Mass Effect: Retribution Book

Timeline note: Retribution is set almost immediately after the main storyline of ME2 concludes, but before The Arrival DLC. Which, I suppose, makes it canonical that The Arrival is post-game, even if you can play it through in the middle of the storyline. But it always worked better, from a story perspective, as a post-game adventure than a mid-game one.

Retribution has a strong hook: The Illusive Man has infected Grayson with Reaper nanotech as revenge for the events of Ascension, the prior book. This is the most in-depth look at Reaper indoctrination we've gotten to this point. The concept of knowing that you're losing control of your mind and your body and are unable to stop or even slow the process is pure nightmare fuel. There have been glimpses of what this looks like in practice, but always from an outsider's perspective.

Here's the problem. While Karpyshyn is a great hand at setting a scene, and he can create really memorable characters, he's not the best guy in the world for dialog and emotions. This is simply not as skin-crawlingly creepy as it should be, and as it would be with a writer who was better able to describe emotions, and details in general.

That didn't stop me from enjoying the book, by any means. It's still Mass Effect, the plot itself was still enough to keep me interested, and Karpyshyn is still a decent writer. It just could have been so much better by somebody else.