EVE General Discussion

And, hovering behind all this aggressively well-timed appetizers for our Dualshock 3 (tm) fingers like the nebulae of Eve space, is essentially, a continuation of the tale of the dark, transhuman future where us godlike capsuleers walk like giants in the playground of the petty Empires and their puny, mortal inhabitants. It may take a stretch of the imagination to believe that this uneasy peace between the Empires have continued for almost 9 years without outright, direct conflict. You may scoff at the well worn cliches that politicians and mega-corporation CEOs vie for power and prestige, while their strings are manipulated from the shadows by hidden forces, motivated by even stranger agenda. However, you'll also read about the all-too-human struggles of ordnary people, caught up in extraordinay circumstances. The lives that we, and the Empires, throw away on a daily basis, without even an awareness of, much less an afterthought as to the consequences of our actions. It is through this lowly dirt and grime that the book drags our minds through, where you can, in almost Matrix-like fashion, see the slowly blossoming spatter of blood between streams of hybrid cartridges, before the camera does a vertigo-inducing zoom out to the massive dreadnoughts disemboweling each other between swarms of drones, fighters and assault frigates.

And all this, Tony writes in a clear, succinct and economical manner. In the massive tapestry that is Eve, there is no room for wastage, no tolerance for threads that lead nowhere. The plot trundles along with Caldari-like efficiency, clone-jumping us in rapid succession from a sprawling city of an Empire's homeplanet, to a lonely research outpost in deep space, to the virtual dreams of a dead race. In the tradition of a well-planned fiction, disparate element are interwoven together in a climactic showdown that will satisfy even the most battle-worn capsuleer. Along the hectic pace, Tony finds time to inject some humour, even occasionally a nod to us, when an exasperated bridge officer tells her colleague, who has been moaning about his troubles and doubts to her, to HTFU.

Are there any aspects of this work that is bad? Perhaps, and I'm not a picky enough reader to pluck them out, pod fluid and all, to wriggle them wet and dripping for you. Those who are looking for a hard-core sci-fi novel will do better to look elsewhere. For those who've been reading the Dust dev blogs and wants to see more possible disclosures, this sadly will be a long winded and largely irrelevant introduction to the day you can rule the leader boards. But for those like me, who've been salivating for a good Eve fiction after the very long and dry spell of Chronicles, this will do nicely for now. As I concluded this book, the main emotion is actually one of sadness, as we know Tony Gonzles will no longer be working for CCP. Therefore, this story, and the open-ended threads that he has left behind, will hopefully be taken up by another content developer, someone who has very big shoes to fill. I hope that the main stories as encapsulated in these novels (yes, even the Burning Life) can continue under new stewardship.

This is Tony's finest work and a fitting finale for us. He will be missed.

Great job there Marlakh. I love books and this post makes me wanna try out Templar One. Better check the other books first hehe.

I was going to wait for a little bit, but your review just made me give CCP and Tony more of my money.

Edit: Getting rid of Tony was a ****** idea.

If i remember right tony didnt get fired he moved onto other pastures of his own.

Pre-ordered it weeks ago, date still says 26 of January for release. Stupid internet.

I am almost done with the book as well. Overall it is pretty good. You really need to be familiar with the eve universe for it to be of much value. Also I felt that the Dust 514 tie-in was a bit forced at times and seemed conjured rather than an organic progression from the Empyrean Age. The intrigue and plot twists were good and very eve-like.

Yes, yes, and not really.

How does it compare to the previous books? (Better, worse, etc.)
Does it still have the overarching theme of 'Everything is horrible'?

It's better than the previous book, IMO, and yes, it's Eve, everything is horrible in this universe.

Posting to give my few cents about this book. He killed a lot of what was stupid with the Empyrean Age (namely, completely and utterly over-the-top sex scenes and unrealistic quantities of profanity) and tied up several previous loose ends in a satisfying manner. While there are a few canon inconsistencies, it doesn't detract from the experience of the book. I'd definitely recommend it for people who've read the Empyrean Age.

Also: Is it odd that my local Chapters book store had this within three days of it being released? I didn't think anyone else in B.C played EVE.