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The Horus Heresy #Novella
Cybernetica
Soon after word reached Terra of Horus’s nascent rebellion, Mars fell. Rogue elements within the Mechanicum priesthood, stirred by the Warmaster’s promises of independence and prosperity, turned against the Imperium and forced the primarch Rogal Dorn to order an impenetrable blockade of the Red Planet. Now it has become clear that the corruption has spread too deep, and that more drastic measures must be taken if the Forge World Principal is to be reclaimed. Calling upon the expertise of those who witnessed the so-called ‘Death of Innocence’ firsthand, Lord Dorn and Malcador the Sigillite consider their final solution – the complete extermination of all life on Mars.
The Horus Heresy returns to the Solar System… No, we’re not at that battle quite yet. But what are the lords of Terra going to do about Mars…? Cybernetica delves into some of the darkest secrets of the Mechanicum and shows the lengths to which the Imperium is willing to go – and the rules they are willing to break – to exterminate the traitors.
The Horus Heresy returns to the Solar System… No, we’re not at that battle quite yet. But what are the lords of Terra going to do about Mars…? Cybernetica delves into some of the darkest secrets of the Mechanicum and shows the lengths to which the Imperium is willing to go – and the rules they are willing to break – to exterminate the traitors.
Hardcover
First published July 24, 2015
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497 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 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 5, 2017
Review also published here
Cybernetica is one of the few Horus Heresy books that I felt were more of a chore to read than a pleasant experience. I did not enjoy it. I had to re-read sections over and over because they just wouldn't sink in, or I'd go back to re-read parts out of a feeling I missed something vital, especially after seeing praise for said sections online. But in the end I still feel unimpressed and dissatisfied with the story and its characters, and the big amount of action sequences.
I've mentioned the "battle-fatigue" problem somewhere before, though I can't remember which review it was. The term strikes me as important with Cybernetica too. It is full of action setpieces, some even pretty good, but the sheer volume of them compared to character development, interaction between cast members, and actual ongoings outside of he-strikes-I-strike moments is so mind-numbing to me, that I feel turned off from reading altogether if I can't get through the rest sooner rather than later. I build up an apathy towards the book and while that can get reverted if the book improves, Cybernetica never did. It left me cold.
My biggest complaint about the book is that it had so much promise to be something cool, exciting and with plenty of depth, yet chose not to be such. It had ample opportunity to be more than the sum of its parts, yet discarded these opportunities early on. When looking at the book, I can see many ways it could have gone differently in more fulfilling directions, yet reality is different.
Even looking at the cover art I see a massive missed opportunity. The diverse-Legion-Techmarines-doing-shit-on-Mars angle that the book outwardly promises with its Raven Guard, Ultramarine, Salamander and co lineup is compressed to barely two chapters. By the end of chapter two, the Raven Guard protagonist is on his own. The rest are goners, and never even got out of their tower or the hangar that is the stage for the first big (present-day) action setpiece. Yes, there's more action in flashbacks right off the start too. Either way, the idea of a dirty dozen infiltration mission on the Red Planet is discarded barely a quarter through the book, and that is where my enjoyment increasingly evaporated.
I liked the initial banter between the Techmarine initiates. They were representatives of their individual Chapters, with their own quirks and specialties. They argued, they assessed the situation, they decided to get out. They died. The book died with them. Instead of taking this entire angle of Legiones Astartes loyal to the Emperor over their Legions or the Omnissiah due to spending 30 years in training, which could have offered plenty of conflict between the group, have discussion of loyalties and their beliefs in how to purge Mars, Sanders scrapped it so quickly, it boggles my mind.
The Carrion, the Raven Guard protagonist, survives and reaches Terra. His struggles to get off Mars are handled off-page, between chapters. So is his recruitment to the Knights Errant. So is his own emotional development. It felt like there was too much slipping through the cracks at this point already that I found myself disconnected from the protagonist by chapter three of seven, the last of which he is not even in.
