo has emerged from the video game world as a global phenomenon. Its latest installment, Halo 3, garnered more than $300 million in its first week alone, making it the fastest selling video game ever, and one of the most successful entertainment properties ever. With a fully fleshed-out universe of heroes, villains and epic scenarios, the novels expand the universe to give fans a grander view of the game environments and characters they encounter.
To date, over 20 million copies of the games in the Halo trilogy have been sold worldwide. The record week one sales comes on the heels of the previously announced $170 million in sales in the U.S. within the first 24 hours of the game's release, which marked not just the biggest videogame launch, but the biggest entertainment launch in history. The Xbox 360 title beat previous U.S. sales records set by blockbuster openings for entertainment events like the release of Spider-Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Additionally, more than 1.7 million copies of Halo 3were preordered in the United States, making it the fasting pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of Halo 2<http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo2/>.
[i]About Tor Books Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books, founded in 1980 and committed (although not limited) to SF and fantasy literature. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperback, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher. Books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and for the last twenty years in a row we have been named Best Publisher in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.[/i]
HALO: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten
A Tor Trade Paperback Original
On-Sale Date: October 30, 2007
Cover Price: $14.95
Also Available from Audio Renaissance Unabridged CD $29.95