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Halo: Cryptum is a science fiction novel by Greg Bear, set in the Halo universe.^[2] The book released on January 4, 2011,^[3] and is the eighth Halo novel, following 2009's Halo: Evolutions, an anthology written by various writers creating short stories. The book was succeeded by Halo: Primordium which was subsequently published January 3, 2012.^[4]

Set approximately 100,000 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the novel tells the story of the Forerunners' rule over the galaxy.^[3] The novel is focused on the Forerunner youngster Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting and his adventure to Earth (Erde-Tyrene) and beyond.^[5][6]

Background[link]

Greg Bear was contracted to write three books nicknamed the "Forerunner Trilogy". This is the first of three.

"The enigma of the Forerunners is really at the heart of the drama and mystery of the Halo universe," says Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director for 343 Industries. "In all the games and the books so far we've only scratched the surface of the terrible events that engulfed the Forerunners and the Galaxy they protected 100,000 years ago, and we're very lucky to have a writer with Greg's experience and creativity to help us finally shed some light on why the Halos are really here." ^[5]

Synopsis[link]

Setting and characters[link]

Cryptum takes place in the Halo universe telling the story of Forerunners long before their disappearance. It revolves around the journey of a young Forerunner known as Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting and two humans, Chakas and Morning Riser, and how their life changes when they meet a Warrior-servant class Forerunner, the Didact.

Didact

A Warrior-servant class and a Promethean Forerunner who was one of the commanders of Forerunner military in the Forerunner-human war. He is married to the Librarian. He wakes up from his exile which he took when he lost his ideas and plans to Builder class of Forerunners.

Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting

Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting (aka Born or Bornstellar) is a young Forerunner, referred to as a "Manipular". He is the main character of Halo: Cryptum. He is a young rebellious Forerunner boy whose family and ancestors came from a long line of Builders. In search of adventure he arrives on Erde-Tyrene and activates Didact's cryptum.

Chakas

Chakas is a human youngster of a species known as chamanune, living on Earth in approximately 100,000 BCE. He, along with Riser, is part of a collective of guides based in the city of Marontik and join Bornstellar on his quest.^[7]

Day-Chaser Makes Paths Long-stretch Morning Riser

Day-Chaser Makes Paths Long-stretch Morning Riser (aka Morning Riser or Riser)^[8] is a human and Chakas' compatriot. He is a Florian, a member of a diminutive species of human known today as Homo floresiensis.

The Librarian

The Librarian is a Forerunner Lifeworker, and one of the most powerful and influential Lifeworkers who ever lived, a Lifeshaper, the highest rank a Lifeworker can achieve, and one of only three Forerunners ever to receive the title. She was married to the Didact.

Plot[link]

The story starts with the Manipular (a young Forerunner of the Builder class) Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting when he makes his way to Earth, then known as "Erde-Tyrene". He meets two humans named Chakas and Morning Riser, who serve as his guides. Bornstellar is seeking adventure treasure in the form of Precursor artifacts. The humans suspect they know of the treasure Bornstellar seeks, and they lead him to an ring island. There, they activate the cryptum of Didact, a Warrior-servant class Forerunner who had gone under timeless sleep. Bornstellar begins to suspect that the AI in his suit of armor has conspired to bring him to this island, and that the humans held some form of subconscious knowledge allowing them to aid in waking the Didact.

After the Didact recovers from his slumber, he conscripts Bornstellar, Chakas, and Riser, taking them on a quest given to them by a Lifeworker named Librarian who turns out to be Didact's wife. The Librarian has provided them with a state-of-the-art ship, hidden for thousands of years beneath the ring island. Though the ships systems are handicapped by lack of access to the Domain, a repository of all Forerunner knowledge and experience, Bornstellar learns more about the ancient Forerunner war with humankind.

Forerunners went to war with humans when their expansion began encroaching on Forerunner worlds. It is implied that Forerunners, San 'Shyuum, and humans were at one time all incredibly advanced and powerful races. Despite their advanced technology, and combined forces, the humans and San 'Shyuum were defeated by the greatly advanced Forerunners. As a punishment, human populations were devastated, the race devolved, stripped off their technologies and were limited to their own home planet Erde-Tyrene. It was the Librarian who saved the human race and planted a genetic command known as a geas in them, as well as preventing them from being wiped out fully. Later it is learned that the humans and San 'Shyuum were originally united against the Flood, at the far reaches of their territories, far away from the eyes of Forerunners.

