Mass Effect: Revelation

This was a reread and it proves sometimes you really can’t go home again. Let me say I’m an unabashed Mass Effect fangirl now as I was when the game first came out. When I first read this book, I was still blown away by me1 and me2 and 3 hadn’t come out yet. My spouse got me this book in paperback back in 07 or 08 and I eagerly scarfed it up, so happy there was a way to spend more time in the Mass Effect universe. At the time, I enjoyed it and I fondly remember the time spent reading it in a favorite chair. I hold those memories dear.

Coming back to it now, after all these years, and many playthroughs of the trilogy, I find it didn’t age well. The characters are two dimensional and the plot is kinda thin, and my understanding of show more stuff like the Geth / Quarian conflict doesn’t mesh with how it’s portrayed here. Saren is just a cardboard cutout baddie and it’s just….flat. Ah well. At least we have Legendary Edition to play now. show less

What is This Book About? Earth and her colonies under the Systems Alliance are new to the interspecies community in Citadel space and the wider galaxy. Having just made their presence known to the interstellar community of alien species, humanity has discovered that they’re vastly inferior in technology and fleet strength. To bridge the gap, the Alliance secretly funded experiments that the Citadel Council banned centuries ago. Worst of all, crime lords and mercenaries were contracted to slaughter the experimental base for reasons unknown to the Systems Alliance. Commander David Anderson is sent in to discover the base’s status and if any survivors can expose just what the hell happened. The plot thickens when the Citadel Council show more discovers what the humans were doing and how they are going to make amends. It’s a roller coaster of science fiction combat and political intrigue as mankind makes its stamp on the galactic community.

My Review: This was a fun sci-fi novel to read, and it is sure to give Mass Effect fans a great story to gush over. What I especially liked about this book is that it gives a lowdown on how Earth and humanity progressed to the point of getting involved with the interstellar community of alien species, why certain technologies are banned, how bionics work, who the Geth are, basically anything and everything I saw in the game, but didn’t quite get. There’s a serious amount of worldbuilding in this book and I absolutely loved it. I also enjoyed the ambassador’s story as she tried to get the Systems Alliance out of hot water with the Citadel while maintaining a position of strength for humanity. We also get an inside glimpse of Saren’s life as a Spectre, one of the Mass Effect villains, later in the game. Overall, the universe was nicely detailed in this book as the main characters came together to unravel a plot of galactic proportions.

Three Words that Describe this Book: adventure, epic, joy-ride

Give This A Try if You Like… Starship Troopers, Warhammer 40,000 series, Old Man’s War show less

Probably the best thing I got out of the worst relationship of my life was Mass Effect. Honestly. It is the game that brought me back into the gaming world and I have spent way too many hours in front of a TV screen... and way too many hours blogging about the stupid game series. So, obviously, the Mass Effect books seemed like the natural next step to go. I have actually been searching for the first book in the series for about a year now but the few shops offering Mass Effect books have somehow only had the second and third book; and I'm not a fan of buying sequels before buying the first book. But then I found it. And begged my mother to buy it for me. As the sweet woman she is, she did.

It's only been two decades since humans found show more the mass relay on Charon, Pluto's moon, that allowed them to instantly travel across thousands of light-years to another mass relay in a different area of the galaxy – and it's only been eight years since humanity became a part of the joined union between several different alien species. As the newest addition to the bunch, humans are desperately trying to find their place... and rise in rank within the galatic community. Their fleets are strong and their colonies are growing faster, larger and more successful than any other species' colonies.

During a patrol through an isolated region on the edge of colonised space; Lieutenant Anderson answers an S.O.S from what appears to be a secret research station. They find the whole upper level totally abandoned but few mercs are still lingering the lower level – underneath the main facility. After a heartfelt battle, they find the whole crew is found slaughtered. As they have all been dragged into one room, Anderson and his crew suspects they have been betrayed by one of their own; a suspicion that is confirmed as a bomb goes off – and nearly takes Anderon and his soldiers with it.

Anderson is full of questions about the facility and its research; questions his superiors refuse to answer. But they send him out to find a woman called Kahlee Sanders – a scientist who seemingly escaped the research base only hours before the massacre. But when he does find Sanders, he realises they are both caught up in something much, much bigger and complicated. And he's determined to figure it out.

My summary is probably a bit rubbish but... this is definitely a book for those who have played the games. It serves as a prequel and includes characters from the games – and explores the beginning of one or two things from the games. Therefore, there's quite a lot of intertwining stories and it's hard to link them together in a summary. My dad asked me what the book was about and despite the fact that I was nearing the end, I had a hard time explaining it to him. The book is partly an action-filled story about a couple of people who stumbles on to a conspiracy but it is partly also includes a more background story for a character that is playing a vital part in the first game. They are both important in the book but despite the fact that they are linked together, they are two different branches on one tree.

Perhaps because of that, I loved it. There is nothing like a good ol' action packed sci fi book. It was also great finding out more about the background stories of some minor characters in the games – as 50% of the characters can be found in the games. So, what can I say? If you're a Mass Effect fan who can't get enough of this amazing world, this is definitely an adventure you don't want to miss. There's a lot of sci fi, action and lots of geeky insight about characters you won't get in the books. What's there not to love? show less

The recent re-release of the Mass Effect games, which I haven't played before, inspired me to read this prequel novel.

In mere decades, humanity has gone from discovering mass effect (allowing FTL travel) to being inducted into the galaxy-spanning Citadel Space. Lieutenant David Anderson, a hero from humanity's first war with aliens, is sent to investigate an incident at a top-secret research facility. His mission turns him into both hunter and prey, as he tries to infiltrate one conspiracy while hiding another.

This book may be derivative, pulpy sci-fi, but I enjoy it. The author, who also wrote the games, is deft at balancing character development, dialogue, action, and lore. The lore is my favorite aspect. I'm excited to start playing show more the games. show less

Wooo, boy. I liked this book more than I dare to admit. I swear I was thinking it was going to be something mild like Assassin's Creed: Renaissance, but Mass Effect: Revelation actually opened my eyes for several of the game's occurrence. After reading this book, Saren suddenly seemed like an awesome character and Anderson seems a lot more badass.

First of all, if you're not familiar with the Mass Effect setting (the environment, the characters, the alien races), I would recommend that you play the first game (or at least the first half of it, until Shepard gains control of the Normandy) before diving into this book. Not so much because the beginning is slightly confusing and slow to adapt, but know how exactly batarians, turians and show more krogans look like will give you a better picture of the whole thing and help you focus on the story rather than the characters. But if you don't really care and are easily satisfied with quick descriptions about the alien races and the whole Mass Effect theory, then sure, go ahead and read this book before you start playing the series. It does explain a whole lot of what was going on, how the mess in the game began and what are Saren's motivations behind everything he did.
I was already a fan of the Mass Effect series, so this book was perfect for me and the only reason I didn't give it five stars is because this is not the kind of book I would read two times in a row (but would definitely re-read it), but it's really not that hard to like it. The writing style doesn't have anything very special, but it's very pleasant to read because it doesn't get stuck in details and actually makes the story flow.

If you liked the game and the characters, this may be the book for you. show less

I'm starting to really like Drew Karpyshyn. After reading his first Star Wars: Darth Bane book and now this, I'm convinced this is a guy who can write a concise novel without rushing the story.

Revelation was a pretty short book, yet I was surprised at how much I was able to get out of it. There was some strong character building, great action sequences, and even some background information into the technology and inhabitants of the Mass Effect World.

Like most novels in the video game tie-in genre, there were a few forced plot points that you just kinda have to make yourself go with. Despite that, I thought this was a great book, especially for lorehounds like myself, and it was a pleasure to read a game book that doesn't follow the show more typical "bunch of adventurers go on a quest" pattern. If you're interested in the story from the first Mass Effect game about how Anderson *almost* became a Spectre, Revelation has all the details. show less

written in a time before Mass Effect was beaten with a bat by a bunch of young hoodlums named EA. Drew karpshyn does well with the mass effect lore, whilst making it both interesting and a succesful fan service.