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The Tony Gonzalez books
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Daracon Rage
The Executives
#1 - 2013-09-20 12:42:44 UTC
Has anyone read them -if so what did you think?

Also what order did you read them in?
LordSwift
Wrabble Wrousers
#2 - 2013-09-20 14:23:01 UTC
Empyrean Age, Dust 514 is the order of his books. I personally really enjoyed them, i have repeatedly reread the books. their does seem to be a lot of hate for his writing from a good portion of the player base but i would get them and form your own opinions.

Mal: "If anyone gets nosy, just...you know... shoot 'em. "

Zoe: "Shoot 'em?"

Mal: "Politely."
Malception
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#3 - 2013-09-20 14:25:07 UTC
I read the Empyrean Age. It was alright.
Tavin Aikisen
Phoenix Naval Operations
Phoenix Naval Systems
#4 - 2013-09-22 11:57:51 UTC
I've read both books in order of print and enjoyed both. :)

Empyrean Age is probably my favourite.

"Remember this. Trust your eyes, you will kill each other. Trust your veins, you can all go home."

-Cold Wind
Esna Pitoojee
Societas Imperialis Sceptri Coronaeque
Khimi Harar
#5 - 2013-09-22 16:01:13 UTC
Empyrean Age might have been halfway enjoyable as a standalone book, but as an EVE Online novel it fails in a few different ways. I'll let this excellent review speak for itself as a longer description, but here are some highlights:

- Retconning of sides into clearly defined 'good' and 'bad guys'. As has been stated by CCP in multiple other places, EVE is not a white-and-black morality place; it is at best a grey-and-black morality place and usually more grey-and-grey. For TonyG, however, some sides are literally described as a 'utopia' while other factions have people raping and slaughtering each other for no apparent reason. Caldari

- Retconning of large portions of EVE history. Previously, the Ammatar were a Matari tribe who defected to the Amarr in order to secure their own continued power; now they are super sekrit agents who actually defected to save another group of Matari from the mean ol' Amarr... even though those Matari wouldn't actually be under threat for some time yet. Previously, Insorum was a rare compound held only in comparatively tiny samples, much of it by capsuleer loyalist groups of various stripes; now, the Republic gets piles and piles of the stuff due to the power of handwavium, which brings us to...

- Almost hilarious amounts of handwavium applied in order to keep specific plot points going. Need an entire national defense system taken down? Why yes, this one enlisted man can easily do this! Need to reinforce how poor and defenseless the Republic has been before Hero Shakor comes to defend it? Well of course the Amarr will have infiltrated every aspect of the Republic's government (and still are inept enough not to notice the enormous fleet they are building).

- Finally, the sex scenes. Dear God the sex scenes; more than any other aspect, this is what people have told me made them just stop reading. Look, you want me to know someone is a bad guy? Okay, that's fine - you don't need to write a graphic child-slave-orgy scene to prove it, let alone so many sex scenes.



Templar One is, in many respects, a far superior novel. TonyG manages to at least keep the plot moving and tone down the obvious-good-and-evil somewhat while resolving some wall-banger issues left from TEA.. In other issues, though, it's painfully bad as well; for instance, a massive battle involving fleets from all 4 nations and multiple supercapital assets occurs in a key system; yet nowhere else in the EVE universe are we ever given a hint that this battle happened. In another point, a character from The Empyrean Age is selected for an Amarr supersoldier program... despite him not being a soldier, and the Amarr having several different flavors of far-better-trained and far-more-loyal soldiers available for this program; this particular plotline goes about as well as you'd expect something that silly to.
Christopher AET
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#6 - 2013-09-22 21:23:32 UTC
Read TEA...well part of it. Didn't finish it. Was pretty shallow in all respects

I drain ducks of their moisture for sustenance.
Job Valador
Professional Amateurs
#7 - 2013-09-23 17:13:52 UTC
Sort of liked empyrean age but only character i really liked in it was Otro

"The stone exhibited a profound lack of movement."
Matar Ronin
#8 - 2013-09-23 22:37:05 UTC
Esna Pitoojee wrote:
Empyrean Age might have been halfway enjoyable as a standalone book, but as an EVE Online novel it fails in a few different ways. I'll let this excellent review speak for itself as a longer description, but here are some highlights:

- Retconning of sides into clearly defined 'good' and 'bad guys'. As has been stated by CCP in multiple other places, EVE is not a white-and-black morality place; it is at best a grey-and-black morality place and usually more grey-and-grey. For TonyG, however, some sides are literally described as a 'utopia' while other factions have people raping and slaughtering each other for no apparent reason. Caldari

- Retconning of large portions of EVE history. Previously, the Ammatar were a Matari tribe who defected to the Amarr in order to secure their own continued power; now they are super sekrit agents who actually defected to save another group of Matari from the mean ol' Amarr... even though those Matari wouldn't actually be under threat for some time yet. Previously, Insorum was a rare compound held only in comparatively tiny samples, much of it by capsuleer loyalist groups of various stripes; now, the Republic gets piles and piles of the stuff due to the power of handwavium, which brings us to...

