History Literature / HaloTheFallOfReach

** The book depicts Covenant terrestrial forces as being comprised ''entirely'' of Grunts and Jackals for the vast majority of the war; the Hunters are first encountered at Sigma Octanus IV only a few months before the Fall of Reach, while the Elites remain unseen by *any* UNSC personnel until the invasion of Reach itself (having spent all the previous years holed up in their spaceships). Brutes and Drones are nonexistent all together, and Prophets are only known to the UNSC via a handful of intercepted transmissions. Subsequent works would go on to instead show that humanity had in fact directly encountered virtually ''all'' the major Covenant species from pretty much the very beginning of the war. Conversely, the book shows the Chief encountering the non-combatant Engineer race that were removed [[ProductionLeadTime late in the development]] of ''Combat Evolved'' but RefittedForSequel in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' eight years later.

** The book depicts Covenant terrestrial forces as being comprised *entirely* of Grunts and Jackals for the vast majority of the war; the Hunters are first encountered at Sigma Octanus IV only a few months before the Fall of Reach, while the Elites remain unseen by *any* UNSC personnel until the invasion of Reach itself (having spent all the previous years holed up in their spaceships). Brutes and Drones are nonexistent all together, and Prophets are only known to the UNSC via a handful of intercepted transmissions. Subsequent works would go on to instead show that humanity had in fact directly encountered virtually ''all'' the major Covenant species from pretty much the very beginning of the war. Conversely, the book shows the Chief encountering the non-combatant Engineer race that were removed [[ProductionLeadTime late in the development]] of ''Combat Evolved'' but RefittedForSequel in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' eight years later.

** It describes the first encounters with different Covenant species across the 25 year span of the war, after seeing Grunts on the ground when the Spartans boarded a Covenant ship about 10 years in they met Jackals for the first time. It's only much later in the timeline that they encountered Hunters on Octanus IV a few months before the Battle of Reach and that ''no one'' in the UNSC, not even the Chief, ever encountered Elites before then. Brutes were also non-existent and first introduced in ''VideoGame/Halo2''. Later works used all Covenant species across the entire timeline of the war. Conversely, the book describes the non-combatant Engineer race that were removed [[ProductionLeadTime late in the development]] of ''Combat Evolved'' but RefittedForSequel in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' eight years later.

** The Beta Centauri system is said to have been colonized by humanity, as a type of champagne is named after it. The reissue changes it to Procyon (the system [[VideoGame/HaloWars Arcadia]] is located in), and all future examples of colonised star systems are nowhere near as far from Earth as the 350-light year Beta Centauri system was.
** The jackals are referred to as having fins on their heads and arms, instead of the hairlike quills the games depict.

** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' ends up doing several {{RetCon}}s to much of the content of the book, including the Battle of Reach itself. Some of this is reconciled through the collectors edition of Haley's Journal and [[BroadStrokes small throwaway details]] in the game[[note]]In the book [[FacelessMooks Mjolnir Armor was identical for each Spartan]] with a plot point Halsey knew who was who based on body language alone, in the game Halsey notes with contempt the [[CustomUniform individualized modifications]] of Noble Team, Spartan III's she did not train, with "What have you done with my armor?"[[/note]]. The book has a rather happenstance explanation for the discovery of the location of Alpha Halo where she has a EurekaMoment with some random artifacts from Octanus IV, while the game implies this information was deciphered from a Forerunner outpost on Reach.
** As a moment of characterization, it is mentioned that John-117 [[ChestOfMedals has earned every medal]] except the Prisoner of War Medallion. In later works however he has been taken prisoner twice: By the United Rebel Front in ''Literature/HaloGhostsOfOnyx'' and by the Covenant in ''ComicBook/HaloUprising''. This detail is fairly easy to justify, as it is likely that the UNSC wouldn't want to acknowledge that a Spartan ''could'' be taken prisoner, just like how dead Spartans are only ever labeled as MIA to keep up the illusion that they're unkillable, but it's still something of note.

