Dominion Genesis - Jonathan D Beer

[cheywood]

In a year largely devoid of great books (and especially devoid of great prose) the first few chapters of this have been a wonderful surprise. I enjoyed The King of the Spoil, but Dominion Genesis feels like a clear level up in terms of writing quality. The first chapters already contain some fantastic Mechanicus pov writing that doesn’t feel soggy with

overwrought jargon. Will update as I get further in.

[Taliesin]

Agreed. Also got my copy and enjoyed the starting chapters.

[theSpirea]

Enjoying as well

[Bung]

I enjoyed that Book, especially showing some inside Mechanicus interaction.

Its well written and i probably buy more from that author.

[grailkeeper]

It's quite well written. I'm about 30% through. 

 

Is one of the characters names a reference to Rambo?

[grailkeeper]

Just finished it. The author sure likes to play with all the toys. Most 40k books just have two factions. Nearly everyone appears in this one. I like it.

 

 

[darkhorse0607]

Would you folks say it's safe for someone new to the Adeptus Mechanicus? Or is there an better intro point, I'm looking to dip my toes into the faction

[LemartesTheLost]

6 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Would you folks say it's safe for someone new to the Adeptus Mechanicus? Or is there an better intro point, I'm looking to dip my toes into the faction

 

Haven't finished this yet but I would probably recommend the Forges of Mars trilogy by McNeill over anything else purely Ad Mech that I've read so far. It's an absolute rollercoaster with a good amount of horror and just classic fun Pre-Rift 40k. The whole omnibus is still up on the GW webstore/EBay for 25 USD if you want a physical copy!

[darkhorse0607]

Thanks!

 

Not trying to derail the thread too much, I had heard about the Forges of Mars books just didn't know if this would be a good one-off

 

Ill check them out

[Bung]

2 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Would you folks say it's safe for someone new to the Adeptus Mechanicus? Or is there an better intro point, I'm looking to dip my toes into the faction

 

Its safe if you have Basic Lore knowledge and want to know more of the inner workings of the Faction but the Mars trilogy is more pure Mechanicum.

[wecanhaveallthree]

I had this thread open earlier today to say exactly what Lemartes did (but forgot about it, as is my wont). McNeill's Mars trilogy runs the full spectrum of Mechanicus characters and ideas on top of just being a fantastic, stand-alone set of books. 

[grailkeeper]

I would say it is a good entry point 

[LemartesTheLost]

Okay, I really loved this book... until the last fifty or so pages. The ending possesses some very cool moments in snapshots, but it felt like Beer either wasn't given the requisite pages for a strong conclusion, or Kyme and Co. at editorial fell asleep at the wheel. There are so many abundant missteps condensed into 45 pages I'm just baffled. I should note, the last chapter/epilogue was quite good, but the several beforehand just left me scratching my head. Perhaps I missed something (maybe two somethings!), I don't know, but this was a rough ending for an otherwise excellent novel. 

 

My brain is addled from a hectic week, so I won't go into the land of spoilers, but don't be surprised if you see an edit here from me in the next day or two for more clarification.

 

I was ready to give this one a 9/10 but I've soured on it considerably. Maybe a reread will clarify some details/plot choices for me but as it stands this gets a 6.5/10 until I feel inclined to give it another shot.

 

[Matcap86]

10 hours ago, LemartestheLost said:

Okay, I really loved this book... until the last fifty or so pages. The ending possesses some very cool moments in snapshots, but it felt like Beer either wasn't given the requisite pages for a strong conclusion, or Kyme and Co. at editorial fell asleep at the wheel. There are so many abundant missteps condensed into 45 pages I'm just baffled. I should note, the last chapter/epilogue was quite good, but the several beforehand just left me scratching my head. Perhaps I missed something (maybe two somethings!), I don't know, but this was a rough ending for an otherwise excellent novel. 

 

My brain is addled from a hectic week, so I won't go into the land of spoilers, but don't be surprised if you see an edit here from me in the next day or two for more clarification.

 

I was ready to give this one a 9/10 but I've soured on it considerably. Maybe a reread will clarify some details/plot choices for me but as it stands this gets a 6.5/10 until I feel inclined to give it another shot.

 

 

Also just finished this and 100% agree. Book feels like it was actually a two parter and the last 20% needed to cram the second book in some 40-50 pages. Resulting in some very lacklustre payoff for a brilliant setup. 

Edited November 16, 2024 by Matcap86

[cheywood]

Finished this up yesterday. I agree with everyone saying the ending felt rushed, but it still read better than most all of what BL’s published this year. I really enjoyed having a character-centric look at the mechanicus. Too often it’s all techno-babble and ideological conformity.
 

8/10, 3rd favorite book of the year so far (behind TEATD 3 and Lords of Excess).

