For all you “Halo” nerds out there, and for those who are really looking forward to the next entry in the franchise, I highly recommend the “Halo” novel “Shadows of Reach.”

This book is a tie to the events of the upcoming game and draws upon many ties into former games like “Halo Reach” and “Halo Wars 2” and other books set in the current timeline. The story takes place one year after “Halo 5” and centers around Master Chief and Spartan team returning to a glassed reach, searching for lost teachings that could help overthrow Cortana and her empire of AI.

Upon arriving on the reach, they find it occupied by covenant remnants and alien space pirates known as “the banished.” The blue team and the UNSC forces must overthrow “the banished” to find the secrets of the reach. The book is a great example of the military science fiction that “Halo” is known for. The amounts of fan service and call back to the early “Halo” games and books mixed in with the current lore makes it feel like a “Halo” game being played out in the reader’s imagination.

The book really drives home the illogical love that 343 is trying to bring back in the “Halo” universe. The book is filled with standard “Halo” warfare, Spartans killing hordes of aliens, space battles and a complex web of lore and world building. “Shadows of Reach” also sets up the story of “Halo Infinity,” and it draws back love for “Halo: The Fall of Reach.” Any fan of “Halo” will love this.