Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
‘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 [b:Legion|1678745|Legion (The Horus Heresy #7)|Dan Abnett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1280756821l/1678745._SY75_.jpg|1673863], [b:Fulgrim|957931|Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy #5)|Graham McNeill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403985069l/957931._SY75_.jpg|942841] and [b:Descent of Angels|768929|Descent of Angels (The Horus Heresy #6)|Mitchel Scanlon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332438082l/768929._SY75_.jpg|754989] are character studies that refer back to the main plot (barely for the last one). [b:Battle for the Abyss|2322177|Battle for the Abyss (The Horus Heresy #8)|Ben Counter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348356160l/2322177._SY75_.jpg|2328701] 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 [b:Fulgrim|957931|Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy #5)|Graham McNeill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403985069l/957931._SY75_.jpg|942841]:
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 [b:Fulgrim|957931|Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy #5)|Graham McNeill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403985069l/957931._SY75_.jpg|942841], but Abnett's [b:Legion|1678745|Legion (The Horus Heresy #7)|Dan Abnett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1280756821l/1678745._SY75_.jpg|1673863] 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.
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 [b:Legion|1678745|Legion (The Horus Heresy #7)|Dan Abnett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1280756821l/1678745._SY75_.jpg|1673863], [b:Fulgrim|957931|Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy #5)|Graham McNeill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403985069l/957931._SY75_.jpg|942841] and [b:Descent of Angels|768929|Descent of Angels (The Horus Heresy #6)|Mitchel Scanlon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332438082l/768929._SY75_.jpg|754989] are character studies that refer back to the main plot (barely for the last one). [b:Battle for the Abyss|2322177|Battle for the Abyss (The Horus Heresy #8)|Ben Counter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348356160l/2322177._SY75_.jpg|2328701] 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 [b:Fulgrim|957931|Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy #5)|Graham McNeill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403985069l/957931._SY75_.jpg|942841]:
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 [b:Fulgrim|957931|Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy #5)|Graham McNeill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403985069l/957931._SY75_.jpg|942841], but Abnett's [b:Legion|1678745|Legion (The Horus Heresy #7)|Dan Abnett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1280756821l/1678745._SY75_.jpg|1673863] 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.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is the start of the Horu Heresy on Mars. It is quite interesting and tense. However, I felt the part of the Void Dragon a bit inconclusive. Great book to read, though!
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There’s some fun fight scenes and set pieces, and as someone who’s experience with Warhammer is limited to just the Horus Heresy books I’ve read I really appreciated how weird and different Mars was from anything else I’ve come across in this series. Unfortunately the story itself was in one ear and out the other, and the characters were completely forgettable. Kind of need an engaging plot and memorable, relatable characters for a story to work so it’s hard to call this a good book. It Is however, my third Graham McNeill book and the best of the three despite my criticisms and two star rating. When the bar is this low even the faintest praise can go a long way, I guess.
Our first look at Mars and the inner workings of of the Mechanicum let's us look at part of Horus's plan for revolution. In a twist we get a glimpse at the power of the Emperor. A great book in the Horus Heresy run.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes