User blog comment:SpartHawg948/An Open Letter Regarding Mass Effect: Deception/@comment-174.102.198.100-20120203003459/@comment-174.102.198.100-20120203063318

Still, that's not the point. The whole asari 'mind control' isn't something that's confirmed. They are extremely sensual, yes, and their appearance caters to many different species, but that's hardly mind control. It's a typical heterosexual reaction from male to female. Hendel is homosexual, so while he might be able to appreciate beauty, he wouldn't be physically or sexually attracted any more than a straight man would be with another man.

Kai Leng is an outright racist, as clearly stated in Retribution. If you were racist against a particular species or race in your own, you wouldn't actively flirt or admire them.

However, Dietz goes out of his way to make nearly every asari superbly sexy, catering to both the characters and fanservice to the readers. I'm not going to look up all the references (because for this book, it's not worth the effort), but some in my mind stick out:

1. Kai flirting with a Chora's Den dancer, then another server at a different bar. Both are described explicitly sexual, wearing skimpy clothes. 2. Anderson notices a pair of asari, and this is one of the first times asari are introduced in the novel. Of course, they are described sexually, prompting a poor retcon and a cliche interaction between Kahlee and Anderson. 3. Gillian notices the asari pole dancers in Afterlife, again, described as sexual, nearly naked. The asari serving her is nearly described the same way, and Gillian suddenly reverts into this 'sexual inexperience' where she briefly wonders if she could ever be that sexy. 4. Nick fantasizes about his asari superior in the Underground, the first thing mentioned is how great her body and face are. There's a poorly worded scene where it says he was having sex with her, but it turns out to be a dream. I nearly missed it and just figured Dietz had a character shacking up with little to no reason.

Those are the most I can think of off hand. I certainly never recalled seeing even half as much spread out across the other three novels. There were references, yes, but they were brief and taken care of immediately so the reader didn't have to constantly be reminded "hey, asari are sexy blue alien women that want to have sex with YOU."