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Thread Statistics | Show CCP posts - 3 post(s) |
commander tycho
Minmatar
Cruoris Seraphim
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Posted - 2008.07.02 23:47:00 -
[61]
I finished it tonight and really enjoyed it. Thanks Tony. I dont read too often and wasnt planning on buying the book. But i saw it in Forbidden Planet and just decided to buy it.
Is there a discussion thread somewhere on the story? I would be interested to see people's theories on some aspects.
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Nef Erator
hirr
Morsus Mihi
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Posted - 2008.07.03 19:04:00 -
[62]
I finished it last night (actually probably around the same time as the previous poster!) and enjoyed it immensely! However, a the risk of spoilers, there are unanswered questions and I feel like I missed something with the ending... I hope for some sort of continuation of the story in this form.
It was particularly great as I've never actually read a story that felt quite this personal before... I've enjoyed this universe for almost 2 years and followed current events in the game fiction (though I'm not involved in the RP side of it, I find the story fascinating) and its great to see some background to these events, and to think back to the news bulletins that refer to some of the events in the novel.
Not only that, but I also read quite a lot of science fiction and this would be the sort of thing I'd be likely to read anyway, and I have to say that for a first novel it holds up very well with other contemporary sci-fi writers without feeling like it was immitating them at all. Thanks for a great read!
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Jowen Datloran
Caldari
Science and Trade Institute
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Posted - 2008.07.03 19:47:00 -
[63]
Loved the story.
Except the limited swearing. As a dane who has hundreds ways of heavy swearing and insults in my mother language it is rather disappointing to see a swearing in English limited to the f-word only.
Good swearing ads a lot to character, you could even have invented some insulting phrases, that would have been good.
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Mr. Science & Trade Institute |
Mahogany Finish
State War Academy
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Posted - 2008.07.03 20:17:00 -
[64]
Just finished it. Great book. I'm in Texas, by the way, and got it through Amazon.co.uk. I got it by air mail within 5 business days of ordering, so it's definitely possible to get your hands on this book in the U.S.
My only criticism of it is the rampant typos and misspellings. Likely not the author's fault, but an editor definitely should have caught most of them. There was one proper noun that was consistently butchered: it's spelled "Ragnarok," dammit!
Also, I'm sure I missed something with the very end. I'll have to start a spoilers thread somewhere else to ask my questions about the EVE gate and the Jovians. I really need to get around to reading Theodicy.
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Jart
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Posted - 2008.07.09 11:30:00 -
[65]
I am a fairly slow reader and although I got the book early, I am only 1/3 through it. However, I have to say it is far, far better then I expected. To be frank I only bought the book to support CCP diverging into new areas and expected it to be of the quality of a normal computer game tie-in film/book (i.e. pretty bad). So far it has been a fantastic read and has been one of the best books I have had in a long time. I also do not think it is due to the Eve background either, as I have never really followed it.
My greatest hope is that the book is sucessful enough to spawn a sequel. So well done Tony and all those that helped.
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Meiyang Lee
Gallente
Azteca Transportation Unlimited
Gunboat Diplomacy
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Posted - 2008.07.09 12:01:00 -
[66]
Ordered it earlier this week, and according to my book store should have it in 2 weeks or so.
Can't wait to get started in it, so many positive comments. 
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Roc Wieler
Tribal Liberation Force
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Posted - 2008.07.09 12:27:00 -
[67]
I also would like to thank Tony for this novel. Some comments:
1. There were typos and grammar issues in the last half of the book. Be thorough. Little things like that can turn people off of books.
2. It was a THICK and meaty read. Usually I can read a 400 page scifi novel in two nights. This one took me a lot of concentrated hours, so kudos to you on that!
