Horus Heresy: Mechanicum | 
| Author: Graham Mcneill
Publisher: Games Workshop
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 4219
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 1844166066
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9781844166060
ASIN: 1844166066
Publication Date: November 25, 2008
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Product Description
In this epic story, Fulgrim author Graham McNeill tells of the civil war on Mars, and the genesis of the Dark Mechanicum. This next installment is guaranteed to keep fans hooked as the series goes from strength to strength.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Read It For Content, Not Quality January 5, 2009
The information regarding the background of the Mechanicum presented in this book is top notch. Really, the Big Spoiler totally changes some of the past setting of the 40k Universe and really helps to entwine one of the lesser developed races with humanity.
But the rest of the book blows.
Dalia, one of the main POV characters, has annoying, not-really-well-defined superpowers that allows her to deus ex machina (ha!) her way through the book's climax. I'm not sure what point her story had, except to deal with the Big Spoiler (which has nothing to do with Horus) and give some background on the Golden Throne's development. Given how the ending is a set up for an obvious modern day sequel, I suspect she's there to help Graham McNeill's future book sales.
The actual creation of the Dark Mechanicum makes little sense. The head Poobah of Mars makes a deal with one of Horus' cronies to get access to proscribed technology. As part of the deal, the Poobah is exposed to scrapcode (a concept that I like, mainly because it seems swiped wholesale from Dan Abnett's books) which promptly corrupts pretty much everything it touches. Why Horus just didn't expose the Mechanicum to scrapcode to begin with is beyond me. Sure, he wanted the supplies Mars could produce, but he'd certainly get that once the scrapcode took hold.
The actually effect of the scrapcode is not very well defined. It just seems to make everyone bonkers, as if it just flicked an Evil Switch or something. The pacing of the book is awkward, so it seems like thirty seconds after the scrap is released, the Dark Mechanicum is churning out evil mutant robots.
The Titan stuff is boring and comes too soon after Abnett's superior Titanicus. In fact, I think it's the same plot from Abnett's book.
The good stuff comes from the Knights of Taranis who pilot much smaller robots, on par, I guess, with Sentinels in the modern Imperial Guard. The chasing of the mysterious White Whale foe that killed several Knights in ambush could have been a book in itself.
The lack of Space Marines is nice too.
In short, if you've read this far into the series, you'll read this one too. It's not the worst of the lot, but it's far from the best.
 Awsome book January 1, 2009
Well must say that that this book really delivers. I think it is probably one of the best in the series thus so far. The book draws you in with the fast paced and complex storyline, and the insight into the emperor was great. Although I would like to have the story move forward I think that there are way more dimensions that need to be explored with this story. I would like to have explored the other primarchs like they did with Fulgrim, without fleshing them out they are no more the minor characters in this drama, also what about the emperor? After that cryptic scene about him they really need to flesh him out alot.
Overall I think this book is a great read and was worth the wait for it and I highly recommend it.
A solid addition to the Horus Heresy tale December 28, 2008
Dalia, a lowly transcriber, is taken without explanation from her cell beneath the Librarium, where she has been imprisoned for enhancements she has made to her cogitator. Dalia soon finds herself on Martian soil where she gets to witness the Mechanicum in its pinnacle. However, all is not well: old tensions and divergent philosophies are finally fracturing the soul of Mars. Set during the same time as the massacre of Istvaan III, and the unleashing of the Furious Abyss the Heresy has finally struck at the last stop short of Terra itself.
"Mechanicum" starts off with a very tasty bang in the prologue, and continues with a very engaging first couple of chapters as one part of the main stage is set. There is a bit of a lull, depending on what you like, at that point that stretches for a good bit -- this lull, while not very action filled, does fill out the background for the story so you can understand what has been happening on Mars, and why. You do get the sense that Mars, while seemingly unified to the rest of the universe, is far from that. Individual Adepts, with their forges, reign in an almost feudal manner over their quietly contested territories. The leaders on Mars are all going their own directions. Religious arguments over the existence of the Omnissiah, grumblings about the perceived leashing of Mars to Terra, and the pursuit of knowledge taking Mars to darker places all play a significant role in this dynamic book.
