Halo: Contact Harvest: Contact Harvest

The book came with coffee stains on page 365 to 398 even though I bought it in good condition it came as fair condition

Contact Harvest is the unofficial 5th book in the Halo Series. It tells us of the very first contact with humanity and the covenant, so fans used to seeing Spartans in every book will be a little disappointed by that fact. However, the story itself does not let down a bit. Humanity is at war with the Innies (Insurrectionists) who want to rebel against the UNSC governing body. While that is going on, an AWOL marine named Avery Johnson, who has a dubious past defending the UNSC space against the Innies, struggles to find out who he is. Bouncing from mission to mission and then finally ends up going AWOL and transferred to Harvest. At first it is an ordinary assignment and a seemingly harmless one until he can pass on through and get back into the UNSC's good graces again. Things change however upon the first contact with Covenant forces, who curiously explore and then annihilate a simple UNSC cruise ship with harvesters meant for Harvest on them. The aliens believe that there is something of great value on Harvest and soon send a strike force designed to "reclaim" the relics on Harvest and to speak with a possible Oracle there. It's up to Avery to get the militia (better termed "farmboys" for a complete lack of experience) ready in time to defend Harvest against it's relic-hungry foes. Perhaps the best part of the book is learning why the Covenant are at war with humanity in the first place. Along the way, the Covenant Prophets discover a simple secret about humanity in addition to their own quest for Forerunner relics. What seems like a harmless bit of truth secluded from the religious Covenant masses ends up turning into an ongoing war that would forever change the fate of humanity and the Covenant. I was a little disappointed Contact Harvest didn't contain any Spartans. However, that quickly dissipated as the back story itself for the Covenant and Humanity was simply amazing. Well worth a read!

The only thing that's hard to believe about this book is that it's Joseph Staten's first published novel. Yes, that's the same Joe Staten who helped develop the story for the mega-successful Halo series on which this book is based. This book shows all of the quality of a more seasoned writer, and is a fine addition for collectors and fans as well as Sci-Fi readers in general. A short summary is that this is a prequel following the story of Sergeant Avery Johnson, the same cigar-chomping Marine who later aids Master Chief in the Halo series. It's also the story of mankind's first contact with the aggressive Covenant, fanatical space aliens who are hellbent on humanity's destruction when we encounter them in Halo. This book lets you see how the war started, as well as giving you a lot of excellent character background for the "Sarge" that players and fans have come to know and love. The writing is excellent, with tons of great character detail and plenty of good action, although things are on a much smaller and more personal scale here compared to the massive space battles of later books and games. Staten's writing is excellent, and is certainly praiseworthy for any author, let alone as his debut title. Fans generally either place this entry as their very favorite Halo novel to date, or like me, as perhaps somewhere in-between Nylund's "Fall of Reach" and "Ghosts of Onyx", but certainly far ahead of William C. Dietz's generally weaker "The Flood". You don't have to be a Halo fan to appreciate this book. If you've never touched one of the games, this is currently the best novel to introduce yourself to the universe, as it is a prequel to all the other works. If you are a Halo fan, you simply cannot live another day without this book, or you're living a day less rich than it could have been. This is an excellent title, and I hope we see many more from Joseph Staten.

I thought the book was written very well, except for the few typos I noticed. It explains how the war between the Covenant and the Human race began. If you liked the other books in the series, then definately purchase this one.

Contact Harvest gives you a great education on the background of Halo and the struggle of the Human race. Well written, and a fun read.

Joseph Staten did an amazing job with this book! Wile it's not as good as 'Fall of Reach' or 'First Strike', I did enjoy it a lot more then 'Ghost of Onyx'. It added a lot of background story to the halo universe including the story of the Covenant and how they came to be. On a side note, I was a little disappointed with the ending, I expected it to tie in more closely with the initial accounts of first contact outlined in 'Fall of Reach', instead they kind of stopped shortly before those events occurred. Also, one other thing I would like to point out is the odd inclusion of a sex scene in this book which doesn't really fit in well, epically considering where it was placed in the book. I guess he was trying to show love in a universe of death, but it just didn't jive well.