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Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online
Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online is the incredible true story of the dictators and governments that have risen to power within the real virtual world of EVE Online.
Since 2003, this sci-fi virtual world has been ruled by player-led governments commanding tens of thousands of real people. The conflict and struggle for power between these diverse governments has led to wars, espionage, and battles fought by thousands of people from nations all over the world. There have been climactic last stands, wars for honor and revenge, and spies who caused more damage than a fleet of warships.
Empires of EVE is the history of how political ideas first began to take hold in EVE Online, how that led to the creation of the first governments and political icons, and how those governments eventually collapsed into a state of total war from 2007-2009.
Since 2003, this sci-fi virtual world has been ruled by player-led governments commanding tens of thousands of real people. The conflict and struggle for power between these diverse governments has led to wars, espionage, and battles fought by thousands of people from nations all over the world. There have been climactic last stands, wars for honor and revenge, and spies who caused more damage than a fleet of warships.
Empires of EVE is the history of how political ideas first began to take hold in EVE Online, how that led to the creation of the first governments and political icons, and how those governments eventually collapsed into a state of total war from 2007-2009.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2016
187 people are currently reading
838 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
May 3, 2016
First of all - this eBook lacks maps to help the reader visualize the distances and places mentioned - nullsec systems having arbitrary letters for names is most unhelpful. Also it could have used heavier editing - repeating itself three times in three paragraphs but in a different way each time as an example.
However - whilst not a perfectly correct history and omitting many subplots and glossing over some events who would have warranted more space - it is remarkably close to the truth for the most part.
Having taken incredibly active part in beta and the first 4 years of EVE I was there for many of the events mentioned - some of them I would have ranked higher or lower than the book does and I wouldn't agree with all the assessments but I know I probably had a bias just like those who told Andrew their stories. For me this was a trip to nostalgia lane and with some nice updates on what happened after leaving the game (too time intensive if people are curious - as a new father it was too much to juggle alongside everything else).
I hope late-comers and non-players of EVE have learnt to appreciate everything that occured before their time or in this alternative dimension that took years of my life and over a decade of many others.
If Andrew writes a followup - he did a good job of bringing the alliance universe into text - don't be afraid to give me a shout, I have some sweat inducing stories of building the first Titan and moving its hangar from Empire space with a dreadnought that could not reach 0.0 m/s due to cargo expanders...
However - whilst not a perfectly correct history and omitting many subplots and glossing over some events who would have warranted more space - it is remarkably close to the truth for the most part.
Having taken incredibly active part in beta and the first 4 years of EVE I was there for many of the events mentioned - some of them I would have ranked higher or lower than the book does and I wouldn't agree with all the assessments but I know I probably had a bias just like those who told Andrew their stories. For me this was a trip to nostalgia lane and with some nice updates on what happened after leaving the game (too time intensive if people are curious - as a new father it was too much to juggle alongside everything else).
I hope late-comers and non-players of EVE have learnt to appreciate everything that occured before their time or in this alternative dimension that took years of my life and over a decade of many others.
If Andrew writes a followup - he did a good job of bringing the alliance universe into text - don't be afraid to give me a shout, I have some sweat inducing stories of building the first Titan and moving its hangar from Empire space with a dreadnought that could not reach 0.0 m/s due to cargo expanders...
July 24, 2017
Dear Andew,
You need an editor. Really badly. I do not believe there is a chapter of this book without an easily corrected consistency or grammar error. If Amazon would let me copy and paste from it's terrible Kindle web-app thing I would provide a few examples. But Amazon.
More sparingly you tend to repeat sections almost verbatim within pages of each other. Repeating a phrase can be powerful, but you use it a lot and I'm not actually convinced you actually meant to. I quite liked your book, but it really reads like a first draft.
Dear everyone else,
I liked this book. I've tried EVE several times, joining up either with groups of friends or Goonwaffe, but it's never really clicked. EVE just isn't that much fun to play. For me, the game is at it's best when I'm spending half an hour reading about all the ridiculous shenanigans people get up to rather than sitting through a four hour fleet engagement. Empires of Eve delivers on this in spades. The Great War is certainly one of the more interesting times in the lifespan of the game.
Andrew's no-frills writing carries the reader through a conflict that impacted ten of thousands of players and spanned several years. When the conflict is finally over, there are veteran pilots in most alliances that hadn't ever experienced a time before The Great War. That is a momentous thing to say. It's possibly the first event in a video game universe worthy of a historical chronicling solely because of this fact. The fact that it changed the face of EVE is just gravy.
You need an editor. Really badly. I do not believe there is a chapter of this book without an easily corrected consistency or grammar error. If Amazon would let me copy and paste from it's terrible Kindle web-app thing I would provide a few examples. But Amazon.
More sparingly you tend to repeat sections almost verbatim within pages of each other. Repeating a phrase can be powerful, but you use it a lot and I'm not actually convinced you actually meant to. I quite liked your book, but it really reads like a first draft.
