Mass Effect™ Andromeda: Annihilation

I had purchased this well ahead of it's projected release date along with the other two Mass Effect: Andromeda tie-in novels. The ARK ships were a prominent part of the Mass Effect: Andromeda story line as a whole though we only saw the arks for humanity, asari, turian, and salarian. The Krogan population was on the Nexus at least before the uprising/exile. As someone who play through all main Mass Effect games prior to Andromeda and Andromeda as well I did wonder did any of the other known species take part in this journey to another galaxy such as the quarians. It turns they had based on the message picked up at some point late in the Mass Effect: Andromeda story.However the message alluded to some unknown disaster having struck the fifth known ark whilst in transit. We did not however learn whether or not they actually would one day arrive at the Nexus - it is certainly open to speculation and future games should any be made to follow Andromeda.So through Annihilation we learn what did transpire on the Keelah Si'yah whilst en route to Andromeda. Someone or several someones set up something meant to tip the scales. However not everything in this scheme went according to plan so now the species aboard the Keelah Si'yah must cooperate if they are to survive aboard the ark when an engineered virus is found to be responsible for the deaths among the passengers in cryo. It also poses a serious risk for those who are awake from cryo to contend with crisis. Similarly something else has happen to the entire network of computers aboard the ark, which continuously contradict the physical evidence that awakened personnel have to deal with in tandem with the biological virus.So main questions are who is responsible for the sabotage, who is behind this virus that's systematically killing passengers, is there anyway to counter both of these conundrums, and then is the culprit or culprits still among the passengers - specifically the awakened individuals?The biological virus bears similarities to other illnesses from the Milky Way so it does set off a chain of suspicion among the various species aboard the ark. The awakened crisis response consists of people from each of the species aboard the ark so naturally the illness makes them suspicious of each other though it's up to them to put aside the differences and past histories if they are survive what could be their annihilation before they even reach Andromeda.It was definitely interesting to read about interactions between the species we did not see from Milky Way in Andromeda. I had honestly miss them since the conclusion of the trilogy that did center around Shepard. I commend the selection of different writers for each Mass Effect: Andromeda novel so far as it did expose to me writers I had not read previously with the exception N. K. Jemisin.

I'm a big fan of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games so I read all the related books as soon as they come out. My four star rating is based on loving the games, having played them over and over, knowing the lore, and wanting more content in the games, and if not there, in books. I don't see how the books could be really enjoyed without the background of the games they are linked to but in the case of this prequel, for a series of games that I love to play, I was very happy to be able to indulge in more ME.The first part of the book introduced us to the characters on a ship to Andromeda that had a big problem. We'd meet a character and then they would go into a long memory of the past that gave us an idea of what the character was like, and this could be pretty tedious at times. At the same time, we did need to care about the characters and I began to do that with several of them. The second, shorter part of the book, then provided the satisfactory "fixing the problem", as best as it could be fixed, with the limited resources and time that the ship leaders had to do so.I do wish we'd get to see these characters in the next ME game but I'm not sure another ME will ever come out and even if it does, they may go a completely different direction. For all I know, this may be the last new ME content. I know we hear rumors of this or that, but I'll believe there will be another game when it actually comes out.

I'm a huge Mass Effect fan and just got done replaying through the ME Legendary Edition twice and Mass Effect Andromeda for the second time. I've also read the first 3 ME books and one of the graphic novels. The last ME book I read was very poorly written and put me off wanting to go any further.Flawed as it is, I like Andromeda so I looked into the books. I heard nothing but great things about Annihilation. Everyone said the other books aren't good, but Annihilation is and fills in what happened to the Quarian ark.I guess I'll never know. It was a 95 page slog and at first I was willing to stick with it. Then I got to Chapter 4, which features a page or two devoted to a character tying to remember something important. After they do, another character immediately points out that the ships computer would, and does, know that information; after which the computer almost verbatim gives the same list of details. This is followed by the characters going through this list one by one and rummaging for objects that meet the criteria for the next few pages. It the kind of thing most other writers would skip ahead and just summarize. But this soulless mechandising opportunity needs to fill the pages because theres not much else going on in this story.Also in a ship occupied only by aliens, in a universe where humans have only been part of the galactic civilization for two or three decades, all these aliens know and are familiar with Hamlet.I do what to know what the big mystery of the lost Quarian ark is, but not at the expense of my finite amount of life.

Here, we finally find out what happened to the Quarian Ark from "Mass Effect: Andromeda", and it's quite a story. The VI aboard the Ark wakes up the latest-serving maintenance team after it detects unusual readings from Cryo-Pods which it cannot analyse correctly. The team physically check-and discover a Pathogen has somehow gotten loose aboard and is working it's way through all aboard. The Quarian's, permanently in full-body environment suits even in Stasis, may be safe-but nobody else is. Some of the team have experience and training in criminal investigation and others have useful skills to resolve the problem as presented, but the situation is worsened as more and more of the Arks systems malfunction or fail and they discover they are dealing with both sabotage and what appears to be a deliberately-released Bioweapon. The poor Elcor scientist who works in med-bay practically has to reinvent basic science because everything is powered down until they reach the Ark's destination so he has no access to critical systems. The Quarian Engineer is left trying to resolve increasingly serious tech problems almost single-handedly. Everyone else is left trying to get a grip on whatever is happening any way they can-if they can. With colourful characters, drama, action, humour and the occasional horror, I very much enjoyed the untold tale of the Andromeda game. Recommended.

While the Mass Effect Andromeda game did not grab me in the way the previous three games did, all three of the tie-in books for what EA had hoped would be their new franchise have been superb and the third in this trilogy is no exception. The sense of isolation in the floating plague ship is perfectly captured and the characters could have come right out of the game with their mixture of tormented past, conflicted loyalties and humour. The sense of creeping horror and ’will it be me next?’ makes this book a real page turner and the writer’s obvious familiarity with the source material shines through every line. In short, a well written novel that makes me nostalgic for the original games and sad that the fourth one never lived up to its potential.

By itself its a good story, but given its supposed to explain the parts that Mass Effect Andromeda didn't it well you'll need to read it yourself to understand.Now if they had announced a sequel game this would have come across much better however when one of the claims is that it would explain things but doesn't?!Shame on you EA!As for the author it's a good book well worth reading but it doesn't deserve to be harangued over something that's not their fault!

Great story about the missing ark alluded to in Mass Effect Andromeda. It fits in well with the series, and the author clearly knows the lore well and is respectful of the various species, backgrounds and traits. Lots of references to cultures and previous events, while still being a well contained story.Hope future games can pick up on the story as its a great contribution to the Mass Effect universe.

The style of writing was horrible, every chapter was a chore to read and torturously, mind-numbingly boring. The other book was much better. I didn't finish this, instead it went straight into the recycling bin (where it belongs).