Mass Effect Ascension is a decent story in the Mass Effect series. Ascension’s point of view shifts back and forth from the few main characters of the story in the same fashion as the preceding Mass Effect novel Revelation. The characters have less relation to the your character, Sheppard in the video games. This creates a small amount of disconnect with the characters in Ascension, until they become developed, which they do. I enjoyed learning about them and over the course of the story I cared about an alien race more than most humans in the story. The aptly named “Illusive Man” is a driving force for the plot. Readers learn more about him, but not enough to make him a clear and present antagonist.
Much of what I write and hope to write takes place in a similar fashion as Mass Effect. Creating a fully realized universe, full of alien species, planets, cities, governments, etc. allows for so much imagination and a palette to tell many stories on.