I've been working at a local independent book store this last year, and with Infinite's release I was able to convince the owner to get *some* Halo books in (mostly Bungie-era, Nylund stuff). But in approaching the task of introducing the series to fans of the sci-fi genre who haven't played the games, I've been trying to compile a timeline of the "Halo narrative" that works without the important beats from the games.

It's tough. Since 343 took over, they've seemed more interested in diversifying the number of Halo stories in print, rather than maintaining a single, monolithic narrative like other series. Instead, it's easier to look at the story as leaning into certain motifs/trends from one period to the next. Before, I used to approach the Halo universe as broken into:
- Pre-Covenant War
- Covenant War
- Post-War

But since GEN3 was introduced to the universe, I've realized that the three generations of MJOLNIR armor map pretty directly onto the different art/narrative directions of each "phase" of Halo storytelling. I suspect that this breakdown of MJOLNIR generations is an in-universe representation of the intentions of the developers as they shift and pivot in response to fan feedback and industry trends.

I've since put together a "Halo story guide" for my coworkers at the bookstore to assist customers wanting to follow the most consistent through-line in the story, and I've used the MJOLNIR GEN designations as a way to compartmentalize the storytelling, so that it makes sense without a consistent narrative from book to book. In this way, the Halo story looks as follows:
- GEN1 (Bungie-era)
- GEN2 (Post-War, 343's reimagined art style)
- GEN3 (Created Conflict, return to roots)

Not sure if anyone else cares about this, but I thought it was interesting, and more approachable than the breakdown on this page