Halo fans looking for a way to sate their thirst for the sci-fi series will have something to tide them over between next month's launch of Halo 3: ODST and next year's release of Halo: Reach. Veteran publishing house Tor Books today announced that it will publish two books set in the war-torn universe created by Bungie Studios.

　　The first book, Halo: Evolutions, will go on sale this November. Rather than being a full-fledged novel, the book will feature several short stories inspired by the series from three authors, two of which have penned Halo novels before: Tobias Buckell (Halo: The Cole Protocol) and Eric Nylund (Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx). Nylund also cowrote the storyline for Epic Games' franchise-establishing shooter Gears of War, GameSpot's 2006 Game of the Year. A third author, best-selling writer Karen Traviss (Legacy of the Force: Revelation), will also contribute.

　　In addition to Halo: Evolutions, Tor Books has commissioned a trilogy of new Halo novels from Greg Bear, author of such acclaimed books as Blood Music and The Forge of God. The first installment will arrive in 2010, presumably right around the time the Halo: Reach beta, keys for which are packed in with Halo 3: ODST, goes live.