As noted by ESiva (esalzman3@excite.com) on the Rampancy forum page 2 of a HBO scanned copy of a a new XBox magazine coming out this fall contains a piece about Halo being inspired by the sci-fi works by Iain M. Banks. Ok no biggie for Story page fans, we've known that since July 1999, but the article goes on to name one novel in particular - "Against a Dark Background". Personally I don't think the description given fits that novel it sounds more like Consider Phlebas. However I rechecked my copy of "Against a Dark Background" just to be sure... to be sure... and noted this description:
"Sharrow was once the leader of a personality-attuned combat team in one of the sporadic little commercial wars in the civilisation based around the planet Golter. Now she is hunted by the Huhsz, a religious cult which believes that she is the last obstacle before the faith's apotheosis, and her only hope of escape is to find the last of the apocalyptically powerful Lazy Guns before the Huhsz find her."
A religious cult and their apotheosis. How interesting.
Cheers
Hamish
