Silentium is the retelling of the fall of the alien Forerunner empire set approximately 100,000 years before the events of the fictional video game series Halo. The forerunners had eliminated their creators, the Precursors, in a battle lasting for hundreds of years, and finally triumphed; however, one remained. This last Precursor wanted to enact revenge upon the forerunners, and with the control over evolution all Precursors possessed, he created a parasite called the Flood (scientific designation: inferi redivivus) out of the dust of his fallen comrades. This parasite threatens all life in the galaxy, and the forerunners realize this too late, creating massive, ring-shaped super weapons called the Halo array (the franchise’s namesake). These weapons were each designed to kill all sentient life in a radius of 25,000 light years in order to remove vectors for Flood infection, as well as killing the Flood themselves. Eventually, what’s left of the forerunner council needs to take action because the Flood are at the door of their penultimate bastion, the Greater Ark.
    The book is well crafted and allows the reader to see many perspectives on the choice the forerunners eventually make in regard to their species. The fluid writing style allows each character to present themselves differently and interact with characters whose perspectives the reader has already read. This leads to an interesting dynamic and level of understanding of the different sides of an argument, or even just views on an event. The plot is interesting and relevant to the game to which it was designed to be a prequel: Halo 4. The novel makes sure to be consistent with all of the previous content of the Halo expanded universe, and therefore is a good read for anyone who has played the Halo games and/or read the books/comics.

Reviewed by Christopher S.