Hoping to uncover some of the mystery surrounding the Librarian's plan, the Didact and his makeshift crew travel to an ancient Precursor planet, Charum Hakkor, which was once a thriving human planet. The Didact is disturbed to find that many of the Precursor structures on the planet have been devastated, or are falling into decay and ruin. Precursor structures were thought to be eternal, and resistant to the power of time. The Didact also discovers that a prisoner, ensconced in both Precursor and human containment methods, has escaped. They leave Charum Hakkor, traveling to the nearby world of Faun Hakkor, another formerly human-settled world, only to find it stripped of all sentient life, and its ecosystem in peril. At this point, the Didact attempts to impart his knowledge to Bornstellar, hoping to fill him in on parts of the mystery. The process fails, however, as Bornstellar has yet to undergo his first mutation, which is necessary for such a transfer to take place. Soon, the Didact offers to initiate the mutation, offering up his own image for the imprint the process requires. This is problematic and seemingly against Forerunner ritual, as it is typically a family right, and the Didact and Bornstellar are of differing classes. Bornstellar eventually concludes it is his destiny, and undergoes the mutation, making him something of a freak among Forerunners, but allowing him to receive the imprint of the Didact, including his memories, tactics, experiences, and other traits.

When attempting to visit the San 'Shyuum home world, the four are captured by Builders, commanded by the leader of the Builder class and effectively the entire Forerunner race, the Master Builder. The Didact and humans are held prisoner, but Bornstellar is returned to the care of his father because of his family's status and power, a fact Bornstellar was never made aware of. On the trip home, he hears rumors that the reason the Domain is disrupted is due to massive slipspace interference caused by large objects being trasported. Back on his family's home world, he uses the time and peace to reflect on recent events, and allow the imprint of the Didact to fully assimilate into his thoughts. While on an walk around his family's estate, he overhears an argument between his father and another Builder. From this, he learns that his father was one of the chief builders of Halo. The Didact opposed the Builders' decision to construct such a weapon and hence he was exiled with most of his warrior-servant class.

It is soon revealed that the Master Builder is being brought up on charges, and that eleven of the twelve Halo weapons had been recalled, but one of the rings had gone missing. Bornstellar is called to a Forerunner core planet to testify against the Master Builder, who has been put on trial for crimes against The Mantle. Just as the trial is about to begin, all the sentinels, monitors and Halos guarding the planet are disabled by an unknown force. It is revealed that the AI Mendicant Bias has betrayed the Forerunners and intends to use the combined power of the in-system Halos to begin wiping out the Forerunner race.

In the ensuing battle for saving the planet, several Halos are able to escape, their own controlling AI's enacting failsafe survival protocols. Bornstellar manages to escape with the help of a young council member and a Warrior-servant council guard. They make it to the power the Halos were escaping through, just in time to see one blown up as it attempted to enter. They make it through the portal, along with debris from the disintegrating structure, but lose power and drift for an unknown amount of time before being recovered by Lifeworkers.

They discover that the portal has carried them to The Ark, the massive structure that serves as a construction site for Halos and also a haven for Lifeshapers. The trio are given medical attention and allowed time to heal. Soon Bornstellar meets the Librarian, which brings up conflicting thoughts and feelings, due to his imprint from the Didact. She tells Bornstellar that the Master Builder executed the Didact soon after Bornstellar was sent back to his family. With the news that the Didact is gone, Bornstellar appears to resolve himself to take his place.

The book ends with a narration/remembrance from the Didact/Bornstellar, revealing a that the escaped prisoner was the last Precursor, known as Timeless One. Through a conversation the Didact had long ago, it is learned that the Precursors created the Forerunners, only for the Forerunners to rise up and wipe out the Precursors, save for this one, which is now wanting to extract revenge.

