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Halo: Cryptum: Book One of the Forerunner Saga [Hardcover]

Greg Bear
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (179 customer reviews)

List Price: $24.99
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Book Description

January 4, 2011 The Forerunner Saga (Book 1)

100,000 years ago, the galaxy was populated by a great variety of beings.

But one species--eons beyond all others in both technology and knowledge--achieved dominance. 

They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness.

They were the Forerunners--the keepers of the Mantle, the next stage of life in the Universe’s Living Time.

And then they vanished.

This is their story.

 

Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting is a young rebellious Forerunner. He is a Manipular, untried--yet to become part of the adult Forerunner society, where vast knowledge and duty waits. He comes from a family of Builders, the Forerunners’ highest and most politically powerful rate. It is the Builders who create the grand technology that facilitates Forerunner dominance over the known universe.  It is the Builders who believe they must shoulder the greatest burden of the Mantle--as shepherds and guardians of all life.

Bornstellar is marked to become a great Builder just like his father.

But this Manipular has other plans. 

He is obsessed with lost treasures of the past. His reckless passion to seek out the marvelous artifacts left behind by the Precursors--long-vanished superbeings of unknowable power and intent---forces his father’s hand.

Bornstellar is sent to live among the Miners, where he must come to terms with where his duty truly lies.

But powerful forces are at play.  Forerunner society is at a major crux. Past threats are once again proving relentless. Dire solutions--machines and strategies never before contemplated--are being called up, and fissures in Forerunner power are leading to chaos.

On a Lifeworker’s experimental planet, Bornstellar’s rebellious course crosses the paths of two humans, and the long lifeline of a great military leader, forever changing Bornstellar’s destiny …and the fate of the entire galaxy.

This is a tale of life, death, intergalactic horror, exile, and maturity. It is a story of overwhelming change--and of human origins.  For the Mantle may not lie upon the shoulders of Forerunners forever.   


Frequently Bought Together

Halo: Cryptum: Book One of the Forerunner Saga + Halo: Primordium: Book Two of the Forerunner Saga (The Forerunner Saga, Book 2) + Halo: Silentium (Forerunner Saga)
Price for all three: $45.26

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Holter Graham’s narration is excellent” – SFCrowsnest.com

“Holter Graham does a spending job narrating all the roles…this first in the Forerunner Saga tells an exciting story that spans millennia.” – BookLoons.com

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Greg Bear is a multiple Nebula and Hugo award-winning author whose works have been celebrated for their vision, scope, intensity, and sheer drama. His novels include his newest, Moving Mars, Queen of Angels, The Forge of God, Eon, Eternity, and Blood Music. He lives in Washington State.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (January 4, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0765323966
  • ISBN-13: 978-0765323965
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (179 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books, spanning thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, including Blood Music, Eon, The Forge of God, Darwin's Radio, City at the End of Time, and Hull Zero Three. His books have won numerous international prizes, have been translated into more than twenty-two languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Over the last twenty-eight years, he has also served as a consultant for NASA, the U.S. Army, the State Department, the International Food Protection Association, and Homeland Security on matters ranging from privatizing space to food safety, the frontiers of microbiology and genetics, and biological security.


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
67 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Greg Bear has a peculiar style, a sense of jumping right into the action and explaining later. Granted, I've only read Eon and Slant, but his peculiar take and writerly skill (apologies to Eric Nylund, but Bear is better at what he does) lends a feel more at home in Hard SF than MilSF. It works, too- Cryptum is an enthralling read and an extremely worthy expansion to the lore of the Halo universe.

In what reads like a last confession, Bear puts the reader in the shoes of Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, a rebellious young Manipular who will advance to become a Builder, one who will be responsible for the grandest of Forerunner constructs. His journey rapidly morphs into one on which hinges the fate of the Forerunner civilization and galactic life itself. Bear draws his characters from the Terminals found on the Ark in Halo 3- Mendicant Bias, the Didact, and the Librarian all make appearances- and helps to put those in context, along with astonishing revaluations about the origin and history of humanity and the Prophets (San 'Shyuum as they are referred to in the novel) their earlier interactions with the Forerunners, and the origins of the Flood.

