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    Mass Effect: Ascension
    Mass Effect: Ascension
    Mass Effect: Ascension
    Audiobook9 hours

    Mass Effect: Ascension

    Written by Drew Karpyshyn

    Narrated by David Colacci

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When they vanished 50,000 years ago, the Protheans left their advanced technology scattered throughout the galaxy. The chance discovery of a Prothean cache on Mars allows humanity to join those already reaping the rewards of the ancients' high-tech wizardry. But for one rogue militia, the goal is not participation but domination.

    Scientist Kahlee Sanders has left the Systems Alliance for the Ascension Project, a program that helps gifted "biotic" children harness their extraordinary powers. The program's most promising student is twelve-year-old Gillian Grayson, who is borderline autistic. What Kahlee doesn't know is that Gillian is an unwitting pawn of the outlawed black ops group Cerberus, which is sabotaging the program by conducting illegal experiments on the students.

    When the Cerberus plot is exposed, Gillian's father takes her away from the Ascension Project and flees into the lawless Terminus Systems. Determined to protect Gillian, Kahlee goes with them, unaware that the elder Grayson is, in fact, a Cerberus operative. To rescue the young girl, Kahlee must travel to the farthest ends of the galaxy, battling fierce enemies and impossible odds. But how will she be able to save a daughter from her own father?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 22, 2008
    ISBN9781400180042
    Mass Effect: Ascension
    Author

    Drew Karpyshyn

    Drew Karpyshyn is the New York Times bestselling author of Children of Fire as well as the Star Wars: The Old Republic novels Revan and Annihilation, and the Star Wars: Darth Bane trilogy: Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, and Dynasty of Evil. He also wrote the acclaimed Mass Effect series of novels and worked as a writer/designer on numerous award-winning videogames. After spending most of his life in Canada, he finally grew tired of the long, cold winters and headed south in search of a climate more conducive to year-round golf. Drew Karpyshyn now lives in Texas with his wife, Jennifer, and a variety of four-legged companions.

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    Reviews for Mass Effect

    3.5/5

    171 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      "The mind with many secrets can never rest." Drew Karpyshyn, Mass Effect: Ascension
      Like the first novel Mass Effect: Revelation, Ascension is well-written and well-paced. It isn't a literary masterpiece, but I found it to be a fun, gripping and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
      Unlike the first ME novel, Ascension takes place on the ME timeline parallel to Shepard, the main character in the ME games. Ascension is the name of the biotics program at Grissom Academy, named after the estranged father of Kahlee Sanders, one of the teachers at the prestigious boarding school.
      Ascension is about Grayson, a Cerberus operative and his autistic adopted daughter Gillian who is a student at Grissom. Gillian is a Cerberus experiment given to Grayson when she was a baby. The Illusive Man instructed Grayson to raise her as his own, and Grayson, being a company man, did exactly as he was told. However, being alone and lonely, he came to honestly love the little girl. Enrolling her at Grissom Academy was also part of the experiment.
      Grayson is a troubled man who uses red dust (drugs) to forget the pain of his life. Among those pains is his inability to reconcile what he allows to be done to his daughter by Cerberus in the name of advancement. Grayson believes in the Illusive Man's cause and he knows that the experiments are cruel and harmful, yet he loves his daughter so much that it hurts him to visit her at the boarding school knowing that he will just have to leave her again.
      "Sometimes, however, he couldn?t help but think about her?like now. Knowing he was going to see her made him acutely aware of how much it would hurt when he had to leave her behind again." Drew Karpyshyn, Mass Effect: Ascension
      Grayson is a sympathetic character and he has awesome growth in this story. He goes from being a fairly pathetic crack head to a man with truly brave and redemptive qualities.
      I had a bit of difficulty with Kahlee Sander's though. She was too understanding, too forgiving, and too good to be true. When Hendel, a fellow teacher, calls Grayson out on his drug use and irresponsible behavior, Kahlee always defends him, even when he is at obvious fault. As much as I sympathized with Grayson (as a father), he needed tough love and Kahlee was the sweet soft-hearted shoulder to cry on and always ready to forgive. I found her a bit nauseating.
      This book was fun, fairly fast-paced, with just the right amount of character growth.
    • 5/5
      Yay

      Second in the series and great job
      Loved getting to know everyone better and some new characters. Bring on book 3
    • 4/5
      From what I read so far, the Mass Effect book series has the interesting gift of making the best possible endings. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything about this book, but I'll tell you something: I LOVED the Epilogue of this book. And another thing that makes this book pure awesomeness: ELCORS. Who on this universe would possible NOT like Elcors??

