Mass Effect Prequel Novelized in Mass Effect Revelation

It is inevitable that a well developed game world will make the jump from one form of media to another. Mass Effect is the latest video game to inspire a novelization in Drew Karpyshyn’s Mass Effect Revelation.

Ars Technica has a insightful review of Revelation. The book is a prequel to the game and lays a rich foundation for the Mass Effect universe, setting the stage for the game’s storyline and raising questions that beg to be answered. The book focuses on the investigatory campaign led by a human war hero, David Anderson. The Citadel Spectres, a special force of soldiers answering only to the government, are introduced as the mystery behind an attack on a secret military encampment unfolds.

The main character in the Mass Effect game is a Spectre and according to the reviewer, although the plot doesn’t lead directly into the game, the ending hints ominously that one of the characters may feature as the game’s main antagonist.

I’m in the process of reading Mass Effect Revelation myself right now and so far it’s a good read, comparable to the Halo novels by Eric Nylund. Nylund and Karpyshyn share a similar role in the development of the two games so its not too surprising that the folks behind crafting the game story would do so well at expanding into novels on the subjects.