Five Star Review But Be Warned

What made the experience of listening to Mass Effect™ Andromeda: Nexus Uprising the most enjoyable?

The writing and the performance is top notch. The fact that we meet these characters while playing Mass Effect Andromeda adds to it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sloane Kelly.

Have you listened to any of Fryda Wolff’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

It compares well. I think she did the most recent Brett Battles book but am not sure.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, ideally BEFORE playing Mass Effect Andromeda

Any additional comments?

This book gets five stars from me because it's the highest caliber writing and performance. Here the thing it's a prequel for Mass Effect Andromeda the video game. It's the missing backstory to the game that we hear about as we meet the characters in this book but don't get to see play out because it happens in the past.

The warning in my title refers to the fact that at the end of the novel it has the feel of setting up a future series of books. The problem with that is that those books will never be published as the story will continue and conclude in the video game Mass Effect Andromeda and perhaps forthcoming DLC. Worse the all of the main characters here are seen from the point of view of Ryder and have very limited screen time in the video game. As long as you are okay with all that, and I was, you're in for a very good time with this one.

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Disappointing

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Unsure

What was most disappointing about Jason M. Hough and K. C. Alexander ’s story?

I have enjoyed most of the previous Mass Effect books (and the games, of course), but this one was pretty disappointing. The plot drags, and the delivery is uninspired, which is surprising given the narrator's talents in the ME: Andromeda game.

Would you be willing to try another one of Fryda Wolff’s performances?

Possibly

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Mass Effect™ Andromeda: Nexus Uprising?

They should have focused on more action, mystery and character interaction. People bickering in a city-planning meeting gets old fast, and half the book is just taken up with how tired everyone is.

Any additional comments?

The characterization is hit or miss. Tann, Addison and Sloan are interesting characters, but they seem to miss the opportunity to really flesh them out. Especially Sloan, who is just a perpetual ball of anger. Surely she has other emotions.

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Engaging

Fryda Wolfe has excellent pace and inflection in her voice. This book really fills in some gaps in the game's narrative and makes me care about the characters. I'm genuinely looking forward to diving deeper into this new galaxy.

5 people found this helpful

Good background info for the game

This book makes several unsympathetic characters in the video game much more understandable, and gives you context as to why they act the way they do. Does not deal with any of the main characters of the game, but there are plenty of recognizable characters. The voice acting is good, minus some of the krogan voices but overall the feeling of growing tension is transmitted well to the reader. I definitely look forward to the next 2 entries in this series as they will hopefully focus more on background info for andromeda rather than the nexus.

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if you like mass effect check this out

it's a great story, the characters are very well done. its sets up the game as well.

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Not Even a Great Narrator Can Save This

Fryda Wolff is an excellent narrator and voice actor. She succeeds in making Sloane and the rest of the characters come alive. You can actually hear the angry weariness in Sloane Kelly's voice, the manic depressive nature of Director Addison and the calculating obliviousness of Director Tann. The narrator does a fantastic job, but at the end of the day, these characters are simply not believable in their jobs or even likable and that kills the book.

The story is depressing. Sloane Kelly is particularly unlikable as a main character and unbelievable as head of security. At least the other department heads have the excuse that their superiors died in an unexpected accident. Sloane Kelly is actually in the job she was supposed to have and handles it by going on a hike to clean up some debris in a hangar leaving her second in command to handle things. Argumentative and short-sighted, it's no wonder Sloane Kelly had disciplinary problems in her past. What is a wonder is that she was chosen as head of security on board a ship/station sent as the vanguard to explore another galaxy.

I will get the next book in this series because I enjoyed Fryda Wolff's narration so much. Here's hoping Mac Walters was smart enough to take direction from N.K. Jemisin. No one writes and creates a story the way she can.

4 people found this helpful

OMG I should get an award for finishing this book

Interesting premise but not a single likable major character. Even the one person that should have been both the hero and the most likable turned out to be the least of both. To be fair, I did not know this was based on a First Person Shooter game, which could explain why it's such a terrible read. In a FPS you need conflict and a bunch of people that need to go at each other, otherwise there is no shooting. I guess this means, if you like FPS games and you liked the Mass Effect game, you may like this book. For me, I stuck it out because I was on a ship and couldn't get something else, plus I hoped everyone would come together and fix the bigger problem. My life will never be the same after this book, I'm now more depressed about humanity that I have ever been

1 person found this helpful

Excellent story, well told. Provided background.

Did a very good job of filling in the backstory of a really great game.

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played the game 1st

if i had known about this book/audiobook before i played Andromeda (played all 3 mass effect also and they even have books/audiobooks ) id probably have listend to it 1st. that said this is a great story to go with the game! if you like video games you'll enjoy this.

1 person found this helpful

great introduction into Andromeda

amazing prologue to the Andromeda game, great story and amazing job by Fryda Wolff!!! a must read/listen if you're a fan!

1 person found this helpful