Mechanicum: The Horus Heresy, Book 9

Very dramatic and interesting telling of a major event within the Horus Heresy. It's a shame that this is basically the one and only book we get regarding Mars during the Heresy's events, and after having read the entire series, I am sorry to say that certain intrigues the books leaves open at the end are neglected by the authors going forward, unless they plan to continue them later in 40k books. Still, a really good read and there's a little bit of everything that's good about the series in here.

Starts off a little more slowly than some previous Horus Heresy novels, but the slow burn is a setup for epic confrontations, hope-shattering loss and death, with all the imagination and vision of the Black Library at work behind the scenes as a mad director.

"The problem however, is that this storyline has little to do with the Heresy itself, and whilst it is interesting to see this past, it really adds nothing to the Heresy storyline itself. "I contend the storyline has everything to do with the Heresy itself, it is a foundation story of the Horus Heresy series for the following reasons:- Mars Fabricator General aligns with Horus, what F.G. gets in return, how this impacts then entire Heresy storyline- Rise of the Dark Mechanicum- Civil War on Mars between forces aligned with Terra and those aligned with F.G. and Horus- Foreshadowing of events re:Imperial Fists and Dorn- Spread of Scrapcode, corruption, and losses of Imperial loyal assetsI'll admit a lot of the events gain greater clarity and importance after reading Titanicus, but still, Mechanicum is a very good book. This really helps the reader to understand why Horus was able to consolidate his logistical power base, without which he would have faced an adversary with forges supplying weapons, ammo, all the Astartes equipment - all under some level of implicit or explicit Terran control.Prior to this, that seems very improbable given the proximity of Mars to Terra, and the influence of the then-intact Emperor on the origins of the Mechanicum that Horus would have been able to continue to prosecute a civil war. He would be limited to the stocks of munitions and supplies on hand with the Emperor's forces having a large ready resupply right next door. It's not so much about what Horus gets going forward, it's about what the Imperium doesn't get at a critical juncture in the progress of the Horus Heresy.And sadly, it really starts to explain how the 41st millenium techpriests became techno-religious morons spouting liturgical nonsense just to change a light bulb. Superstition and ignorance replace knowledge, and "knowledge is power". This book gives some great insight into what happened to some of that knowledge. When I first read a short story in I believe "Let the Galaxy Burn" I couldn't believe how ignorant the "experts" were of their own technology, wasting valuable time in an emergency making sure their prayers to the Machine God were in order before they flip a switch. Rote text and memorization replaces understanding of technology, now I can see part of why that happens.It also rescues Graham McNeill from my "what happened to this guy's writing?" list. I had low expectations after suffering through the "Battle for the Abyss", a book I would have put down for good halfway through if not for its inclusion in the Heresy series.

I was leary of starting this book as I did not possess much interest in the Adeptus Mechanicus. What I thought would be a slog turned out to be a blazing page turner. Seeing how vulnerable the Adepts of Mars are to the influence of Chaos was another highlight. This book is one of my new favorites in the Horus Heresy.

Super good book, but the character Dahlia was so annoying and cringe in everything she did it made me absolutely despise her. Every scene with her in it was a slog to get through. Everything else was super bad ass, including all the Cult lore and secrets 😎

yet another pivotal entry in the Horus Heresy series as this one utterly explains the Imperium’s “current” (40k) perspective of technology. a bit dense as the first forays into relatively unexplored subject matter go, it is as much a historical record as it is a story about robots smacking each other around.

This book adds a lot more depth to the Horus Heresy that didn't exist before it. Before this book, the story of the Horus Heresy was essentially about space marine legions who were disgruntled and their primarchs not being able to work through their metaphoric daddy issues. This book shows how fragile the imperium was from the get go and the fragility of alliance between the Mechanicum and Imperium.

Awesome! Good lore & details.Could had a better action and stuff, but its ok.

Buena libro

Come dice l'autore stesso, i mechanicum sono sempre stati rappresentati in chiave antagonista prima della revisione del loro esercito e dell'uscita di Skitarius.Questo libro mi ha fatto capire quanto un tecno-prete, per quanto modificato, provi comunque:ambizione, umorismo e terrore.Consiglio di leggere i capitoli dopo l'inizio delle ostilità su marte con l'accompagnamento di Metallic Monks, una colonna sonora di Fallout.Aiuta ad immergersi nel clima rappresentato in quelle pagine.

Bien que non indispensable à la compréhension globale de l'HH, ce livre est magnifiquement écrit et développe un pan jusque là inconnu. Je recommande donc !

Mars is a world made up of massive forges that manufacture the weapons, armour and supplies for the Imperium's vast legions of troops so who ever controls it gains a massive advantage in the Horus Heresy. We have vast battles between men on the group and the large titan walker's as the fight for Mars begins. We get a good insight into how the men operate the Titans and what it is like living and working on Mars. This is also the first Horus Heresy novel to have a map in this case a map of the settlements and forges on Mars. Everything you have come to expect from the Horus Heresy series is present here. Great writhing and descriptions, interesting characters and plots, large scale battles and references and hints to events that have transpired in other novels in the series. Overall another great entry in the series.