Mechanicum

The Horus Heresy #9

by Graham McNeill

As the flames of treachery spread throughout the Imperium, Horus plots to subvert or destroy all those who would stand against him.

On Mars, home world of the Mechanicum priesthood, the great manufactory-cities have long produced much of the weaponry required for the expeditionary fleets across the galaxy - making the world invaluable to whoever controls it in the coming war.

Now, the Warmaster's agents begin to stoke the fires of rebellion, turning the loyalist forges and the mighty Titan Legions against one another. And, with whispers spreading of an ancient terror lurking beneath the Red Planet's surface, the Dark Mechanicum rises...

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, War, Space Opera

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 25, 2008

About the author

Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in surveying to work for Games Workshop as a games designer. He has a strong following with his novels Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar, Dead Sky, Black Sun and Storm of Iron.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of every Horus Heresy novel to date, I think I was looking forward to this more than any. Boy was I setting myself up for a huge disappointment! Rather than the rise of the Dark Mechanicum and a massively draw-out high-tech war (which is after all McNeill's raisen d'etre), we get a plodding story which weaves several seperate strands together to knit an underwhelming whole.

Once again, we get one side told from the perspective of 'normal' humans, something which is overdone by this point in the series and none moreso here as the humans are as dull and unengaging as it gets. There's also the creation of a terrible war machine, a story which has already been told elsewhere and also the perspective of the Titan Legions which really is the only aspect which worked.

The guff about the 'Dragon of Mars' was ridiculous and the final battle is over far too quickly which really is a swizz after being forced to endure such a deathly dull book.

At this point I can honestly say that my enthusiasm for the rest of the series went right down the toilet.

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘This is a great day, my acolytes, remember it always,’ said the Fabricator General. ‘This is the day Mars and her forge worlds cast off the yoke of the Emperor’s tyranny. Unleash your armies and stain the sands of our planet red with blood!’

Review to come.

[Chris Berko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might as well start signing my paychecks over to Black Library because they have been getting all of my spending money.

A much appreciated change of pace in the Heresy saga in terms of story and characters. Hardly any Astartes or space stuff, this one stays grounded on Mars and explains a little of how deep and how far ranging the Emperor's planning goes. I also enjoyed the badass female characters in this story which this series, for the most part, has been lacking. Mechanicum also spends a lot of time with the ginormous Titans and shows what those things are really capable of. This series is also amazing in utilizing the show don't tell approach. I'm sure many of these books could have been summed up in info dumps in other novels but I love how Black Library takes its time and explains every facet of what is going on, jumping all over the place, back and forth in time to paint a full and complete picture. I live for these long sprawling epics and some of my favorite series of all time (Asher's Polity novels and Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen) are huge multi-volume tales that don't skimp on substance nor do they worry about page count. Gimme 50,000 pages to a story, I'm here for that shit!

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Para ser la primera vez que nos acercamos tanto al Adeptus Mechanicus, oportunidad desaprovechada.-

Género. Ciencia ficción.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Mechanicum (publicación original: Mechanicum, 2008), con el revelador subtítulo La guerra estalla en Marte, nos lleva al planeta rojo. Históricamente, al menos desde que el Emperador trajo de vuelta este planeta al imperio, es el principal Mundo Forja que proporciona material bélico a la Gran Cruzada de la humanidad, pero hay varias facciones y grupos con diferentes visiones teológicas, políticas y tecnológicas sobre lo que Marte debería presentar. Un representante de Horus Lupercal, el señor de la guerra, trae las semillas de la ruptura mediante la oferta de cosas irrechazables para algunos fabricadores y maestros de la forja, a cambio de su apoyo en el enfrentamiento civil que se avecina, mientras una joven transcriptora de datos en Terra condenada a muerte por hereje, Dalia Cythera, llega a Marte para que su interpretación inconsciente y práctica de la tecnología pueda ser usada por la adepta Koriel Zeth, tecnosacerdotisa al frente de la forja Ciudad Magma y progresista en cuanto al uso de nuevas tecnologías. Noveno libro de la serie La herejía de Horus.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[Nikola Pavlovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mars je podeljen, snage lojalne imperatoru moraju pasti, ali ne pre no sto ostvare svoje ciljeve i ponove herojstva Leonide i Tanaska Rajica. I povrh svega toga Mars krije jednu veliku tajnu.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books set in the Horus Heresy are consistently superbly written and full of pertinent "historical" background. Mechanicum stays true to this formula.