3. There are so many questions I am left with after finishing, and I hope CCP slowly answers them over time.
4. When I finished, I read the back insert and couldn't believe this was your first novel Tony! What an accomplishment!
"Never start a fight you can win." - Roc Wieler |
djenghis jan
Amarr
24th Imperial Crusade
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Posted - 2008.07.09 13:55:00 -
[68]
Yes i like the book as well! Nice work, The last half of the book i spend wondering if there were enough pages to finish all the plot lines with any degree of detail.
Its nice to finally see the long awaited Amarr weapon upgrade. When do we get this ingame?
DJ
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Lieutenant Isis
Gristle Industries
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Posted - 2008.07.09 15:24:00 -
[69]
Just finished it this weekend. Loved it thanks so much for writing it Tony!
The only thing I was really confused about was that I've always thought of the Gallente to be "over-indulged" much they way the upper-class of Caldari were. This was hinted at, but not really shown and seems like a reason why the Gallente were forced to war when not ready.
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Abrazzar
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Posted - 2008.07.09 15:39:00 -
[70]
Finished the book and really liked it. Gave great insight into the mentality of the different empires and what's going on in the political landscape.
One thing that was a bit confusing was that the people were only rarely described by their bloodline, which made it difficult to get a good image of them. At first I though Heth was a Civire and Yun a Vherokior.  Some of the other main characters were never described in respect to their bloodline.
But apart from this missing piece of information the book gave enough food for the inner eye. I especially liked the image of an Interceptor getting run over by a Dreadnaught. 
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Ideas for: Mining |
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Terra Sanctum
Tribal Liberation Force
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Posted - 2008.07.09 15:42:00 -
[71]
Absolutly loved it, great read, we need more :)
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Jade Constantine
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Posted - 2008.07.09 16:24:00 -
[72]
Finished it last night. I enjoyed it a lot. Was every much rooted in the Eve Online we know and love and did a great job of portraying the milieu of New Eden and the tensions and potentials of the baseline / capsuleer castes in the setting. I found it reminiscent of the Michael Stackpole Battletech novels in some ways (focus on the leaders of nations and cold war tensions) and thats no bad thing. Hope that TonyG gets a franchise here and we get to see the continuing story in six month slices 
Also convinces me that Eve Online does have room for other sanctioned works of fiction in much the same way that Battletech did back in the day - lets face it if giant stomping mechs of death can spawn dozens of novels I'm pretty sure Eve's universe can do at least as well.
Well done Tony, very glad your ambitions were realized so well!
Star Fraction | Dare to Dream!
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Leon Vetinarri
The Space Bastards
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Posted - 2008.07.09 17:05:00 -
[73]
About 2/3 of the way through it atm & really enjoying it
The only thing that niggles me is some of the explanations of Eve ingame mechanics ingame such as the description of Perception/Memory ect. Implants, which feels a little tacked on.... id rather the tech be abit more glossed over tbh like in the Culture series.
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Per Bastet
Amarr
B.O.O.M
Socius Tutaminis Velox
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Posted - 2008.07.09 17:52:00 -
[74]
All I can say is get the Damn Book into Canada ASAP. I Must Read it. It's getting to be a pain to avoid hitting Spoilers about it and I don't want it Ruined.
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Arcon Telf
Gallente
The Scope
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Posted - 2008.07.09 19:37:00 -
[75]
Well this settles it, I think. I'm not waiting for it to come to the US. I'll just order it from Amazon UK...weak dollar be damned!
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Hurs Sokira
Caldari Independent Navy Reserve
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Posted - 2008.07.10 00:16:00 -
[76]
 Originally by: CCP t0nyG
It just takes time, effort, and a lot of imagination.
So how about using all those things next time? 
Sorry to break up the love-fest but not everyone liked the book (and FW storyline) that much. Here are some choice quotes from some people that may have actually finished a novel or two in their lifetime.
Quote:
Bad. Like 47 year old man living in his mother's basement writing fan fiction bad.
Quote:
Severe letdown
Quote:
The current backstory feels like some awful bastardized agglomeration of really crappy kiddie cartoons and a low budget traveling carnival.
