Eric Nylund has published seven novels: virtual reality thrillers
A Signal Shattered and Signal To Noise;
contemporary fantasy novels Pawn’s Dream and Dry
Water (nominated for the 1997 World Fantasy Award); the
science fantasy novel A Game of Universe; and two of our
favorites, Halo: The Fall of Reach and now Halo: First
Strike. I was lucky enough to get Eric to take time out of a
rainy Seattle day to talk about his experience working in the
Halo universe.
First Strike went on sale recently and has been very well
received by fans—which makes sense considering Nylund's first
Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach, has sold
close to 200,000 copies and appeared on the Publishers
Weekly bestseller list. It surprised some fans that he didn't
return to write the second novel in the series, Halo: The
Flood.
"I knew the second novel would be a difficult project, covering the
events of the game. If you're a fan, you've already played through
these events—so half the fans are going to be mad because it's not
exactly like the game … and the other half will be mad because it's
too much like the game.
“Bill [William C. Dietz] did a great job with it. He gave us our
first look inside the Covenant, showed what the ODST [Orbital Drop
Shock Troopers] can really do, and told us what it was like to be
assimilated by the flood first hand. Great stuff."
Of course Eric is no stranger to difficult assignments.
"The first novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach, was written in
seven weeks. Of course I couldn't have done that without the
support the Consumer Products Group [formerly the Franchise
Development Group]. The universe was already hammered out pretty
thoroughly in the story bible by Eric Trautmann and Brannon Boren.
They were handed basic story stuff by Bungie, and they fleshed out
many of the details in the universe. That saved a lot of
time.
"I actually had 16 weeks to write Halo: First Strike, but
there's a caveat. My son was born right in the middle of it. I had
some time off for paternity leave, during which I was still pretty
busy, but I did get a chance to read some good reference material.
The biography of Gunny Hathcock [Marine Sniper by Charles
Henderson], the Army's manuals on special ops and urban combat,
stuff like that. I've also had the chance to hear what fans thought
of the first two books and incorporate that feedback into this one.
I do read the forums."
With several of his own books under his belt, Eric Nylund still
relished playing in someone else's universe.
"I've enjoyed seeing the character of the Master Chief evolve over
the three books. Besides the Master Chief, I like writing Doctor
Halsey. I think she's the closest to my own personality. She has
more of an idea of what's really going on—the big picture—than any
other character."
Though he was given an endpoint for both books (Halo: The Fall
of Reach had to lead up to the beginning of Halo, and
Halo: First Strike had to lead up to the beginning of
Halo 2), he had a
lot of creative freedom. Naturally that brings up the question of
what exactly is covered in Halo: First Strike.
"It covers the period between the games. It picks up right where
The Flood left off and covers the events that precede
Halo 2. I also got to come back to the events on
Reach, so you'll get to see what happened after the
Pillar of Autumn left—more SPARTAN action, more of Doctor
Halsey, and most importantly, you’ll find out how Sgt. Johnson
shows up alive in Halo 2. Unfortunately, Yayap won't be
back.”
Can we look forward to more Halo novels from Eric
Nylund?
"You never know what the future holds, but I'd like to. I've
enjoyed working with Jason Jones, Joe Staten, Loraine McLees, Jaime
Griesemer, and everyone at Bungie. We're kicking ideas around.
We'll see where it goes."
