New Light

I'm fairly new to the Warhammer universe. I've read about 18 books and listened to 2, this being the second. I wasn't really a fan of the Mechanicum before. In other books their depiction came off as more annoying than anything. There were a few individual members that I liked here and there, but as a whole I didn't care for them. This book changed that. Seeing how Mars functions with its Forges and better yet how their War Machines work is amazing. I also like that the story is tied directly to the first three Horus Heresy novels, unlike some others that jump in the timeline.

The narrator is a great fit for the job too. He has the perfect vocal range for the Mechanicum, and does a good job with different voice to help separate the characters out. None of them are annoying, and are distinct.

Definitely a top 10 of 40k books I've picked up so far.

7 people found this helpful

great book, essential as well

This book is a pleasure to listen too, and its essential for understanding the nature of the Mechanicus, and its role in The Horus Heresy

7 people found this helpful

Not bad!

It not best HH book (it is no Betrayer, Know No Fear, Master of Mankind or The First Heretic) but it is also not the worst either (which IMHO is Vulkan Lives...a truely dreadful book). But still...worth a listen! Toby Longworth is a great narrator as always.

4 people found this helpful

Must read for 40k

If you like 40k lore this is a must read. it's a fantastic history of Mars

1 person found this helpful

Good start, fumbles a bit toward the end.

Pretty good overall, but Dalia's storyline suffers at the end.

It's rather pretentious to make fun of the damsel trope in old literature when your character is suffering from Mary Sue syndrome with some chosen one trope thrown in.

1 person found this helpful

A tale of Martian Civil War

This chapter of the Horus Heresy was a little harder to follow than previous books, lots of characters, lots of names. Still an excellent story and the narrator is probably my favorite of all the books in the series.

1 person found this helpful

Really fun view of Mars!

Toby Longworth did an excellent job giving voice to the battles and the characters in this book. That said, I admit, this book was a bit slow to start, and the Mechanicum can be a bit robotic so it can be hard to get into their story at first. This novel is a lot like Legion, when it picks up it really does pick up. This has everything, Titan Battles, a fun group of unlikely adventurers, an awesome Imperial Knight storyline, and a cool story of Mars' political situation during the opening days of the Horus Heresy.

The Legio Mortis and Legio Tempestus rivalry and Engine War was such a joy to to listen too, As well as all the fights taking place between the Adepts of the Mechanicum, it really painted the grisly picture of what was happening on Mars and how hard fought the campaign to claim the Mechanicum for Horus was. It certainly wasn't an easy fight

As for our adventurers, I won't give spoilers here, but I quite enjoyed Dalia's character, I thought her character arch was a good one and by the end of the book, I felt like she and her friends had come a long way, I hope to see more of them the future and hopefully more of Dalia in the Horus Heresy or the books that take place further down the timeline.

There was also a story of the House Taranis Knights on Mars that I really liked, It gave really interesting insight into how Knight and Titan Pilots view their machines and the bonds they make with them over their long years of working together, it was fun to have the Knights and Titan as their own characters, even if silent ones. The story of our Imperial Knights also intersects with Dalia and her crew of adventurers, I won't give spoilers, but I personally liked it a lot and I hope to see more of our Knight friends moving forward as well.

I consider this a must read in the Horus Heresy, mainly because it is the first book in the series I have come across that deals directly with the Mechanicum as the central entity and not the Space Marines, Imperium, or Expedition Fleets.

Enjoyed it

Best narrator so far. Toby Longworth has far more range in character than some of the other David Attenbourgh sounding men narrating some of the previous books.

great read

definitely one of the slower books in the horus heresy but still solid. the monotone voices you would expect from an adapt can get tiring to listen too lol

It's Okay

Performance was great, but I had a really hard time getting into the story. The mechanicus are just very... well robotic.