Halo: The Fall of Reach is a military science fiction novel by Eric Nylund, based on the Halo series of video games, and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. The book was released in October 2001 and is the first Halo novel. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations. The novel details the events which led up to the game and explains the origins of the SPARTAN II super soldiers, narrating the story of the series protagonist, the Master Chief.