I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m not very good at critiquing literature, but I’m going to give it a shot. And this is an old book. Anyway, here goes.
Plot:
I think everyone reading this will know, but it’s about the creation of the Dark Mechanicum. Everyone, and I mean *everyone*, wants to see how the Mechanicum turned bad. Imperial general, Ork warlord, Eldar Farseer, literally everyone wants to see how the Adeptus Mechanicus turned to Chaos. Unfortunately, while we are shown how it happens, it’s neither particularly enlightening nor satisfying.
*So here’s the TL;DR version: The Warmaster Horus opens the gate to a forbidden temple of knowledge, and this infects virtually all of the inhabitants of Mars with an electronic scrapcode of Chaos. Cue a big battle between the new Chaos-enhanced daemon-machines and the few Forges which managed to evade infection.*
Here’s the longer one: We’re shown that several elements of the Mechanicum are unhappy about the terms of alliance with Terra, and given hints that there is division in the ranks. We are introduced to several characters in the Titan Legions and Knight Households who hold true to the Emperor’s compact with Mars.
After a pow-wow with the Fabricator General of Mars, Horus’ ambassador forges a compact with him: align with the Warmaster, do as he says, and you will be given access to anything technological that he comes across. As a show of goodwill, the ambassador opens a vault of forbidden knowledge. The majority of Mars is corrupted by the code released by the opening, and subsequently become the Dark Mechanicum under the command of the ready-to-rebel-anyway Fabricator General. They go on to build daemon-mechs that are superior to the normal mechs, for some reason.
In between all of this, there’s a subplot about a girl being drawn to an entity which lives beneath the surface of Mars, dragging all of her friends with her. This is the most human point of the story: the girl’s relationship with her Skitarii Protector.
The book culminates in an epic battle between the Titans of Legio Tempestus and Legio Mortis, while a Knight Household fights to eliminate the ambassador. It’s all great. Of course it is. It’s giant robots blasting each other.
Why It’s good:
1) It shows us something of the inner workings of the Mechanicum (although not so much that we know all about them).
2) It shows us a little about how the Titan Legios operate.
3) It gives us an idea of why certain members of the Mechanicum stayed loyal to the Emperor. We’re shown exactly why he commands such devotion.
4) Titans fight Titans, what’s not to love? Especially when we see Warhounds hunting in pairs.
Why It’s bad:’
1) Other than a “we didn’t like the Emperor’s demands hundreds of years ago,” there is no explanation of why the upper echelons of the AdMech despise Terra.
2) The Chaos scrapcode infects almost everyone. There is virtually no defence against it, and almost the entirety of Mars succumbs to it. This *really* detracts from the Martian Civil War we were told about.
3) There are unexplained Titans on Mars. For example, in the first scene with the Princepes, every participating Princeps knows which Titan is commanded by the other. Later, an Imperator shows up from nowhere. After that, two Legios appear with 30 Titans apiece (half of their respective strength), despite it being stated that the bulk of each Legio was committed to the Great Crusade, no exceptions.
4) The Imperial Fists take as many suits of Astartes armour and boltguns as they can before the rogue Mechanicum stop them, regardless of the fact that it was previously stated that they were short on ammunition (of which they take none). The Fists got thousands of Astartes suits and guns, but how would they fill them? I guess that’s for a future book.
Summary
I actually quite enjoyed it, although I was disappointed with McNeill’s depiction of the Mechanicum. He has written better books, but this one is definitely worth a look if you can get past the glaring plot holes. Unfortunately, it isn’t a particularly great read, but it is memorable, mostly because it gives us a look at the Adeptus Mechanicum (albeit a skewed one). McNeill has written better books, but if you’re reading this, then you’ve probably read at least one.