Of course, the Halo franchise has its slew of novels to read in the sci-fi genre, but if you’re looking for something outside of the universe, pick up one of these. Halo rests in that action-packed, intergalactic, military subgenre of science fiction that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat at each page-turn of the book.
Science fiction books like Halo
Halo is categorized as military action science fiction. The stories are of superhuman feats, humanity’s struggle against invading forces, the political opera behind it all, and, of course, breakneck action. These books have a bit of everything, some being war politics, others being ludicrous battles on far-flung worlds. Either way, they all have some wild, action-packed rides.
Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
You can’t get closer to the Halo franchise than Starship Troopers by Heinlein. This book, which inspired the film, is Heinlein’s debut in serious science fiction, and it makes a few poignant points. It criticizes the militaristic world he was surrounded by and the glorification of war. Only people who serve in the military can ever be raised to full citizen status as an intergalactic war rages around the earth. Many comparisons between race and the aliens humanity fights against have been drawn.
Earth is at war with bugs from another planet. The fight rages between the two worlds, and it is a bloody one. The story follows a man who decides to join the military against his parents’ wishes. As the war rages on, the battles become more violent and devastating. The story follows the man’s tale and his journey through the ranks in this hard-fought fight for survival.
Battle Royale – Koushun Takami
This is not a military science fiction novel like the others on the list, but it still has all the action Halo fans look for. In a future fascist Japan, high school students are pulled from their classrooms and forced to fight to the death. According to the government, this is to help study war tactics and help form the fighters of tomorrow. However, it just serves to instill paranoia and fear in the population, who could be called up or have their children recruited at any moment.
The story is now seen everywhere in video games and even in other books, such as The Hunger Games. However, this is one of the earlier examples of the idea. It is a coming-of-age book and a high-octane action sci-fi, full of brutal fights and the struggle to survive. Be warned: This is not a book for the faint-hearted.
Stinger – Robert McCammon
Inferno, Texas, is already a terrible town. It is impoverished, violent, racist, and tearing itself apart from the inside. However, it is about to get significantly worse. When two alien spacecraft crash just outside the city, their homes are about to become the hunting ground of an alien with phenomenal strength. It is up to the citizens of Inferno to band together to try to fend off this unstoppable force of murder.
Stinger is set over a single 24-hour period and is nonstop from beginning to end. The first craft that lands is the prey of the second. This hunting alien is bent on destroying the first and won’t let anything stand in its way. This sci-fi action novel is full of the fast-paced violence Halo fans seek.
Altered Carbon – Richard K. Morgan
Body modifications, disembodied souls, and action-packed scenes are familiar to Halo and Morgan’s Altered Carbon. Although Altered Carbon is, at its core, a detective novel, the fast-paced action within will surely scratch any Halo fan’s need for a sci-fi. Takeshi Kovacs must puzzle out just who it is that murdered his last body and that of his client.
Morgan isn’t afraid to fill his pages with excellent, cyberpunk action. Each new chapter is a thrill ride, packed with crazy new technology and nail-biting scenes. The book has been turned into a multi-season TV show, which has received high praise. If you’re looking for something that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this is a great book to pick up.
Deathworld – Harry Harrison
Only a man named Harry Harrison could write a book like Deathworld and its subsequent two novels. The Deathworld book has a fantastic premise: A man, tipped off by some clients, gambles a vast amount of money in a government-run casino. He wins absurd amounts and has to escape the planetary government. He chooses to run to Pyrrus, which is rumored to be the most deadly planet colonized by humans.
The rest of the book is one man’s fight for survival against the many horrors that live on this planet he unwisely decided to extradite to. The book is very much of its time, written back in 1960, but it is still a fantastic action sci-fi for all Halo fans. The narrative follows the protagonists in his fight for survival as he tries to work out the mysteries of a planet bent on killing everything that lands on it.
The Pupper Masters – Robert A. Heinlein
Halo fans will be no strangers to the idea of the Flood and slug-like aliens dedicated to world domination. In The Pupper Masters, written in 1951, a flying saucer crashes on Earth. Within the saucer are slugs that can attach themselves to the backs of human hosts, taking over their brains and coercing others to join them.
The book is a true example of the golden age of science fiction. The country pulls together to try to fight off the invading, mind-control slugs. This action-packed book is a thrill ride as humanity fights to survive. All kinds of methods are used to fight the invading species, including forced nudity, all-out military attack, and, eventually, biological warfare.
The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
The Halo franchise is more than just the action and intergalactic battles that it first appears. It also talks about the mental strain of being a super soldier, forced to live far beyond that of his comrades, watching everyone die around him. Master Chief is a tortured hero, left only with Cortana to rely on; even she is eventually lost. In The Forever War, along with the huge intergalactic battle, comes the question of sanity and the mental pressure of space travel.
The Forever War takes a look at how much the human mind can cope when traveling vast distances across both space and time. As soldiers are sent between warring planets, huge amounts of time pass. The planet they leave to fight a tour of duty is not the same one they return to. Decades pass between battles, and the soldiers who fight it start to question just what it is all in aid of. This is a great action sci-fi book for the more philosophical Halo fan among us.
Armor – John Steakley
Armor has many of the trappings of the Halo franchise. Humanity fights against three-meter-tall aliens, referred to as Ants. To level the playing field, humans now wear armored exoskeletons. These grant almost superhuman strength, yet the fight is still bloody and highly costly on both sides. Armor follows two stories, one of a small colony being invaded by pirates and the other of Felix, an armored super soldier who refuses to die no matter how bad the odds are.
This is the perfect action sci-fi novel for any Halo fan looking for something familiar to the game’s setting. Huge alien bugs fight against armored super soldiers in a war that seems overly bloody and with no clear winner. The book is packed with high-octane action and some gripping scenes.
Enders Game – Orson Scott Card
Enders Game is one for the fans of space politics and intergalactic war. Funnily enough, like a number of the other books in this list, humanity is threatened by an alien race called the ‘Buggers’. However, using a training simulation, youth are trained up and selected to fight for humanity. During this training, one young man stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Enders Game unravels into an enormous space opera that spans generations. The book has some fantastic action scenes and amazing science-fiction technologies. Although the plot gets politically intergalactic, there are still many gritty and exciting battles to be had as Ender fights for what he ultimately believes is right.
Columbus Day – Craig Alanson
Columbus Day is an apt name for the date Earth was invaded by an alien force far outgunning and outnumbering its residents. In one fell swoop, aliens destroyed much of Earth’s core infrastructure, leaving Earth’s residents even more helpless than they were before. Being drastically on the back foot against an invading force sets this book up to be the action sci-fi perfect for fans of the Halo franchise.
After the initial attack, another alien force arrives, fighting off the first one and recruiting humanity into an intergalactic war that has been raging. However, after being recruited into the war against the invading aliens, things are not all they seem. In this military space science fiction novel, there is political intrigue, philosophy, and plenty of action.
If you love books that could easily become games, there are plenty out there to choose from.
Published: Aug 24, 2024 09:31 am