Mass Effect

Ascension

By: Drew Karpyshyn

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 9 hrs

Publisher's summary

It's humankind versus a race of machines bent on harvesting organic life in this second official novel based on the BioWare video game.

©2008 Drew Karpyshyn (P)2008 Tantor

Fills in some gaps in the ME universe

I'm a huge fan of the Mass Effect game series. I have never read or listened to books from a Video Game universe before but really found it to be a great compliment to the series.
It is well written and stays true to the universe that I know from the games. Worth a listen for any ME fan.

I love Mass Effect

This was a great book. If you love the series these books are a wonderful addition. This being the second book, I really enjoyed it.

solid thriller

gets off to a slower start than Revelation but a strong second half, great insight into quarian culture, and a dueling family dynamic over the direction of Gillian's life and biotic training between Grayson and Kahlee Sanders makes for a solid scifi thriller.

Enjoyed Every Minute

I’m a huge Mass Effect fan. I love the way the books fill gaps and deep dive into characters that didn’t get as much attention in the games. The narrator was too notch with the voices.

Quarians are still my favorite

Good story with a good narrator. If you like Mass Effect and would like to learn more about the Quarians and The Illusive Man, I definitely recommend checking it out.

I think I would've liked the young girl to have been given a little more time to shine. And the pacing is pretty slow at the beginning. But overall I enjoyed it.

Still for fans but more accessible than Revelation

Like the first book in Drew Karpyshyn's Mass Effect novel series, Mass Effect: Ascension is set in the world of the Mass Effect video games. Unlike the first book, however, I felt that Ascension was more able to stand alone. It had far fewer "infodump" sequences and because the first Mass Effect game had already been released by this point (unlike with Revelation), it actually felt like more a part of the galaxy than its predecessor. In addition, while two of the three main characters of Revelation (David Anderson and Saren) were main characters in the first game, the only character from the games to appear in Ascension is The Illusive Man, the leader of Cerberus (and he wouldn't appear until Mass Effect 2, released after this book).

The entirety of Revelation seemed to be hinting at plot points that would become important in the first game, but this book was able to stand more on its own merits with its own story. It also manages to tell a larger and, in my opinion, a more interesting story. The quarians, seen primarily through video game character Tali'Zorah, were seriously fleshed out in this book, a touch I particularly enjoyed. That said, while this book is more its own entity than Revelation and can be enjoyed for its science fiction action, it's still not something I'd recommend for people who aren't already fans of the video games.

Like the first book, the narration by David Colacci was good. Not great or anything to write home about in terms of narrators, but he covered a wide range of individual voices and I had no problems listening to it for many hours.

Essential reading!!!

The novel is essential reading for those who have played ME1 and ME2. The book completes many story elements which are not covered in the game.

Great series!!!

fenominal

loved it the codex does a great job of reading the store true fans know what i am saying

If you are a ME fan, BUY this!

I must preface with saying that I absolutely love the Mass Effect trilogy and also Andromeda. I haven't read a book in a long time sadly but this was perfect for putting on in the car. The twists shocked me, characters were dynamic, and the ending was perfect. If you like the Quarians then you will love this book.

Fun story but know the games well

This story is pretty good but you need to know the games and technologies well because they are only explained a little. Luckily, they’re my favorite games and the story is a fun one but I do wish it delved more into some things that it only glances over.