Edited November 26, 2024 by cheywood

[Marshal Rohr]

Before I spend Christmas money on this book does it contain lots of information about Gryphonne? Specifically does it have information and world building the way ADB/Wraight do it, ie can be used to build out your army in a more detailed way or is everything just a copy paste job of model lore and Martian culture. 

Edited December 26, 2024 by Marshal Rohr

[LemartesTheLost]

8 hours ago, Marshal Rohr said:

Before I spend Christmas money on this book does it contain lots of information about Gryphonne? Specifically does it have information and world building the way ADB/Wraight do it, ie can be used to build out your army in a more detailed way or is everything just a copy paste job of model lore and Martian culture. 

I would say no. Gryphonne IV doesn’t really feature at all except for the prologue where everything is getting nom’d by Nids. Most fleshing out that does happen doesn’t involve any named models and is more a view into the mental state of the surviving Mechanicus. Just my two cents but I’m sure some fraters might disagree.

[Marshal Rohr]

13 minutes ago, LemartestheLost said:

I would say no. Gryphonne IV doesn’t really feature at all except for the prologue where everything is getting nom’d by Nids. Most fleshing out that does happen doesn’t involve any named models and is more a view into the mental state of the surviving Mechanicus. Just my two cents but I’m sure some fraters might disagree.

I figured as much, but in that beginning part did it have any place names, cities, descriptions of Gryphonne 1 through 8, etc?

[Roomsky]

DemiNeon Genesis Evangelion

 

Resurrecting this thread because the paperback's now out.

 

I loved this! Forges of Mars may be a great introduction to the setting, but I consider this the definitive Mechanicus book (so far.) It's full of ritual and world building for its own corner of the galaxy and the Mechanicus at large. Sherax, Lyterix, Yuel, Rahn-Bo, the lead Skitarii, and Luren all view their cult and purpose very differently, and paint a wonderfully realized picture of Martian ambition, dogmatism, and the forces that make a tech priest choose one over the other. It's also nice to see the fleshiest and least dogmatic priest be the problematic one, for once.

 

Sherax is our main character, and she gives me my favourite kind of Imperial book: a self-defeating journey to ruination. She defies dogma, she works for the good of her people above all, and she takes big risks. Contrast many books I find more frustrating, Sherax is punished for this at every turn, and ends the book having sacrificed her station and most of her crew for nothing. It is a journey to her embracing Mechanicus dogmatism, and all her failures are ironically only enabled because her crew possesses the loyalty and discipline she refused to entertain. It's all so... refreshing.

 

And it's not just the red-robes that get a good showing. Knight Pilot Edgar is fantastic, and his were some of my favourite parts of the book (contrast something like the Knight segments in Titandeath, which bored me to tears.) His balance of bravery and self-pity, and his relationship with the equally well-drawn Vostroyans, should be looked at as a template for writing good secondary factions. His relationship with Zlata was intensely real, and I loved it.

 

The book has several antagonist forces, but I'd say the Eldar are the main baddies here. While they ultimately lose, I think this is a great showing; they outplay the Imperials at every turn and only lose because of an unexpected 3rd party blindsiding them. And by "outplaying the Imperials," I don't mean the usual cheap "this was all just as planned" while only working in the background. This is open combat and they absolutely slaughter the humans.

 

Beer's writing really works for me; his characters are full of humanity and he doesn't waste time on what I'd call obligatory battle sequences. What's more, he really puts effort into making his POVs have a thought process reflective of the world. When describing the size of something, the head Skitarii compares it to the skull of a baby. The normalization of the Imperial death cult is so rarely reflected in how characters think. Another great point is the disgust of the Mechanicus characters when encountering non-human machines. It's easy to forget that the human form is sacred to the Mechanicus and just generalize them as "machine = good," so I loved seeing it subverted here.

 

Regarding the ending of the book being rushed - I'd say yes and no. Sherax's character journey is the book's main focus, and that resolves fine and believably; and as mentioned no time is wasted describing battles that have no bearing on the central plot. And while nothing too out there happens with the Dominion Genesis device, it's fate is the earned payoff to Sherax's character change. What I personally think got short-changed are the side characters (except Edgar, whose ending is excellent.) Rahn-Bo, Luren, Lyterix, and Yuel are all very well defined, but with a couple of exceptions they don't really go anywhere. Yuel especially I thought was underutilized - his desire to regain his status is clearly a driving motivator, and he was practically salivating when he saw the ship graveyard for all the materiel he could lay claim to, but once the conflict really begins he just kind of morphs into "reasonable ally." You'd think he'd have more complex feelings about returning from an unsanctioned expedition in abject failure. On the opposite end of things, the 3rd party that screws up the whole Eldar plan basically comes out of nowhere. I personally didn't have a problem with it, everyone in this book suffers from bad luck, but I can see why it would rankle others.

 

Overall though, I loved this. 9/10. Check it out! (And read King of the Spoil, ya gits.)