- Almost hilarious amounts of handwavium applied in order to keep specific plot points going. Need an entire national defense system taken down? Why yes, this one enlisted man can easily do this! Need to reinforce how poor and defenseless the Republic has been before Hero Shakor comes to defend it? Well of course the Amarr will have infiltrated every aspect of the Republic's government (and still are inept enough not to notice the enormous fleet they are building).

- Finally, the sex scenes. Dear God the sex scenes; more than any other aspect, this is what people have told me made them just stop reading. Look, you want me to know someone is a bad guy? Okay, that's fine - you don't need to write a graphic child-slave-orgy scene to prove it, let alone so many sex scenes.



Templar One is, in many respects, a far superior novel. TonyG manages to at least keep the plot moving and tone down the obvious-good-and-evil somewhat while resolving some wall-banger issues left from TEA.. In other issues, though, it's painfully bad as well; for instance, a massive battle involving fleets from all 4 nations and multiple supercapital assets occurs in a key system; yet nowhere else in the EVE universe are we ever given a hint that this battle happened. In another point, a character from The Empyrean Age is selected for an Amarr supersoldier program... despite him not being a soldier, and the Amarr having several different flavors of far-better-trained and far-more-loyal soldiers available for this program; this particular plotline goes about as well as you'd expect something that silly to.
I must concur with these above observations, the books I purchased after knowing about EVE Online, I do not think the books would have encouraged me to play EVE Online. Both character and plot development trudged ploddingly along towards eventually disappointing conclusions.

How it's possible to take a canvas as expansive as the New Eden universe, and dumb it down to, black hats and white hats, both amazes and horrifies me. To me, New Eden is a swirling fog of grey with darker places where you can see no good at all, and blindingly bright places where you are illuminated in unselfish faith and devotion.

Having read all three of the EVE books I hope the fourth and all future books opt to find a better balance and take the role of observer in lieu of that of a judge. In the Burning Life even the Blood Raiders had a degree of vulnerability and humanity, even when presented in a story that was sadly stampeded to a hasty, unreasonable, an unsatisfying conclusion.

CCP would do well to commission writers that are first and foremost players as well as science fiction fans who'd jump at the chance to create within the almost limitless opportunities that the wide diverse New Eden canvas allows. Unfortunately as they seem to want to do with game play, CCP is hamstrung by a self inflicted limited vision they seek to implement, no matter what their customers actually want to do in the sandbox created for them. If CCP could let their creation grow a little bit in an unplanned player/ fan driven direction the outcome would be an unprecedented success.

The boneheadedness of a non-Amarr non-soldier Templar One shows their disconnect between the power of their lore and what it could and should accomplish in the telling of their stories.

‘Vain flame burns fast/and its lick is light/Modest flame lasts long/and burns to the bone.’

" We lost a war we chose not to fight." Without a doubt this is the best way to lose any war and the worst excuse to explain the beating afterwards.
Fredfredbug4
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#9 - 2013-09-23 23:45:05 UTC  |  Edited by: Fredfredbug4
Empyrean Age as an independent novel completely separated from the EVE universe actually would be pretty good. The main problem is that it over simplified everything. The Caldari were Space N@zi's, the Gallente were Space Americans, the Amarr were the Holy Roman Empire, and the Minmatar were Space Israel or something.

The chronicles and news articles paint a better picture. The factions aren't so black and white as Tony G made them out to be in Empyrean Age. Honestly, the chronicles and news articles are the best it gets in terms of EVE lore. I feel that Tony G's novels are more of a supplement right now.

The Burning Life was my least favorite. It was just bland and felt more like a tour guide of the cluster than an actual book.

Templar One is the best. It perfectly balances all aspects of the EVE Universe and isn't as black and white as the other novels. The Empress is a complex and interesting character that is more than just "HAY GUIZE LETS GO BURN SUM HERETIKS!", the CEO of Ishukone is someone you can sympathize with and the whole lot. It's just written much better, fits the cannon of EVE more accurately, and is just more fun to read. I think Tony G finally got his act together with Templar One and I hope his future works are just as good.

But please, stop with the random unnecessary sex scenes. We get it, people still like to bone in the future, now stop.

Watch_ Fred Fred Frederation_ and stop [u]cryptozoologist[/u]! Fight against the brutal genocide of fictional creatures across New Eden! Is that a metaphor? Probably not, but the fru-fru- people will sure love it!
Matar Ronin
#10 - 2013-09-24 00:08:45 UTC
To answer your question I read them in the order of release, The Empyrean Age, and then Templar One.

The first EVE book was The Burning Life written by Hjalti Danielsson which I read after starting to play EVE. The Tony Gonzales books I waited for each one to be released and bought them as soon as available.