This book is enlightening in that it shows us the events of the Heresy of Mars. It shows the close ties between the Fabricator-General of Mars and Horus, the Warmaster. It explains how the Chaos corruption spread and we witness the birth of the Dark Mechanicum (and even found out the origin of that name). Also the famed (infamous?) Titan Legion Legio Mortis, now Heretic, makes an appearance.

The war between the adepts is quite different from how the Astartes wage war. It was a very interesting read about a pivotal moment in the Lore. I won't spoil any of this excellent story nor shall I waste any more of your time than to say-this is highly recommended for any Warhammer 40K fan. Especially if you are interested in the Heresy period.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books set in the Horus Heresy are consistently superbly written and full of pertinent "historical" background. Mechanicum stays true to this formula.

This book is enlightening in that it shows us the events of the Heresy of Mars. It shows the close ties between the Fabricator-General of Mars and Horus, the Warmaster. It explains how the Chaos corruption spread and we witness the birth of the Dark Mechanicum (and even found out the origin of that name). Also the famed (infamous?) Titan Legion Legio Mortis, now Heretic, makes an appearance.

The war between the adepts is quite different from how the Astartes wage war. It was a very interesting read about a pivotal moment in the Lore. I won't spoil any of this excellent story nor shall I waste any more of your time than to say-this is highly recommended for any Warhammer 40K fan. Especially if you are interested in the Heresy period.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Book Nine of the Black Library Horus Heresy series, the second novel of the series by Graham McNeill.

Thus far I have read the entire series. The series is overall exceptional; easily the best work but out by Black Library to date. There have been a few small “bumps” along the road. I point to Descent of Angels as the low point of the series as far as catching and holding my attention as well as staying true to the feel of the other books.

My favorites of the series so far are Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow and Legion by Dan Abnett. My reasons? The former is a standalone that neatly dove-tails in to the previous novels: the latter is a standalone that really challenged my own personal bias (I’ve always loathed the Alpha Legion).

So what about Mechanicum?

Mechanicum is another standalone novel that tells another piece of the massive story of the Horus Heresy. Honestly, I put off reading this one a bit because I’m not really interested in the Mechanicum or Titan Legions per se.

Boy was I wrong.

Mechanicum is an excellent book.

First of all, McNeill does a fine job of telling a story that sucks you in, but is somewhat ambiguous as far as where he’s going with it. The characters are all interesting and have depth far beyond that of most game fiction…and you really have no idea what those characters motivations are. You start liking the character, but also wonder which “side” they’ll be on. Ultimately in the Horus Heresy, there are only two sides to the conflict: Loyalists bound to the Emperor, and Traitors bound to Horus the Warmaster.

Having read all the previous novels, and being extremely familiar with the material presented, I know what happens to those who defy the Emperor (or the Warmaster for that matter) and get captured. Not pretty at all.

Anyhow, back to the point: you really get hooked by the characters and you fear for them because you know what is coming to a certain degree.

My personal favorites were Dalia, Rho-Mu 31 and the Knights of Taranis.

The Plot Thickens:

So as we know the Adeptus Mechanicum has been double-dealing with the Imperium, favoring Horus the Warmaster in his supply-train and functionally shorting the Loyalists. This is coming to a head in the novel: Loyalist Legions are hammering repeated requests for supplies and those within the Mechanicum still loyal to the treaty between the Mechanicum and the Imperium are noticing the divide growing. Factionalism is plaguing the Mechanicum and everyone can feel the pressure rising.

The balloon goes up. Needless to say, the expected conflict happens, and on a level you could never expect. This is the backdrop of the novel. The core of it revolves around an extremely talented copyist who is identified by one of the main movers and shakers on Mars. Without giving too much away, she is special and she delves in to a mystery that will tie in to one of the great unknowns of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

There ARE Astartes in the story, but they are largely a very short sideshow to what is going on. So many neat secrets I want to spoil for you…but that wouldn’t give the novel justice: it really needs to be read page by page, tasted and savored.

Graham McNeill does his usual great job in grabbing the reader early on and hanging on to you till the very end. At 416 pages it’s typical size for the rest of the series. I read it in a couple long nights; my wife with her sleep-mask on ignoring my occasional snerks, giggles and exclamations while reading.

I think my only complaint is that it gets a little confusing as far as which (Titan) crew is which. That is a small matter though as there is thankfully a Cast of Characters at the beginning as well as a map of Mars. I personally hate flipping back and forth, but this is an epic series, so a large cast is understandable.