** It describes the first encounters with different Covenant species across the 25 year span of the war, after seeing Grunts on the ground when the Spartans boarded a Covenant ship about 10 years in they met Jackals for the first time. It's only much later in the timeline that they encountered Hunters on Octanus IV a few months before the Battle of Reach and that ''no one'' in the UNSC, not even the Chief, ever encountered Elites before then. Brutes were also non-existent and first introduced in ''VideoGame/Halo2''. Later works used all Covenant species across the entire timeline of the war. Conversely, the book describes the non-combatant Engineer race that were removed [[ProductionLeadTime late in the development]] of ''Combat Evolved'' but RefittedForTheSequel in ''VideoGame/HaloODST'' eight years later.

It is notable that the book went from initial concept to final publication in the space of four months, with Nylund writing the final draft within six weeks of beginning the project. It has been suggested by many fans that the book is a good starting point for a [[TheMovie movie adaptation]] – indeed, Stuart Beattie submitted a draft script and concept art based on the book once Creator/PeterJackson’s project fell through. While a live-action version hasn't happened (yet), the novel has been adapted into both a comic series published by Creator/MarvelComics and an animated series created by Sequence (the same studio behind the ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}: Anniversary'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' terminals).

The [[BroadStrokes broad story details]] of this book have been adopted into the main ''Halo'' canon, with references popping up as early as ''{{VideoGame/Halo 2}}''; the game ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' even takes place entirely on the titular planet during its fall. While ''Halo'' canon has evolved significantly since the original writing (not only has the actual Fall of Reach been elaborated upon far more by later media, but the novel itself was slightly rewritten in its 2010 and 2011 editions to make it mesh better with later canon), the core elements of the Spartan program and the characters depicted here are still vital to the mythology.

The [[BroadStrokes broad story details]] of this book have been adopted into the main ''Halo'' canon, with references popping up as early as ''{{VideoGame/Halo 2}}''; the game ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' even takes place entirely on the titular planet during its titular fall. While ''Halo'' canon has evolved significantly since the original writing (not only has the actual Fall of Reach been elaborated upon far more by later media, but the novel itself was slightly rewritten in its 2010 and 2011 editions to make it mesh better with later canon), the core elements of the Spartan program and the characters depicted here are still vital to the mythology.

The [[BroadStrokes broad story details]] of this book have been adopted into the main ''Halo'' canon, with references popping up as early as ''{{VideoGame/Halo 2}}''; the game ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' even takes place entirely on the titular planet. While ''Halo'' canon has evolved significantly since the original writing (not only has the actual Fall of Reach been elaborated upon far more by later media, but the novel itself was slightly rewritten in its 2010 and 2011 editions to make it mesh better with later canon), the core elements of the Spartan program and the characters depicted here are still vital to the mythology.

** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' ends up doing several {{RetCon}}s to the Battle of Reach itself, plus reimagining the discovery of the first Halo ring as less of a coincidence as the book implies (Cortana had direct access to a Forerunner structure on Reach and implies she traveled to it on purpose, rather than this book has her having a EurekaMoment with some rubies found earlier in the story and she decides last minute "why not?").

** The original 2001 print claimed that until the titular Fall of Reach, ''no one'' in the UNSC, not even the Chief, ever encountered Elites or Hunters, while all subsequent media show the UNSC encountering ''plenty'' from the very first year of the war onward.

** The Pelican dropship is implied to be much larger than would be later established, as it is capable of carrying all of the 75 Spartan trainees. For comparison, in ''First Strike'', it is stated that a Pelican's interior had to be stripped of all amenities in order to squash in 27 Spartans. The reprint changes the dropship in this example to an Albatross, which was first introduced in ''Halo 2''.

* TheWorfEffect: It doesn't matter how good the [[SuperSoldier Spartans]] are, they are just soldiers on the ground and can't do anything about the Covanent's warships, which are far more powerful than those of the UNSC, which can go about wiping out all life on the planet with an OrbitalBombardment after defeating the UNSC fleet.

** TheChick: Kelly-087: John's ''other'' best friend, one of the more emotional Spartans, the glue that sticks the team together, and one of the only Spartans [[GallowsHumor with a fairly active sense of humor]].

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: