Audiobook Club: Cryptum
As part of our audiobook giveaway series with Simon & Schuster, we’re inviting Halo fans to join a community book club in our official Discord server, where we’ll focus on a new novel from Halo’s expansive canon each month. Join the #audio-book-club channel to listen along!
This month’s book club title is Halo: Cryptum, the first entry of the Forerunner Saga penned by sci-fi pioneer Greg Bear. This novel details the Didact’s revival and tutelage of a young Forerunner manipular, leading up to a confrontation with his rival, the Master Builder. The audiobook edition of Halo: Cryptum is narrated by actor Holter Graham.
PLOT PREVIEW
After escaping an exile imposed by his father to be taught the discipline required to join his family’s prestigious Builder rate, a young Forerunner named Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting embarks on an adventure in pursuit of ancient treasure from the long-vanished Precursors.
With two human companions as his guides, Bornstellar stumbles upon the resting place of an exiled Forerunner Warrior-Servant known as the Didact. Upon awakening, the Didact kidnaps the unlikely trio and sets out on a star-spanning search to learn what has happened in his thousand-year absence concerning the activities of his wife, the return of the Flood, and the nature of the ultimate weapon that will silence the galaxy—Halo.
CHARACTER GUIDE
Learn more about the events of Halo: Cryptum with these brief character bios.
Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting
A wayward and incorrigible Forerunner youth, sent by his father to live among the Miners of Edom (Mars). After languishing there for three years, he escapes to nearby Erde-Tyrene (Earth) on the oddly rebellious advice of his personal ancilla, where the promise of treasure, glory, and adventure await.
Chakas
Beyond his prowess as a navigator of waters, Chakas proves especially perceptive to the motivations of those around him. The awakening of the Didact sets Chakas on a path to rediscover truths about the ancient space-faring human empire that was laid low in a cataclysmic war with the Forerunners.
Riser
A Florian (also known as a hamanune, or Homo foloresiensis), this “short fellow” bears a long name—Day-Chaser Makes Paths Long-stretch Morning Riser—and an equally stout pride for the works of his people. Possessed of great cheer, wisdom, and loyalty, even by the Didact’s estimation, this curious human represents the best of his species.
The Didact
Imprisoned in a Cryptum for his fervent opposition to the Halo Array’s construction, the Didact awakens from his imposed meditations and seeks to learn all that has transpired in his absence. While serving as the reluctant mentor to the young Forerunner who released him, he soon deduces that his wife, the Librarian, must have intended their meeting, setting them on a journey to find answers.
The Librarian
The visionary Forerunner Lifeshaper with a great affinity for humanity, the Librarian endowed her favored human subjects with genetic tendencies (geas) that would guide successive generations to eventual conclusions of her own design. She has purposefully manipulated the wayward Bornstellar into awakening her exiled husband—but to what end?
The Master Builder
Faber-of-Will-and-Might holds the title of Master Builder, positioning him as one of the most powerful Forerunners in the ecumene—and one of the most corrupt. In the aftermath of the war against humanity, preparations for the Flood’s inevitable return turn the Master Builder and the Didact into archrivals. Despite the Didact’s counterproposals, the Master Builder’s promises of glory and profit eventually culminate in the creation of the Halo rings.
Mendicant Bias
An artificial intelligence co-created by the Didact and the Master Builder, and the most advanced ancilla ever devised. Medicant Bias was charged with assuming control over the protection of the ecumene in the Forerunners’ absence. However, after forty-three years of discourse with an ancient being known as the Primordial, Mendicant Bias defected and disappeared, taking an entire Halo installation—and the mysterious creature—with him for unknown purposes.
THE FORERUNNER SAGA
Halo: Cryptum is the first act of a three-part tale that culminates in the firing of the Halo rings.
This novel introduces the primary concept of the Mantle of Responsibility and fleshes out the culture of the proud, doomed Forerunner civilization, along with their connections to humanity.
In the sequels Halo: Primordium and Halo: Silentium, we learn more about:
- The Conservation Measure. A galaxy-spanning indexing process led by the Librarian that collected genetic information from countless species in order to reseed the galaxy with life after the activation of Halo. Through her testimonies, we also learn about her inquiries into the origins of the Flood and the revelations she uncovers on a voyage beyond the Milky Way galaxy.
- Zeta Halo. The ancient ringworld that serves as a laboratory for horrific experiments with the Flood conducted on humans and Forerunners alike.
- Chakas’s future. Formerly a con man and a small-time crook, Chakas had initially sought to rob the impressionable Bornstellar, in hopes of using the ill-gotten gains to reunite his family. He soon finds himself on an interstellar odyssey, exploring the ruins of humanity’s old empire, enduring the terrifying Palace of Pain, meeting the enigmatic being known as the Primordial, and how he becomes somebody who will play a pivotal role in the Master Chief’s journey a hundred thousand years later.
- The Didact’s descent. Discovery, capture, and betrayal set the Didact on a dark path to madness as a cosmic game of vengeance nears its dire terminus.
Stay tuned to hear an exclusive excerpt from the sequel, Halo: Primordium, later this month!
GAME CONNECTIONS
Halo: Cryptum occurs nearly 100,000 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, in the declining Forerunner ecumene, where political turmoil in the wake of a costly war with humanity has left them exposed to a greater menace: the Flood.
This novel follows the story of the Didact and Bornstellar, two legendary Forerunners who have shaped events in the Milky Way for untold millennia. We learn more about the Librarian’s contributions to the preservation of all galactic life in the ensuing installments of the Forerunner Saga—and in Halo 4, where both the Didact and Librarian return for a new chapter in the Master Chief’s journey.
To learn more about the Halo novels, visit our Official Halo Book Guide.
ABOUT THE READERS
Holter Graham
Holter Graham is a stage, film, and television actor based in New York. He has also narrated over 200 audiobooks, including works by Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, and prolific Halo writer Greg Bear, as well as several other works in the Halo series. Reader of Halo: Cryptum.
Timothy Dadabo
Timothy Dadabo is a prolific voice actor and singer. After appearing as 343 Guilty Spark in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3, Tim once again lent his voice talents to the Halo universe as the audiobook narrator of Halo: Primordium, the second entry in Greg Bear’s Forerunner Saga, and Halo: Point of Light by Kelly Gay. Reader of Halo: Primordium.
AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY
Enter to win an audiobook copy of a new book-club title each month now through October! To participate, react to the Halo: Cryptum post in the #giveaways channel of the official Halo Discord server before July 7.
Stay tuned to @Halo on X later this month for more ways to win! See full contest rules and entry directions.
JOIN THE BOOK CLUB
Listen to a new Halo title every month in our Discord book club! To participate, simply join the #audio-book-club channel of the official Halo Discord server, where we’ll select a new title from the Halo universe to discuss each month now through October.
Share your favorite moments and engage in discussion topics for a chance to find your words featured in an upcoming Halo Waypoint post! At the end of the month, we’ll host a special Spartan Chatter episode on Discord to discuss the audiobook and answer questions from the Halo community.
COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS
Interested in catching up with the community audiobook club? Check out our recent Spartan Chatter blog to read great submissions from Discord members about last month’s title, Halo: Contact Harvest.