First off, a confession from me: I don’t like Halo. Actually, that’s not strictly true. The storyline intrigues me and the graphics are gorgeous but the game play … it’s a FPS. Definitely not my cup of tea. So I’ve been forced to resort to Wikipedia to get the game lore behind the legend but then my postwoman delivered a copy of the epic Halo Encyclopedia and everything I could ever want to know about the Covenant, Master Chief or the Flood is at my fingertips in the form of one very epic tome.

I kid you not, this thing is HUGE – and heavy. The book is A4-sized and a couple of inches thick (think half a doorstop), which would explain why numerous members of the Royal Mail have probably gotten hernias delivering them. But I digress, the Halo Encyclopedia really does what it says on the tin, it’s ‘the definitive guide to the Halo universe’. Yes, it’s a series bible turned into a massive coffee table book choc full of amazing concept art.

For example, there’s an expansive time line covering human, Forerunner and Covenant history, right up until the end of Halo 3. For a lore nerd like me, it literally spells out the whole storyline and includes lots of extra background material like logs to flesh the story out even more. Of course, there’s plenty on the humans, their military set up, even two pages just on the different ranks, and even more on the characters, including the various artificial intelligences.

No the really interesting bit focuses, for me at least, on the Covenant, the Flood and the Forerunners. The book not only goes into the individual races and histories of the Covenant, but also focuses on on the Prophets. Yes, you can even see which each individual prophet appears as if you were looking down on their floating thrones. There’s some details you wish you didn’t know, such as various species’ methods of reproduction or the infection stages involved in the life cycle of the parasitic Flood.

But it’s the artwork which really sets the book apart. Most people would probably expect the Halo Encyclopedia to be filled with renders and screenshots but it’s entirely artwork. Even the character specific sections, most of the images are drawn and painted – or at least made to look like they are! Later sections go into even more detail and focus on the various weapons and vehicles used in the games, as well as the amazing locations and just as memorable artwork.

Retailing at £30, it might be expensive but if you’re a Halo fan then this really is the book to have on your shelf, next to that Spartan helmet!