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Adeptus Mechanicus #2
Tech-Priest
The disciples of the Machine God, the Cult Mechanicus are on the front line of the Quest for Knowledge. Tech-priests lead their forces of augmented warriors and battle-automata into battle with the Omnissiah's foes in defence of His secrets. Magos-Explorator Omnid Torquora orchestrates war against the Iron Warriors for control of a long-lost forge world. With skitarii legions and maniples of battle-servitors and robots at his command - not to mention the mighty god-machines of the Titan Legions - victory is within his grasp until treachery threatens to end his dreams of conquest.
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Amazing scenes of action and all-out violence ensue as the augmented horrors of the Cult Mechanicus wage war on the massed legions of the Iron Warriors. Victory is within reach of Magos-Explorator Omnid Torquora - at least, until treachery encroaches on his dreams of conquest. Featuring an incredible cast of bizarre mechanical characters, this novel is a fantastic continuation of the story laid out in Adeptus Skitarius.
155 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 30, 2015
13 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Rob Sanders
114 books86 followersRob Sanders is the author of twelve novels, as well as numerous anthologised short stories, novellas, audio dramas, computer games and comics. His fiction has won national writing competitions, been featured on the BBC and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His poetry has been short listed in national contests. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 4, 2015
The second in Rob Sanders’ mini-series of short Adeptus Mechanicus novels, Tech-Priest continues the story started in Skitarius, as the forces of Archmagos Omnid Torquora battle to take the Dark Mechanicum forge world of Velchanos Magna. Where Skitarius showed the world of the Adeptus Mechanicus from the front lines, seen through the eyes of Haldron-44 Stroika, this time the perspective switches to Stroka’s master, the ancient Tech-Priest overseeing the battle remotely from orbit. Locked in a stalemate but with enemies on all sides, Torquora’s options appear to be limited.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
June 3, 2024
The ending hurt my heretic soul.
October 31, 2025
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Бинарно кантирую!
Бинарно кантирую! Продолжение "Скитарий", следующее непосредственно после. Здесь нет такого вовлечения, поскольку теперь мы видим мир глазами техножреца архимагоса-эксплоратора Омнида Торкуоры. Скитарий был от первого лица, здесь скорее от третьего, вовлечения меньше, тем не менее следить за стратегическим противостоянием интересно и позволяет видеть войну Механикус: решает не грубая сила, а точка приложения усилий, не растоптать врага, а перевернуть ситуацию. Торкуора догадался, что мир-кузня Механикум был ловушкой, но сопротивляться своему начальству он не смел и засел в кустах , выжидая. Ценой потери экспедиционного корпуса скитариев, он выяснил диспозицию: Железные Воины ликвидировали верхушку Механикум и стали штамповать демонические механизмы. Отдача Бомбы Геллера привела к тому, что варп-шторм теперь развернулся на родном мире-кузне Торкуоры, где местные шестерёнки сразу стали варповыми и сменили -ус на -ум. Что не красит железяк относительно сопротивляемости варпу. Итак Торкуора оказался зажат между двумя армиями хаоситов. Поскольку перебороть Железных Воинов в позиционной войне нереально, нужно использовать хитрость механикус. Редкий случай: тут в одной главе показаны Электро-жрецы. Вообще удивительно: электрожречество стабильно присутствует в настолке, при этом в литературе я их встречал 2 раза и мельком. При том, что они визуально очень харизматичные, поклоняются аспекту Движущей Силы (Аристотель: Бог-Перводвигатель) из Троицы культа Механикус. Но их всех Торкуора был вынужден обесточить, поскольку его плану они следовать не хотели. А жаль. Также вернулся скитарий Стройка, которого хаоситы заселили демонами, но Торкуора, во имя всего "холодного и чистого" (это хорошо!) сделал ему полную очистку. Правда Стройка стал боевым сервитором. Но ведь всё равно служит Богу-Машине? Так что нечего грустить. Поняв как работает бомба Геллера, Торкуора её перенастроил так, что она вдарила сразу по двум мирам-кузням, распылив оба. Железных Воинов тоже прижали механической хваткой, так что они решили смотать удочки, тем более свой трофей потеряли. Вообще это был их план изначально, как захватить себе 2 мира-кузни. Итог: 1 обломок СШК найден, 2 мира-кузни уничтожено. Флот Торкуоры отправился дальше эксплорировать космос.
Бинарно кантирую!
