HALO: Cryptum

HALO, Book 7

By: Greg Bear

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The first novel in the Forerunner Saga trilogy by science-fiction legend Greg Bear - set in the Halo universe and based on the New York Times best-selling video game series!

One hundred thousand years ago, the galaxy was populated by a great variety of beings. But one species - eons beyond all others in both technology and knowledge - achieved dominance.

They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were the Forerunners - the keepers of the Mantle of Responsibility, the next stage of life in the Universe’s Living Time.

And then they vanished.

This is their story.

©2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (P)2011 Macmillan Audio. All rights reserved.

Interesting take to the unwritten history.

I really enjoyed the book so many questions I've always wanted answered. The book is well written and keeps you engaged.

Best Halo book I've "read"!

I love Halo and have since Halo 2, but I had never read any of the books. When I heard a series was releasing about the fall of the forerunners, I had actually listened to this book right after it came out, marking it as my first. this book is phenomenally thought out, presenting a whole new living universe never truly explored before. I recommend this to all who love Halo, though it is hard to understand it's true scope without at least playing the first 3 games. Get this book, and its sequels; Primordium and Silentium. You won't be disappointed!

Hold on, it gets better.

The beginning or first half I struggled with, there were no answers and continuously produced mysteries that made no sense. Suddenly a chapter began and I couldn’t get enough, answers poured in and deep lore was like rapid fire. In the end I very much enjoyed the novel and recommend it to any Halo fan who wants to know more about the Forerunners, Promethians, Flood, or in general some backstory to the 4th game.

Halo Ethnography

My love of Halo franchise carried me through this. But my distaste of ethnographies... 3/5

Only if your a fan of the Halo Universe.

I am a fan of Science Fiction/ Fantasy and as such I'll say this is a good novel. If your a huge fan of the Halo universe then you will REALLY enjoy this. This starts the whole story of how and why the HALO rings exist... and the origin of the FLOOD.

I will warn you, it starts off ssssllllooowww and never really picks up the pace. It tells a good story but crams too much in at the end ( the last 25%) and condenses a lot at the end.

Slower but still great

Slower paced and less action packed than the previous books in the Halo SERIES. Overall still amazing and a great intro to forerunner lore

Cryptum's review

At first, I thought this was the next book in the canonical order of Halo books. I believe I was mistaken. For me, I struggled to get a hold of the story and put this audio book down for a time. Perhaps I'll be more interested in the second book.

look, it... well it gets better.

This is a slow listen. But it fills out some information on "Why's and How's" of the Forerunners. The performance of the narrator is good, and the story stays mysterious till the end. Maybe?

Couldn’t get into it

I just couldn’t get into the whole Forerunner Saga. Love Halo, just not the Forerunners I guess.

are they really do work together as different species.

it's nice to know when you've played a game for so long. that there is more to the worlds than what you play.

A nice start chronologically speaking

Well read and voice acted but story jumps at times into odd areas which add nothing to the lore or story. Overall if you like Halo you will enjoy this.

Lore City

Amazing. Answers loads of questions whilst leaving many many more. Possibly the best Halo book I’ve read out of the 5 I’ve read now.

Amazing dive into the Forerunners

An amazing dive into the mysterious beings that are Forerunner, which have always been shrouded in mystery in my favourite games and sci-fi universe. Very well done and very respectful to what has been layed down before!

Fantastic!

As someone who knows next to nothing about the Halo universe, I can say with full confidence that this is a great starter book for newcomers to the franchise. It introduces you to a lot of the important plot elements and gives you a good understanding of a lot of the lore. Fantastic book, definitely recommend it to anyone who's into Halo or even sci-fi in general for that matter. Great narrator too.

Great setup

Very well written by Greg bear, the setup for the rest of the trilogy is great, he has a brilliant job of explaining the characters and giving them personalities and made following the extensive lore behind the forerunners far more understandable and enjoyable than I thought. Going to get in to the next instalment right away

I think you need to have played that games.

personally I wouldn't have listened to this if I wasn't already a fan of Halo, I came here to learn more about the history of the Forerunner and the Didact, which is exactly what you get. Story is alright, not boring just a little difficult to focus on at times, but that's just me. I enjoyed it, but like I said, I'm already a fan of the franchise. Listening to this without the prior knowledge, I think it will lose you.

Fantastic insight to Forerunner

Great insight into the forerunner and the Halo universe, help map the origins of Halo how it all began

Brilliant told with a great performance keep me wanting more

awesome!

loved the story and the deep lore, looking forwards to the 2nd installment of this series

fantastic book,

I really enjoyed these books. I need more forerunner stories with deep dives into the lore.

brilliant book!

amazing story! couldn't stop listening! cant wait to hear more! set in the greatest universe of all time!