The Primaterre series by S.A. Tholin starting with Iron Truth was recommended to me to itch Mass Effect scratches and it quickly became my favorite new series. It starts more Doom/Warhammer than anything but evolves quickly over time. Namely I like the following things about both ME and Primaterre books:
choices of characters have consequences, good or bad. Setups and payoffs everywhere. Ramifications that benefit or make life more complicated for characters and factions
wild, urban, metropolis, etc. type planets that get explored for various reasons
characters have their own motivations, beliefs, styles etc. They all feel alive and unique, not star trek “all Klingons dress and act like this” if you know what I mean
fantastic villains that are unique and sometimes terrifying
memorable action scenes both in space and on ground, but also believable romances and friendships that evolve over time. Great characterization while maintaining amazing world building, as opposed to someonelike Reynolds who has good world building but paper thin characters
interesting aliens, although I can’t dive into this much without spoiling, I will say they’re not as eclectic, ubiquitous, or as integrated like Mass Effect but the aliens that are present are engaging, unique and used well
tight knit crew solving problems and investigating and dealing with politics
For something different, I just finished the currently released books by Linda Nagata in the Inverted Frontier series and they also scratched the Mass Effect itch but differently. The first book is almost like an anime? I’m not sure how to describe it, if you end up ever reading it let me know if you had the same vibe. But they’re very interesting, thoughtful and unique. Wild ideas, technology, culture. You follow a crew from the edge of human expansion after a collapse to see what became of their ancestors and former territories. Though my main complaint was that after 3 books I felt the author spent too much time on specific plots, which held up exploring “the frontier”, but I learned there are still 2 more books coming that I believe will dive more into this vast frontier referenced in the premise for the series. Either way they were exciting reads that I couldn’t put down even with how weird they can get.
If the show is anything to go by I would say The Expanse series of books. Less variety of aliens but it’s got politics, combat and found family. Very enjoyable.
I’ve read the books and I largely agree. It hits most of the points except the aliens. Admittedly there is the ancient alien menace element.
Actually, if you replace the ring gates with mass relays, the first ~four to six books could almost be read as a Mass Effect prequel of sorts. Except, upon discovering the mass relays, they discover a universe
spoilerPurged of life
I’d give it a 5/7 for matching the recommendation ;)
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