Mechanicum – Horus Heresy Book 9 – Graham McNeill

I was fortunate enough to read this book while I was sunning myself on the beach in the far distant Caribbean, both of which was a treat.

This book was rather different than the last few I have read. Instead of focusing on Space Marines and Primachs, this one looks at how the Heresy affects the workings of the forges on Mars (The Mechanicum as the title subtly suggests…)

I found this book to be a welcome change from the material I have been reading so far. There are mention of Space Marines, however they are far from the focus of the novel. Instead, the reader is treated to the inner workings of large warmachines – Titans, and their respective Princeps. As well as following the tale of a young tech genius and her friends.

I am not going to give away what happens, that would be unfair and I hate writing review with spoilers in. The book is well worth a read, the characters are well written and although I was not as taken with them as I have been in previous books, they are still worth reading and investing in!

There is one particular piece of writing that I feel deserves a special mention – the description of what happened during a particular disaster that spread across the whole planet was particularly masterful. I was easily able to picture exactly what was happening throughout the section and the sense of impending doom that ran through the section was spectacular.

I did feel that the pace of the book was somewhat slower in places, though it never dragged. I have put this down to being used to the rapid flow of the previous novels. Not every book can run at a break neck speed and the story did not lose anything because of this.

All in all, I rather enjoyed the change of focus of the novel and would recommend it as a decent read.