Dear everyone else,
I liked this book. I've tried EVE several times, joining up either with groups of friends or Goonwaffe, but it's never really clicked. EVE just isn't that much fun to play. For me, the game is at it's best when I'm spending half an hour reading about all the ridiculous shenanigans people get up to rather than sitting through a four hour fleet engagement. Empires of Eve delivers on this in spades. The Great War is certainly one of the more interesting times in the lifespan of the game.
Andrew's no-frills writing carries the reader through a conflict that impacted ten of thousands of players and spanned several years. When the conflict is finally over, there are veteran pilots in most alliances that hadn't ever experienced a time before The Great War. That is a momentous thing to say. It's possibly the first event in a video game universe worthy of a historical chronicling solely because of this fact. The fact that it changed the face of EVE is just gravy.
June 28, 2019
Like many other people, I've always been fascinated when hearing stories about EVE online, when something really big happened occasionally and it always sounded amazing, but I would never actually play the game myself. Still, I really wanted to know about some of the things that happened in it: history, wars, feuds, ...
I found this book. I loved it. It does exactly that: details the early years of EVE Online, giving you a chronological overview of how the game evolved, how alliances were formed, the many wars that happened, ... It's kind of thrilling and I love that this all happened in a fucking videogame.
Still-- maybe I would've liked for the book to be longer, for him to go more in-depth, and the book DESPERATELY needed an editor. The things it describes are so cool, but the actual writing is so-so.
I found this book. I loved it. It does exactly that: details the early years of EVE Online, giving you a chronological overview of how the game evolved, how alliances were formed, the many wars that happened, ... It's kind of thrilling and I love that this all happened in a fucking videogame.
Still-- maybe I would've liked for the book to be longer, for him to go more in-depth, and the book DESPERATELY needed an editor. The things it describes are so cool, but the actual writing is so-so.
Read
August 21, 2024better than i expected! i expected sort of a extra-longform ign article about effectively hobbydrama, and i think the significant extra effort andrew groen went into wrt to finding sources, finding stories, reading through primary documents, etc. made this book more than that. its well-researchedness was v enjoyable to me, i think it leant (1) some super fucking sick pull quotes (2) a historian's confidence as opposed to a journalist's, if that makes sense? and that reliability made reading more enjoyability, i wasn't as critical or questioning or wondering what the angle was.
aside from that it is lowkey an extra-longform ign article about hobbydrama, but eve online is so fucking sick that it really does stand on its own. and i do think its uniqueness is well-articulated by the author, who is able to succinctly and effectively describe and translate the communities/games values and mechanics to the laymen reader. the fact that it's one single instance of the game - as opposed to different ppl being put into diff servers - explains a *lot* to me, and is incredible. the culture of these SF nerds who earnestly write in-fiction tirades and speeches is v cool. the meta where so much of the war game is breaking other people's resolve through propaganda and not just outmaneuvering them in combat is also very cool? the fact that there are spies??? a lot of this game is descriptions of combat, types of ships, fleet sizes; but the stories around those physical conflicts; of spies and namecalling and false flag ops around ship foundry locations and esp. about morale and dedication; definitely make the combat feel like a payoff and not just an endless slog.
honestly fun enough i might read the sequel :)
aside from that it is lowkey an extra-longform ign article about hobbydrama, but eve online is so fucking sick that it really does stand on its own. and i do think its uniqueness is well-articulated by the author, who is able to succinctly and effectively describe and translate the communities/games values and mechanics to the laymen reader. the fact that it's one single instance of the game - as opposed to different ppl being put into diff servers - explains a *lot* to me, and is incredible. the culture of these SF nerds who earnestly write in-fiction tirades and speeches is v cool. the meta where so much of the war game is breaking other people's resolve through propaganda and not just outmaneuvering them in combat is also very cool? the fact that there are spies??? a lot of this game is descriptions of combat, types of ships, fleet sizes; but the stories around those physical conflicts; of spies and namecalling and false flag ops around ship foundry locations and esp. about morale and dedication; definitely make the combat feel like a payoff and not just an endless slog.
honestly fun enough i might read the sequel :)
October 24, 2019
I always been fascinated by EVE and its so charming it makes me want to be part of it.
This book is to be read as a journalistic piece on the history of EVE: Online rather than a purely history book. The reason is, being non fiction (while ironically happening in a virtual world and setting), I didn’t find the writing itself very engaging and it has a lot of repetitions and off writing structure at times. Considering everything involved I bet it was tough to put it all together, but having all this in mind might give the casual or non-EVE player more sentiment to accept this for what it is: a research of the social environment of EVE. Mainly Corporate War: Combat and Betrayal. Divide and Conquer.
Imagine Game of Thrones, or better yet, War of The Roses and The Hundred Year War on a galactic level.
The author doesn’t go much in depth, or at least, not as much as I was expecting. The information is always biased towards the player or faction he interviewed, so being neutral is hard. All he can do is gather enough information on both sides to create a narrative. There are some good transcripts from historical sources like forums, audio and video, some which can still be found online.
