An early Forerunner exploration - Tom Scholes Halo 4 concept design art

Artist Tom Scholes has posted some of the design work he did for Halo for on his site, Crayonbox of Doom.

It’s clear his work ended up having a lot of influence in the look of the game – his Forerunner design seems to have played a role in the campaign level where the Chief meets the Librarian and some of the elements of the maps found in Spartan Ops.

Scholes’ work can be found in the book Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 which features' concept art, character sketches and detailed environments' from a range of artists.

If you like other books, we totally suggest you download the ebook of Mortal Engines.

A quick patsy interview by 343 with Greg Bear

Any interview where the IP owner interviews the author of a work they have commissioned (Silentium) is going to be a ‘patsy’ interview – that said Mr Bear appears to be very sincere!

BS Angel from 343 Industries: Thanks for joining us today, Greg. Your trilogy provides incredible insight into the Forerunner race. Do you see their civilization as grand? Tragic? Admirable? Evil?

All civilizations, all extended cultural groupings, are predatory and self-involved. The Forerunners have had a very long run as the dominant race and dominant culture in our galaxy. But over that period of time, they’ve become both inner-directed and self-satisfied, something which irritates the Librarian no end. She understands the ebbs and flows of living history better than most Forerunners, and sees their larger-scale blindnesses as both unnecessary and counterproductive – and in the end, fatal.

What kinds of inspiration did you look to when you were imagining Forerunner society and their amazing technological and architectural abilities?

Looking at the Forerunner environments and designs gamers have experienced, it became obvious that Builder/contractors would be very important. And looking at the destructive power of the Halos and the history of the Flood, it was equally obvious that we are dealing with a warrior civilization near the end of its history and power. The contrast between the warrior Didact and the gentler Librarian, savior of humanity and other species, gave me the remaining clues I needed to begin filling in their social structure and relationship. Science fiction pioneers such as Edward E. "Doc" Smith and his Lensman series, Olaf Stapledon’s vast future histories, Arthur C. Clarke’s expansive City and the Stars and Childhood’s End, and the extraordinary works of Asimov and Heinlein, as well as the wonderful technologies and aliens imagined by Larry Niven and Iain Banks, helped shape my own fictional universes over the last forty years, and no doubt helped me imagine the Forerunners as well.

Can you describe your process for conceptualizing amazing worlds like Charum Hakkor or the Capital on paper?

It’s a kind of waking dream, I think, wherein I mix and match archaeology, technology, cutting-edge science, extreme architecture – and the requirements of the story. Nothing the Forerunners come up with can really surprise me anymore! But there were many moments in Halo 4 that knocked my socks off. It’s one thing to imagine and describe in words, quite another to see those visions come roaring to vibrant life.

How do you feel about the way the Didact is portrayed between book and game?

The fierceness of the original Didact is absolutely appropriate to Halo 4. Halo: Silentium documents the reasons both historical and immediate for his transformation.

Halo 4 concept art by Paul Richards featuring Space Whales

HBO pointed out that Paul Richards, an artist for 343 Studios has posted some concept artwork he created for Halo 4. And I've got two words for you. Space. Whales.

Here's some more, less whale like, space whales:



How the heck did Space Whales not make it into Halo 4?

Richards also did some design work for Forerunner artifacts, including an apparent Mega Didact:

Seeing these pictures make me wonder how many actual individual drawings were made for Halo 4 - 10K? Who really knows....

Halo Silentium cover is revealed and release date set

Greg Bear's Silentium has a fancy cover ...

From a press release:

Tor and 343 Industries to offer bonus material in the latest book in the Halo Forerunner Saga

New York, NY – February 11, 2013 – Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC – the largest publisher of science fiction in the world – and 343 Industries are excited to announce a new initiative to coincide with the release of Halo: Silentium by acclaimed science fiction author Greg Bear.

Leading up to the release of Halo: Silentium (March 19, 2013), Tor and 343 Industries will be sending out encrypted communications via halowaypoint.com bulletins and forums, which will allow Halo fans to unlock additional content. There will also be embedded data in the text of the Halo: Silentium paperback and e-book editions.