I feel that "Mechanicum" delivers by filling out the Heresy even further with the dark betrayal of Mars which ultimately brings war to Terra's backyard. The reader gets to see glimpses into the technology that quite probably leads to the Golden Throne. We see the emergence of the Dark Mechanicum, and we get to see Titan combat on a larger scale. Lastly, "The Dragon of Mars" is an interesting thread which leaves to our imagination the implications of very ancient and epic designs.
This last bit really does revisit a reoccurring theme: Is the Emperor really a "good" guy? Yes, he stands against Chaos, but at what cost? What has he really done to humanity? For that matter, what is humanity to him, really? With this book you really do get a taste for how insignificant humanity itself is to the grand designs of the Emperor with his multi-millennial perspective.
In the end, "Mechanicum", is a great addition to the Horus Heresy series. I would highly recommend it.
Great return to main storyline - but includes a strange deviation December 16, 2008
Mechanium is the 9th chronlogical installation of the Horus Heresy. The pimary storyline involves Dalia, a transcriber with the curious ability to see and influence the mechanical, and Adept Zeth, a revolutionary Mechanicum priestess who seeks to rediscover what what lost. Also included are the traitor Fabricator-General, the Primarch Rogal Dorn, and the Regent of Terra. Other stories and situations are referenced, and help to reinforce the isolation of the Imperium, and the circumstances that lead to the Martian civil war. Combat is swift, bloody, and gruesome, and the vargary of attacks, from information warfare to nuclear strikes to Titan combat, are as varied as they are well written.
Mechanicums story shifts between Dalia and Zeth, and the warfront between the various Mechanicum forges. Ties are strained as the schism between the Warmaster and the Emperor, and the die eventually cast before Mars goes to war with itself. the destruction of priceless knowledge and infrastructure, and well as lives lost, is far more heartbreaking in this incarnation, and you actually grow to care for the normally robotic and insular Mechanicus adepts. This story serves as a stark constrast to normal Mechanicus characters, and a touching reminder that they are still human.
The ending takes an unusual turn, and will send fluff fans into a frenzy, thanks to some painfully ambiguous scenes and dialogue, and can cut in many different directions. The story still includes several portions hat needed further explanation that was never provided, involving tech thats popped up in a few other places. This is only a hiccup in a otherwise fantastic piece, though detracts and distracts enough to stop it short of perfection.
Mechanicum: Book 9 in the Horus Heresy Series December 6, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
After the bitterly disappointing 'Battle for the Abyss' I had high hopes for Graham McNeil's 'Mechanicum', which deals with events on Mars leading up to the siege on Terra. And I must say those high hopes were met.
In terms of the time line, we are really no closer to the finale of this series. The events of Istvaan III have just happened, and the Abyss of the 'Battle for the Abyss' is still being constructed. This gives you a very real sense of where you are in terms of it all, but I feel like the story isn't advancing in terms of time. It is however, good to see the Heresy from different points of view.
As with all the Heresy series, there are several storylines interwoven together. In this piece more than any other, we seem to side more heavily on the side of the Imperial supporters. The cheif storyline follows Dalia, a young Terran logistician with a talent for machines. She is brought to Mars by a Mechanicum adept by the name of Zeth, because of her incredible intuition for machines and latent almost psychic ability to see how machines work. Now I don't want to give too much away but she ends up being drawn through a mystery that helped to form the Mechanicum at the very start. For those of you who are fans of 40k lore, you will appreciate this story line as it concerns a certain 'Dragon' of Mars.... The problem however, is that this stpryline 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. The other story lines are concerned with the Legio Tempestus, a Titan legion, and for those old school workshop fans amongst you you'll appreciate the appearance of several knight palladin characters too. The battle scenes are well written, especially from the Titan perspectives and it's so great to see large scale battles fought with Titans. The names of various Titans and characters do become a little confusing though. If you are in possession of the Horus heresy artwork book 'Collected Visions', then the short story 'The Kaban project' also by McNeil is referenced several times and we meet characters contained within that story too. I like the way that BL has interwoven these story lines, but I feel it is really time to start moving on in terms of time line now. It's also nice to look at a section of the Imperium not really explored much before, and the description of machines and the thought processes behind them is well executed.
All in all it is a satisfying read, light on Space Marines (which is no bad thing!), filled with intrigue, plot, well rounded characters, unexpected turns, and a real sense of what is going on in the universe as the galaxy slowly tears itself apart. Well done Black Library. More like this please!!!
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