Бинарно кантирую! Продолжение "Скитарий", следующее непосредственно после. Здесь нет такого вовлечения, поскольку теперь мы видим мир глазами техножреца архимагоса-эксплоратора Омнида Торкуоры. Скитарий был от первого лица, здесь скорее от третьего, вовлечения меньше, тем не менее следить за стратегическим противостоянием интересно и позволяет видеть войну Механикус: решает не грубая сила, а точка приложения усилий, не растоптать врага, а перевернуть ситуацию. Торкуора догадался, что мир-кузня Механикум был ловушкой, но сопротивляться своему начальству он не смел и засел в кустах , выжидая. Ценой потери экспедиционного корпуса скитариев, он выяснил диспозицию: Железные Воины ликвидировали верхушку Механикум и стали штамповать демонические механизмы. Отдача Бомбы Геллера привела к тому, что варп-шторм теперь развернулся на родном мире-кузне Торкуоры, где местные шестерёнки сразу стали варповыми и сменили -ус на -ум. Что не красит железяк относительно сопротивляемости варпу. Итак Торкуора оказался зажат между двумя армиями хаоситов. Поскольку перебороть Железных Воинов в позиционной войне нереально, нужно использовать хитрость механикус. Редкий случай: тут в одной главе показаны Электро-жрецы. Вообще удивительно: электрожречество стабильно присутствует в настолке, при этом в литературе я их встречал 2 раза и мельком. При том, что они визуально очень харизматичные, поклоняются аспекту Движущей Силы (Аристотель: Бог-Перводвигатель) из Троицы культа Механикус. Но их всех Торкуора был вынужден обесточить, поскольку его плану они следовать не хотели. А жаль. Также вернулся скитарий Стройка, которого хаоситы заселили демонами, но Торкуора, во имя всего "холодного и чистого" (это хорошо!) сделал ему полную очистку. Правда Стройка стал боевым сервитором. Но ведь всё равно служит Богу-Машине? Так что нечего грустить. Поняв как работает бомба Геллера, Торкуора её перенастроил так, что она вдарила сразу по двум мирам-кузням, распылив оба. Железных Воинов тоже прижали механической хваткой, так что они решили смотать удочки, тем более свой трофей потеряли. Вообще это был их план изначально, как захватить себе 2 мира-кузни. Итог: 1 обломок СШК найден, 2 мира-кузни уничтожено. Флот Торкуоры отправился дальше эксплорировать космос.
September 13, 2021
A good much more solid story than Skitarii which properly hihlights the philosphy of the mechanicus.
February 7, 2024
I have read six book on Adeptus Mechanicus. The two in this series has been my favorite. Although, I found them all entertaining.
I hope I can find more on this odd yet fascinating cult.
I hope I can find more on this odd yet fascinating cult.
June 24, 2015
Bookworm Speaks!
Adeptus Mechanicus: Tech-Priest
by Rob Sanders
***
The Story: The disciples of the Machine God, the Cult Mechanicus are on the front line of the Quest for Knowledge. Tech-priests lead their forces of augmented warriors and battle-automata into battle with the Omnissiah’s foes in defence of His secrets. Magos-Explorator Omnid Torquora orchestrates war against the Iron Warriors for control of a long-lost forge world. With skitarii legions and maniples of battle-servitors and robots at his command – not to mention the mighty god-machines of the Titan Legions – victory is within his grasp… until treachery threatens to end his dreams of conquest.
The Good: The epic storyline begun by Rob Sanders continues in the continuation. The second volume continues the story that was revealed by the twist ending of the previous volume. Rob
The contrast between the cold, hard, steel of the Mechanicus and the more organic nature of the chaos corrupted Iron Warriors is a great detail and really illustrates the nature of the conflict. The Mechanicus praises logic and order and the Iron Warriors forces seem to consist of monstrous hybrids of flesh and machinery, at least in a manner more mutated and disease-ridden than the monstrous hybrids of machine and man that make up the legions of the Tech-Priest.
What this book also does well is show the other side of the coin when it comes to war. The previous book, it showed the perspective of a front line, field commander, fighting the war first hand. In this volume, we see the perspective of those in charge of running the war. Omnid Torquora, is the one in charge and sees the whole war from a larger perspective. The immediate objective is always compelling but to see the ultimate objective is also helpful in understanding why they are fighting in the first place.