      Now speaking more seriously, this book is pretty neat. Once again, we're following Kahlee Sanders in her journey, this time as a teacher at Grissom Academy (and boy, it feels so good to read such familiar names in this book. It feels like home). Like in the previous book, Ascension is not directly related to the game, though it does have a couple of references. Even Shepard has his/her cameo in the book, plus a couple of brand new characters we'll never hear about again. Ascension also focuses strongly on the quarian culture, which is pretty cool because these extra information are not shown in the game, or are shown, but a little more vaguely. I do recommend playing Mass Effect 2 before grabbing this book, though (Mass Effect 3 would be nice, but the story can be understood even if you didn't play it). Most of the story happens at Grissom Academy and in Omega, so you might want to get familiar at least with Omega and the way it works.

      Anyways, great book. If you liked Revelations, Ascension is not very different from it. It has pure action from the beginning until the end.
    • 2/5
      After finishing Mass Effect 3, I found myself wanting to immerse myself in all things Mass Effect, I suppose because the trilogy is now over, and the ending was rather disappointing. I first picked this book up in the library two years ago or so, and found it very dull. But I thought I'd try it again, and I somehow made it through.
      It reads like a fanfiction. Not an awful one, but not a great one either. Karpyshyn's writing style is merely mediocre. The only reason the story was remotely interesting to me is because it is set in the Mass Effect universe, and involves Grissom Academy and Kahlee Sanders, who appears in Mass Effect 3. The book is very, very simply written and there is almost a complete lack of character development.
      I would give this 1 star, but I've given it another simply for being Mass Effect related. Although Karpyshyn tries to explain terms to people who haven't played Mass Effect, I get the feeling that if you've never touched the games, some elements of the story might be confusing.
      I think a Mass Effect book series following Commander Shepard, or at least the Normandy would be great - but then there is the issue with being able to create your own custom character, both in appearance and personality. Although there are the default Shepards, they would not be Shepard to those people - like myself - who create our own versions.

      Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.
    • 4/5
      Ascension is a companion novel set between the events of the first and second Mass Effect games. And since the games are, by design, tailored to each player's specific choices, this book tells a story based in the world but far enough away from the games' central plot to not cause any inconsistencies. Overall, Ascension is a decent effort even though it's heavy on the action and light on character development. What makes the whole Mass Effect franchise so special, and therefore this book by extension, is the credibility and catch-your-breath wonder of the universe the characters inhabit. I recommend you play the games to see for yourself what the fans are cheering about. These novels? You can take 'em or leave 'em.
    • 4/5
      Having read the book after Revelation, I must say I enjoyed it a little better.It had more background information on various events, places, and species, particularly when delving into the secretive world of the Quarians.The pace was jovial and the action was more exciting than in the first book.A must read for hardcore Mass Effect game fans, like myself.
    • 4/5
      A big improvement over the first book. A high space opera and explosion quotient-not original, not subtle, but enjoyable. Familiarity with the game is recommended. If you like the game (I love the game), and are looking forward to the sequel, this is a must read.
    • 4/5
      The writing and pace of the story was genuinely enjoyable. Karpyshyn does a great job of describing the world and the character's interactions. As far as the actual story goes, I was torn. The characters felt extremely flat, and I was always a few steps ahead of the story. Toward the end of the book I kept hoping that the plot would suddenly take a turn and do something exciting, but it never did. It was odd to feel so jaded against all the people I was supposed to be rooting for.I have not played the game, so I was not excited about the book for any particular reason, and had no hopes as to the direction of the story. Some readers seem to be turned off because it does not follow closely with the first game, but I simply could not latch onto the story. Ascension was full of good writing, and I had trouble putting the story down, but the story simply did not excite me.