Considering I started out not giving a hoot about Titans or the Mechanicum, Graham McNeill again turned me around in my tracks and got my blood pumping while reading about the crews of Titans, how they work, what the Princeps feels. You can almost smell the burning promethium and lava, taste the ozone from arcing plasma coils and burning flesh. It’s that vivid! I have a far greater understanding of the role Titans and their Legions play in the grand scheme of the Warhammer 40,000 universe as well as The Mechanicum and how it is tied to The Imperium.

Overall Mechanicum is an awesome story that easily sits alongside the rest of the series as well as stands on its own as a solid good read! Graham McNeill comes through again as a top notch author and a pillar of the Black Library.

[Kym Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another mildly enjoyable addition to the Horus Heresy series, which - though I think Pulp-Sci-Fi fiction (including Games Workshop, Star Wars, &c.) has a place - makes too many missteps which can't just be excused by the fact that these books are not meant to be fine literature. I also wonder what the non-initiated would make of this book - I think it would be incomprehensible.

Once again, there was no need to tell this story from the point of view of some lowly humans, it would have been better to tell it from the main players. At least this book did actually go into some detail about the Fabricator-General's reasons for his defections to Horus; but this needed to be explored in more detail. Why would he - on purpose - destroy so much of the accumulated knowledge of Mars, rather than, oh I don't know, steal it perhaps?

The addition of the background as to how the Mechanicum came to be aligned with the Emperor, and the tensions that has created, were interesting and I wanted to know more. Instead there was a nonsensical journey to the centre of the planet by a bunch of uninteresting characters. Perhaps the reasons for this will become clear in future books, but it didn't make for a great read now.

The Titan Legions were interesting and well portrayed, but again I would have liked more of this, and more and better descriptions of (the tactics and strategy in particular) of Titan combat.

Overall I would not recommend this book unless you, like me, have devoted far too much of your life to Warhammer 40,000 to turn back now.

[Veronica Anrathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a while to finish, which probably means that it was not the most entertaining piece of HH literature for my taste. Was not bad though, but not spectacular enough to give 4 or 5 stars. Part of this is probably because Adeptus Mechanicus is not my ultimate favorite thing about the universe, even though i do appreciate them. Been thinking of drawing Koriel Zeth, if I ever find time.

[Simon Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘You mean we created… something… new?’ gasped Mellicin. ‘Precisely,’ agreed Zeth. ‘And that is not something to be taken lightly.'

The Martian Mechanicum. Bit of a weird bunch, with their distaste for the confines of flesh, worship of the Omnissiah, and a desire to lubricate via prayer the machine spirits that dwell within your electric toothbrush. A fun group of electrical appliances they are.

In service of a higher plotline

‘We can do nothing for them!’ shouted Sigismund. ‘They must stand or fall on their own.’

The Horus Heresy is a series running to about 50 odd books, with a successor series running at full steam. To varying extents each book serves the overarching plot. The first three books were the keystone, whereas Legion, Fulgrim and Descent of Angels are character studies that refer back to the main plot (barely for the last one).  Battle for the Abyss is a self contained action piece with wider implications bolted on.

Mechanicum is a bit disjointed. It is a story in itself that impacts the narrative. It is a good story. I like it when the Titans "walk".  I like the intercine politics. Unfortunately, McNeill seems to be awfully keen to make it clear there's a bigger story happening, and that we should care about that more than what's right in front of us. The intervention of the Imperial Fists is absolutely crucial... ...for a battle that's a few dozen books away.  It's really important to hand over custody of the "Dragon of Mars" by the climax of the book because... ...that "dragon" will absolutely nothing to do with the climax but is probably going to be useful down the line. Good on McNeill for fleshing out a reference he found in the lore about an A.I. controlled robot... ...which even its own controllers seemed dimly aware of and therefore had minimal impact on the actions of those characters.

Mechanicum is so desperate to form part of the connective tissue of the Horus Heresy that it barely distinguishes itself as a separate story.

Let's hear it for the girls

'You are a disgrace to the Mechanicum, Zeth!’'
'Your assassin destroys the mind of my apprenta and then murders one of my acolytes, and you dare call me a disgrace to the Mechanicum?’ snarled Zeth. She consulted her internal chronometer and said, ‘Four minutes and forty seconds, Melgator. I suggest you get moving.’