In the case of this book, it helps the reader to better understand the mindset of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The assignment of numerical designations and regarding the whole war in terms of statistics, fits with the mechanically inclined Tech-Priests and let us be honest…a lot of wars are ultimately about numbers…especially in the Imperium of Man.
Thankfully, it does not get too technical. There is still plenty of emotion to be had amongst the logic driven servants of the Omnissiah. Torquora even delivers a speech to rouse his followers for a great battle, even though none of them cheer afterwards. There is plenty of metaphors and Torquora is a thoughtful character.
We see great expansion into the lore, which is always a treat, in seeing the new machines and weapons utilized by the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The robots that are introduced are particularly intriguing. In the majority of Warhammer 40k Lore, robots are known as Abominable Intelligences and are banned by the Imperial Creed. Hopefully, the readers will see more of the Cybernetic legion in future tales of the Black Library.
The Flaws: The main flaw, Bookworm felt with this volume is the main character of of Torquora. The key to making a protagonist work is to make the reader root for them. It was hard to root for Torrquora. He was the hero of his own story…no doubt about that but he was not much of a hero for the story of the book. The main problem is that the Bookworm did not find him to be a very sympathetic character in how he uses his forces in such a callous manner. This should not be surprising considering the mindset of both the Imperium of Man and the Cult Mechanicus, but again…it was not presented in a way that made the reader support Torquora.
The main problem with Warhammer 40k and the Black Library is that the main imperative is to maintain the status quo of the lore. The powers that be at GamesWorkshop, build up all of this stuff, (the Golden Throne Failing, Abaddon having enough blood to complete the ritual, The Omega Vault) and what comes of it? Nothing!
This comes into play definitely within this book. Near the end, some scheming and politicking comes into play and the ending is left ambiguous, a favorite of Black Library writers. More than likely…nothing will come of it. It is very frustrating when you get invested in all of these characters and organizations and they never seem to go through any changes.
The Geller Bomb could most likely be a devastating weapon against other forces of Chaos and the Black Crusade but it would appear that near the end the Geller Bomb is hidden away or destroyed.
Finally…no spoilers but the author did grant a wish Bookworm had for the last book but not in a way Bookworm liked. It really was a let down.
Final Verdict: Ultimately, while well-written, Tech-Priest was not as memorable as Skitarius and thusly was lacking. Rob Sanders is still a terrific writer and Bookworm eagerly awaits more volumes of his work.
Four out of Five Stars.
thecultureworm.blogspot.com
Adeptus Mechanicus: Tech-Priest
by Rob Sanders
***
The Story: The disciples of the Machine God, the Cult Mechanicus are on the front line of the Quest for Knowledge. Tech-priests lead their forces of augmented warriors and battle-automata into battle with the Omnissiah’s foes in defence of His secrets. Magos-Explorator Omnid Torquora orchestrates war against the Iron Warriors for control of a long-lost forge world. With skitarii legions and maniples of battle-servitors and robots at his command – not to mention the mighty god-machines of the Titan Legions – victory is within his grasp… until treachery threatens to end his dreams of conquest.
The Good: The epic storyline begun by Rob Sanders continues in the continuation. The second volume continues the story that was revealed by the twist ending of the previous volume. Rob
The contrast between the cold, hard, steel of the Mechanicus and the more organic nature of the chaos corrupted Iron Warriors is a great detail and really illustrates the nature of the conflict. The Mechanicus praises logic and order and the Iron Warriors forces seem to consist of monstrous hybrids of flesh and machinery, at least in a manner more mutated and disease-ridden than the monstrous hybrids of machine and man that make up the legions of the Tech-Priest.
What this book also does well is show the other side of the coin when it comes to war. The previous book, it showed the perspective of a front line, field commander, fighting the war first hand. In this volume, we see the perspective of those in charge of running the war. Omnid Torquora, is the one in charge and sees the whole war from a larger perspective. The immediate objective is always compelling but to see the ultimate objective is also helpful in understanding why they are fighting in the first place.
In the case of this book, it helps the reader to better understand the mindset of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The assignment of numerical designations and regarding the whole war in terms of statistics, fits with the mechanically inclined Tech-Priests and let us be honest…a lot of wars are ultimately about numbers…especially in the Imperium of Man.
Thankfully, it does not get too technical. There is still plenty of emotion to be had amongst the logic driven servants of the Omnissiah. Torquora even delivers a speech to rouse his followers for a great battle, even though none of them cheer afterwards. There is plenty of metaphors and Torquora is a thoughtful character.
