Customer Reviews
is different really better? - By: T. Brown, 04 Jan 2009 
Having read the numerous positive reviews of mechanicum so far, i feel i should putin my 2 cents. This book was sat on my shelf for about a month before i finally picked it up, which is not something which often happens with horus heresy books as i am always very eager to get straight into them.
I have to admit that for the first 100 or so pages i was actually disappointed with mechanicum. I will say the imagery is great, especially if you are a fan of games workhop from their glory days of 'space marine' & 'titan legions' games, as well as the more modern 'epic 40k'. If you have never played or seen these games it might be difficult to envision yourself the war machines of the adeptus mechanicum - mainly the knights & the titans. I feel it is expected of the reader to just instantly know these things. On the other hand if you do know these things it is a great moment reliving those good old days.
Another complaint of mine is the two-dimensional-ness of the characters. They are all flat as pancakes. They have really great visual descriptions, but not really any inner thoughts that arent super-clichéd. The problem is the templates were there for some great characters to develop, it just never happened. Another small niggle, which is one i carry through all the heresy books, is the problem of throwing too many characters into the story too quickly, & many of the having similar names. There is a reason there is a reference chartin the front.
On the positive side, this book actually does push the timeline forward a bit. Everyone has now accepted the heresy & are choosing sides. Unfortunately it is not really put forward how much of an effect losing mars would have on the outcome of the war other than the loss of supplies for the legions. The fact that having a traitor base within minutes of earth was never discussed.
Other than the mainly boring characters the story is well written & action packed. There are no pointless sections where nothing happens. It is an edge of the seat book where you really ont know if the heroes will live or die.
There is also a nice little map of marsin the front.
Not the greatest book ever, & still not really reaching the standards that the start of the series set, but a worthy read for anyone who is a fan of sci-fi. This is a lot more than the usual 40k universe.
Only 1 Star short of glory - By: D. Howard, 22 Dec 2008 
Mechanicum. A few spoilers. Sorry!
The back blurb promises the genesis of the dark mechanicum. All we get is an idea based on 'knowledge is power', & "the bad guy" wanted more knowledge than others. I agree with another review that says some of the charactersin the series switch sides a little too easily, but I can see the argumentin this case. He traded loyalty for knowledge (which is the driving force behind the Mech, lets not forget) so its a believable swap. But Adept Zeth got access to all knowledge through her loyalty (morality tale) so how come the leader of the Mech didn;t know this was available?
But thats more of a side line to my main gripe (albeit a small one) with this HH.
WE ONLY MET ON DAM GOD MACHINE AND IT WAS A TRAITOR MACHINE AT THAT!
Warhounds, reavers & knights are all very well, but are we really to believe that with all the mistrustin the Mech & the history of in-fighting & almost-war, the only Legio that didn't send all its God Machines (Imperator) off world was Mortis? When they face off against their (supposedly) most bitter rivals over a comparatively small plain?
Come on guys! Give your older readers just a little more credit?
I know the last part (Zeth's sacrifice which destroyed the Imperator) made it all the more read-able & the noble sacrifice of the knights & reavers that remained loyal is made all the more poignant by the futility of their last fight, but even so, if I was facing off against an old rival & I had 200 years experience of commanding the walking machines of the Legios, I would make sure i could match said rival gun for gun. End of story.
Apart from that great book, couldn't put it down, hammered through itin three days & re-read it a week later.
Not at all bad! - By: Mr. G. A. Williams, 20 Dec 2008 A generally good HH book. Following some disappointments.. (namely BFTA & Descent of Angels) it was a decent book.
And to other reviews who say that the storyline is silly.. because of the 'Dragon' - it refers to The C'tan - the Void Dragon, not actual dragons...! so theres no reason to shun the storyline because of something which is an established part of 40k lore.!
Pretty average really - By: J. Giner, 16 Dec 2008 This could have been a lot better, I mean hidden Dragons......
Seems Like the Heresy saga is running out of steam, I hope they don't screw up the capitulation of Prospero.
At last the series is back on track. - By: SJ SMALE, 15 Dec 2008 
Thank the Emperor for this latest book the Mechanicum. This book really does capture the imagination with Characters you can buy into a real feel for the weird & wonderful identity of Mars & its inhabitants.
And finally the best part ........ The Legio Titanicus walk!
Bring on the next book is what I say although i'm going to be pacing up & down when we have to wait until April.
Well done to Graham Mcneill for getting this series back on track
