The Mass Effect: Andromeda book series consists of a trilogy of science fiction novels based on the Mass Effect series of video games. The books in the series are Nexus Uprising (2017), Initiation (2017), and Annihilation (2018). All three books are released in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. The audiobook formats of Nexus Uprising and Initiation are narrated by Fryda Wolff, the voice of Sara Ryder, while the Annihilation audiobook is narrated by Tom Taylorson, the voice of Scott Ryder. The books serve as tie-in prequel and sequel stories to the video game Mass Effect: Andromeda by BioWare. All three novels in the series received generally favorable reviews, with many reviewers regarding the series to be superior to the game in terms of characterization and writing. Initiation and Annihilation in particular had a very positive reception, with some critics praising the involvement of their respective authors, N. K. Jemisin and Catherynne M. Valente, who are notable novelists in their own right.
Background In June 2016, Titan Books announced that it would publish a series of four novels which will become part of the overarching Mass Effect series. The focus would be on key characters from Mass Effect: Andromeda game and "answer the many questions fans have been asking". The publishing company also revealed that the first novel, to be written by author N. K. Jemisin, would be released in August 2016. The second and third novels were slated for release in March 2017 and September 2017 respectively and did not have author credits at the time of the June 2016 announcement. The fourth and final was to be penned by Mac Walters, the creative director of the Mass Effect series and lead writer of Mass Effect 3. Titan Books made a further announcement in December 2016 and confirmed that there would be three tie-in novels for Mass Effect: Andromeda instead of four. The publisher said that the novels take place concurrently with events in Mass Effect: Andromeda and feature storylines developed in close collaboration between the publisher and BioWare game development team. The first book was subtitled Nexus Uprising, written by Jason M. Hough and K.C. Alexander, which would be released on March 28, 2017. The second book was subtitled Annihilation by Catherynne M. Valente and slated for a summer 2017 release, while Initiation by N.K. Jemesin, which was initially expected to be the first novel in the series, arriving in fall 2017. Walters explained in an interview with Eurogamer that as part of BioWare's joint venture with Titan Books, he was supposed to pen a fourth book which bridges to a potential Mass Effect movie adaptation. The planned fourth novel was effectively canceled, as Walters' duties as creative director of Andromeda eventually took precedence, and development has stalled for the Mass Effect film. He explained that BioWare's position was to adopt a wait and see approach, in order to ascertain whether people "will want to see more of Andromeda before they want more of a bridge to a possible future movie", and that the trilogy of novels should serve as a good indication of fan demand for the series. Following the launch of Mass Effect: Andromeda, the release dates for both Initiation and Annihilation were delayed. Initiation would be released in November 2017, and Annihilation was slated for release in June 2018. Following BioWare's announcement that Andromeda would not receive any single-player DLC in August 2018, Annihilation would serve to conclude loose story threads from the game's ending sequence, which includes addressing the fate of the quarian-led ark ship.
Synopsis
Setting and characters Titan Books' outline for the Mass Effect Andromeda book series in its April 2016 Fiction Rights Guide stated that while the earlier installments of Mass Effect focused on the defense of the Milky Way galaxy against the sentient synthetic-organic starships known as the Reapers, Andromeda is set in a new region of space with "a dramatic new direction" and a "new and deadly enemy.” The various races of the Milky Way galaxy, including the turians, salarians, asari, human, and other races plan to set up new colonies in the Andromeda Galaxy as part of the Andromeda Initiative. Some time between the events of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, the Initiative built and launched a massive space station called the Nexus along with tens of thousands of colonists placed in cryo-sleep on a one-way, 600-year journey to Heleus Cluster located in Andromeda. The Nexus is intended to be a center of government and diplomacy, a living area, as well as a base of operations for the new galactic community in Andromeda. However, the Nexus station sustains critical damage upon arrival, with most of the Initiative's leadership killed as a result. Producer Fabrice Condominas commented on the human ark ship Hyperion sustaining damage from a dark energy phenomenon called "The Scourge" as seen in preview trailers for the game, explaining that this is central to the story of how things did not go as planned for the colonists who arrive in Andromeda, as well as a tease of the fate of the other arks. He noted that the various colonist factions got spread out and do not know what happened to each other, and he encouraged players to read the novels which will explore these story threads in further detail. Each novel details the events which led up to the fourth main series game, released on March 21, 2017: Nexus Uprising reveals how Sloane Kelly went from the head of security for the Andromeda Initiative to become an outlaw warlord in the game; Initiation details Cora Harper's backstory and her recruitment by the human ark Pathfinder Alec Ryder into the Andromeda Initiative; and Annihilation explores the fate of the quarian ark ship, the Keelah Si'yah, which is en route to the Andromeda galaxy and carrying a load of 20,000 colonists from various species.
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