The Halo The Fall of Reach Author:Eric Nylund This explosive military science fiction epic is presented in the tradition of Del Rey's Starfist novels. The human race is pitted against a powerful alien enemy, the Covenant, which is determined to lead humans into a devastating intergalactic war on a distant planet---a planet that is crucial to each side's victory.
Without knowing to much of the video game story line, this gives a great prequel. The description of the space battles and the ground battles are great. The build up to the climatic battle and the aftermath is enough to get you into the mindset to jump right into the game.