These sources help create the context and give a pretty good idea how serious the political and economic spectrum of the game is. However, what the reader gets is mostly about: this guy convinced A corporation to attack B and B allied with C and D. Then A found E and F and raided each other before taking territory. But B had a spy network that put to use and made D betray C than eventually allied with A and F didn’t like, so F went to B. Substitute these capital letters with Corporation and Alliance names and throw in ships, stations and Systems names. Or, substitute them with Medieval factions and fiefs.
You get the idea.
Yet, I still managed to get myself so immersed in this I couldn’t put it down.
EVE Online is without a doubt a virtual copy of a real life ecosystem. Maybe with a few doses of roids, but the emotion the players feel is raw and true.
Bear with me here: EVE is underrated. Why many people stay away from it is completely understandable, but I find it underestimated as a research subject. Gaming in general should be professionally researched, but maybe due to the volatility and private nature of its users, its hard to do so. But humans do not simply do things, and some people on the marketing and development departments seem to be getting some important info on that. Just one example, there seems to be strong connection between Big Five traits and player behaviour and choice. This game would be the perfect guinea pig to understand gamers, at least, a certain breed of them perhaps.
There’s always the dismissive characterization of a “mere” construction worker or plumber leading and rallying thousands of people to spend real life hours and skip sleep over a space battle. But what if this “mere worker”, in real life, actually has traits going on for him?
Humans either have the liberty to act how they really are or find the means to act how they’d like to be. Which is which for each of these persons remains a mystery for the most part. Their paying job may be “low status” yet their social status be high enough to be reflected in the game.
In some cases, that are not in this book, the real person seems clearly drawn to this type of thing to the point it feels like home.
Real life spy is a Corp spy.
Real life manager is Corp manager.
Real life businessman is Corp businessman.
But rarely seems to be a Real life CEO a Corp CEO.
Others simply learn real life skills in the game thanks to the sense of responsibility it provides.
These are themes that I’d like to read about in gaming but are not in this book, of course.
Andrew Growen is focused on the Great War. A War that shaped the in-game universe and made real life media print a lot. Created controversy so big and still managed to bring thousands of players more to be part of battles the servers couldn’t handle.
To the average person, the achievements of these individuals are meaningless and worthless. In the virtual world, they are immortalized legends.
Real family and friends were made.
Betrayed.
Avenged.
Reinstituted.
Bonds still last. Wounds still hurt.
Conclusion
ADDENDUM: Ebooks don’t have maps that might help the reader understand the scale much better, but I found the descriptions suffice it enough, if you’re fine with picturing yourself where the North and South is and what can come in-between.
EVE: Online is fascinating.
For most is just another game, but I find it a gaming experience where the line between entertainment and real life is very thin. Its a hub for almost perfect emulation of human behaviour. An alternate platform to learn, rise in the social hierarchy and even get rich. All these may very likely transpire to real life, to the disappointment of the “games are evil” crowd.
Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online is probably the closest we get to understand that picture. As I said, doesn’t go much in depth. Its mostly about who fought who and where, with in game propaganda and occasional real life words from those involved. You can go much more on a personal sense in articles around the web. Regardless, Andrew does a good job putting history together and telling it to both the fans and the curious.
This book is to be read as a journalistic piece on the history of EVE: Online rather than a purely history book. The reason is, being non fiction (while ironically happening in a virtual world and setting), I didn’t find the writing itself very engaging and it has a lot of repetitions and off writing structure at times. Considering everything involved I bet it was tough to put it all together, but having all this in mind might give the casual or non-EVE player more sentiment to accept this for what it is: a research of the social environment of EVE. Mainly Corporate War: Combat and Betrayal. Divide and Conquer.
Imagine Game of Thrones, or better yet, War of The Roses and The Hundred Year War on a galactic level.
The author doesn’t go much in depth, or at least, not as much as I was expecting. The information is always biased towards the player or faction he interviewed, so being neutral is hard. All he can do is gather enough information on both sides to create a narrative. There are some good transcripts from historical sources like forums, audio and video, some which can still be found online.
These sources help create the context and give a pretty good idea how serious the political and economic spectrum of the game is. However, what the reader gets is mostly about: this guy convinced A corporation to attack B and B allied with C and D. Then A found E and F and raided each other before taking territory. But B had a spy network that put to use and made D betray C than eventually allied with A and F didn’t like, so F went to B. Substitute these capital letters with Corporation and Alliance names and throw in ships, stations and Systems names. Or, substitute them with Medieval factions and fiefs.
You get the idea.
Yet, I still managed to get myself so immersed in this I couldn’t put it down.
EVE Online is without a doubt a virtual copy of a real life ecosystem. Maybe with a few doses of roids, but the emotion the players feel is raw and true.
Bear with me here: EVE is underrated. Why many people stay away from it is completely understandable, but I find it underestimated as a research subject. Gaming in general should be professionally researched, but maybe due to the volatility and private nature of its users, its hard to do so. But humans do not simply do things, and some people on the marketing and development departments seem to be getting some important info on that. Just one example, there seems to be strong connection between Big Five traits and player behaviour and choice. This game would be the perfect guinea pig to understand gamers, at least, a certain breed of them perhaps.