Quote:
I think my main issue is that Tony is just a bad writer. It's not so much that he mangled the coda, or whatever. It's just that he's... bad. He has zero literary class and an uncanny ability to not only mandate that everyone talk in soundbites, but that they not even be good soundbites. It's like a parody of a Hollywood script, which would be funny if it was intentional.
I am quoting this not to insult TonyG or just be a contrarian. There are a lot of people who are very disappointed with the storyline in general and the book in particular.
I think it is important for the health of the game for Devs to hear all the voices from the playerbase, or, ideally, have a forum where parties interested in RP/storyline can have a meaningful, in-depth discussion on storyline issues with Devs, just as they do so on balancing and other non-RP-related issues.
Unfortunately, Devs responsible for the storyline have failed to communicate in proper manner with the player base, only appearing to make couple of cryptic statements, or to take a bow and take a round of applause when they feel like it.
One would hope they would be more interested in the overall quality of their game and not in stroking their own egos.
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Stitcher
Caldari
Duty.
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Posted - 2008.07.10 09:53:00 -
[77]
Okay, well, time for my rebuttal to the above post.
Quote:
Here are some choice quotes from some people that may have actually finished a novel or two in their lifetime.
I consider myself to be extremely well-read. I have no idea exactly how many different books I have read in my time, but I would hazard that if it's not a four-figure number, it's a very high three-figure one. I have read outstanding novels ("Hyperion" by Dan Simmons) some terrible ones (A complete series of "Resident Evil" novelizations) some confusing ones (the Illuminatus! trilogy, also on my desk presently), some acclaimed ones that I didn't really enjoy all that much ("Neuromancer" by William Gibson) and some that I finished but can't actually remember anything about ("Winterbirth", by Brian Ruckley). I'm not limited to sci-fi/fantasy, either - I actually finished re-reading "Pride & Prejudice" a few days ago, and am currently about half-way through "Tomorrow when the War Began" by John Marsden.
Point is, I've finished a novel or two in my time, and you know what? I still think Empyrean Age is a damn good book. There were a few editing oversights (I counted at least two instances where "My lord" was accidentally printed as "Mr Lord" for example), but for the most part I found it to be well worth reading, and I'm currently itching to get my copy back from the people I lent it to so that I can read it for a third time.
Now, it could be that I'm just being a "fanboi", but I like to think I'm more level-headed than that. To be sure, there were flaws, but then again there is no such thing as a book without flaws.
What I read in Empyrean Age was a competently-written book that was entertaining all the way through, with occasional passages of inspired and powerful writing. I'm not going to call it the best book I've ever read, but it's a long, LONG way from being anywhere near as bad as the people you quoted made it out to be.
Let's face it, the EVE community contains within its ranks some highly unpleasant, curmudgeonly ****ers, and in my opinion every last one of those quoted comments is entirely undeserved. It won't go down in history as the book that descended to Earth upon a pillar of light and led us all to the promised land, but in my opinion it's still a damn fine read, and I'll definitely be buying any more books that TonyG feels like writing.
My only request is that Tony should find himself a slightly more diligent editor.
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Lt. Verin "Stitcher" Tarn-Hakatain. |
Seishomaru
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Posted - 2008.07.10 12:11:00 -
[78]
Originally by: Jade Constantine
Finished it last night. I enjoyed it a lot. Was every much rooted in the Eve Online we know and love and did a great job of portraying the milieu of New Eden and the tensions and potentials of the baseline / capsuleer castes in the setting. I found it reminiscent of the Michael Stackpole Battletech novels in some ways (focus on the leaders of nations and cold war tensions) and thats no bad thing. Hope that TonyG gets a franchise here and we get to see the continuing story in six month slices
Also convinces me that Eve Online does have room for other sanctioned works of fiction in much the same way that Battletech did back in the day - lets face it if giant stomping mechs of death can spawn dozens of novels I'm pretty sure Eve's universe can do at least as well.
