Austin+Smith's+The+Fall+Of+Reach+book+review

The Fall Of Reach The fall of reach by Eric Nylund is the prequel to the Xbox game series Halo. This book is set close to the year 2535 where humans have expanded their empire to many different planets. They have only needed weapons in space so far to fight other humans but that will not hold true for long. Meanwhile a research project is being conducted Codename: SPARTAN. In this project Scientists like Dr. Hasley are searching the galaxy for the most talented kids out there and replace them with clones. The kids or forced to endure boot camp harder then even the marines have it but not one child cried the whole time. In this story you follow two main characters. One is a boy participating in Project SPARTAN named John later known as Spartan 117. The other is Lieutenant Junior Grade Jacob Keyes but he isn’t as important as John.

As John and his best friends Sam and Kelly grow up in boot camp they are bread to be soldiers. Running hundreds of miles, combat training, and even emergency combat extractions, which are getting soldiers out of somewhere where they aren’t supposed to be. Once the complete boot camp they are put in chambers of bio-fluid while they undergo a process known as Human Augmentation. Scientist use strong materials and radiation exposures on a human body to strengthen the muscles, harden the bones, and fine-tune the senses. Unfortunately the Augmentation process is hard and cripples over 30 Spartans. Once they are finished with augmentation they are put to use against a newfound alien army known as the covenant

The covenant deals a deadly first blow in the new war with energy weapons and electromagnetic shields far beyond human tech. The Spartans are the worlds only hope for survival. They will have to let the Covenant know that they can be beat,

Over all I thought this was an excellent book the different setting and the details made me feel right there with them and the story line and characters suspended disbelief and made it all the more enjoyable. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 for thorough plot, well developed characters and good use of visual imagery.