In what some have called the “single greatest media franchise mashup since Ghostbusters and the Ninja Turtles,” noted Twitter bestseller N.K. Jemisin and former jump rope Gold Medalist Mac Walters put their deft hands to the page in Mass Effect: Initiation. A profoundly philosophical book about strangely form-fitting combat suits and the impossibility of navigating flower-shaped spaceships through asteroid belts, Mass Effect: Initiation merges the Mass Effect and Andromeda story worlds into a soup of cosmic wonder.
Mass Effect: Initiation takes place thirty-five years after the conclusion of Andromeda. During an experiment aboard the U.S.S. Legopolis, quantum scientist Nala Florbert inadvertently opens a subspace portal to the Slipstream Realm, a sort of quasi-space similar to the thin film that sits on top of gravy if you don’t stir it. To her surprise, a grizzled, bitter man named Dylan Hunt is waiting for her with an offer: the Imperial Commonwealth of Known Worlds will trade with Nala’s people, the Union of Concerned Scientific Worlds, but only if they successfully place in the top five in the Interdimensional Song Contest (we’re reliably told this would rival Eurovision). But Nala knows there’s more to this picture, because she’s not the first to accidentally burst into the Slipstream Realm. She knows that in the records of the UCSW are communications with a man named Rev, and this furry fellow had a few unkind words to say. To prove that Dylan Hunt isn’t to be trusted, Nala must break into a UCSW security vault, fight off Prothean Death Squads, and destroy a small moon with an improvised subspace bomb. Can she do it before the UCSW forces her to sing?
To say this is Jemisin and Walters’ crown achievement would be an understatement. Previously, Jemisin’s most notable work was the Twitter story, “My Neighbor Once Ate My Pants,” which had the distinction of selling 27,500 copies in a single day and making Obama laugh; Walters is better known for his Gold Medal win (and the ensuing shoe spring scandal), so that his debut novel, Miss Ellovery’s Curious Shack for Questionable Children, largely went under the radar. But Mass Effect: Initiation puts to rest the idea that two small-time authors who have never won a single SF/F award even during controversy years (look it up) can write books. If anything, this is exactly the sort of book that should make you take a look at a certain award and say, “Wait a minute. Why don’t we have a media tie-in category?” (Realistically, we don’t have the category because the committee is still trying to decide if it wants to add Best Twitter Rant, Best Picture Book for Adults, and Best Story About Previously Extinct Birds; it just takes time, y’all.)
I particularly appreciate Jemisin and Walters’ approach to a post-war Dylan Hunt. While he is mostly “off screen,” we do get a good sense of what has happened to him after defeating The Abyss and returning to his home world. This reveal is one of the most prescient aspects of the novel, particularly in light of the recent scandals over large bird farming and Kevin Sorbo’s recent “We Are Being Genocided” Ello campaign. There’s no doubt that some will label this book the crown achievement of the Semi Judicious Warlords (look them up; they’re all over the place and coming for your kids).
One last thing. The book actually comes with a disposable video player pre-programmed to play the music video for Janelle Monáe’s “Tightrope” when you open the back cover. Presumably, this is the song Jemisin and Walters were thinking about when they came up with the song contest idea. For those that don’t have the book yet, here’s the video (bask in its glory):
A Book by its Cover is a (renewed) monthly joke column featuring a review based on the cover and nothing else. Any similarities in our review to the book are purely coincidental and proof that we are awesome. You can purchase an actual copy of the very real book here.