‘Vain flame burns fast/and its lick is light/Modest flame lasts long/and burns to the bone.’

" We lost a war we chose not to fight." Without a doubt this is the best way to lose any war and the worst excuse to explain the beating afterwards.
Jowen Datloran
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#11 - 2013-09-24 09:17:49 UTC
I am pretty certain Tony G was an Eve-O player when he wrote Theodicy. Already that one was a poor interpretation of the world of Eve imo., but it did provide him an official position as writer for CCP.

Mr. Science & Trade Institute, EVE Online Lorebook 

Makoto Priano
Kirkinen-Arataka Transhuman Zenith Consulting Ltd.
Arataka Research Consortium
#12 - 2013-09-24 18:53:23 UTC
So. I'm going to back Esna's review.

I haven't managed to dig into Templar One, but have read TEA and Burning Life.

The assessment of Burning Life as a tour of New Eden seems appropriate; it goes through the various regions and empires, and is something of a baseliner's view of the world. Capsuleers are bogeymen viewed at a distance, and not really present in the story excepting as a MacGuffin. It's somewhat refreshing, even if in terms of narrative arc it's a touch uninspired. Still, I've heard it described as a fluff bible, and agree.

TEA is terrible. It has action and moves at a decent pace, but the quality of the writing is painfully bad. I had to force myself through it. How many times did a character have a Single Tear? How does a novel fail the Bechdel Test? Why is Karsoth so obviously Baron Harkonnen? Did he really just have the Ray of Matar sexually assaulted for the sake of setting up a one-line '**** of the Republic' point? How in god's name does the vitoxin virus persist from clone to clone? How is it that the Caldari State's economy is in a perpetual state of collapse, due to greed, while the socialistic Gallente Federation is evidently the promised land?

I've gotten a little bit into Templar One, but it hasn't hooked me. I suspect it'll be better than TEA, but I doubt that'll necessarily mean that it's good.

Itsukame-Zainou Hyperspatial Inquiries: exploring the edge of the known, advancing the state of the art. Would you like to know more?
Khergit Deserters
Crom's Angels
#13 - 2013-09-27 20:04:07 UTC
Esna Pitoojee wrote:
Empyrean Age might have been halfway enjoyable as a standalone book, but as an EVE Online novel it fails in a few different ways. I'll let this excellent review speak for itself as a longer description, but here are some highlights:

- Retconning of sides into clearly defined 'good' and 'bad guys'. As has been stated by CCP in multiple other places, EVE is not a white-and-black morality place; it is at best a grey-and-black morality place and usually more grey-and-grey. For TonyG, however, some sides are literally described as a 'utopia' while other factions have people raping and slaughtering each other for no apparent reason. Caldari

- Retconning of large portions of EVE history. Previously, the Ammatar were a Matari tribe who defected to the Amarr in order to secure their own continued power; now they are super sekrit agents who actually defected to save another group of Matari from the mean ol' Amarr... even though those Matari wouldn't actually be under threat for some time yet. Previously, Insorum was a rare compound held only in comparatively tiny samples, much of it by capsuleer loyalist groups of various stripes; now, the Republic gets piles and piles of the stuff due to the power of handwavium, which brings us to...

- Almost hilarious amounts of handwavium applied in order to keep specific plot points going. Need an entire national defense system taken down? Why yes, this one enlisted man can easily do this! Need to reinforce how poor and defenseless the Republic has been before Hero Shakor comes to defend it? Well of course the Amarr will have infiltrated every aspect of the Republic's government (and still are inept enough not to notice the enormous fleet they are building).

- Finally, the sex scenes. Dear God the sex scenes; more than any other aspect, this is what people have told me made them just stop reading. Look, you want me to know someone is a bad guy? Okay, that's fine - you don't need to write a graphic child-slave-orgy scene to prove it, let alone so many sex scenes.



Templar One is, in many respects, a far superior novel. TonyG manages to at least keep the plot moving and tone down the obvious-good-and-evil somewhat while resolving some wall-banger issues left from TEA.. In other issues, though, it's painfully bad as well; for instance, a massive battle involving fleets from all 4 nations and multiple supercapital assets occurs in a key system; yet nowhere else in the EVE universe are we ever given a hint that this battle happened. In another point, a character from The Empyrean Age is selected for an Amarr supersoldier program... despite him not being a soldier, and the Amarr having several different flavors of far-better-trained and far-more-loyal soldiers available for this program; this particular plotline goes about as well as you'd expect something that silly to.


"Handwavium" LOLSmile I liked TEA, but it was a little too grand space opera for my taste. But it was interesting to see the politics of the factions discussed and fleshed out. I preferred Templar One though. A little less bombastic. I don't regret reading either one.
I liked A Burning Life best of the three EVE novels, though. Dark and gloomy, as expected, but well done I thought.