There’s always the dismissive characterization of a “mere” construction worker or plumber leading and rallying thousands of people to spend real life hours and skip sleep over a space battle. But what if this “mere worker”, in real life, actually has traits going on for him?
Humans either have the liberty to act how they really are or find the means to act how they’d like to be. Which is which for each of these persons remains a mystery for the most part. Their paying job may be “low status” yet their social status be high enough to be reflected in the game.
In some cases, that are not in this book, the real person seems clearly drawn to this type of thing to the point it feels like home.
Real life spy is a Corp spy.
Real life manager is Corp manager.
Real life businessman is Corp businessman.
But rarely seems to be a Real life CEO a Corp CEO.
Others simply learn real life skills in the game thanks to the sense of responsibility it provides.
These are themes that I’d like to read about in gaming but are not in this book, of course.
Andrew Growen is focused on the Great War. A War that shaped the in-game universe and made real life media print a lot. Created controversy so big and still managed to bring thousands of players more to be part of battles the servers couldn’t handle.
To the average person, the achievements of these individuals are meaningless and worthless. In the virtual world, they are immortalized legends.
Real family and friends were made.
Betrayed.
Avenged.
Reinstituted.
Bonds still last. Wounds still hurt.
Conclusion
ADDENDUM: Ebooks don’t have maps that might help the reader understand the scale much better, but I found the descriptions suffice it enough, if you’re fine with picturing yourself where the North and South is and what can come in-between.
EVE: Online is fascinating.
For most is just another game, but I find it a gaming experience where the line between entertainment and real life is very thin. Its a hub for almost perfect emulation of human behaviour. An alternate platform to learn, rise in the social hierarchy and even get rich. All these may very likely transpire to real life, to the disappointment of the “games are evil” crowd.
Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online is probably the closest we get to understand that picture. As I said, doesn’t go much in depth. Its mostly about who fought who and where, with in game propaganda and occasional real life words from those involved. You can go much more on a personal sense in articles around the web. Regardless, Andrew does a good job putting history together and telling it to both the fans and the curious.
December 25, 2023
Empires of EVE let me reminisce about my old Star Wars Galaxies days
I recently finished Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online by Andrew Groen. It’s a fun book exploring the history of the politics and warfare of one of the longest running online games in history.
At some point like 15 years ago, I actually tried to give Eve Online a shot. My bad college laptop just wasn’t good enough to play the game, so I had to give it up. I thought the concept for the game was super cool and was bummed out when I couldn’t continue.
Andrew’s book isn’t perfect. The book was very clearly a labor of love instead of the perfectly written/edited book, and that’s honestly quite okay with me! As someone who played an MMO extensively in the early 2000s, the ins and outs of the battles that took place and stories behind them spoke to me.
Learning about the structure of Eve Online with the various guilds being corporations, and how they had to run themselves as an independent economy interlinked with the larger Eve economy AND as a war machine. Add in all of the message boards propaganda 🤌. It’s beautiful.
One of the things that kind of disturbed me was learning about the lengths of spy craft and sabotage that these corporations would go through to try and come out on top. Honestly though, should anything surprise you with corporations?
I played Star Wars Galaxies for years, and I was absolutely obsessed with that game. To this day, I haven’t had a gaming experience that has come close to highs that I reached in that game. I was part of a guild called Pax Imperius who were Empire-adjacent. We were on a role playing server and engaged in some serious PVP combat. It was so much fun.
Reading about the planned raids brought back so many fun memories of hopping across various planets via spaceports to attack a Rebel guild’s base. The difference being that our raids took a couple of hours while the Eve raids were taking days, weeks, and months! That’s insane to me.
Like I said, the book isn’t perfect, but I had a great time reading it.
I recently finished Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online by Andrew Groen. It’s a fun book exploring the history of the politics and warfare of one of the longest running online games in history.
At some point like 15 years ago, I actually tried to give Eve Online a shot. My bad college laptop just wasn’t good enough to play the game, so I had to give it up. I thought the concept for the game was super cool and was bummed out when I couldn’t continue.
Andrew’s book isn’t perfect. The book was very clearly a labor of love instead of the perfectly written/edited book, and that’s honestly quite okay with me! As someone who played an MMO extensively in the early 2000s, the ins and outs of the battles that took place and stories behind them spoke to me.
Learning about the structure of Eve Online with the various guilds being corporations, and how they had to run themselves as an independent economy interlinked with the larger Eve economy AND as a war machine. Add in all of the message boards propaganda 🤌. It’s beautiful.
One of the things that kind of disturbed me was learning about the lengths of spy craft and sabotage that these corporations would go through to try and come out on top. Honestly though, should anything surprise you with corporations?
I played Star Wars Galaxies for years, and I was absolutely obsessed with that game. To this day, I haven’t had a gaming experience that has come close to highs that I reached in that game. I was part of a guild called Pax Imperius who were Empire-adjacent. We were on a role playing server and engaged in some serious PVP combat. It was so much fun.