We see great expansion into the lore, which is always a treat, in seeing the new machines and weapons utilized by the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The robots that are introduced are particularly intriguing. In the majority of Warhammer 40k Lore, robots are known as Abominable Intelligences and are banned by the Imperial Creed. Hopefully, the readers will see more of the Cybernetic legion in future tales of the Black Library.
The Flaws: The main flaw, Bookworm felt with this volume is the main character of of Torquora. The key to making a protagonist work is to make the reader root for them. It was hard to root for Torrquora. He was the hero of his own story…no doubt about that but he was not much of a hero for the story of the book. The main problem is that the Bookworm did not find him to be a very sympathetic character in how he uses his forces in such a callous manner. This should not be surprising considering the mindset of both the Imperium of Man and the Cult Mechanicus, but again…it was not presented in a way that made the reader support Torquora.
The main problem with Warhammer 40k and the Black Library is that the main imperative is to maintain the status quo of the lore. The powers that be at GamesWorkshop, build up all of this stuff, (the Golden Throne Failing, Abaddon having enough blood to complete the ritual, The Omega Vault) and what comes of it? Nothing!
This comes into play definitely within this book. Near the end, some scheming and politicking comes into play and the ending is left ambiguous, a favorite of Black Library writers. More than likely…nothing will come of it. It is very frustrating when you get invested in all of these characters and organizations and they never seem to go through any changes.
The Geller Bomb could most likely be a devastating weapon against other forces of Chaos and the Black Crusade but it would appear that near the end the Geller Bomb is hidden away or destroyed.
Finally…no spoilers but the author did grant a wish Bookworm had for the last book but not in a way Bookworm liked. It really was a let down.
Final Verdict: Ultimately, while well-written, Tech-Priest was not as memorable as Skitarius and thusly was lacking. Rob Sanders is still a terrific writer and Bookworm eagerly awaits more volumes of his work.
Four out of Five Stars.
thecultureworm.blogspot.com
June 18, 2015
I'm a sucker for the Adeptus Mechanicus. Being a direct sequel to Skitarius, this continues the seige of the Dark Mechanicus forge world. During the read, it was entertaining, but I did end up stumbling on moments of incredulity. Oddly, it felt both too rushed and a bit plodding at the same time.
The biggest moment of incredulity was
I don't have a whole lot to say, really.
EDIT-
The more I think on it, the more the narrative cohesion tears at the seams. We see the return of Punny-named Electro-priests in what felt like an editorially mandated cameo fight scene ("Get all of the new line of models into the book somehow"). Lets see, this time around we have Diode and Piezo. Well, Piezon and I can't recall of the top of my head what set of letters were suffixed to 'Diode' to make the quasi-latin sounding name. Not only did their appearance feel out of place, the fight scene did nothing to advance the plot. Had it not happened at all, the rest of the story could have gone on without modification. At least the Legio Cybernetica cameo worked to the advancement of the plot (They helped hold off Iron Warriors at a key junction).
On a gripe unrelated to the content of the story proper, this is the second time Black Library has tacked a large extract on the end of the eBook, making it look like I had more story to go when the book was actually wrapping up. I hated these extracts when they were added to paperbacks, and I hate them now. To make matters worse, it was an extract from "Skitarius", a book most of the people who'd be picking up its sequel will have already read.
The biggest moment of incredulity was
I don't have a whole lot to say, really.
EDIT-
The more I think on it, the more the narrative cohesion tears at the seams. We see the return of Punny-named Electro-priests in what felt like an editorially mandated cameo fight scene ("Get all of the new line of models into the book somehow"). Lets see, this time around we have Diode and Piezo. Well, Piezon and I can't recall of the top of my head what set of letters were suffixed to 'Diode' to make the quasi-latin sounding name. Not only did their appearance feel out of place, the fight scene did nothing to advance the plot. Had it not happened at all, the rest of the story could have gone on without modification. At least the Legio Cybernetica cameo worked to the advancement of the plot (They helped hold off Iron Warriors at a key junction).
On a gripe unrelated to the content of the story proper, this is the second time Black Library has tacked a large extract on the end of the eBook, making it look like I had more story to go when the book was actually wrapping up. I hated these extracts when they were added to paperbacks, and I hate them now. To make matters worse, it was an extract from "Skitarius", a book most of the people who'd be picking up its sequel will have already read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews