Fourth Mass Effect novel, 'Deception,' coming this fall

by James Ransom-Wiley on Apr 5th 2011 2:20PM

When you need a game-related sci-fi novel -- like, stat! -- you call William C. Dietz. The man's something of a legend, churning out at least a book a year since the mid-80s, and in recent years adapting the likes of Halo, Hitman, Resistance and StarCraft into those neat little paper-filled rectangles you see piled into shelves at your folks' place or stacked by the toilet.

This is why William C. Dietz was hired to get a fourth Mass Effect novel in to publisher Del Rey early this year, so it could be released ahead of Mass Effect 3. (That, and Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer of the first game and author of the existing three companion novels, has made a galactic shift to The Old Republic.)

Right on schedule, Del Rey today announced the title of this latest work of fiction, Mass Effect: Deception. Due out this fall, Deception will continue the story of Gillian Grayson, who was introduced in the second book, Ascension -- in case you've been reading along. We're not sure if William C. Dietz has or not, but then he's pretty adept at making stuff up.

Source: Del Rey
More coverage: Random House, Mass Effect Wiki

Tags: book, del-rey, del-rey-books, mass-effect, mass-effect-3, mass-effect-deception, microsoft, novel, pc, playstation, ps3, william-c-dietz, xbox

Reader Comments (29)

I have the 1st one sitting on my desk, but still haven't read it. Are these books any good?

@bloodlinejake They are good. Read the first 2 and got 1/2 way through the 3rd. They are great for filling in the gaps between games.

These books are pretty good, I'm reading through the 3rd right now.

I remember very little of Gillian though, other than that she's Grayson and is some crazy powerful biotic.

@Vcize Grayson's daughter*

only books i read.... sad but true

wait .. there's Hitman And Resistance Books ? why do i not know about this stuff ! i been reading Splinter Cell Series tho .. i only read the first two tho .. wish i could read more but don't find the time too. i did see last month many more splinter Cell books came out but .. damn not Hitman and Resistance .. i gotta look more into these titles.

@HardBoiled2009 No. Don't. Trust me. William C. Dietz is a horrible writer and you do not need to read his novels. He's basically the guy they call in when a franchise needs a shitty novel adaptation.

Hell Yeah! Looking forward to reading this book. I've read all three and I can't get enough of them. Damn the cover is looking nice.

Since I just wasted the last 15 mins trying to find the names of the other novels, they are:

1) Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn (May 1, 2007)
2) Mass Effect: Ascension by Drew Karpyshyn (Jul 29, 2008)
3) Mass Effect: Retribution by Drew Karpyshyn (Jul 27, 2010)
4) Mass Effect: Deception by William C. Dietz (amazon gives Sep 27, 2011 release)

there's also a half-dozen Mass Effects comics and "graphic novels" (including the Evolution and Redemption series)

Maybe I'm too slow to get it but how does the second and third books connect to Mass Effect 2? The first book is stupid proof but I didn't get the other two. They are good reads btw and a good background about what the Elusive Man is up to before and after ME2.

@(Unverified) The second book elaborates on a project funded by Cerberus, and has the first appearance of the Illusive Man in Mass Effect canon. It also helps to establish some things about Biotics, including perception of them. Retribution, I believe, dives into the Illusive Man's past.

@(Unverified) The second book follows Kahlee at the Ascension project after the events of ME1. It focuses on The Illusive Man, Gillian, her father Grayson, and Kahlee. It's the first time in the series we meet The Illusive Man, the Collectors, and the inside of the Flotilla. Granted, we don't meet the collectors, but they're talked about in great detail.

The third novel basically follows The Illusive Man's cybernetic reaper tests on Grayson which turns him into an awesome biotic killing machine. Adds more character development to Anderson and Kahlee, who I hope makes an appearance in ME3. It also expands on Aria and her reign over Omega.

Basically the second and third novels foreshadow events in the games. Don't really see what role Gillian will play in ME3, since she'll probably only be 14 or 15 by then. I can't really see Bioware making an autistic biotic a party member...

I wonder when bioware wake up and realize E.A. has turned them into a hooker.
It's so sad; like seeing my high school sweetheart turning tricks on the east side to pay for her abusive boyfriends rent.

@akeso

So further expanding their universe with the help of different types of media is "whoring it out". I would think that this is better for bioware, they have the ability to flesh out more story and create a more complete world. They spent all this time building this universe, and it very well thought out. It would be a shame to limit it to a video game.

@akeso

You're right, turning tricks is exactly like putting a novel out.

@akeso Only reason I agree with you on one part is that they brought in William C. Dietz, who is one of the worst writers I've ever read.

I have no problem with them releasing game fiction. I draw the line when they call Dietz, who, in my opinion, has become basically notorious for getting paid to write utter shit for franchises that want novels.

@akeso

You think these books constitute whoring out the franchise?

Yeesh

@Funkmaster General

Do I consider the yearly shill hack "books" to be whoring of the franchise? You better believe it.
If anyone believes that these works are the producers wanting to "expand the universe" then I have a bridge to sell you.
They have, and always will, scream half hearted attempts to milk another $10-$20 from the most die-hard fans; congratulations: you're a cash cow.

Drew Karpyshyn is still working on TOR, but he has also been writing ME and Darth Bane novels the past few years too. TOR doesn't quite take up ALL his time. :P

I've enjoyed all the other books. They aren't necessary per say, but there are quite a good number of references/cameos to the books in the games, that you'd miss otherwise. I'll be picking this one up for sure this fall.

I've read the 3 books released so far, they aren't bad and are a good time waster.

From what I remember I'm pretty sure Gillian was in the first book that had a pretty big role through out most of it.

@Orange Juice

The first book was Kahlee and Anderson. Gillian was the second.

Okay, apparently my original comment went kaput, but I'm going to post a warning for anyone expecting this novel to be worth reading: it won't be.

William C. Dietz is the guy they call in when they need a shitty video game novel done quickly. Halo: The Flood still goes down as one of the worst books I've ever read. I love the Haloverse and the books have been pretty enjoyable, but making it through that novel was one of the more painful reading experiences of my life. I've heard similar things about his other game novels like Starcraft: Heaven's Devils.

Yay! Made sense really, considering the last book was a sequel to the second, and not a build up to the third game. Retribution is easily the best, they are very much worth the read.

Even if you haven't played ME, you should read this prior to playing, makes the games a million times more rewarding.

Will definitely pick this up, and the comics (Evolution) too!

Hopefully the success of these leads to the resurrection of the Worlds of Power series.

Every Bioware post reminds me to do something important. And that is: FINISH ME2!!

I have it since January and NOW I got the damn Repeater thing and recruited the Geth!

I read the first two, and they were surprisingly good. Rich narrative provided greater insight into the ME universe and a must read if you're a fan of the series.

Having read the previous three novels, I'm sad it's not Drew Karpyshyn. I really like his writing style. I've not read any Dietz yet so I can't really be optimistic that I'm going to like this new one. I will buy it though as I'm a sucker for everthing in the Mass Effect universe.

@Styli I am sorry to say, but see previous comments I've made about Dietz pretty much everywhere since this was posted. Dude is a terrible writer. If he doesn't ruin this book, I'll buy the ebook as a way of shoving my foot in my own mouth, though.

Mass Effect 3

Fourth Mass Effect novel, 'Deception,' coming this fall

Reader Comments (29)

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:24PM bloodlinejake said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:34PM Haon said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:28PM Vcize said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:28PM Vcize said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:30PM LeMuRfArT said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:36PM HardBoiled2009 said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:04PM Evadrion said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:44PM AfrikanDarkness said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:55PM Marked said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 2:57PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:00PM Evadrion said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 5:54PM Nier said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 3:12PM akeso said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 3:38PM Dirty said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 3:42PM Unreal Armos said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:03PM Evadrion said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:09PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 5:04PM akeso said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 3:30PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 3:45PM bensmith91 said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:04PM Orange Juice said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:21PM Vcize said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:10PM Evadrion said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:14PM Emmenthal said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 4:26PM Weejo said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 5:32PM Xupmatoih said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 6:47PM Startingline13 ArmlessOctopus said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 6:53PM Styli said

Posted: Apr 5th 2011 9:05PM Evadrion said

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