Tor Books partnered with Microsoft and 343 Industries to publish every book in the universe, which dates back from the release of Halo back in 2001.
Today, 343 Industries has announced the release of a new Greg Bear book in the Halo anthology, titled Halo: Silentium. It's the concluding book in the Forerunner Saga and continues where the previous title, Primordium, left off.
Given who's writing it, it's probably going to be a good read for any fan of the series, but there's an added incentive to buy the book: readers of the books will receive additional content and gain XP for picking it up.
Leading up to the book's release on March 19, Tor and 343 Industries have teamed up to send out "encrypted communications" on Halowaypoint.com which will allow Halo fans to unlock additional content. Additionally, there will be embedded data within the text of Halo: Silentium's paperback and e-book editions containing codes to unlock goodies in the game.
It's unknown at this point what the 'goodies' will be, but beyond gaining XP in multiplayer, we hope that the loot includes special armors and skins exclusive to the book and not something we can already unlock in the game just by playing it.
Developed by 343 Industries, Halo 4 is the latest title in the franchise and is exclusive to the Xbox 360.