: I've a close friend who is not a gamer, and has only ever beat Reach of the
: Halo games. But he's read almost all of the (original) books. He's really
: invested in the overarching plot.

Most of the people I talk to about Halo call it "The one where you shoot aliens?" and I always have to explain that it's so much deeper than that. I also tend to explain that Halo has a massive community following online discussing everything from plot to the exact proportions of the interior of ships. I've converted quite a few people over with that Loftus line. ;)