A review by beorn_101
Mechanicum by Graham McNeill
3.0
This was my second time reading Mechanicum. The first time I really enjoyed it, this second time around I thought it was good, but not phenomenal.
There is a lot to like here. Mechanicum focuses on the tech people of Mars, rather then the Space Marine legions. We get a lot of amazing insight into Titan pilots, knights, and even the tech adepts of Mars. This was refreshing, and provided some really cool moments.
The best bits of the book were from the perspective of the Titan pilots; however, the book itself has 3 separate story arcs happening that sort of intertwine together, with mixed results. None of the perspectives given are completely terrible, but not all of them are equally as interesting.
I think the setting of Mars itself is compelling, they are a people allied with Terra, rather then seeing themselves as part of Terra. They are essential to the war effort, but also feel separate.
Perhaps my biggest problem with the story is it jumps around a LOT. Its tough to go from the perspective of a pilot of a Titan, worried that there is about to be a battle between Titan legions, then to jump to a adept of mars who is doing tech experiments, and then to a knight pilot hunting a rogue AI. None of these are bad storylines, but none of them quite gel or feel fully fleshed out. They are supposed to give perspective of how the Horus Heresy effected all parts of Mars, but I feel like because of this you are only getting brief snapshots.
This particularly hurts the characters, most of which don't feel fully fleshed out.
Overall, this was a fun story, and a nice break from Space Marines, but not as amazing as I remembered it.
There is a lot to like here. Mechanicum focuses on the tech people of Mars, rather then the Space Marine legions. We get a lot of amazing insight into Titan pilots, knights, and even the tech adepts of Mars. This was refreshing, and provided some really cool moments.
The best bits of the book were from the perspective of the Titan pilots; however, the book itself has 3 separate story arcs happening that sort of intertwine together, with mixed results. None of the perspectives given are completely terrible, but not all of them are equally as interesting.
I think the setting of Mars itself is compelling, they are a people allied with Terra, rather then seeing themselves as part of Terra. They are essential to the war effort, but also feel separate.
Perhaps my biggest problem with the story is it jumps around a LOT. Its tough to go from the perspective of a pilot of a Titan, worried that there is about to be a battle between Titan legions, then to jump to a adept of mars who is doing tech experiments, and then to a knight pilot hunting a rogue AI. None of these are bad storylines, but none of them quite gel or feel fully fleshed out. They are supposed to give perspective of how the Horus Heresy effected all parts of Mars, but I feel like because of this you are only getting brief snapshots.
This particularly hurts the characters, most of which don't feel fully fleshed out.
Overall, this was a fun story, and a nice break from Space Marines, but not as amazing as I remembered it.