Saturday, May 21, 2016

Empires of Eve, by Andrew Groen

This is a very unusual book. A couple years ago I contributed to the Kickstarter project, and no higher praise can be offered than this; it was worth the wait.

The book is a history of the events in a Sci-Fi MMORPG called EVE Online. The game is huge and complex, peopled with gamers from all over the world. From small groups they create huge alliances of thousands of players, and with teamwork they mine, refine, build, fight and scheme much like people do in the real world. The great thing is the ever-present human element as people fight for survival or dominance. I honestly think that learning the history of this game gives insight into the history of the real world, and the things that happen around us. Particularly interesting are the causes of war, how factions collapse and the ruthless competition.

I knew almost nothing about the game before reading the book, and it didn't seem to be much of a handicap. Mr. Groen explains where necessary, and clearly.

I found it very interesting, kind of a page-turner. It's one long history broken down into many component stories. The stories are great. Sci-fi, real people, clever strategies and relatable mistakes.

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