Next Halo: The Cole Protocol novel is due fall 2008. It reveals the location of the Spartan Gray Team
Halo: The Cole Protocol will be the sixth novel set in the Halo Universe, after Halo: Contact Harvest. Tobias S. Buckell, sci-fi author of Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin will pen the novel, which reveals the location of the Spartan Gray Team and “takes readers into an unexplored conflict of the Human-Covenant War where unlikely alliances are formed and shattered…” This group of Spartans was on an isolated mission during the events of the Halo videogames.
To clarify what The Cole Protocol is: “It’s a command enacted by Vice Admiral Preston Cole to prevent the Covenant from finding the location of Earth. Essentially, it is an order preventing Covenant retrieval of data that contains the location of Earth, and forbids retreating vessels from setting a direct slipspace course to Earth, as the Covenant are able to track slipspace travel and find Earth’s location. The policy also states that to prevent capture, any UNSC or Human vessel is to self destruct, after wiping all data matrices, to prevent the advance of the Covenant.” — Via Halopedia
Bungie and Microsoft’s Halo Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor had this to say on the upcoming book, which is slated for a fall 2008 release, ” Buckell continues an excellent tradition that’s now a solid aspect of the Halo novels, bringing a fresh new perspective to a limitless universe and bringing his prodigious writing talents to bear in ways that will surprise and engage fans of the series and newcomers alike,” quotes Bungie.net.
