Eve Online's most famous player wants to novelise its most famous war
Has "all the ingredients of blockbuster fiction".
There are many novels written about video games (I own a few) but few like The Fountain War project that's raising money on Kickstarter right now. Whereas other books are stories imagined by game companies, this book will be about actual player events in Eve Online - sci-fi non-fiction.
It won't be a stale historical regurgitation but rather a proper storied tale woven by acclaimed military fiction (and sci-fi) author Jeff Edwards, who spent many years in the US Navy understanding things presumably not a million miles away from fleet warfare in Eve Online.
"The Fountain War has got everything an author could possibly want," he wrote on themittani.com. "It's loaded with action, espionage, greed, badass technology, betrayal, dirty politics, massive battles, acts of extraordinary heroism, and occasional moments of abject failure. It's got drama, comedy, irony, and all the other ingredients of blockbuster fiction.
"It's a long-standing military axiom that winning a battle is as much about preparation as it is about fighting. I believe that the same holds true for writing a novel. I've been preparing for this one since I was eight years old."
There's a sneak preview of Edwards' work further down The Fountain War project Kickstarter page.
The Fountain War began summer 2013 when the game's two biggest powers - TEST and CFC - duked it out in the area of space known as Fountain. It was a war that would involve all the major powers of unpoliced Eve Online space, and culminated in one of the largest battles Eve Online ever saw (not the iconic Bloodbath of B-R5RB).
The book project is helmed by The Mittani Media, the media company set up by Alexander Gianturco AKA The Mittani - Eve Online's most influential player. The game's developer, CCP, is also collaborating on the project, which is looking for $150,000. Currently it's at $15,000, but the campaign has only just begun. Time's up 7th December.
Eve Online is a remarkable and fascinating online universe of incredibly organised, warring player factions. I spent a long time looking into it and wrote a big old piece earlier this year.