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A review by caprica
Annihilation by Catherynne M. Valente
5.0
To start: I love Mass Effect and I love Catherynne Valente, and when she announced she was writing a Mass Effect novel, I was very happy. I am very pleased to report that this book is a delight: it is thoroughly grounded in the Mass Effect universe but is nevertheless obviously a Valente novel, and I mean those both in the best senses.
It is worth noting up-front that Valente herself is a huge Mass Effect fan. This is obvious if you follow her on Twitter or elsewhere, but would be obvious even if you only read this book, because it is well-grounded in Mass Effect lore and replete with charming easter eggs. This makes the text even more satisfying: this doesn't feel like fan-service, so much as someone with an abiding respect for the universe who has made a wonderful addition to it. (I mean, easter eggs are fan service in a way, but I found them fun and enjoyable, rather than intrusive.)
This text is a tie-in novel to Mass Effect: Andromeda, the much-anticipated and poorly received follow-up to the original Mass Effect trilogy. This is, however, a prequel to Andromeda itself, and deals with the Quarian ark. There is a lot of nonsense surrounding Andromeda, its reception by fans, whether or not it deserved that reception, and so on, hardly any of which has anything to do with this book. However, I mention it here because I did see plenty of fans who seemed to think Valente had something to do with... any of that. And, as she noted in her Reddit AMA on this book, she didn't. (I mean, duh? Come on, folks.) I really hope that folks can disentangle the Andromeda-related drama from this book, because the only thing they share is the setting, and skipping this book because of that would be a mistake.
Valente adds a lot of flavor to the Mass Effect universe, and she does it through her explorations of the non-Council races. If you'd told me before I read this that I'd come away from it with a batarian and an elcor as my favorite characters I probably would've looked at you extremely askance, but here we are. Aside from her wonderful characterization, this allows us to see a side of the Mass Effect universe that we don't see much of, and it's worth reading for that alone.
Her prose her is still recognizably herself, though I think it's a little less "purple" (whatever that means") than in some of her other works. I am extremely partial to her prose style as it usually is, but it might've felt a little at odds with the Mass Effect aesthetic. Here, though, I didn't feel that at all- it seemed she struck a good balance between that aesthetic and hers, producing something identifiably of both camps.
I enjoyed this book from start to finish, and would recommend it unreservedly to Mass Effect fans. It is honestly hard for me to tell whether or not it is a good read for fans unfamiliar with the series, though; as a long-time fan I'm very steeped in the lore and atmosphere, so I had no difficulty with it. I suspect non-fans may miss out on some of the nuances, but in all I think this is a self-contained story that ought to be appealing beyond just the Mass Effect fandom (and I hope it is, because Valente is - here, as everywhere - a wonderful author).
It is worth noting up-front that Valente herself is a huge Mass Effect fan. This is obvious if you follow her on Twitter or elsewhere, but would be obvious even if you only read this book, because it is well-grounded in Mass Effect lore and replete with charming easter eggs. This makes the text even more satisfying: this doesn't feel like fan-service, so much as someone with an abiding respect for the universe who has made a wonderful addition to it. (I mean, easter eggs are fan service in a way, but I found them fun and enjoyable, rather than intrusive.)
This text is a tie-in novel to Mass Effect: Andromeda, the much-anticipated and poorly received follow-up to the original Mass Effect trilogy. This is, however, a prequel to Andromeda itself, and deals with the Quarian ark. There is a lot of nonsense surrounding Andromeda, its reception by fans, whether or not it deserved that reception, and so on, hardly any of which has anything to do with this book. However, I mention it here because I did see plenty of fans who seemed to think Valente had something to do with... any of that. And, as she noted in her Reddit AMA on this book, she didn't. (I mean, duh? Come on, folks.) I really hope that folks can disentangle the Andromeda-related drama from this book, because the only thing they share is the setting, and skipping this book because of that would be a mistake.
Valente adds a lot of flavor to the Mass Effect universe, and she does it through her explorations of the non-Council races. If you'd told me before I read this that I'd come away from it with a batarian and an elcor as my favorite characters I probably would've looked at you extremely askance, but here we are. Aside from her wonderful characterization, this allows us to see a side of the Mass Effect universe that we don't see much of, and it's worth reading for that alone.
Her prose her is still recognizably herself, though I think it's a little less "purple" (whatever that means") than in some of her other works. I am extremely partial to her prose style as it usually is, but it might've felt a little at odds with the Mass Effect aesthetic. Here, though, I didn't feel that at all- it seemed she struck a good balance between that aesthetic and hers, producing something identifiably of both camps.
I enjoyed this book from start to finish, and would recommend it unreservedly to Mass Effect fans. It is honestly hard for me to tell whether or not it is a good read for fans unfamiliar with the series, though; as a long-time fan I'm very steeped in the lore and atmosphere, so I had no difficulty with it. I suspect non-fans may miss out on some of the nuances, but in all I think this is a self-contained story that ought to be appealing beyond just the Mass Effect fandom (and I hope it is, because Valente is - here, as everywhere - a wonderful author).