Every Mass Effect Book and Comic in Order

There are seven Mass Effect novels. In publication order they're Revelation (2007), Ascension (2008), Retribution (2010) and Deception (2012) from Del Rey, then the Andromeda trilogy from Titan Books: Nexus Uprising (2017), Initiation (2017) and Annihilation (2018). Dark Horse Comics put out the comics, starting with Redemption in 2010 and finishing with Discovery in 2017. Below you'll find both lists in release order, then everything slotted into the Mass Effect timeline. (Mass Effect: Revelation; Mass Effect: Deception; Mass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation; Mass Effect: Redemption; Mass Effect: Discovery)

The novels in publication order#

The first three novels were written by Drew Karpyshyn, the lead writer of the first game, and they tell one running story. (Mass Effect: Revelation; Mass Effect: Ascension; Mass Effect: Retribution)

1. Mass Effect: Revelation (2007, Drew Karpyshyn, Del Rey). Lieutenant David Anderson hunts the attackers of a secret Alliance research base with Kahlee Sanders, the one survivor, and is paired with the turian Spectre Saren Arterius. It explains how Anderson lost his shot at becoming the first human Spectre. (Mass Effect: Revelation)
2. Mass Effect: Ascension (2008, Drew Karpyshyn, Del Rey). Cerberus agent Paul Grayson is raising Gillian, a young biotic prodigy at Grissom Academy, on the Illusive Man's orders. When the plot is exposed, Grayson, Gillian and Kahlee end up with the quarian Migrant Fleet. This novel gave the Illusive Man his debut, two years before Mass Effect 2. (Mass Effect: Ascension)
3. Mass Effect: Retribution (2010, Drew Karpyshyn, Del Rey). Cerberus captures Grayson, now a defector, and fills him with Reaper technology. Kahlee calls on Anderson to help find him. It's also the first appearance of Kai Leng, Mass Effect 3's Cerberus assassin. (Mass Effect: Retribution)
4. Mass Effect: Deception (2012, William C. Dietz, Del Rey). Gillian Grayson goes after the people behind her father's death, while Anderson and Kahlee search for a missing Grissom student caught up in a biotic supremacist group. Kai Leng is back. (Mass Effect: Deception)
5. Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising (2017, Jason M. Hough and K. C. Alexander, Titan Books). The Nexus reaches the Heleus Cluster and hits the Scourge, its leadership is wiped out, and a revolt over food and command ends with Sloane Kelly leading the exiles to Kadara. (Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising)
6. Mass Effect: Andromeda: Initiation (2017, N. K. Jemisin and Mac Walters, Titan Books). Cora Harper joins the Andromeda Initiative and helps recover stolen Initiative technology before launch. (Mass Effect: Andromeda: Initiation)
7. Mass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation (2018, Catherynne M. Valente, Titan Books). Centuries into its voyage, the quarian ark Keelah Si'yah is crippled by sabotage and a plague spreads through its sleepers, and a small team is woken to save it. (Mass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation)

What went wrong with Deception#

Deception is the one book fans warn people off. Readers found a slew of continuity errors in the first edition, and in February 2012 BioWare posted an apology on its forums on behalf of itself and Del Rey. The statement said: "We are currently working on a number of changes that will appear in future editions of the novel." No date was given for a corrected edition. (Mass Effect: Deception corrections)

That's as far as BioWare's own word goes. The statement promised fixes and said nothing about taking the book out of canon, and nothing in the sources here confirms that a revised edition ever came out. The plot points it adds are minor, so skipping it costs you very little. (Mass Effect: Deception corrections; Mass Effect: Deception)

The comics in publication order#

Every Mass Effect comic came from Dark Horse, and most were written or co-written by Mac Walters, the lead writer of Mass Effect 3. (Mass Effect: Redemption; Mass Effect: Homeworlds)

• Redemption (2010, four issues): Liara T'Soni and the drell Feron recover Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker's agents and hand it to Cerberus. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
• Incursion (2010, eight pages, online): Aria T'Loak catches the Blue Suns selling humans to the Collectors on Omega. (Mass Effect: Incursion)
• Inquisition (2010, eight pages, online): Captain Bailey of C-Sec is asked by Councillor Udina to investigate Executor Pallin. (Mass Effect: Inquisition)
• Evolution (2011, four issues): the origin of the Illusive Man, starting in the First Contact War. (Mass Effect: Evolution)
• Conviction (2011, one short issue): James Vega brawls with batarians on Omega over the news about Shepard, and Anderson brings him in. (Mass Effect: Conviction)
• Invasion (2011 to 2012, four issues): strange creatures from a Cerberus transport attack Omega, and Aria faces Cerberus general Oleg Petrovsky. (Mass Effect: Invasion)
• Homeworlds (2012, four issues): one story each for James Vega, Tali, Garrus and Liara, each by that character's Mass Effect 3 writer. (Mass Effect: Homeworlds)
• Blasto: Eternity Is Forever (2012, one issue): a comic about Blasto, the hanar Spectre from the galaxy's action films. (Mass Effect: Blasto: Eternity Is Forever)
• He Who Laughs Best (2013, Free Comic Book Day): how Joker became the pilot of the Normandy. (Mass Effect: He Who Laughs Best)
• Foundation (2013 to 2014, 13 issues): the longest series, following the Cerberus operative Rasa through events that run alongside the trilogy. (Mass Effect: Foundation)
• Discovery (2017, four issues): the turian Tiran Kandros goes undercover in the Andromeda Initiative. (Mass Effect: Discovery)

Story order: where each book and comic sits#

This is everything placed in the in-universe calendar, with the games marked for reference. Where a story covers a span, it's listed where it starts. (Mass Effect: Evolution; Mass Effect: Foundation; Mass Effect: Revelation)

1. Evolution: 2157, during the First Contact War. (Mass Effect: Evolution)
2. Foundation: opens in 2161 and runs on through the trilogy years, reaching 2184 in its final issue. (Mass Effect: Foundation)
3. Revelation: 2165, nearly two decades before the first game. (Mass Effect: Revelation)
4. He Who Laughs Best: just before Mass Effect, as the Normandy is being tested. (Mass Effect: He Who Laughs Best)
5. Mass Effect (2183).
6. Homeworlds #2 (Tali): 2183. (Mass Effect: Homeworlds)
7. Incursion: a week before the Collectors destroy the Normandy at the start of Mass Effect 2. (Mass Effect: Incursion)
8. Redemption: straight after Shepard's death, running into the Lazarus Project. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
9. Ascension: about two months after Mass Effect. (Mass Effect: Ascension)
10. Homeworlds #3 (Garrus): 2185, Garrus holding out on Omega as Archangel, with flashbacks to his youth on Palaven and his C-Sec years. (Mass Effect: Homeworlds)
11. Mass Effect 2 (2185).
12. Retribution: a few months after Mass Effect 2. (Mass Effect: Retribution)
13. Inquisition and Invasion: after the Collectors are defeated. (Mass Effect: Inquisition; Mass Effect: Invasion)
14. Conviction: days after the Bahak system is destroyed at the end of Arrival. (Mass Effect: Conviction)
15. Deception: in the run-up to the Reaper invasion. (Mass Effect: Deception)
16. Homeworlds #4 (Liara): before Mass Effect 3, as the new Shadow Broker searches for a way to stop the Reapers, leading into the game's opening. (Mass Effect: Homeworlds)
17. Mass Effect 3 (2186).
18. Homeworlds #1 (James Vega): days after the Reapers hit Earth in 2186. (Mass Effect: Homeworlds)

The Andromeda stories run on their own track, since the Initiative left the Milky Way in 2185 and never heard how the Reaper War ended:

1. Discovery and Initiation: before the arks launch. (Mass Effect: Discovery; Mass Effect: Andromeda: Initiation)
2. Annihilation: the Keelah Si'yah's voyage, with the crisis hitting more than five centuries in. (Mass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation)
3. Nexus Uprising: 2818, when the Nexus arrives, a year before Mass Effect: Andromeda. (Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising)

Blasto: Eternity Is Forever sits outside the timeline, as Blasto is a film character inside the setting. (Mass Effect: Blasto: Eternity Is Forever)

Which ones are worth reading?#

If you read one, make it Revelation. It's the only place you see Anderson and Saren work together, and it sets up the grudge that runs through the first game. Ascension and Retribution follow straight on, and Retribution is worth it before Mass Effect 3 because it's where Kai Leng comes from. (Mass Effect: Revelation; Mass Effect: Retribution)

Among the comics, Evolution and Redemption add the most to the games: one explains who the Illusive Man was before Cerberus, the other shows how Shepard's body reached Cerberus. For the order of the games themselves, see Mass Effect games in order. (Mass Effect: Evolution; Mass Effect: Redemption)