Warhammer 40K books often seem to save themselves from their weak plotlines via characterisation, and I think Mechanicum (just) manages it here, because it does so in a novel way for the series.

I wrote about Fulgrim:

I would offer McNeill this advice: Write every character as a male, then roll some dice to work out who’s pronouns you will swap in the final version.

...well someone must have told him the same thing circa 2008, because that is exactly what it feels like he did with Mechanicum.  There are two women in leading roles along with almost the same number of female supporting characters as males. I'll concede that there are some female specific elements, and occasionally I did cringe, but there weren't many situations, and the relevant scenes could be modified very easily to be as though solely males were involved.

That's a good thing.

There are unquestionably stories that differ from a female perspective than a male one and it is worth being able to make that distinction. However, the Warhammer 40K universe leans really really heavily on characters having outsized virtues or vices to convey wider points.  Honour, Loyalty, Betrayal, Zealotry, Charisma, etc.

There's no reason for any of these characteristics to be male specific. Yet we've had a long, long run in the Horus Heresy of these characteristics being attached to males. The women so far have been pretty so-so, with weak control of the narrative and occasionally falling into parody - I targeted McNeill over Fulgrim, but Abnett's Legion had similar problems.

In Mechanicum Dalia and Zeth are talented, creative, strategising and driven female characters. They could have easily been male and just as good. That is what I like about them. It shows that gender isn't a critical component of what makes those characters good. It makes it believable within the Warhammer 40K universe that a woman can achieve exactly the same things as a man, and have the same personality traits.

It isn't how you should always write characters but, in what is essentially a fantasy setting, there's no need to be straitjacketed by the idea that the major players need to be male because males do the fighting. I feel McNeill toned down some of the "feminine" aspects of his earlier stories, and wrote better female characters as a result. It makes Mechanicum an interesting aside in the series.

For completeness, there is a subplot (and a sub subplot) about the melding of man and machine, and to what extent one retains their humanity.  Look, it's fine, I liked it, but I think it's a less interesting point within the universe overall, and is explored plenty of times elsewhere, particularly the dark side of it.

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

It never rained on Mars...

This was perhaps one of my favorite lines in this series of novels. I don't quite know why, but it evokes so much in my imagination.

I must find myself retracting something I said in my other review of "Battle for the Abyss" in which I lambasted modern-day science fiction which restricts itself to a single planet, as nearly the entirety of this novel takes place on Mars - and I loved it! One, I have a soft spot for Mars (i.e., Mars will never be free until the sands run red with Earther blood!), and two, it was very well written.

It also seems that the ambiguity of the Imperium being in a state of Civil War has finally been resolved - as in, yes, yes it is. "The Flight of the Eisenstein" - which seemed to be the most "current" up to this point - conveyed a sort of disbelief about Horus' intentions from the Emperor's proxies...which I find hard to believe knowing the Emperor...

Although, do we know the Emperor? He's pretty absent from these novels for being the Emperor and all.

If I have one criticism, it's during the fights between the Titans. There are so many Titan names and Character names that I couldn't really keep any one of them straight outside of the main two or three, thus during their climactic battles, I wasn't quite sure when it was going one way or the other or if I should be happy or sad about someone losing...

Well, either way - read this book! It's awesome!

[Sarah Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, likable characters. (Possibly the first time I liked the normal humans in a story.)
Up to this point what I have read about adepts etc. Makes them all out as terrible not interesting characters. This showed their true colors :P
I'd recommend it to any heresy fan. The ending left me smacking my head, and added some interesting ideas for my fan fiction :D

[Arnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cilvēces Imperatora līdz šim divsimts Krusta kara gājiena gados, kuros atgūts tik daudz Old Night jeb Age of Strife piectūktošgadē zaudētais, bet uzticamākā līdera Horusa Lupercal nodevība, viņa krišana kā varaskāres grēkā, tā visticamāk krišana warp un Haosa spēku varā, maksās neskaitāmiem miljoniem vai pat miljardiem to dzīvības un nu iekš Mechanicum grāmatas sasniedz arī tuvāko Zemes jeb Terra kaimiņu Marsu.

https://poseidons99.com/2024/08/10/gr...

[RatGrrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

March 2024 Re-Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus IX Omnissiah I Death of Innocence (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.

Additional: I have finished this Omnibus now and hooley dooley does it make this look a lot better, though McNeill truly shines in The Lightning Hall eShort that continues the thread about the Knights of House Tempestus, which is a short and sweet absolute banger from a plotline in this that started strong, but ended up kinda weak.

