Tor Books will be producing the next novel in the Halo series, while science fiction hard-nut Tobias Buckell has been tapped to write Halo: The Cole Protocol, due for Autumn 2008. The new novel will be the sixth in the series based on the Halo scifi video games.

Tobias S Buckell entered the science fiction scene with Crystal Rain, (Tor 2006) a debut that combined a mix of Caribbean culture – where Buckell was born and raised – and hard SF adventure elements. His second novel, Ragamuffin, (Tor 2007) was a 2007 Nebula Award nominee for Best Novel.

Apparently Buckell is also a big Halo fan who has played every incarnation of the game.

“I’ve been a fan of Buckell’s since Crystal Rain, and when I found out he was playing Halo, I was chomping at the bit to get him to try his hand at a Halo novel,” Tor Editor Eric Raab told SFcrowsnest. “The Cole Protocol is awesome stuff that expands the Halo universe in some really amazing ways.”

Halo: The Cole Protocol will unveil the location of the Spartan Gray Team, and take readers into the conflict of the Human-Covenant War.

The original Halo: Combat Evolved game for the Xbox came out in 2001 for the Xbox. Twenty million game sales later, it's the fragging system of choice for the ET-kicking species-ist scifi fans. Even those blokes on the Big Bang Theory play Halo rather than chasing skirts.

Pass the Fuel Rod Gun, dear boy. It's time for the Hierarchs to bleed.