Mass Effect: Revelation

Unlike the previous book (Mass Effect - Revelation), it took a long time to be (loosely) hooked by this one, with such a poor plot. If in the previous book you didn't have to know the Mass Effect lore, this one unfortunately requires that the reader must know about what happened in the first game, showing an adventure that just touches some major events of the ME storyline. Sometimes it seems it was hastly written, showing that the pace and rhythm was not the same all the time. I was disappointed because I felt that sometimes the reader is required to complete the gaps by himself, or worse, forced to believe in very implausible hooks.

Such as "Revelation", "Ascension" is loosely characterized as a sci fi book, without exploring - once again - all the possibilities of this huge scenario. It's just a detective/thriller story with spaceships and aliens, that's all.

It's a fine and entertaining book, with an exciting detective plot. I can say it was an easy read without any flowery prose (which is not necessarily a compliment...). I've never played any of the Mass Effect games, but this is a book which introduces quite well the ambiance, all the political scenario and alien cultural diversity. I felt that you don't have to know the Mass Effect lore previously when reading, which is great (these books inspired or based in games tend to be dull sometimes, especially when the author thinks the reader knows all the lore, etc).

Despite being characterized as a sci fi book, it lacks the substance or the base of any good science fiction book. Since it's just a detective story, the reader doesn't have to think, to reflect on Humanity dealing with the technology, the future, etc. It's a book which lacks several interesting scifi concepts though, such as the Reapers/Geth plot, the discussion on Humanity versus machines, AI, etc. All these concepts are introduced in this book, but not discussed.

Generally, one doesn't expect that much from a tie-in novel, but even with low expectations this was a weak book. The prose is serviceable, but lifeless and utterly bland. There wasn't a single line or turn of phrase I bothered to remember after reading it. This deficiency could have been redeemed by an interesting story or characters, but the book had neither. The author refuses to even stick with a character. The book changes POVs constantly, often darting off to some unimportant background character for no other reason than that they are in the position to relate plot-relevant information to the reader. Most of these characters die soon after. Because of the book's short attention span, the reader is left with little idea of what makes even the major characters tick besides some really basic traits. For a book-only character like Kahlee Sanders, this is just boring. But when it involves flattening out characters that actually show up in the games, it's downright tragic.

I wouldn't argue that Saren was magnificently characterized in Mass Effect, given the limitations of the video game media on that score, but the implication of far more to him and the hints of a layered person is there. And it's completely lost in this book in the interest of Saren being a distant, scheming homicidal sociopath. Around the sixth time he blithely watched some random person die agonizingly I felt that there wasn't anyone didn't already get the point, yet Karpyshyn continues to belabor. Saren's counterpart, Anderson, brilliantly voiced by Keith David in the video game series, is presented here with no apparent personality traits outside of Good Noble Soldier.

The basic plot itself isn't especially poor and, I imagine, could have made for an exciting romp in someone else's hands. But here it just plods along leaving you eternally wondering when it will really get going. In addition, given that the encounter between Anderson and Saren that this book is supposed to be about had an intense effect on Anderson decades down the line, it's shunted all the way to the end of the book like an afterthought, with no substantial lead-up or build to it.

Not the worst thing I've ever read, but perhaps the most forgettable.