Well done Tony, very glad your ambitions were realized so well!
True, very close to the way stackpole runs its battletech novels, even nearly same way to " briefly interrupt the history" to explain or reaffirm some important fate of the way a given society behaves or technological stuff works. The main difference is stackpole uses far less characters in central roles, with most characters only getting some focus for a brief part on the books.
Would really love more eve books.
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Tyr Vaantau
Amarr
Synthetic Frontiers
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Posted - 2008.07.10 14:16:00 -
[79]
Originally by: Hurs Sokira
Originally by: CCP t0nyG
It just takes time, effort, and a lot of imagination.
So how about using all those things next time?
How did I know you'd be from the Caldari Independant Navy Reserve? That entire corp seems to have it in for EVE's backstory, like they seem to have their own idea of how it should be and damn anyone elses view, including CCP's!
But regardless of that, it is interesting to note that your views, and views of the people you quoted (also CINR members?) are in a definite minority.
I also consider myself to be well-read, and I also happen to have read some official masterpieces in my time, yet I STILL consider TonyG's novel to be among one of my favourite reads ever.
Now, normally I don't act like this, but since you decided to be so rude about condemning the novel instead of using real criticism, I feel you deserve it. Sure, there is some real, fair, balanced critisicms of the novel to be made - take for example the editing which is one of the more obvious ones, and also my personal feelings regarding the novels readibility towards non-EVE playing readers. It's a testament to the Novels strength however, that none of them even really dented my experience of it.
Quote:
I am quoting this not to insult TonyG or just be a contrarian.
You're lying.
Quote:
I think it is important for the health of the game for Devs to hear all the voices from the playerbase,
yeah, the ones that are actually meaningful. AKA, not any of yours.
Quote:
One would hope they would be more interested in the overall quality of their game and not in stroking their own egos.
"oh, I'm not meaning to insult tonyg!" and yet THERE YOU ARE, doing it. C'mon, don't pretend that your post is anything more than just flinging useless **** at CCP.
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Togakure
Slacker Industries
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Posted - 2008.07.10 15:33:00 -
[80]
I was ôstuckö reading a nonfictional autobiography on my week long trip to visit family last week because Eve: The Empryean Age arrived late from amazon.co.uk. After reading the first sixth of the book, I really wished I had gotten it before my trip. The gripping pace of the story would have made my delayed flights more tolerable, for the book was easy to restart during the many interruptions of a flight.
I felt the book did a great job introducing readers, new to Eve, to the depth and intrigue of the universe. Those who donÆt play Eve will, however, find the imagery hard to follow. There simply wasnÆt enough description to imagine what a Bhaalgorn might look like or the differences among the races in appearance. Perhaps that is by design of Tony, to entice theses readers to dig a little deeper.
As others have pointed out, the editing was lacking. Often I found myself wondering why a period left out of ôMrö, for example, ôMr Shutsuö. You had them in Ruthless. There were other specific examples but I think the point has been made.
Despite that, I have found the book, so far, immensely enjoyable. Ever since Ruthless, I have enjoyed TonyÆs writing style, especially the italics. I hate guessing the tone of a dialog! IÆll be back to write some more thoughts when I finish the book.
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Kari Kayira
Spartan Fleet Systems
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Posted - 2008.07.10 15:42:00 -
[81]
I imported my from Amazon.co.uk. My only complaints are that you didn't secure a distributer in the US and that your editor wasn't a little better. I've noticed plenty of errors in all sorts of books before though, some far worse than anything in Empyrean Age. I did find the use of quotations weird... I'm used to having double quotations denoting dialog, not single ones.
I haven't read too far in yet, but I'm really enjoying it. I love the EVE setting and I'd like to thank all of CCP in addition to their authors for putting it in a place of importance, far more than certain other MMOs. I may lend the book to the 'rents when I'm done, I'm curious to see if the novel is accessible enough to someone not familiar with the game itself.
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Amantus
Gallente
Murientor Tribe
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Posted - 2008.07.10 15:57:00 -
[82]
I got it delivered on the day it came out and am still only half way through it because of lack of time. However, what I've read so far I've loved.
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Kagura Nikon
Minmatar
Infinity Enterprises
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Posted - 2008.07.10 16:03:00 -
[83]
Originally by: Kari K****a
I imported my from Amazon.co.uk. My only complaints are that you didn't secure a distributer in the US and that your editor wasn't a little better. I've noticed plenty of errors in all sorts of books before though, some far worse than anything in Empyrean Age. I did find the use of quotations weird... I'm used to having double quotations denoting dialog, not single ones.
I haven't read too far in yet, but I'm really enjoying it. I love the EVE setting and I'd like to thank all of CCP in addition to their authors for putting it in a place of importance, far more than certain other MMOs. I may lend the book to the 'rents when I'm done, I'm curious to see if the novel is accessible enough to someone not familiar with the game itself.
US is not the center of the world. Having the book available in ANY amazon is good enough since you can buy it the same way the rest of the world buy books from amazon. It makes absolutely no meaningful diference bar a few extra days of wait if it was shiped from Uk or anywhere else. delaying the release jut to provide it direcltyin US woudl be dumb. Its really a no brainer.
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If brute force doesn't solve your problem... you are not using enough
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Jade Constantine
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Posted - 2008.07.10 16:37:00 -
[84]
Edited by: Jade Constantine on 10/07/2008 16:39:39
Originally by: Stitcher
Okay, well, time for my rebuttal to the above post.
Quote:
Here are some choice quotes from some people that may have actually finished a novel or two in their lifetime.
I consider myself to be extremely well-read. I have no idea exactly how many different books I have read in my time, but I would hazard that if it's not a four-figure number, it's a very high three-figure one. I have read outstanding novels ("Hyperion" by Dan Simmons) some terrible ones (A complete series of "Resident Evil" novelizations) some confusing ones (the Illuminatus! trilogy, also on my desk presently), some acclaimed ones that I didn't really enjoy all that much ("Neuromancer" by William Gibson) and some that I finished but can't actually remember anything about ("Winterbirth", by Brian Ruckley). I'm not limited to sci-fi/fantasy, either - I actually finished re-reading "Pride & Prejudice" a few days ago, and am currently about half-way through "Tomorrow when the War Began" by John Marsden.
Point is, I've finished a novel or two in my time, and you know what? I still think Empyrean Age is a damn good book. There were a few editing oversights (I counted at least two instances where "My lord" was accidentally printed as "Mr Lord" for example), but for the most part I found it to be well worth reading, and I'm currently itching to get my copy back from the people I lent it to so that I can read it for a third time.
Now, it could be that I'm just being a "fanboi", but I like to think I'm more level-headed than that. To be sure, there were flaws, but then again there is no such thing as a book without flaws.
What I read in Empyrean Age was a competently-written book that was entertaining all the way through, with occasional passages of inspired and powerful writing. I'm not going to call it the best book I've ever read, but it's a long, LONG way from being anywhere near as bad as the people you quoted made it out to be.
Let's face it, the EVE community contains within its ranks some highly unpleasant, curmudgeonly ****ers, and in my opinion every last one of those quoted comments is entirely undeserved. It won't go down in history as the book that descended to Earth upon a pillar of light and led us all to the promised land, but in my opinion it's still a damn fine read, and I'll definitely be buying any more books that TonyG feels like writing.
My only request is that Tony should find himself a slightly more diligent editor.
This really. I mean lets be sensible - its Tony's first book, its ridiculous to compare it to the masterworks of Dan Simmons or Iain M Banks or Frank Herbert or something. But it IS a very good example of how to write franchised fiction bringing a game-world alive and does represent something pretty positive for the future of CCP if they can publish more books and encourage other authors besides Tony to produce for the Eve setting. As a science fiction setting Eve comes across pretty well on the page and though yep, there are elements that would be difficult for non-eve players to understand and pick up I think on balance its definitely the sort of thing that can interest people excited by science fiction and could well encourage them to give Eve online a try.
