Book Review- Mass Effect: Revelation
As usual, I've over-promised and under-delivered, but here's the review I know you were all so anxiously anticipating!
For the sake of depth and clarity, I am focusing on the first book in the Mass Effect novel series: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn.
A prequel to the first Mass Effect game by Bioware, Revelation fills in the details of the fictional future universe in which humanity, in the early stages of space exploration, stumbles upon the mass relays. These enormous mass transit rings left behind by the Protheans, an ancient and long-extinct alien race, carries humanity into the new age of space travel, and now, earth must seek to find its place in a vast cosmos teeming with intelligent, advanced, and sometimes hostile life.
Years after initial contact and conflict, ship commander and earth war hero, David Anderson, is sent on a military mission that changes everything. When Anderson investigates the ruins of a top secret military research station, he finds more questions than answers. Why was the remote base attacked?
Mysteriously missing from the scene is scientist Kahlee Sanders. She becomes the strange attack's prime suspect, but Anderson wonders if there is more to Kahlee and the slaughter than he realizes. The alien governing body, the Citadel Council, partners Anderson with a morally dubious Turian Spectre to find the culprits. Pursued by an assassin and hands tied by the untrustworthy agent, Anderson battles to discover the truth, even if it means the loss of his own life.
While, for obvious reasons, the book primarily appeals to the specific audience of gamers already invested in the Mass Effect universe, I found the novel accessible, gripping, and easy to follow. I think an individual with limited or even no knowledge of the games themselves could enjoy the book without missing much. In my opinion, Karpyshyn does a good job of developing the characters directly involved in the novel's plot even as he makes vague references to important events and characters of the games, drawing in the non-gamer while throwing bones to the game-enthusiast alike.
His world building in the novels are not lacking, either. Beautiful imagery and descriptions of the alien species make the universe come alive, and even the technical jargon is fascinating and serves to complete the lively picture. Science fiction can often tend one of two ways: being overly concerned with scientific plausibility and correct terminology at the expense of plot readability and interest, or dispensing of the rules of physics altogether to create a fantastic but ultimately unbelievable reality. Karpyshyn manages to fall between the two, creating an accessible but logically ordered universe. (Of course, I tend to prefer the fantastic and can usually overlook suspect science if the writing is good enough, so take what I say with a grain of salt.)
I don't remember much about the book that I didn't like, to be completely honest. It was an entertaining and well-written read. If you're in the hunt for an original, expansive, and interesting story with space travel, aliens, and advanced technology, I'd recommend Revelation in a heartbeat.