In an infuriating interview with arch-nemesis site IGN, Halo novelist Eric S. Nylund starts off with a bold-faced lie...

I really enjoy reading IGN. You guys do a bang-up job.

... and then proceeds to field a lot of questions about the plot of his upcoming novel, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.

Except he really doesn't tell us anything about the plot at all. Spoilers, don't you know. And as much as I actually think Nylund is just a bang-up pulp novelist, he makes me want to reach through my computer screen and throttle him.

I know spoilers are a big concern for those whose sole appreciation of art is what happens next. But for those of us that are more concerned with the dramatic significance of what happens — who reject the idea that a good story (outside, say, a mystery) can be spoiled — this sort of teasing is extremely frustrating. Thanks for the non-interview, Eric! Florian Eckhardt

The Halo Ghosts of Onyx Interview [IGN]

As I've somewhat shamefully admitted before, I'm a big fan of Eric S. Nylund's Halo novels. Just superlative toilet reading. So I'm pretty psyched by his upcoming Halo novel, Ghosts of Onyx. And now the cover's seen the light of day.

It's actually a fascinating image for Halo geeks like me: anyone notice how odd that one Spartan looks? Is she a prototype Spartan, or an advanced model of the armor, or some other type of battle armor entirely?

Here's the plot synopsis:

The Spartan-II program has gone public. Tales of super-soldiers fending off thousands of Covenant attacks has become the stuff of legend. ... 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 will 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 the Master Chief destroys Halo, something is triggered deep within Onyx. Ancienct Forefunner technology stirs, and fleets of UNSC and Covenant race to claim it to change the course of the Human Covenant War. But this reawakened and ancient force may have plans of its own...

That makes it a bit vague as to when this takes place in the Halo universe, or which Spartans are sent to Onyx. At the end of Halo: First Strike, there's four Spartans left alive. Which Spartans are we looking at? Florian Eckhardt

Cover Art for Halo: Ghosts of Onyx Revealed [Team Xbox] (via Destructoid)