Okay I will admit, I played and beat the game before I read this book. I know that's not what it's intended for but the damage is done. In some ways I'm kind of glad that I did because it gave me a much better understanding of the imagery. This book is pretty well written in that regard, but having the image in your head of what it actually looks like adds so much more weight to it! Normally I wouldn't go for that kind of thing, but this is a video game based novel, so I prefer seeing the created world. Also I should point out that Shepherd isn't in here at all, remember the game develops that character FOR you, because it is you. Just in case someone wanted to know for whatever reason... I thought it was obvious. 
 If you've played the game then everyone will know what I mean when I say that this is really the story of Anderson and Saren. I think the author left out the development of Anderson's character quite a bit because you get to see him and interact with him a lot more in the video game, so the author didn't feel the need to be overly redundant, probably realizing most readers will play the game first anyway. Overall this book is a pretty quick read and I didn't find it overly technical in its explanations, rather it focuses a lot more on the adventure and intrigue. It does go into detail about some of the specific weapon systems, but it's by far not a majority of the book. I don't think it's any secret that this game's world is pretty obviously influenced by the world of Star Trek, and I would dare say it's more like "The Next Generation" with its political intrigue between species etc. Maybe a touch of Deep Space Nine with the story based around a space station, but that could easily be Babylon 5 influence as well. There is a heavy layer of warlike concepts in here, but that usually comes with any Science Fiction world so I really couldn't pin down an example very well for that. 
 I'll be honest; I wasn't truly engaged in this book till around page one hundred. This is when the story really came together. Unfortunately it was slightly predictable the way the characters met, but frankly, I loved it. I read that part with sheer anticipation and then when my wishes were granted I actually smiled. It's not often I actually enjoy this in writing, but Drew Karpyshyn did it beautiful in my opinion. From that point on I was absolutely hooked and couldn't put the book down. 
 I have to give Mass Effect praise for creating one of the best bad guy characters I've come across. He has this ruthless duality where he rationalizes all of his actions down to the smallest detail and really blurs good and evil concepts. I know this kind of character may have been done before, but the way it's culminated in Saren is just perfect and I really identified with him in a very odd way. I really don't want to go into anymore detail and ruin his character for everyone, but he is brilliantly methodical in his actions and that's something that really makes him interesting to read about. 
 Mass Effect deserves further praise for really tying in a novel correctly! It was a breath of fresh air for me after I had just finished reading the Star Trek: The Next Generation book debacle. The lead writer on the Mass Effect video game also wrote this book, so all the characters are presented correctly. Saren clearly being the most interesting one. It's pretty clear to me that the author is purposefully leaving the series very wide open, maybe to spawn more writers to write in this world, kind of like we have with Diablo and the other Blizzard releases or Halo. Mass Effect gives us a very specific time and it's a very small piece of a larger universe, so maybe another author will be commissioned to write the story of the Protheans for example. I get the feeling this author is specifically leaving that detail out to give us a more in depth tale much later. Again, if you enjoyed this video game you definitely have to read this book, especially since you'll want to know much more about Saren and Anderson by the time you finish the game!