Reading about the planned raids brought back so many fun memories of hopping across various planets via spaceports to attack a Rebel guild’s base. The difference being that our raids took a couple of hours while the Eve raids were taking days, weeks, and months! That’s insane to me.
Like I said, the book isn’t perfect, but I had a great time reading it.
May 15, 2017
EVE Online might be the most fascinating game in video game history. Despite its success and incredible achievements it is little-known beyond its dedicated community and intrigued on-lookers. In my life I have perhaps logged a dozen hours in the New Eden galaxy, setting to the video game, but I have been captivated by the stories that have grown out of it community. The author Andrew Groen does a superb job and explaining the history of this video game and its complex politics.
EVE Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Set in a distant galaxy, humanity battles over resources and control of New Eden. The interior/core of the galaxy is a safe zone for players and the outer reachers are completely open to player-player conflicts. This is where the drama of the game takes place. In order to maintain control and maximize the exploitation of systems players must form corporations and alliances to control territory.
As space got filled up and the balance of power between alliances become more skewed conflict was inevitable. I will not go into detail but Groen beautifully recounts the first six years of Eve's history. It feels like any other historical text and does an excellent job balancing between the twinned worlds on in-game events/fiction and the humans behind the moves. The politics of New Eden are fascinating and, to a certain extent, reflect that of the internet. The players and leaders seem brilliant with no small sense of humour.
I have to imagine that this book will be a tad baffling to many. For those with any interest in EVE Online this is a must-read. I think the book has a lot to implicitly say about human relations, politics and conflict.
EVE Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Set in a distant galaxy, humanity battles over resources and control of New Eden. The interior/core of the galaxy is a safe zone for players and the outer reachers are completely open to player-player conflicts. This is where the drama of the game takes place. In order to maintain control and maximize the exploitation of systems players must form corporations and alliances to control territory.
As space got filled up and the balance of power between alliances become more skewed conflict was inevitable. I will not go into detail but Groen beautifully recounts the first six years of Eve's history. It feels like any other historical text and does an excellent job balancing between the twinned worlds on in-game events/fiction and the humans behind the moves. The politics of New Eden are fascinating and, to a certain extent, reflect that of the internet. The players and leaders seem brilliant with no small sense of humour.
I have to imagine that this book will be a tad baffling to many. For those with any interest in EVE Online this is a must-read. I think the book has a lot to implicitly say about human relations, politics and conflict.
October 15, 2017
As someone who enjoyed hear about the crazy stories that come out of the player-driven online multiplayer game 'EVE Online' from a distance (I played for a little while years ago and fell right off the notorious steep learning curve), Empires of EVE offers a look into the early conflicts of the game, starting in 2004-2005 with the launch of the game and lasting until the end of the 'Great War' in 2009.
Most of you read that and said "Dude, you just read a history book based on a video game?" And the answer to that, basically, is yes.
But hear me out. EVE Online is a pretty unique beast of game, where in all tens of thousands of players inhabit the same perpetual virtual world. And in this world are huge coalitions of thousands of players that clash over space and resources, because even the economy of the game is player driven.
Empires of EVE tells the tales of the major conflicts in the early part of the game's life, from the alpha/beta/launch in 2004-2005, to the end of the 'Great War,' which saw thousands of players fighting each other for over a year, in 2009. It is an interesting read, even if it is the history of a fake world.
Most of you read that and said "Dude, you just read a history book based on a video game?" And the answer to that, basically, is yes.
But hear me out. EVE Online is a pretty unique beast of game, where in all tens of thousands of players inhabit the same perpetual virtual world. And in this world are huge coalitions of thousands of players that clash over space and resources, because even the economy of the game is player driven.
Empires of EVE tells the tales of the major conflicts in the early part of the game's life, from the alpha/beta/launch in 2004-2005, to the end of the 'Great War,' which saw thousands of players fighting each other for over a year, in 2009. It is an interesting read, even if it is the history of a fake world.
April 20, 2024
Fascinating book on three levels.
First, I played this game during some of the times he is describing, so I could relate to the details.
Second, what these players did in a video game sound exactly like the actual histories of great empires. I don't say that in a vague sense. I read a lot of history books about these things, from the Plantagenet Kings to the Roman Empire--and this is the same stuff, maybe even more dramatic! From deep undercover spies who betrayed a nation to propaganda and special forces, this is really good storytelling.
Third, this is the future of video gaming. It's not a nerd in a basement by himself. It's the full force of human psychology, with power plays that shaped millions of dollars of gameplay to deep loyalty (see the section on Russian squad that quit their jobs to make sure they didn't let their in game team down), there's much more going on in the social world of gaming that most people realize.
And as a co-founder of a video game company, this world is something I need to know about.
Not sure this book is for everyone to read, but for those who are interested in this space, it's really well done.
First, I played this game during some of the times he is describing, so I could relate to the details.