These communications will begin now, and continue on halowaypoint.com leading up to the March 19th release of Halo: Silentium.

We think the audiobook of Mortal Engines is pretty handy as well.

Pictures of the Librarian from Spartan Operations

The mystical and magical Librarian has made an appearance in Halo 4's Spartan Operations series - Dr Catherine Halsey has found what she was looking for - so was it worth it Catherine?

Take the red or blue pill!

JJ Reviews: Halo Cryptum by Greg Bear

JJ Reviews: Halo Cryptum by Greg Bear

Sometimes a story has been told to death. Think any James Bond, Freddy Kruger or Jack Reacher series - all done to death and often not highly original - they become past their use by date.

Eventually someone (a right's holder looking at diminishing returns) realizes the story is stale and reboot or retelling is necessary. Or else some dark secret that was merely hinted at is explored by way of a prequel.

Queue the Halo franchise - 5 Halo games in, a series of animations, cartoons and novels have followed. Some might argue that the Halo story is reaching or has reached its use by date.

Whatever you think,  the story is now being split in two directions - 343 Industries think they have a new story for Halo 4 and Greg Bear has been given the task of telling a prequel story but a prequel perhaps unlike any other in that it's set 100,000 years before the age in which most people know the Halo universe. 

Halo Cryptum is the first of a trilogy known as The Forerunner Saga. Pitched as being "the first deep exploration into the time of the Forerunners, the creators and builders of the Halos. Almost nothing is known for sure about this ancient race.

Worshipped by the Covenant as gods, their engineering relics pepper the galaxy, and their connection to humanity remains unanswered. "

Well frankly, Cryptum  raises more questions than it answers but that's OK as the plot gives a facinating glimpse into the origins of the Flood, an truly deep insight into the Forerunners and their struggles with what the presence of the Flood means for the 3 million planets that have sentient life.

If you've seen Halo: Origins, that story puts Cryptum in context - this book is an exploration of the tales suggested in that story.

Thankfully, writer Greg Bear is no Alan Dean Foster of the Halo universe simply churning out the movie tie-in, his writing is tightly wound to the fabric of the Halo universe but he's been given the chance to add some real meat to the bones of the Forerunner's story which till now has only really been hinted at by the games.

He takes our antagonist 'Born Stellar' on a wonderful journey across the galaxy. Perhaps as a pawn of unseen masters, this 'manipular' interrupts the deep sleep of the Didact, a Forerunner whose knowledge of the universe could either save or perhaps destroy the galaxy.

It's epic in concept but framed just right so that through the eyes of Born Stellar we see the ties of  his family and the secrets within it gradually being revealed to show that the treasure he seeks is not the treasure he'll find. 

A key point of plot, and spoiler alert here, is that it's revealed humans have been around much longer than the previous Halo canon has suggested - humans were once a thriving space travelling species that had fought a battle with the Flood, long before the Forerunners knew of its existence...

Cryptum also has carnivorous singing flowers which is always amusing in a science fiction novel. I named them 'Daughters of Audrey'.

As a piece of fiction, Halo: Cryptum isn't going to win the Booker Prize anytime soon, it has a slow pace in parts (save for an excellent finish involving court rooms and epic space battles), one could argue it's characters have little depth and that it's sometimes light on detail, such as lack of explanation of how some technology works.

I think that above gripes can be ignored if you just want to get inside the Halo universe a bit more deeply that you might have otherwise tread by playing the games.

It gives an extraordinary insight into why the Halo games are the way they are (albeit they were written first!). That said, if you've never even heard of Halo before, you should still be able to follow Born Stellar's ride quite well.

I enjoyed Cryptum an immense deal and the moment I finished it, I grabbed my laptop and ordered the second book, Primordium. I can't hardly wait for it to arrive!

Extra for Experts: Trainspotters might note that the cover of Cryptum was also used in the Halo 4 Concept Art trailer.

If you're interest in science fiction novels, have a look at Mortal Engines, they are turning it into a movie.