It is the year 2524. Harvest is a peaceful, prosperous farming colony on the very edge of human-controlled space. But we have trespassed on holy ground--strayed into the path of an aggressive alien empire known as the Covenant. What begins as a chance encounter between an alien privateer and a human freighter catapults mankind into a struggle for its very existence.
But humanity is also locked in a bitter civil war known as the Insurrection. So the survival of Harvest's citizens falls to a squad of battle-weary UNSC Marines and their inexperienced colonial militia trainees. In this unlikely group of heroes, one stands above the rest...a young Marine staff sergeant named Avery Johnson.
REVIEW
A very interesting read on how it all started Contact Harvest is the unofficial 5th book in the Halo Series. It tells us of the very first contact with humanity and the covenant, so fans used to seeing Spartans in every book will be a little disappointed by that fact. However, the story itself does not let down a bit.
Humanity is at war with the Innies (Insurrectionists) who want to rebel against the UNSC governing body. While that is going on, an AWOL marine named Avery Johnson, who has a dubious past defending the UNSC space against the Innies, struggles to find out who he is. Bouncing from mission to mission and then finally ends up going AWOL and transferred to Harvest.
At first it is an ordinary assignment and a seemingly harmless one until he can pass on through and get back into the UNSC's good graces again. Things change however upon the first contact with Covenant forces, who curiously explore and then annihilate a simple UNSC cruise ship with harvesters meant for Harvest on them. The aliens believe that there is something of great value on Harvest and soon send a strike force designed to "reclaim" the relics on Harvest and to speak with a possible Oracle there. It's up to Avery to get the militia (better termed "farmboys" for a complete lack of experience) ready in time to defend Harvest against it's relic-hungry foes.
Perhaps the best part of the book is learning why the Covenant are at war with humanity in the first place. Along the way, the Covenant Prophets discover a simple secret about humanity in addition to their own quest for Forerunner relics.What seems like a harmless bit of truth secluded from the religious Covenant masses ends up turning into an ongoing war that would forever change the fate of humanity and the Covenant. I was a little disappointed Contact Harvest didn't contain any Spartans. However, that quickly dissipated as the back story itself for the Covenant and Humanity was simply amazing. Well worth a read! Add a Review
