BioWare's Mass Effect

Beschreibung

Jerome Winter, PhD, is a full-time lecturer at the University of California, Riverside, USA. His first book, Science Fiction, New Space Opera, and Neoliberal Globalism was published in 2016. His second book, Citizen Science Fiction, was published in 2021. 

The videogame series Mass Effect is a remarkable rarity not only for being an original science-fictional franchise of recent vintage that has risen to such prominent commercial and critical success in popular culture but also for pushing the canonical boundaries of how science fiction as a genre will be experienced and understood in the future. This book analyzes the significance of the game for an understanding of the evolving SF genre and articulates an explanatory framework to limn its landmark reception in videogame history. This book both synthesizes the burgeoning body of scholarship on Mass Effect for a readership unfamiliar with either the game or the critical conversation on its salient importance, while simultaneously, for readers already invested in the science-fiction and videogame scholarship, mounting an extended inquiry as to why Mass Effect has served as such a representative milestone in videogame and genre history. The book should appeal to veteran science-fiction and videogame scholars and students as well as a wide variety of fans, consumers, gamers, and general readers.



The videogame series Mass Effect is a remarkable rarity not only for being an original science-fictional franchise of recent vintage that has risen to such prominent commercial and critical success in popular culture but also for pushing the canonical boundaries of how science fiction as a genre will be experienced and understood in the future. This book analyzes the significance of the game for an understanding of the evolving SF genre and articulates an explanatory framework to limn its landmark reception in videogame history. This book both synthesizes the burgeoning body of scholarship on Mass Effect for a readership unfamiliar with either the game or the critical conversation on its salient importance, while simultaneously, for readers already invested in the science-fiction and videogame scholarship, mounting an extended inquiry as to why Mass Effect has served as such a representative milestone in videogame and genre history. The book should appeal to veteran science-fiction and videogame scholars and students as well as a wide variety of fans, consumers, gamers, and general readers.


Fills a significant gap in the study of science fiction and videogames Introduces new audiences to a landmark in the science-fiction genre First book-length discussion of the Mass Effect series

Autor*in

Jerome Winter

Themen in »BioWare's Mass Effect«

Mass Effect science fiction video games identification Ludic Narrative Gameplay Violence Space opera War Neoliberal Diversity Inclusion Feminism Exoplanets

Stimmen zu »BioWare's Mass Effect«

“Bioware’s Mass Effect is an unexpected but welcome entry in this Palgrave series on canonical texts in science fiction and fantasy. … a concise and persuasive argument for treating the videogame trilogy as part of the science fiction canon ... . Readers unfamiliar with Mass Effect might be surprised to learn about its thematic depth ... . Those familiar with the games might learn how Mass Effect draws from and challenges a long tradition of space opera.” (Dominic J. Nardi, SFRA Review, Vol. 55 (3), 2025)

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