Mortal Coils is the first book in a planned five-book series. I'm to understand Nylund did in fact write books before he adapted the Halo series — but this is the author's first original work since he did Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.

The press blurb on the plot reads like half a dozen different manga I read in high school. Here's a tiny taste of it:

On the eve of their fifteenth birthday, however, everything changes. It begins with hauntingly familiar violin music played by a homeless man who reeks of sardines and sulfur; a victorious confrontation with their bully of a boss; and a visit from two mysterious strangers, one known only as "a Driver" and the other who claims to be their long-lost uncle.

It turns out that Fiona and Eliot are much more than ordinary teenagers. They are the result of a single mistake: Years ago, an immortal goddess…and the infernal Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, fell in love. To protect them from their dangerous heritage, Audrey Post valiantly kept the twins hidden and camouflaged from the entities that have sought them over the years, transforming the divine into the dull.

Not to say anything bad about Nylund's writing (I actually liked Fall of Reach), but I'm betting the "New York Times Bestselling Author" tag he gets to put on Mortal Coils comes more from Master Chief's massive popularity than it does from his writing.

Maybe you can't play Halo 3 yet, but at least you can have new Halo fiction today.

Whoops, I fell for some PR double speak, turns out today was the day the game went from a trade paperback to a mass paperback, which means jack and shit to most everyone reading this site. Sorry for the confusion.

The "Halo Paperback Debuts Today" in the press release must have thrown me.

If you happened to miss the October release of the book read on, otherwise move along, nothing to see here.

Tor Books and Bungie Studios today released a bit of pulp fiction called Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, the first in a three novel series.

The author, Eric Nylund, also wrote Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike. This latest novel takes readers "deep into crucial events that unfold during the Halo and Halo 2 timelines."

Story Synopsis The Spartan-II program has gone public. Tales of super-soldiers fending off thousands of Covenant attacks has become the stuff of legend. But just how many Spartans are left? While Master Chief defends a besieged Earth, and the myriad factions of the Covenant continue their crusade to eliminate humanity, an ultra-secret cell of the Office of Naval Intelligence known as "Section Three" devises a plan to buy the UNSC vital time. They're going to need hundreds of willing soldiers, though...and one more Spartan to get the job done. The planet Onyx is virtually abandoned and the perfect place to set this new plan in motion. But when Master Chief destroys Halo, something is triggered deep within Onyx: Ancient Forerunner technology stirs, and fleets of UNSC and Covenant race to claim it to change the course of Human Covenant War. But this reawakened and ancient force may have plans of its own...

Eight dollars doesn't seem like too much to take a chance on a story. Oooh, we totally need to start a Kotaku Book Club. Brian Crecente