I don't really know what to add to my initial comments. I definitely enjoyed this a lot and seriously considered giving it full marks, but the gang working on Zeph's device, beyond the protagonist, are really rather bland and what details we do get, kinda go in some cultural perspective places of some white guys writing and voicing people of colour in ways I didn't find particularly comfortable, but I am a clueless white gal myself.

I think this is a masterwork of wrangling and detail if not of a most perfect story, which is similar to my feelings about Know No Fear by Dan Abnett, though that is wrangled even better with a more satisfying narrative, and I didn't give that full marks.

The Mechanicumness and the history, aesthetics, and vibes of Mars are done really well, as is the whole subplot that gets into some big reveals and epic mythological stuff, which I'm all about, especially as McNeill is one of those authors who can make the reveals parts of the story, rather than just being the story, which is always better.

There's not loads of creepyness from McNeill, which I love to see. He does make Zeph a big titty anime lady...Mechanicus Magos because of course he did. Look, I am a ratlady who appreciates all the various forms and parts and support people following their bliss and all that, it's just weird when guys make it weird and male gazey, which, along with some very strange and problematic views on sex and gender in other books, always makes me a bit wary of McNeill.

Anyways, good book is good. It's just not quite as tight and consistent as it could be and it is a little weird for the wrong reasons in a couple of places. But most of all it's good.

***

Proper review to come, but this is another book I have violently vacillated on over the years and I'm currently at really actually liking it very much and being seriously impressed with nearly everything McNeill is putting down.

This would have been full marks if not for some real uncomfortable feeling cultural stuff from the team with references to real world places and compounded by the direction and choices made in the narration by the otherwise wonderful Toby Longworth.

Also, so much is well timed and paced, except the end (and the thread that leads there, which is fine), which feels like it's absolutely going through the motions and falls extra flat after the incredible revelations that feel like they should really be the ending and the necessary kerfuffle more of an overview epilogue thing.

Regardless, still bloody good!

Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 17.41 Horus Heresy novels, 9 novellas, 43 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 8 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue

[Edwin Piston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó la sociedad pintada en Marte, la sociedad altamente cientifica y que mantiene toda su cultura al rededor del "hombre-maquina".

[Garrac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sí, efectivamente, tercer libro que me releo en un día. Estoy en racha joder

[Володимир Кузнєцов · Rating 2 out of 5]

Посередня книга в кращому випадку - попри яскравий епізод Єресі та екзотичний сетінг (громадянська війна Адептус Механікус Марса), усе це майже відсутнє в книзі. За великим рахунком, 3/4 тут - це довга-довга передмова, і лише в останній чверті нарешті починається основна дія - яка, утім, завершується, фактично обрізана.

[Francesc Gascó-Lluna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un cambio que le sienta bien a la saga, centrándose en el Mechanicum. Eso sí, hay tramas que me han resultado más interesantes que otras.

[Jean-Luc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knights and Titans and Skitarii and Ordinatus, oh my! The many worlds of the Imperium feel similar, because they're all governed by the Administratum. Mars is different: It feels almost as alien as any xenos homeworld. This is the first and last look we get of Mars at its zenith, before everything goes so very, very wrong.

Dalia Cythera was busy at work when she was struck by a strange idea: "Maybe I can improve this?" She is immediately accused of heresy and sentenced to be executed. Adept Koriel Zeth intercepts Cythera, and takes her under her wing. In her forge underneath Magma City, Zeth gathers her own band of nerds. Their goal: build the Akashic Reader. With it, Zeth will gain the ability to know everything.

What the loyalists cannot know at the start of the book is that they are, in fact, loyalists. Fabricator General Kelbor-Hal made a deal with Warmaster Horus: Mars would rebel against The Emperor in exchange for the STC owned by the Aurelian Technocracy. In Battle for the Abyss, we see Kelbor-Hal making good on one part of his pledge. And now, anyone who won't side with the Warmaster is standing in the Warmaster's way. It's time for them to go. What's shocking is how open and honest the discussion is. "Who should we side with, Horus or The Emperor?" "Wait, why are we picking sides?"

While all this is going on, no one thinks to warn the Imperium, no one thinks to ask for help from Battlefleet Solar. "Orgy of war" is a cliche, but the speed at which Mars falls apart is terrifying. Many secrets were revealed, just in time for them to be lost forever.

This was such a great book! I was happy to learn the author picked this phase of the Horus Heresy because he wanted an opportunity to write a female lead. Will we ever see her again? As with so much in the grim darkness of the far future, who can say.

[Carol Zafiriadi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my God, what a disappointment. I had high hopes for a book that describes the Schism of Mars, especially one written by McNeill. I had high hopes for it especially since I am extremely interested in the Adeptus Mechanicus. Lo and behold, I got bamboozled.

I forced myself to finish it and have good text comprehension. I felt like giving up when I reached around 60% of it simply because they had to force-feed us another useless human female character. Don't get me wrong, men and women are equally useless when placed next to everything else Warhammer-related, but God, this Dalia gal made the book feel like a young adult novel about a teenage girlie discovering her inner powers.

And even with her 'newly' discovered totally unimpressive skills, the overall plot feels bitter, empty, and lacks any depth. So much for a novel that is supposed to describe one of the most important parts of the 40K universe.

For what it matters, it's less mediocre than The Outcast Dead I'm currently reading...

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked all the heresy novels so far but this I really really struggled with. It's convoluted, slow, and characters you don't really care about. It's not poorly written by any means, it's just really really boring. The titan legions leave you constantly guessing who's who. There just isn't enough happening. A big ol thumbs down. From the same guy who gave us fulgrim I was expecting so much more. Disappointing.

[Christopher Corbaley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had so much potential but it was not a great book at all. I struggled to get through this book I almost DNF this book like 15 times. It's the story of the start of the Dark Mechanicum. Instead of a great war book or how the society broke down instead seemed pointless plots that maybe payoff later but were boring at the time.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of mindless Horus Heresy fun.

[Mihai Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second best Warhammer book I read and a solid 5 stars for a Warhammer novel. Unfortunately, there are a lot of background information that are assumed to be known by the reader from the Warhammer universe, that I couldn't recommend the book to someone unfamiliar at least with some 40k elements.

[Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn I love the Mechanicum! The ending of this book was perfect!

[Ethan Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly one of the few books truly focusing on the Mechanicum and later Adeptus Mechanicus from Graham McNeil, but this alongside the Forges of Mars Omnibus cemented the Mechanical Martians as my favourite faction out of all of Warhammer 40,000.

[Bart Landman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent shit

[Albert Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

La herejía llega a Marte. Reviviendo las viejas disputas del planeta. Un libro que sirve como introducción a la historia del Mechanicum y a las dinastías de los caballeros. Tiene momentos muy buenos, pero creo que es irregular. La traducción es lamentable. Ideal para los fans

[Echo40K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mechanicum by Graham McNeill is an interesting book which has some importance to the general plot but overall strays from it too much.

ill split my review into 4 part characters, action, story and writing

1) Characters - Overall the characters of this book are able to carry their weigh through the story but it's a shame that the focus falls upon characters that are mostly peripheral to the Mechanicum, there isn't much character development in the book and most of the characters are 1 dimensional, no effort is made to make the heretics sympathetic, however they are not as bad as the word bearers in battle for the abyss.

2) Action - The book overall is a bit lacking in action scenes which is a bit surprising for a 40k book, and when combat finally does happen it's hardly satisfying, the descriptions of the battle are hard to follow and boil down to differently named weapons doing basically the same thing, as someone who started off his journey with 40k with the HH books, the titan battles which I thought would be incredible were very disappointing.

3) Story - the story of the book is generally relevant to the over all plot of the HH as it describes to fall of the Mechnicum, sadly unlike other books which tell an interesting story of how the fall happened, Fulgrim getting corrupted by the sword for example, in this book we are mostly just told "these are the bad guys", the story is constructed out of 4 different plot lines that then combine into two, however the two plotlines have a completely separate ending, one of the plot lines mainly focuses on the titan legios while other gives us a glimpse of what it's like to be part of the Mechanicum.

4)Writing - Personally I am not a fan of Graham's writing style, he's vocabulary is very limited and he seems to focus on describing the wrong thing, he's not very friendly to people outside of the Warhammer community, as he never bothered to describe say what's the difference in between the types of titans other then their size.

Overall Mechanicums plot is signficant to the overall story of HH but the important parts are so sparse in the book that reading a summary of the book is probably preferable, especially if you don't like Grahams writing, it also does a pretty poor job of introducing the Mechanicum and dark Mechanicum factions which could have been the books saving grace, instead it focuses and the titan legios and some other unclear plot line