I've also read some terrible books in my time Back at university I read just about every Battletech book ever written and a lot of trashy science fiction and fantasy and can certainly say that Tony's book is far better than the average first novel of people writing for IP settings. It tells a good story, it keeps you reading, sure the editing is subpar but importantly it does enrich the universe of eve online and it helped remind me why i love the background of this game so much.
Star Fraction | Dare to Dream!
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Dr Slaughter
Minmatar
Rabies Inc.
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Posted - 2008.07.10 18:14:00 -
[85]
more... dam it... more :)
Rabies is unexpected
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dealing with the UNDERPANTS of eve since 2004 |
Halkin
Locus Solus
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Posted - 2008.07.13 17:53:00 -
[86]
I'm about 1/3 the way through and enjoying it, however not one of the characters has said "z0mg you noob rofl!!11" or similar
Originally by: Elise Randolph
Everybody wins when trolls get trolled.
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Jowen Datloran
Caldari
Science and Trade Institute
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Posted - 2008.07.13 18:12:00 -
[87]
Edited by: Jowen Datloran on 13/07/2008 18:11:58
Originally by: Tyr Vaantau
Originally by: Hurs Sokira
Originally by: CCP t0nyG
It just takes time, effort, and a lot of imagination.
So how about using all those things next time?
How did I know you'd be from the Caldari Independant Navy Reserve?
No, it is just Hurs.
If you have ever read his posts on eve-chatsubo you would know he is a self hater and have spread his rage to being against just about anything related to the recent Empyrean Age story development. Nothing can please him, ever.
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Mr. Science & Trade Institute |
Adaris
Gallente
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Posted - 2008.07.14 02:55:00 -
[88]
Quote:
I finished the book last night after slowly enjoying it over a week's worth of reading and I have to say it was simply brilliant. - LoxyRider
My expereince was much the same, except it involved alot of Rasberry Ripple ice-cream and late night/early mornings. Simply magnificant stuff.
*******
I speak on behalf of every corporation. |
Telemicus Thrace
Thrace Inc
Ushra'Khan
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Posted - 2008.07.14 11:47:00 -
[89]
I finished the book last week. I really enjoyed it. I'll be honest, it is more towards the pulp sci-fi end of the spectrum but I love a bit of pulp now and then. It took about a week to arrive in Australia from Amazon.co.uk, I had to pay as much in shipping as I did for the book but it was worth it. Thanks Tony.
I had just finished Matter by Iain M Banks and it was a joy to get into something more straight forward and with names I can pronounce .
Your reference to Minmatar combat Talons freaked me out. We have been using the term Talon interchangably with Squad for a while in U'K (i.e. Skirmish Talon, Support Talon). I assume we just enjoy the same source material (Farscape in my case - great Aussie Sci-Fi).
Anyway, I have run out of books for this week. Write more, NOW!!! and try to get it on Amazon US
Really enjoyed it, thanks man.
Join Kinda'Shujaa |
Dex Nederland
Caldari
Lai Dai Infinity Systems
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Posted - 2008.07.14 13:01:00 -
[90]
1 - I have yet to receive the book.
2 - just because you enjoy a book (or even series) does not make it an excellent book (or series).
Hurs's concerns are valid, despite his general negative sentiment. There are those who tried to support the storyline presented in the run up to EA, but are continuing to struggle with the rapid change in background information. Their entire basis for RP has been thrown out the window. I think a better storyline could have been prepared for EA.
Perhaps it is time that CCP updated their Backstory information to be more in line with the novel/recent storyline events. A brand new player, interested in RP, shouldn't have to also buy the book to get a good understanding of how the world is now.
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