--- product_id: 202945596 title: "Halo: Contact Harvest: Volume 5" price: "£21.71" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/202945596-halo-contact-harvest-volume-5 store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Halo: Contact Harvest: Volume 5 **Price:** £21.71 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Halo: Contact Harvest: Volume 5 - **How much does it cost?** £21.71 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/202945596-halo-contact-harvest-volume-5) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Buy Halo: Contact Harvest: Volume 5 by Staten, Joseph from desertcart's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Review: First contact with the fiendish Covenant - This is the fifth novel in the Halo series and it is a kind of prequel to the earlier volumes. This volume is written by Joseph Staten, whose style is rather different from the authors of the other volumes I’ve read. This novel focuses on Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson who appeared in The Flood, the second novel in the series. It is set about 25 years before The Flood, though, and begins with Avery and his comrade in arms, Staff Sergeant Byrne, hunting down the insurrectionists who are rebelling against colonial rule from Earth. Both of them are then assigned to train a couple of platoons of militiamen on a planet called Harvest – the name indicates its role as the breadbasket of the empire. It’s while they are training these recruits that Avery and Byrne make first contact with the Covenant. This leads Avery to encounter another first contact: the naval intelligence officer, Jilan al-Cygni. She is the only female character in the novel. Notably, there are no female recruits in the militia, despite the fact that we’ve already seen female Spartans and women in a variety of combat roles in the earlier novels. This novel was written in 2007, so in that respect – the scarcity of female characters – it already feels dated. This leads me to one of my perennial gripes about the Halo series: that despite the fact that they are set 500 years in the future, with massive advances in spacefaring and other technologies, the humans’ military hardware – and their military tactics – feel very twentieth century. Given the brain power of the AI in these novels, the technology must be there to run wars against rebels and aliens using software and drones rather than human beings, but obviously humans in combat is a major feature of the series. Having said that, this novel has less combat and more plot and character development than the earlier novels. It also gives us a lot more insight into the various creatures that make up the Covenant. I’ll quickly get another gripe out of the way: this writer uses the aliens’ own terms for themselves rather than the names that humans gave them, as in the earlier novels (names like Hunters, Jackals, Prophets etc.), so it can be slightly confusing: are these the same creatures we’ve seen before, or new creatures? Having said that, the chapters involving the aliens are well done and I especially liked the friendship that develops between the Unggoy Dadab and the Huragok Lighter Than Some. We also learn that it’s almost by accident that the Covenant’s top species, the San’Shyuum (Prophets), decide that humanity must be wiped out rather than press ganged into the Covenant like the other creatures that make up the Covenant’s lower orders. It’s the result of complex politics and even more complex theology. I’ll say no more about the plot. Readers of the earlier novels know that the first contact with the Covenant leads to a galactic war that threatens to destroy humanity. I’d recommend this novel to anyone who plays Halo, or anyone who likes a bit of sci-fi escapism. Review: Bloody great read! - A fantastic tale that clearly sets the series in motion, giving an insight on a handful of characters and how the franchise is meant to begin. For the Author's first novel, it's more than impressive. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | 173,482 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 733 in TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptions 879 in Film & Television Tie-In 1,156 in Space Marine | | Book 1 of 6 | Halo | | Customer reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,780) | | Dimensions | 13.49 x 2.79 x 20.96 cm | | ISBN-10 | 1982111690 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1982111694 | | Item weight | 1.05 kg | | Language | English | | Print length | 416 pages | | Publication date | 9 April 2019 | | Publisher | Gallery Books | ## Images ![Halo: Contact Harvest: Volume 5 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71+Ij5gjkgL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ First contact with the fiendish Covenant *by I***S on 28 October 2023* This is the fifth novel in the Halo series and it is a kind of prequel to the earlier volumes. This volume is written by Joseph Staten, whose style is rather different from the authors of the other volumes I’ve read. This novel focuses on Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson who appeared in The Flood, the second novel in the series. It is set about 25 years before The Flood, though, and begins with Avery and his comrade in arms, Staff Sergeant Byrne, hunting down the insurrectionists who are rebelling against colonial rule from Earth. Both of them are then assigned to train a couple of platoons of militiamen on a planet called Harvest – the name indicates its role as the breadbasket of the empire. It’s while they are training these recruits that Avery and Byrne make first contact with the Covenant. This leads Avery to encounter another first contact: the naval intelligence officer, Jilan al-Cygni. She is the only female character in the novel. Notably, there are no female recruits in the militia, despite the fact that we’ve already seen female Spartans and women in a variety of combat roles in the earlier novels. This novel was written in 2007, so in that respect – the scarcity of female characters – it already feels dated. This leads me to one of my perennial gripes about the Halo series: that despite the fact that they are set 500 years in the future, with massive advances in spacefaring and other technologies, the humans’ military hardware – and their military tactics – feel very twentieth century. Given the brain power of the AI in these novels, the technology must be there to run wars against rebels and aliens using software and drones rather than human beings, but obviously humans in combat is a major feature of the series. Having said that, this novel has less combat and more plot and character development than the earlier novels. It also gives us a lot more insight into the various creatures that make up the Covenant. I’ll quickly get another gripe out of the way: this writer uses the aliens’ own terms for themselves rather than the names that humans gave them, as in the earlier novels (names like Hunters, Jackals, Prophets etc.), so it can be slightly confusing: are these the same creatures we’ve seen before, or new creatures? Having said that, the chapters involving the aliens are well done and I especially liked the friendship that develops between the Unggoy Dadab and the Huragok Lighter Than Some. We also learn that it’s almost by accident that the Covenant’s top species, the San’Shyuum (Prophets), decide that humanity must be wiped out rather than press ganged into the Covenant like the other creatures that make up the Covenant’s lower orders. It’s the result of complex politics and even more complex theology. I’ll say no more about the plot. Readers of the earlier novels know that the first contact with the Covenant leads to a galactic war that threatens to destroy humanity. I’d recommend this novel to anyone who plays Halo, or anyone who likes a bit of sci-fi escapism. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bloody great read! *by G***G on 16 October 2017* A fantastic tale that clearly sets the series in motion, giving an insight on a handful of characters and how the franchise is meant to begin. For the Author's first novel, it's more than impressive. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good background *by T***L on 12 April 2013* Provides good background to the story, spearheaded by the awesomeness that is Sergeant Avery Johnson Junior, but essentially tells you nothing knew - the war began on Harvest and Johnson was there. Seems fairly redundent to have a book on that particular encounter - nonetheless, the book is an enjoyable read. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/202945596-halo-contact-harvest-volume-5](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/202945596-halo-contact-harvest-volume-5) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-30*