Second, what these players did in a video game sound exactly like the actual histories of great empires. I don't say that in a vague sense. I read a lot of history books about these things, from the Plantagenet Kings to the Roman Empire--and this is the same stuff, maybe even more dramatic! From deep undercover spies who betrayed a nation to propaganda and special forces, this is really good storytelling.
Third, this is the future of video gaming. It's not a nerd in a basement by himself. It's the full force of human psychology, with power plays that shaped millions of dollars of gameplay to deep loyalty (see the section on Russian squad that quit their jobs to make sure they didn't let their in game team down), there's much more going on in the social world of gaming that most people realize.
And as a co-founder of a video game company, this world is something I need to know about.
Not sure this book is for everyone to read, but for those who are interested in this space, it's really well done.
November 11, 2019
EVE Online has fascinated me from the sidelines. I was able to endure about 20 minutes of it before I grew bored, but I have followed the game from afar ever since. The stories that come out of EVE are unlike anything else in gaming (and perhaps even human history). It's a fascinating and under-covered subject.
I struggle with this book, though. It's a bit clumsily written, but my bigger issue is that the book's ambition (covering the great wars of EVE Online for the first 6 years of the game's existence) is so vast that there is little room left for personalities. Great alliances rise up and bash one another, but there is little drama to it as the factions tend to be faceless and the reasons for wars are typically "because this corporation needed to declare war on someone and this was the best target."
I would have loved a take that was less comprehensive and more focused on smaller stories and individuals. However, this book and the story within are still unlike any other and has offered me the best insight yet on what makes EVE so different than other online worlds.
I struggle with this book, though. It's a bit clumsily written, but my bigger issue is that the book's ambition (covering the great wars of EVE Online for the first 6 years of the game's existence) is so vast that there is little room left for personalities. Great alliances rise up and bash one another, but there is little drama to it as the factions tend to be faceless and the reasons for wars are typically "because this corporation needed to declare war on someone and this was the best target."
I would have loved a take that was less comprehensive and more focused on smaller stories and individuals. However, this book and the story within are still unlike any other and has offered me the best insight yet on what makes EVE so different than other online worlds.
November 5, 2017
EVE Online е нещо като MMORPG с космически кораби в отворен свят, която се оказва супер зарибяваща с истинската си, развивана от реални хора икономика, политика и война в продължение на петнайсетина години вече. Съюзи се създават и разпадат, гилдии и корпорации се изкачват до върха и се сгромолясват, водят се страшни битки... И нищо от това не е скриптирано и подготвено от сценаристите на играта - всяко нещо, което става в нея е резултат от действията и решенията на играчите.
Всичко това е толкова епично и увлича толкова много хора, че Андрю Гроен се е заел напише може би първата историческа книга, базирана на събития в игрален свят - от раждането на първите съюзи и прото-политиката в алфата и бетата на EVE Online, до нейния апогей.
Ако си фен на играта, Empires of Eve: A History of the Great Empires of Eve Online сигурно ще е за теб чисти 5* но даже за мен, който не съм я играл, си е доста интересна.
Всичко това е толкова епично и увлича толкова много хора, че Андрю Гроен се е заел напише може би първата историческа книга, базирана на събития в игрален свят - от раждането на първите съюзи и прото-политиката в алфата и бетата на EVE Online, до нейния апогей.
Ако си фен на играта, Empires of Eve: A History of the Great Empires of Eve Online сигурно ще е за теб чисти 5* но даже за мен, който не съм я играл, си е доста интересна.
February 24, 2019
A book on the diplomatic and militant warfare that occurred from the inception of Eve: Online (2003) to 2009.
I cannot stress how good this book was. The depth and commitment people have to this digital warfare is more than some people have in their entire lives. The events that occurred in Eve: Online during these years cross conventional boundaries and break the fourth wall. From propaganda wars, to espionage, to out-of-game hacking, to literally slandering the in-game developers in order to create a smear campaign on their opponents, I applaud the commitment that these players have had over the years.
The research and the narrative was well-done, but it would be nothing without the unbelievable storyline that the players of Eve: Online created.
Note: The writing was a little inconsistent, but I enjoyed it too much to not give it 5-stars :P
I cannot stress how good this book was. The depth and commitment people have to this digital warfare is more than some people have in their entire lives. The events that occurred in Eve: Online during these years cross conventional boundaries and break the fourth wall. From propaganda wars, to espionage, to out-of-game hacking, to literally slandering the in-game developers in order to create a smear campaign on their opponents, I applaud the commitment that these players have had over the years.
The research and the narrative was well-done, but it would be nothing without the unbelievable storyline that the players of Eve: Online created.
Note: The writing was a little inconsistent, but I enjoyed it too much to not give it 5-stars :P
April 24, 2024
This is the history of the greatest and most interesting multiplayer game ever made. This is honestly more of a sociology study than it is actually about a video game. How do groups of people motivate each other towards a common goal? And what holes can rival players poke in those groups to start an inevitable failure cascade?
I'm not talking about "poking holes" in a group by smack talking in chat. I'm talking about hacking email servers, doxxing leadership, real-life meetups in shady bars to form backdoor alliances, game developers cheating... all resulting in a full-tilt galactic war that has shaped the landscape of the game, even up to today. Many of the player groups that were formed as a result of these conflicts, still control space over a decade later.
