The story begins at the conclusion of the Mass Effect 2
storyline. It centers around Cerberus and the Illusive Man, and his renewed devotion to learning all he can about the Reapers so he can best defend humanity from their inevitable return. That's all I really want to say about the story so I don't spoil the game or the book.These are some deep, complex characters. Like the game, the lines between good and evil are frequently blurred, and I found myself cheering for the assassin who tried to kill an innocent bystander only moments ago. The pace is fast and action packed, with interesting intergallactic politics mixed in with the brutal military assaults.
This is also the first book I've read based on the world originally created by a video game. I feel like that definitely added to the atmosphere. I could vividly imagine watching the Illusive Man speak, calm and composed, in front of a giant red ball of a dying star. I didn't imagine so much as remember the music and dangerous atmosphere of the Omega space station. The immersion created by the video game while I played it definitely added to my enjoyment of this book.
I plan on reading another Mass Effect book next. I can't imagine the earlier ones being as good as this one, but I'm ready to be surprised.
The biggest irk is the ending. All of the action gomes to a sharp crescendo, a thrilling climax of an ending, and then it's epilogue time. Many questions are left unanswered. Many loose ends left around. I can only hope that these stories are concluded in some obscure side-quest in Mass Effect 3, but I'm not holding my breath.
Instead I'm just deciding to read more of these books, probably leaving more loose ends around. Although maybe with my second playthrough of Mass Effect 2, I'll see that those stories *did* actually tie in.
Here's to hoping.
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