Reception[link]

Halo: Cryptum was welcomed with mixed to negative reviews. Dr. Nigel Seel of sciencefiction.com called it tired, unoriginal and boring to be a success saying "It’s hard to care about the flimsy characters, the plot is wearily over familiar, the hero is passive throughout and overall, not enough happens. This is one for the die-hard Halo fans."^[9] Another review website Portlandbookreview gave positive feedback and praised it for having everything one would want for an incredible science fiction read, saying, "This book is a must-have for all Halo fans to add to their collection and a must-read for all sci-fi fans. Though you may have to learn some new vocabulary to understand the world in the book, once you get in it you’ll never want to come out."^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Halo: Cryptum on Halopedia: The Halo Wiki
• TOR Books - Halo: Cryptum, Chapter One (Excerpt)
• Halo Waypoint - Halo: Cryptum, Chapter Two (Excerpt)
• Halo Waypoint Interview - Greg Bear Talks Cryptum

Look up HALO or halo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Halo may refer to:

• Halo (religious iconography), a glow or ring of light around a head or person in art
• HALO jump, a High Altitude-Low Opening parachute jump

Game franchise and spin-offs[link]

• Halo (series), a video game franchise by Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios
  • Halo (megastructure), the megastructure that is the center of the game's canon.
  • Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series, released in 2001
    • Halo Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for the first game in the series
  • Halo 2, the second game in the series, released in 2004
    • Halo 2 Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for the second game in the series split into two volumes; Volume one and two released at different dates
  • Halo 3, the third game in the series, released in 2007.
    • Halo 3 Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for the third game in the series
  • Halo Wars, a real-time strategy spin-off created by Ensemble Studios, released in 2009.
  • Halo 3: ODST, a game set during the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3, released in 2009
  • Halo: Reach, a prequel to the first game, released in 2010
    • Halo: Reach Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for the above game in the series
  • Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, the remake of the first game, released in November, 2011
  • Halo 4, the recently announced first installment to the second trilogy, to be released in November 2012
  • Halo 5, recently announced at E3 2011 (Part of the Reclaimer Trilogy), release date is unknown.
  • Halo 6, recently announced at E3 2011 (Part of the Reclaimer Trilogy), release date is unknown.
  • Halo Legends, a series of short animated films set in the Halo franchise's universe

Natural science[link]

• Halo (optical phenomenon), an atmospheric illusion produced by ice crystals
• Galactic halo
• Halo nucleus
• Halo orbit
• Halo- (disambiguation), a chemical prefix

Music[link]

Performers[link]

• Halo (metal band), an Australian drone/sludge metal band
• Halo (Christian rock band), an American group
• Halo (UK band), a rock group

Songs[link]

• "Halo" (Beyoncé Knowles song)
• "Halo" (Machine Head song)
• "Halo" (Red Flag song)
• "Halo" (Soil song)
• "Halo" (Texas song)
• "Halo", a song by Bloc Party on the album Intimacy
• "Halo", a song by Depeche Mode on the album Violator
• "Halo", a song by Foo Fighters on the album One by One
• "Halo", a song by Bethany Joy Galeotti on the album Friends with Benefits: Music from the Television Series One Tree Hill, Volume 2
• "Halo", a song by Porcupine Tree on the album Deadwing
• "Halo", a song by the Pussycat Dolls on the album Doll Domination
• "Halo", a song by Tinchy Stryder on the album Catch 22
• "Halo", a song by Takida on the album Bury the Lies
• "Haloes", a song by The Tubes on the album The Tubes
• "Halo", a song by Endless Shame on the album Generation Blind

Other uses in music[link]

• Halo (album), by Current 93
• Halo numbers, a numbering system used by industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails to organize official releases
• Halo Records, a record label

Films[link]

• Halo (1996 film), a 1996 Indian film
• Halo (2007 cancelled film), a cancelled film version of the Halo video game series

Other uses[link]

• Halo (bar)
• Halo (horse)
• Halo (medicine), a cervical brace
• Halo, West Virginia, United States
• Halo effect, a type of cognitive bias
• Halo Project (Project Halo), computer science "digital Aristotle"
• HALO Trust, an organization to remove war debris
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a baseball team, nicknamed "the Halos"
• Halo, a move used in the dance b-boying
• Halo antenna, a common omni-directional antenna.
• Halo, a certain type of automobile headlamp

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.