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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Questionable depiction of autism/neurodevelopmental disorder
A lot of what I wrote in my review for Mass Effect: Revelation could easily apply here too. Though this book spans a different era of time – between the first and second games, this time – the style of writing is very similar. Fast paced, easy to read, definitely a page turner that I tore through very quickly. Enjoyable and entertaining, although it wasn’t exactly scintillating stuff. And on the scale of Drew Karpyshyn’s works, it’s one of the better ones, though not his best. To be perfectly honest I’m struggling for things to say in this review because I found the experience so similar to reading Revelation. The only major difference is that Revelation only fleshed out what I already knew would happen/was happening to me as I read it whilst playing the first game. This time I took a pause in between games to read Ascension, and it definitely filled the gap, so to speak. It wasn’t difficult to get insight into some of the troubles looming ahead for my Shepard in the second game. I can already hear Shepard’s groans at the stupidity-induced messes that will need cleaning up. In any case – not a great book, perhaps, but an enjoyable one.
7 out of 10
I'm continuing to re-read the Mass Effect books. Ascension is still a good novel, much like the first one, but it signals a shift toward telling a specific story separated from the games. For me personally, this is less intriguing. The first novel sets up a major plot point for Mass Effect 1, while Ascension is a small story that is only even mentioned in one line of dialogue in Mass Effect 2. It's still a fun ride, but it's not exactly what I want.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
medium-paced
Really only for fans of the game. Doesn’t stand up super well if you take that aspect away.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A vast improvement over the first novel in both its presentation and plot. While not perfect, Ascension brings depth and intrigue into the interspecies politics that are at the heart of the Mass Effect universe.
In my opinion, a poorly written story line in the mass effect universe.
A poor use of a character from the game, purely to elicit "familiarity" with the character.
The writing felt lackluster and the ending "Spoiler Alert" where Grayson manages to escape so easily and Kahlee just resigns to going back to the Academy is really just poor writing. There were scenarios of just coincidence, where all of a sudden a character slips up or changes modus operandi in an out of character fashion just to drive this story line. It didn't feel genuine, rather the progress of the story line felt very forced.
The Illusive man was also made to look like a chump. Really. Honestly, who would dare to threaten the Illusive man?
There were so many things that made this book feel wrong. I wouldn't ever give it another read.
A poor use of a character from the game, purely to elicit "familiarity" with the character.
The writing felt lackluster and the ending "Spoiler Alert" where Grayson manages to escape so easily and Kahlee just resigns to going back to the Academy is really just poor writing. There were scenarios of just coincidence, where all of a sudden a character slips up or changes modus operandi in an out of character fashion just to drive this story line. It didn't feel genuine, rather the progress of the story line felt very forced.
The Illusive man was also made to look like a chump. Really. Honestly, who would dare to threaten the Illusive man?
There were so many things that made this book feel wrong. I wouldn't ever give it another read.