Disclaimer: This is a review, and as such will contain opinions, spoilers and (often) general shit talking. (If you talk about what you don’t like about a work, you learn a lot. When you think through a work with the stakes presented to you by the creator, by the context of the work, you learn a lot. I review things, not because I love to dislike things, but because dislike contains rich and vital information for the process of experiencing something, but I cannot access it without interrogating it.) So, if you don’t want to have this thing spoiled for you, or don’t know how to behave when a person on the internet, that you don’t know, has opinions that don’t line up with yours, this review is not for you. It’s also not for the author/creator of the work. Please and thank you.
I got into the Mass Effect franchise with Andromeda and I’d played that, along with the remastered ME1-3 before I got around to reading these.
I’m one of those rare few who don’t hate Andromeda as much as the rest. Does it have issues? Yes, glaring ones.
But so does ME1-3, so nothing new there.
I knew they were franchise novels and I tend to be wary of franchise novels.
Formulaic and bloated, this series fleshes out the universe but doesn’t add that much to the main story.
There are a few World of Warcraft novels that I really like, but do not get me started on the disposable pop writing of Christie Golden.
“The novels will act as prequel and sequels to the events in the game and will are a part of the overarching Mass Effect saga. These new stories, developed in close collaboration with the Bioware game team, weave directly into the action of the new game–and will reveal events kept secret over the course of game play–and will add to the canonical Mass Effect saga.”
Despite having enrolled some heavy-hitting authors, this was mostly just canonic pulp.
In Nexus Uprising there was some writer’s clairvoyance from the very beginning.
The characters were going into the unknown, about to journey for 600 years before reaching Andromeda, but it was like they already knew how the end result was going to be like (from the game).
The characters acting with one very clear denouement in mind stripped what should have been a very tense, life-threatening situation of all suspense.
Sloane Kelly was both the highly practical type with no patience for bureaucracy while at the same time she idolised Garson, it felt out of character for her.
She ended up flitting between the two but there wasn’t a strong sense that she wanted to change, more just that she wanted to leave old shit behind.
It got better in the end when she came face to face with the fact that she’d failed the people, but that out of character idolisation of Garson’s methods was an unnecessary juxtaposition. I think she came off as clearly the hands on type who had little patience for talk even without it.
And if it was supposed to represent the fervour with which Garson had inspired and convinced other people to join the trip, that was already evident in how they all admired Garson.
In the end Kelly didn’t change, but went back to her own deeply ingrained habits anyway.
If Garson was supposed to have inspired her to be a better version of herself, which she then failed at…
It felt clunky and I feel like it could have been written in a way that was more clear and emotionally visceral.
This just seemed kind of flat, which pulled me out of the story several times as I frowned at the inconsistencies in Kelly.
Initiation was okay.
Initiation wasn’t much better. I know people love Cora.
I can’t stand her. And reading a whole book about her was just ugh.
The book had some good moments, like the reporter harassing her was a nice tie-in to the old ME franchise.
It was an okay heist story.
I didn’t like the dystopian/AI horror elements.
The reason I read it was because of SAM and my hunger to read about AIs. And honestly, it felt like Alec Ryder and SAM outshone Cora in the story. She’s just so… bland.
And then there was Annihilation.
Annihilation gripped me from the start.
Technician 2nd class was an immediately interesting prologue, his story was well thought through and absolutely believable.
The characters on the Keelah Si’yah ark were distinct from the start, all of their intros were the same but they were all interesting in different ways.
I love the argument over the topiary and how that came to represent the interspecies decision-making processes that would follow.
The characters were so well written, they add depth and personal history to the races you meet in the game.
Senna’s grandmother was so endearing, with the ryncol and the toenail clipping. Perfect. Just perfect.
I cackled so many times.
This is one of the best sci-fi books I’ve ever read, certainly the best of the three by far.
I mean, Cathryn Valente, you deserve a standing ovation for this one.
This trilogy could have easily scrapped the other two books and just gone with this one. Plus, the narration just kills it – this was the book that inspired me to start the hall of fame list.
As soon as I finished it, I read it again straight away. It was that good.
The differences between the races was captured so well, and I love that it focused on the races that generally don’t get that much focus in the main series.
This is like the story of the extras.
And it fully leans into it, and the book is aware that these are the less visible peoples in this universe and it doesn’t make excuses or try to sell them as anything other than what they are.
While the games focus on the main players, putting them centre stage, this book is an honest look into the sidelines.
And it shows us that just because these people are given a smaller role in the universe, doesn’t mean that they don’t significantly contribute to said universe (just like in real life) and they also have important, significant stories to tell.
I love that about it.
Did I enjoy it?
Like I said, #1 and #3 I could take or leave (preferably leave).
But Annihilation was just amazing.
The question is would I have enjoyed them more had I not already played the games?
Maybe.
But the writing isn’t exciting, there are issues with plot and pacing in Nexus Uprising and Initiation and I think I would have disliked them just as much.
Even not knowing the races and the universe, I would have been sucked into the Who dunnit? of Annihilation and it would have made me get into the games if I hadn’t already.
Rapid-fire round:
- Did the book meet your expectations? #1 and #3 no, #2 exceeded my expectations.
- Who was your favourite character in the book and why? Senna’s grandmother.
- Who was your least favourite character in the book and why? Cora, she’s so bland and annoying and this did nothing to aid that.
- Did you relate to any of the characters? Yorrik in #2 when nobody would listen to him.
- What themes or messages did you take away from the book? Franchise novels CAN be really good.
- Was there anything in the book that surprised you or that you didn’t expect? That the lesser acknowledged races got to shine in #2.
- What did you think of the ending of the book? #2 was a really satisfying plot twist.
- What do you think the author’s intention was with the book? What message or theme do you think they were trying to convey? That you can convey emotions of aliens really well when leaning into their specific traits.
- Which part of the book did you find most memorable? Omg I can’t pick. It’s just all so good.
- Did you find any aspects of the book confusing or unclear? Nope.
- Were there any moments in the book that made you emotional or had a strong impact on you? Senna’s and Yorrik’s relationship ❤️
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