And, spoiler alert, they didn't exactly get all cool with each-other since then either.
I'm not talking about "poking holes" in a group by smack talking in chat. I'm talking about hacking email servers, doxxing leadership, real-life meetups in shady bars to form backdoor alliances, game developers cheating... all resulting in a full-tilt galactic war that has shaped the landscape of the game, even up to today. Many of the player groups that were formed as a result of these conflicts, still control space over a decade later.
And, spoiler alert, they didn't exactly get all cool with each-other since then either.
August 30, 2025
The e-book version of this has changed over the years; there are now maps and screenshots provided. I definitely enjoyed it a lot, as there was a lot of effort to get direct interviews from the main characters of the story. You can really feel how invested each character is within this sweeping space-opera. I thought the pacing in the first third of the book was a little hard to follow, but it got better by the halfway point as I got used to the recurring characters. I was really rooting for certain corporations and characters, and it is very cool that you can log in today and still see main characters and corps still flying through space today. I feel like this also really gave a lot of context to the map of the universe (why certain parts of it are desired, famous chokepoints, etc.). This book made me excited to play eve and visit famous landmarks mentioned in the book
October 25, 2016
I adore the book because I play EVE, and this is where the distinction lay. It is a book for EVE players. I don't know if I will enjoy the book if I was not one.
To be fair, the book is well written and the author did a brilliant job in putting the game in the right perspective. It succeeded in putting EVE as the best sandbox game out there. EVE is truly real.
To be specific, it captures one's imagination and then pulls the reader (who is a player) further deep into the game. The outcome a more committed player who is now fired up to make his own narrative in the world of New Eden.
Due to the above, the book was a running success. As such, I will definitely read part 2 of Empires of Eve, if there will be one.
To be fair, the book is well written and the author did a brilliant job in putting the game in the right perspective. It succeeded in putting EVE as the best sandbox game out there. EVE is truly real.
To be specific, it captures one's imagination and then pulls the reader (who is a player) further deep into the game. The outcome a more committed player who is now fired up to make his own narrative in the world of New Eden.
Due to the above, the book was a running success. As such, I will definitely read part 2 of Empires of Eve, if there will be one.
August 23, 2018
I agree with other reviews in that this is a unique, well-researched (or caveat'ed, where necessary) digital history. Groen argues well that the sheer organizational scale and complication of EVE makes it worthy of a full history, and the odd strategies (log-in traps, server crashes, lag exploits) that differentiate EVE from irl military histories are wonderful to consider. That said, I also agree that Empires of Eve needed a better copyedit or a significant revision to make the actual writing of the book enjoyable. For example, the repetition that every new event would "change the face of EVE" ironically undercuts the importance of each, something that more detail or better writing would have prevented.
August 9, 2020
Die vier Sterne sind mehr dafür, dass das Buch existiert, als für Qualität. Es fehlt ein Lektorat und es fehlt Kartenmaterial. Ich verfolge EVE seit vielen Jahren und bin einigermaßen vertraut mit vielem, aber ohne Karten ist es noch verwirrender als sowieso schon, dass alle paar Seiten die Red Death League ein neues Bündnis mit der Supertroll Alliance eingeht und sich in Extragalactic Paralegals umbenennt und so weiter. Außerdem vollkommen unkritischer Umgang mit allen rassistischen, nationalistischen Aspekten des Spiels, die werden nur in ein, zwei Nebensätzen kurz gestreift. Aber es ist mein erstes Buch über Game-Geopolitik, ich bin hinreichend begeistert davon, dass es so etwas überhaupt gibt und würde sehr gern mehr und Besseres aus dem Genre lesen.
March 23, 2018
I've never been able to use harrowing in the description of a book without sounding like a portentous asshole and I find myself here, wondering what other word accurately describes the scholarly work on the events of a video game, but that's the only word that I can use to describe it. When I talk about the events of this book to others I become breathless. As someone who doesn't have the time to play video games much anymore, Andrew has acutely distilled the essence of what I love about hearing about them. Some have said that Andrew needs a copy editor. I don't understand where they are coming from.
January 9, 2020
Recording events that happen in video game communities seems like very difficult work to me, but I'm glad the effort was made here despite the difficulties, because what has been able to be preserved is very good. In particular, the book does a good job of situating EVE as a space heavily constructed by outside forces like nationality, time, developer intentions, and lag. It makes me really eager to read more work in this space, or maybe something that takes a critical lens towards one of these aspects, which is a feeling I think it definitely intends to provoke as a sort of introductory text to a field that doesn't quite exist yet. I hope this book inspires more like it.
July 7, 2021
EVE Online is my favorite video game that I will (probably) never play.
Ever since I heard about the game where large-scale battles are fought all among players and player alliances, and everything is a giant sandbox of space, I was intrigued. All through my relationship with my now spouse, I was always fascinated by his stories about the game, and for the past year, I've been a proud Goonswarm wife as my spouse has been fighting in World War Bee II.
