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Mass Effect: Revelation
Author: Drew Karpyshyn
Publisher: Del Rey
Released: May 1, 2007
“Then I have to say this,” Bill went on. “If you have struck any kind of bargain with Griphook, and most particularly if that bargain involves treasure, you must be exceptionally careful. Goblin notions of ownership, payment, and repayment are not the same as human ones.”
Harry felt a slight squirm of discomfort, as though a small snake had stirred inside him.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“We are talking about a different breed of being,” said Bill.
While reading Mass Effect: Revelation, I kept thinking about this passage from Harry Potter and the Magic Tent. The novel, which acts as prelude to the forthcoming game, introduces us to life after Earth’s First Contact War. The novel follows Lt. David Anderson’s investigation of a slaughter at a research facility. His investigations put him up against two antagonists, a reptilian bounty hunter and an avian Spectre agent. Spectre agents are the governing Council’s elite operatives. If Anderson can prove that he’s as good as a Spectre agent, then there’s a chance he’ll be made one — which would elevate humanity’s galactic status.
Revelation ostensibly exists to introduce the world of Mass Effect, but I doubt you’ll be like the confused moviegoers who didn’t read their Dune cheat sheets and wound up wondering, Why the hell is an evil nun threatening Kyle MacLachlan with a shoebox and a thimble?, if you don’t read it. Fortunately, we live in a post-Star Trek world and all we need to be told is “humans in space with lots of alien races,” and we’ll get it. Plus, BioWare only produces RPG gold.
But here’s the problem with the post-Star Trek world: it doesn’t matter if an alien is humanoid with a ridged forehead, something that resembles a bipedal dinosaur, or a sentient cloud that lives inside a latex glove, they’re all basically humans in disguise — and by that, I mean that even if they are distorted to the point of parody, the aliens will exhibit human emotions, motivations, and desires. (Note: you can try telling me that Star Trek presented other types of aliens, but I counter with the Horta. The Horta was a murderous, scabby carpet with no discernible features, but in the end it was just exercising its maternal instincts. Plus it could write in English.) I was introduced to many alien species in Mass Effect: Revelation, but I couldn’t tell the difference between a krogan, salarian, or an asari. Granted Karpyshyn is playing in a universe he doesn’t own, but reading it, I wasn’t sure what the point of having so many aliens was if none of them were truly alien.
Which brings me back to Harry Potter. Either you own something or you don’t, but to tell me that goblins have a completely different notion of ownership means that there’s something absolutely foreign about the goblin mind. They aren’t just hideous imps who’re awfully good at finance, but their entire perception of the world differs from mine. Not only does that make them alien, it makes them interesting.
Finally, so I can uncheck Commentary and check Review, I’d say that if you have no interest in the game, but enjoy science fiction, you might want to leave this book on the shelf and pick the one next to it. If you are slightly interested in the game, it’s a decent read which will make you more excited about the game (especially the space station which out OMGs Rama). And if you can’t wait for the game, you’ll have already bought and read this book some months ago.