Going on to sell over one million copies, the success of The Fall of Reach paved the way for further Xbox game novelizations, including another book in the Halo series. The book was well received by critics, who thought it added depth to the plot of the game, but the large number of characters was highlighted as a shortcoming. The novel was written in seven weeks, Nylund's shortest writing deadline. A 'Halo Story Bible' was created to assist Nylund in keeping with Halo canon. The Fall of Reach was conceived after Nylund had discussed the possibility of a Halo novel with Microsoft's Franchise Development Group. The novel details the events which led up to the game and explains the origins of the SPARTAN II super soldiers, narrating the story of the series protagonist, the Master Chief. It takes place in the 26th century across several planets and locations. The book was released in October 2001 and is the first Halo novel. Halo: The Fall of Reach is a military science fiction novel by Eric Nylund, set in the Halo universe, and acts as a prelude to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series.