All this to say, I love hearing about virtual space wars and all the related drama, so this was a great book to read to understand the early days of EVE and the Great War. Definitely a niche interest, but an exciting one.
Ever since I heard about the game where large-scale battles are fought all among players and player alliances, and everything is a giant sandbox of space, I was intrigued. All through my relationship with my now spouse, I was always fascinated by his stories about the game, and for the past year, I've been a proud Goonswarm wife as my spouse has been fighting in World War Bee II.
All this to say, I love hearing about virtual space wars and all the related drama, so this was a great book to read to understand the early days of EVE and the Great War. Definitely a niche interest, but an exciting one.
February 5, 2018
Trebuie să fiu sincer și să spun că eram curios să văd cum ar arăta o astfel de carte. N-am jucat jocul, dar știu despre ce e vorba. Am reușit să trec cam prin jumătate de carte și am renunțat pentru că mi-am dat seama că nu mă interesează. Fix pentru această realizare am ales să nu o sancționez în nota dată pe Goodreads. Ce vină are cartea despre Eve Online că pe mine nu mă interesează jocul? Cu toate astea, pot spune că nu e o carte bine scrisă și de asta ar merita 3/5. Dar totuși îi dau 4 pentru că topicul este unul pe gustul meu: cronică de lucruri întâmplate în jocuri.
February 8, 2021
A history book of sorts, charting the first few years of EVE Online: major players, factions, battles, subterfuge, and the like. Featuring interviews, forum posts and propaganda campaigns, Groen builds an engrossing picture of the game world and the various powers within it. It was enjoyable, even for someone like me who has very little knowledge of the game itself. Definitely could have done with another editing pass, since there are quite a few continuity and typographical errors. But Groen succeeds at what he set out to do, and hopefully this will inspire other virtual histories like it.
March 8, 2018
As a long-time Eve Online player who stopped playing, but not stopped thinking about the game, this book was fascinating. It discusses many of the events in the great wars of Eve Online that happened before my time in the game, and does so in an entertaining and informative way. If you are an Eve Online player, or if you are interested in what everyone has been talking about with Eve Online, take a look at this book.
July 13, 2021
Disclaimer: I have never played Eve.
This book was an incredible recount of the first 6 years of Eve Online. From mining to mercenaries, sabotage to skill, and a lot of luck, it accounts for the early corporations, the genius and motivations driving them, and the carnage on the battlefield. A must read for anyone who enjoys the real fantasy worlds of video games, and the people who breathe life into them.
This book was an incredible recount of the first 6 years of Eve Online. From mining to mercenaries, sabotage to skill, and a lot of luck, it accounts for the early corporations, the genius and motivations driving them, and the carnage on the battlefield. A must read for anyone who enjoys the real fantasy worlds of video games, and the people who breathe life into them.
February 2, 2018
Kept my interest throughout, however I did play Eve Online throughout the periods of time described in the book so I'm probably a biased reviewer.
At times it was difficult to keep track of events - the first half of the book seemed more narratively driven vs the second half, which felt more like a documentation of times/events.
7/10 very nice's.
At times it was difficult to keep track of events - the first half of the book seemed more narratively driven vs the second half, which felt more like a documentation of times/events.
7/10 very nice's.
January 28, 2021
Herodotus of Eve.
Andrew Groen is making(writing) history in uncharted space with this excellent book about the world's most unique MMO game to date. If you play EVE Online, I cannot recommend this book enough. Reads like Herodotus in my estimation (which is a good thing in my book.)
Andrew Groen is making(writing) history in uncharted space with this excellent book about the world's most unique MMO game to date. If you play EVE Online, I cannot recommend this book enough. Reads like Herodotus in my estimation (which is a good thing in my book.)
May 28, 2022
This is a fun concept for a book. It's a story with spaceships and giant battles and asteroid mining and a million other scifi tropes but it is all real people. I don't know if I want to read a ton of breathless histories of MMOs like this but the author makes a convincing case that EVE is special.
November 10, 2022
Takes me back to my own glorious days in nullsec
This is one of the best reads I've read in a while. There is not a single page that wasn't interesting, informative and entertaining all at the same time.
Before i was even finished with the first book, i bought the second book and you will too!
This is one of the best reads I've read in a while. There is not a single page that wasn't interesting, informative and entertaining all at the same time.
Before i was even finished with the first book, i bought the second book and you will too!
July 31, 2023
A book about PVP wars in a video game. The topic avoids any amount of silliness that might imply due to the sheer scope of humanity found in the various stories that are told, the numerous last stands, daring raids, and catastrophes, happening for the same reasons they occur in the history of nations. National pride, ego and at times earth shattering stupidity.
January 21, 2024
An okay book based on an absolutely fascinating rabbit hole that has consumed my life lately. I don't want to bash the author too much - imagine if you had to chronicle many years and multiple wars in just a few dozen pages - but I found his writing style to ebb and flow and consistently the wrong time. A cool read nonetheless!
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