Mass Effect

By: Drew Karpyshyn

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Every advanced society in the galaxy relies on the technology of the Protheans, an ancient species that vanished 50,000 years ago. After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars---the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community.

On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station---smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post, and for what purpose? And where is Kahlee Sanders, the young scientist who mysteriously vanished from the base hours before her colleagues were slaughtered?

Sanders is now the prime suspect, but finding her creates more problems for Anderson than it solves. Partnered with a rogue alien agent he can't trust, and pursued by an assassin he can't escape, Anderson battles impossible odds on uncharted worlds to uncover a sinister conspiracy...one he won't live to tell about. Or so the enemy thinks.

©2007 BioWare Corp. (P)2008 Tantor

Enhances the enjoyment of the games substantially

This book exposes a lot of back story for Saren and Anderson. It make great strides in making the video games feel weighty. Saren's fall into madness in Mass Effect 1 means much more now that you know what he was like before he discovered Sovereign. The book also humanized Anderson, and that makes him even more likable.

As far as the narrator goes, he is pretty damn great. His female voices are surprisingly good.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Fun for a Mass Effect fan

I've played all three Mass Effect games multiple times and I'm a big fan of its lore and universe. I'm also a fan of science fiction action, which this mostly consists of. It's not a perfect book, but if you're like me you'll probably enjoy it.

This book was released in early 2007 and is often described as a "prequel" to the first Mass Effect game, but the book actually came out several months beforehand. I can't imagine many people read it then because while it does a good job of explaining the universe and technology to the point that it's still understandable, the visuals leave some to be desired if you haven't already seen the races and sites described. And while the story and action are fun, it really helps if you already know what's going on and can get that extra stuff out of it.

I could go more into the story, but honestly if you're still reading this, you'll probably get enough enjoyment to make it worth your time and money/credit. It's a book about Mass Effect by the primary writer of Mass Effect. It features a few Mass Effect characters and many Mass Effect races, but no morality choices or graphics. It some longer infodumps (many of which are unnecessary to the players of the game), but I still enjoyed them. David Colacci does a decent job in terms of voices - nothing to write home about, but not distracting either.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Great Book.

Although this book didn't have any WOW features that make your heart start pounding or the unyielding need to continue listening non-stop without a break... It kept my interest the whole way through, lots of interesting things going on and I was able to keep up with all of it. I love Drew's idea of space and the game was awesome too, so I don't have to use my imagination that hard to visualize the characters. Very entertaining,. I will be buying the next book in this series, I hope it is at least as good. :)

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Probably for Mass Effect fans only

This book started kind of slow and then grew into something pretty decent. It felt like Saren's character was over done though. The voice actor did well. Too bad they couldn't have gotten the voice actors from the games to do it though.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Fills Some Gaps Prior to First Mass Effect Game

I love the Mass Effect universe. I thoroughly enjoyed playing through all the games and when I saw there are Mass Effect books, I immediately spent Audible credits. "Shut up and take my money, Audible!" So, about the book itself, there was a very brief plot build-up about the First Contact War in the very beginning of the book, which I got super excited about. I thought "Oh, man! How cool! A war novel about the First Contact War!" but I was wrong. After this brief mention the rest of this book is pretty much all about how Saren and Anderson met and what led Saren to become a Reaper agent. I mean, I really enjoyed this book, and I bought the other two consecutive ones in the series. There's some really cool character development you see here that you would have never been able to see in the games. If you are a real Mass Effect fan you would happily give your money to Audible (or get these books from the library) and listen/read the entire series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Barely qualifies as an appetizer

Overall, the writing, plot, and reading is well done. The basis for the average rating lies in the paucity of the entire story. The length appears to be about half of what should have beena more compelling storyline line. The macguffin, a rumored novel alien artifact is only tangenetially mentioned, especially at the end where it appears to set up (hopefully) a second installment. The characters are interesting and the action is engaging, but the ending just seems like it comes way too early and with many unanswered questions and without adequate resolution of part 1. If the next two installments complete the story arc, then perhaps the bite sized intro will be worth it, but as far as trilogies go, this one has started lite.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very interesting backstory for Saren and Anderson.

This was a fantastic setup to the first game in the series. The characters, the action, and of course the intense plot all had a profound charm! Highly recommend.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love it!

Love the Mass Effect world and the thrills in this awesome story line that is a build up to the games :)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Excellent

As a fan of the video games this book was a real treat. It fills in the story behind Anderson`s attempt at joining the Specters which is briefly mentioned in the first game. I had always wondered what really happened between Anderson and Saren and this story explains it fantastically.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Pre-qual to the events from the first mass effect

I must say I have played all the mass effect games and this story was simply amazing, this story surrounds around how Sovereign was first discovered the events leading to why Anderson wasn't inducted to the specters and how sarin was able to get a hold of the reaper. I would more then recommend this book to any fan of the mass effect series, checking out the next book after this review without a doubt.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful