Uplifted begins in January 1942, a few hundred miles outside of Leningrad and well inside of the occupied Russia. There, a convoy races towards a recently spotted anomaly, not aware of the drastic consequences their actions will have. Although the premise is fantastic, the series takes the cake for presenting quite possibly the most flawed characters ever created in the
Mass Effect fandom. The story has several themes as well, notably that history is extremely ugly and that the past can always catch up to hand you your ass.The series is to be set in three eras.
World War II, which is now complete, 1998 to 2012 (Uplifted: Integration) and the Mass Effect future.The first series is primarily centered around Obersturmbannfuhrer (Lieutenant Colonel by UK and US standards) Joachim Hoch, a bitter but occasionally zealous Waffen SS officer fresh off watching his unit slaughtered outside of Moscow. He is the product of the lost generation. An attempt to retain the happiness that his mother and father had before
World War One. After his abuse at his Father's hands and drastic political differences between Mother and son, Joachim left home and wound up protecting a SS officer from a Communist thug. That man, Gerald Langer took him in and the rest is history.The series is also notable for the depth of the research that has gone into the writing. The author has taken the time to research and create a detailed and realistic look at the world in 1942-43. It is also notable for avoiding falling into the trap that all Nazis are evil. Of course some, like Himmler, Kaltenbrunner and Heydrich are shown to be complete monsters, but even they present a facade of civility to the people around them. Others, such as Gerald Langer, and Joachim Hoch are surprisingly decent people, despite their their racist viewpoints, views which were all too common back then.