I bought the first Halo book, and I must sadly say that 10 chapters in, and the author still wasn't able to hook me on it.  Based on my initial impression of the first book, I never felt compelled to restart my checkpoint back at the beginning of it...  It's kinda sad too, because I bought the book's sequel together with the first book, but I didn't even bother opening it due to the lack-luster intro from the first book :\  ...I enjoyed that the author attempted to fluff up the Halo universe with some of his own imagination, but at the end of the day, I'm ultimately not a reader-guy, I'm a gamer-guy: and I want my story to be conveyed to me via "pulling the right trigger & slaying the enemy."