It's nice to have a non-militarySF take on the Halo universe, and doubly so to have that voice be Greg Bear's. Anyone who wants to get started on what's looking to be an excellent trilogy would be well-served to pick up this book.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars short and sweet January 13, 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having grown accustomed to the tomes of Frank Herbert and Dan Simmons, Cryptum was a blink in comparison. That's not to say that it was bad however; quite the contrary. Being a connoisseur of Halo fiction, I can say with confidence the writing here is easily on a level all its own. Bear attempts to elevate Halo to a certain quality of literary fiction I've felt was long overdue for material with so much promise. Does he succeed? Almost. Maybe the action-centricity of Halo is too ingrained; maybe the story was just too short, but the personal quest didn't quite work for me. I can only report with surety that I never quite got the grandiose action I was hoping for, nor the deeply moving introspective revelation I was craving. Just when it was getting really good it ended. But of course this is to be a trilogy, so hold off on the judgements.

As a novel on its own merits, good but not great. As part 1 of a scifi opera, a very auspicious beginning. If you're a fan of Halo's fiction, this is the payoff to your dedication and the best reason thus for why we do what we do. With any luck part 2 will be something akin to Empire Strikes Back in its personal grandeur. I'm of the opinion Bear has the talent.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Moby-Dick of the Halo Universe... December 28, 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sweet book but probably not for the 15 year old in you. :) I'll have to admint I've always felt that most of the halo books are easy reading since they are so action-ed packed and descriptive. Almost like watching an episode of 24. Its nice but after a while its like getting the same stuff over and over and I'd say the Halo universe is worthy of far more then just simple military scifi style. From playing the game I get the feel of super intelligent installations being built for permanence and that is what you get out of this book. Incredibly sexy alien technology in a non human or covenant centric universe which we already have plenty of. And all that missing detail... well if you're a fan of the game you have already see much of it and don't need it described again. Might as well get to the new stuff which is in great welcomes quantities here.

The story starts off with a whiny alien brat that learns some discipline after the Didact teaches him a thing or two...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great lore
This book cleanly fills in the gaps of lore I was missing in other books and games. I highly recommend it
Published 22 hours ago by Richard Hayes
4.0 out of 5 stars Halo - another first for me.
When I told my grandson I had just received Halo: Cryptum he was so excited that it took my question of what Halo actually was to burst his euphoric button. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Peter Eerden
2.0 out of 5 stars An Acquired Taste
Never having read Nylund, I bought this because I liked Bear's Eon. Advertised as 'Book 1', it introduces Forerunners who follow a philosophy named 'the Mantle'. Read more
Published 19 days ago by R. Drew
4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed the series.
Unlike my issues with the rest of the books the Forerunner Saga despite it's obviously quick writing felt like a real trio.
Published 23 days ago by Katrina Kenyon
2.0 out of 5 stars Greg Bear at his worst
I don't know what it is about Greg Bear that makes it impossible for me to read a book, but this book definitely has it. Read more
Published 23 days ago by ATMINSIDE
5.0 out of 5 stars Halo-Cryptum
My ds loves the Halo game and these books. He reads these books in a day or two. I will be looking for more!
Published 24 days ago by christine
2.0 out of 5 stars An entire book that could have been the prologue.
The first few chapters were interesting. Then the book seemed to go nowhere. It was as if the book was a very long prologue to get to something worth reading which never... Read more
Published 28 days ago by Bklynmak
5.0 out of 5 stars For Halo fans, a must-read
A must read book for Halo fans, especially Halo 4 fans.

If you're interested in the forerunners or the didact at all, this is the book for you!
Published 29 days ago by Manaan
4.0 out of 5 stars Did not disappoint!
Some of the previous Halo books were too simple making me appreciate Greg Bear's sophistication even more. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chad Brendle
3.0 out of 5 stars Good if you're a fan of Halo.
Telling the back-story of the often referenced Forerunners this book is for the hard core audience. The book starts out slow with what feels like a lengthy exposition dump. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Doog
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Topic From this Discussion
appropriate for fourth graders? Inapropriate language? Be the first to reply
what is up with the release date
I think Greg said it would actually be released holiday 2010.
Sep 21, 2010 by Zero Point Module |  See all 3 posts
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