---
product_id: 130032827
title: "Halo: Cryptum"
brand: "greg bearholter grahamsimon & schuster audio/halo books"
price: "FREE"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.fr/products/130032827-halo-cryptum
store_origin: FR
region: France
---

# Halo: Cryptum

**Brand:** greg bearholter grahamsimon & schuster audio/halo books
**Price:** FREE
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Halo: Cryptum by greg bearholter grahamsimon & schuster audio/halo books
- **How much does it cost?** FREE with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fr](https://www.desertcart.fr/products/130032827-halo-cryptum)

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## Description

HALO: Cryptum: HALO, Book 7

## Images

![Halo: Cryptum - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81X+m1yj9rL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Forerunner Civilization Revealed
  

*by D***N on Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2023*

A vast tale bringing Forerunner history and future together as understood by a cast of compelling characters. An interesting narrative propelled by engaging action sequences.  So much more to come.  I’m all in!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    An exemplary start to a great Halo concept
  

*by R***A on Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2012*

Halo as a series has almost unlimited potential for compelling and interesting stories, but one of the areas most ripe with potential has largely been un-elaborated on. The wondrous Forerunners and their mythological legacy has always been one of the most fascinating and mysterious aspects of Halo. Up until now, the most we really got in terms of explaining what exactly happened to them was in the games' stories (the details of which were cryptic and mysterious at best), and in the form of obscure (but cool nonetheless) terminals in the games that added some detail to their demise. This book, Cryptum, is the first of a trilogy meant to finally explain what happened 100 millennia ago that lead to their disappearance. Great idea!The book is written from the perspective of a young and rebellious Manipular (think Forerunner teenager) named Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, who runs off to search for ancient artifacts from an even MORE ancient, powerful, and seemingly extinct race, the Precursors. Along with some human companions he has made the journey, they uncover and awaken a powerful, legendary Promethean (think super powerful Forerunner warrior) general named the Didact (recognize that name from the terminals of 
  
Halo 3







  
  
     and 
  
Halo Anniversary







  
  
    ?) who has spent the last thousand years in exile-by-slumber in a Cryptum. Needless to say, times are pretty tough for the Forerunners, who are now rumored to be struggling against the hideous flood in their border worlds. How fortunate, that they would find this legendary general at such a time! It's the start of a compelling and exciting journey, to be sure. This is merely a glimpse of the premise of the story, and obviously the book has many more interesting details to uncover.Greg Bear is a fairly famous science fiction writer with a rather impressive resume and pedigree. It's easy to see why he has this reputation when reading Cryptum. His diction is undeniably compelling and elegant, and the flow of his writing has a major feeling of eloquence to it. Bear's writings from Bornstellar's perspective perfectly reflects the kind of elegance and higher-thinking you'd expect of the brilliantly advanced and enlightened Forerunners, as well as the kind of arrogance you may expect of a teen (but he grows up quite a bit throughout the story in ways both conventional and not). The story itself is fairly compelling and fast moving. It was very easy to just keep reading and reading and reading, 100 pages flash by in what seems like a few minutes. It's super engrossing. The characters are, for the most part, well written and the story surrounding them progresses quite naturally. It's very compelling.Bear's intriguing word choice and flow also complements the overall Forerunner culture. Even after reading this book, the Forerunners still feel mysterious and details of their existence are still quite open to interpretation and speculation. Even the physical description they are given leaves some room for interpretation, and their technology still feels like magic. How does their personal armor/suits allow them to go without sleeping? How does it extend the lifespan so many thousands of years? Writing from the perspective of a Forerunner is pretty clever, as he describes the technology like it's common and the inner-workings and functions of it all is already understood, so no attempt to explain that stuff is made. So while we may read that a ship that assembled itself from a mechanical seed activating under a mountain, converting said mountain into raw materials and then into a massive monolith of a ship, we have no clue how it does so, keeping the sense of mystery and wonder at the Forerunners' ingenuity intact. Great job with that!The only complaint I would make about this book is that, at times, it feels as if Bear was instructed not to say *too* much with regards to important details. This trilogy is being coordinated by 343 Industries, the company in charge of Halo's development, and as  such, they have a large degree of control over what details go into each book. They have expressed that this trilogy of books will majorly resonate with the upcoming 
  
Halo 4







  
  
     and the rest of the new Reclaimer Trilogy. Because of this, the book sometimes feels like major details are kept hush-hush and skimped over, and more minute, inconsequential details are fluffed up and stretched out more to fill-out the book, all in the name of keeping Halo 4's surprises, well, surprising. In fact, some "big moments" are so small in comparison to the build-ups of them, you'll be left wondering, "Wait, what just happened? Did I miss something?" As such, there are times when this book feels a bit like a tease, a dangling carrot on a stick that doesn't quite get the pay-offs or explanations you'd hope for after all the build up in the book. Again, I understand the information and details have to be rationed out because of 343i's agenda. Even so, these complaints are pretty small in comparison to the strengths of the book. Don't let it dissuade you from picking Cryptum up. It is, after all, the first in a trilogy and the future installments will undoubtedly answer questions this book doesn't.Overall, this is a definitely solid start to a great idea for a Halo book trilogy. A lot of details that have been revealed in this book may upset a lot of people who thought they figured everything out about the Forerunner history. I was kind of shocked at some of the details this book revealed about not only Forerunner history, but also the history of ancient Humans, San 'Shyuum (also known as the "prophets" of the covenant), and the flood. Despite the "carrot on a stickery" at times, this book has *a lot* of relevatory details to enjoy. As one who loves the Halo series mostly for its awesome story, this is a fairly easy recommendation. Just don't go in with preconceived notions of what the story should be, and you'll be much rewarded with a well-written, fascinating look at the beginning of the end for the Forerunners.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    An 'eh' start to what I predict is going to be a great trilogy.
  

*by B***N on Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2019*

“Halo: Cryptum” is a tough book to read, and an even harder book to review. The first in a trilogy, set hundreds of thousands of years before the events of the original “Halo” video game, “Cryptum” digs DEEP into the lore of the Forerunners, the Flood, and the origin of the Halo rings…and it does all of that without ever once even coming close to holding the reader’s hand.For my money, that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing, because writer Greg Bear clearly trusts that his readers are smart enough to keep up with the LITANY of made-up vernacular – seriously, this book comes with an entire glossary of terms, just in case you forget what ‘ancilla’ or ‘Mantle’ or ‘metarch’ or ‘gea’ means and need to check – and murky Forerunner politicking that he packs into these 352 pages. It’s refreshing to read a book that doesn’t speak down to the reader or overexplain plot points that don’t need belabored. What’s more, reading a “Halo” story that’s set outside of the confines of the Human-Covenant War, in a time frame that’s yet to be truly explored and fleshed out, is beyond refreshing – it’s exhilarating, kind of in the same way that it was when George Lucas opened the floodgates to the Prequel Trilogy era. Getting to witness firsthand things that, up until now, had been only mentioned in vague asides is a real treat…at least, most of the time.And that’s where my issues with “Cryptum” begin to crop up. As mentioned, this is the first book of a trilogy, and boy, does it feel like it. In my humble opinion, the best “number ones” in trilogies do two things: they clearly and excitingly set the stage for the events yet to come in Parts 2 and 3, while also telling a compelling story on its own terms. If I were grading Cryptum on how well it does both things, I’d probably say that it puts forward a B/B+ effort with the former, and a C/C+ for the latter. It’s amazing - for a book that’s so dense and at times indecipherable, “Cryptum” often feels shockingly meandering and even – dare I say it - emptyI think part of the problem is that we’re given zero characters to connect with here – our protagonist, Bornstellar – whose perspective we view the entire story through - is basically an empty cypher, one who is nearly impossible to relate to; meanwhile, all of the supporting characters are either clichés or similarly unreadable. It also doesn’t help that the entirety of the novel’s plot – without spoiling anything – ends up, by the third, being completely tangential to the REAL plot that’s clearly going to be dominating Books 2 and 3. Don’t get me wrong, I’m psyched to read them and see what happens next…but it would have been really nice if this book felt less like a novel-length prelude to the real story and more like the first 1/3 of Bear’s epic saga. Throw in the fact that there are significant chunks of this novel that are difficult, if not nigh impossible to fully understand without consulting Halopedia, and it’s hard not to feel just a little but gipped  by the time you reach the last page.So, overall, is “Halo: Cryptum” worth a read? I’d say – just as I have with so many of these “Halo” novels and comics – that if you’re a fan of the franchise and are curious to know the backstory of this universe, then absolutely – there’s enough fun fan service, interesting revelations, and promises of a greater and better story to come to make slogging through the less enjoyable portions here worth it. Non-Halo fans, however, definitely need not apply.

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*Last updated: 2026-02-22*