Lets talk abou this old book

[Nagashsnee]

Specifically HH9  Mechanicum by Graham Mcneill

 

This is one of those books i come back to every now and then. It is for me one of the best HH books (gasps, shrieks of rage!) in the entire series. And i will tell you why. It is one of the few HH books to REMEMBER that the HH is suppose to be a tragedy. That 30k is not suppose to be 40k with 5% less skulls.

 

Mechanicum sets out a Red Planet that is both instantly warhammer (tech priests, skitarii, hover skulls, titans, etc etc), but also clearly NOT 40K.  We keep seeing people use NEW TECH, discuss new discoveries and recoveries from the expeditionary fleets, and characters laying out their plans to MAKE THINGS BETTER. But it doesnt throw out the 40k baby with the bathwater. Our main character was going to be executed for improving tech, the Mechanicum still has laws and social taboos about outright inventing. 

 

What the book does is show a version of Mars/Mechanicum/Imperium that is smart enough to realise that going full zealout is counter productive, but FULLY knows that just letting people tinker with tech in warhammer is a very very very bad idea.  So you get a delightfully and super realistic setting where rules exists, but there are clear ways to work around them with everyone of note fully understanding whats going on. 

 

But back to what makes it one of the better heresy books, this is a book that shows what the heresy COST humanity, in way of knowledge, culture and a stolen future. A book that shows that the Emperors Imperium while being a bad bad murder empire WAS ALSO leading humanity down a path to a better future. DId the path need that many dead bodies, xenocides and opression? Who knows but it sure beats old night and what came before. And the average tech priest KNOWS THIS.

 

Its one of the very very very few heresy books that has characters smart enough to call out the traitors for their hypocrisy. Oh Horus is fit to lead humanity down a better path because.....he lead his fathers armies, his fathers fleets, used the galactic level logistical network set up by his uncle while leading legions of supermen in the best tech available which his father created, set up and gave him...for a few decades once all the hard work was done...truly he is better then his father....truly

 

Oh wait the Emperor is a super evil tyrant cause he wont let us into the Vaults of Morevec...which were already forbidden before he united terra and mars? Cause he wont let us do AI research....which is one of the Mechanicums founding beliefs? Cause he wont let us make new tech while we pump out new things every day and the crusade begs for more?

 

And while the book doesnt really focus on it, it shows how WEAK Kelbor Halls position and argument that war and rebellion is the better move truky is, by having him not rally supporters, not adress the martian synod and lay out his case, not use his position as head of the Mechanicum to lead it into justified rebellion. But by plotting a pre emptive strike on his own people in a effort to kill enough that resistance to his coup will be non viable.... by dealing in secret and in the dark one whisper at a time.  By staging a false flag attack and then hunting down the confused survivors. 

 

Mechanicum shows a Martian Mechanicum at the height of its power, knowledge and influence looking towards a horizon that is ever brighter and then rug pulls it out from under us, because in the grim darkness of the far future there can be only war. 

 

Now this is not going to win any writing awards, and allot of what i say is  only in the backround of the book. But it IS THERE. The world building is there. The characters are there. Mars FEELS big , it FEELS alive, it FEELS like the beating heart of a Empire.  And while i would never vote for it to be book of the year, i would VOTE for it to be in the top 10 HH books. 

 

 

 

 

[Shadowtracks]

So, is it worth a read?

[Nagashsnee]

12 minutes ago, Shadowtracks said:

So, is it worth a read?

 

Yes unless you just want Chaos Marine boltering Loyalist Marine who bolters him back.  Maybe some !!!BROTHERS!!! Thrown in here and there.

 

But as i put it in the top 10 HH books would be kinda silly if i said no DONT read it haha. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Nagashsnee