It didn't help that the only other character with a speaking role on his mission back on Mars ended up being a madman-heretek with what seemed like 5 lines throughout the rest of the story, one of which was "Tick, tock, tick, tock". Don't get me wrong, I liked Octal Bool's appearance in early flashbacks from his trial, and the idea behind him. But he was severely underused and his madness didn't allow for organic back and forth between him and the Carrion. His role made the Knight Errant feel even more isolated among his combat servitors and robot cohort.
I'm a reader who appreciates characters and their actions probably beyond everything else. Give me dialogue over swordblows any day. In that regard, Cybernetica is an utter failure. The showcasing of lumbering, emotionless machines doing their masters' bidding just doesn't appeal to me. It robbed the book of the type of content I enjoy most. But even then there would have been ways around it! The Tabula Myriad, the abominable AI construct that Octal Bool makes such a fuss over, could have offered a lot of conflict here. Instead, it cannot talk, and its influence is barely felt until the very end. It thinks and directs the other constructs but that's about it for the most part. It has enough impact on action scenes but barely any on the reader or the protagonists up until the climax. I almost forgot it was even there at times.
This is where I have to ask myself how this even happened. You got an actual artificial intelligence that came to the conclusion all the meat-things need to be purged because of their weakness and predicted, at least in part, a schism between humanity's factions. It even made plans and arrangements to achieve said purge and can influence machines around it. This is a setup brimming with potential for excitement and conflict and moral deliberations. It seems like a rich opportunity for any storyteller. And yet it takes a passive role, being a tool to achieve the mission instead of feeling like an integral part to it. Even the mad heretek worshipping it is sidelined for yet another fight against the Mechanicum's constructs.
The fights were technically good, and could have served a good dramatic purpose, but instead their volume throughout felt overbearing. With the book's original publishing timeframe, I have to wonder if it suffered from the infamous time in Black Library's life where Games Workshop proper exerted too much influence over the publishing arm. 2015 saw the peak of marketing brochure-like releases, with short stories presenting the release of the week in a super positive light and what not. I got a similar feeling here. Kastelan, Castellax, Vorax etc, the book highlights a lot of 2015's releases very prominently, to the point of annoyance. It would not surprise me in the least if this was a corporate mandate in line with other policy changes back then, rather than Rob's own vision that had been in the creative stages for a long time before, as evidenced by the name of the book being declared years earlier at events.
Either way, the product that ended up on the market read too much like an action piece than a moe introspective, exploratory epic of the Horus Heresy variety. That's what happens when you spew lightning at opponents or use magnet fists and put an Astartes into a giant Imperial Knight-sized mecha-body.
Despite all the missed opportunities, this is also the longest Horus Heresy novella so far, I believe. It is noticeably longer than Aurelian , the Corax novellas or other. Referring to the audiobook runtimes given by Black Library (since they don't give actual page numbers for their releases anymore), it compares closest to Rob Sanders' own The Honoured short novel for Betrayal at Calth, and is barely 10 minutes shorter than Sanders' Shadow of Ullanor for The Beast Arises . Yet it achieves so little that I thought was actually of consequence or gave a different perspective on the war with Mars, it has been one of the few books I end up thinking wasted my time.
The prose is, as often with Sanders, a bit heavy for my taste. Some people will love it, others will find it needlessly complex in places. He conjures up thick imagery, but it also requires you to glue yourself to the page to not miss a beat. I admit that this was difficult for me this time, due to being sick and my head buzzing with scrap code as it is. Maybe my lack of enjoyment is at least in part down to that.
I can definitely say that one stylistic trait of Sanders is not to my taste at all, though: He barely ever gives you breathing room within any given chapter of his books. Where in most books you'll come across scene breaks, blank lines that invite a short break, or allow you to close the book at and get off your train, Sanders writes non-stop. You either finish a chapter or re-read sections just to get back to where you left off. This is the primary factor that has so far discouraged me from reading his Atlas Infernal , even though it has been sitting on my shelf since it released. If I have to get through about 40 pages without breaks just to get out of the prologue, my enthusiasm dwindles. Cybernetica is similar to that, and as a result felt exhausting to read.
Cybernetica lost me. Between the lack of more esoteric discussion, the battles that overstayed their welcome, the weird, out-of-character-despite-dark-code boss waiting at the end, the lack of poignant dialogue, the mission objective we all know from the start will not be achieved no matter what, and the disconnect from the characters, all presented in a relentless avalanche, this has to be one of my least favorite books in the entire Horus Heresy series. It didn't stimulate, it exhausted me.
Cybernetica is one of the few Horus Heresy books that I felt were more of a chore to read than a pleasant experience. I did not enjoy it. I had to re-read sections over and over because they just wouldn't sink in, or I'd go back to re-read parts out of a feeling I missed something vital, especially after seeing praise for said sections online. But in the end I still feel unimpressed and dissatisfied with the story and its characters, and the big amount of action sequences.
I've mentioned the "battle-fatigue" problem somewhere before, though I can't remember which review it was. The term strikes me as important with Cybernetica too. It is full of action setpieces, some even pretty good, but the sheer volume of them compared to character development, interaction between cast members, and actual ongoings outside of he-strikes-I-strike moments is so mind-numbing to me, that I feel turned off from reading altogether if I can't get through the rest sooner rather than later. I build up an apathy towards the book and while that can get reverted if the book improves, Cybernetica never did. It left me cold.
My biggest complaint about the book is that it had so much promise to be something cool, exciting and with plenty of depth, yet chose not to be such. It had ample opportunity to be more than the sum of its parts, yet discarded these opportunities early on. When looking at the book, I can see many ways it could have gone differently in more fulfilling directions, yet reality is different.
Even looking at the cover art I see a massive missed opportunity. The diverse-Legion-Techmarines-doing-shit-on-Mars angle that the book outwardly promises with its Raven Guard, Ultramarine, Salamander and co lineup is compressed to barely two chapters. By the end of chapter two, the Raven Guard protagonist is on his own. The rest are goners, and never even got out of their tower or the hangar that is the stage for the first big (present-day) action setpiece. Yes, there's more action in flashbacks right off the start too. Either way, the idea of a dirty dozen infiltration mission on the Red Planet is discarded barely a quarter through the book, and that is where my enjoyment increasingly evaporated.
I liked the initial banter between the Techmarine initiates. They were representatives of their individual Chapters, with their own quirks and specialties. They argued, they assessed the situation, they decided to get out. They died. The book died with them. Instead of taking this entire angle of Legiones Astartes loyal to the Emperor over their Legions or the Omnissiah due to spending 30 years in training, which could have offered plenty of conflict between the group, have discussion of loyalties and their beliefs in how to purge Mars, Sanders scrapped it so quickly, it boggles my mind.
The Carrion, the Raven Guard protagonist, survives and reaches Terra. His struggles to get off Mars are handled off-page, between chapters. So is his recruitment to the Knights Errant. So is his own emotional development. It felt like there was too much slipping through the cracks at this point already that I found myself disconnected from the protagonist by chapter three of seven, the last of which he is not even in.
It didn't help that the only other character with a speaking role on his mission back on Mars ended up being a madman-heretek with what seemed like 5 lines throughout the rest of the story, one of which was "Tick, tock, tick, tock". Don't get me wrong, I liked Octal Bool's appearance in early flashbacks from his trial, and the idea behind him. But he was severely underused and his madness didn't allow for organic back and forth between him and the Carrion. His role made the Knight Errant feel even more isolated among his combat servitors and robot cohort.
I'm a reader who appreciates characters and their actions probably beyond everything else. Give me dialogue over swordblows any day. In that regard, Cybernetica is an utter failure. The showcasing of lumbering, emotionless machines doing their masters' bidding just doesn't appeal to me. It robbed the book of the type of content I enjoy most. But even then there would have been ways around it! The Tabula Myriad, the abominable AI construct that Octal Bool makes such a fuss over, could have offered a lot of conflict here. Instead, it cannot talk, and its influence is barely felt until the very end. It thinks and directs the other constructs but that's about it for the most part. It has enough impact on action scenes but barely any on the reader or the protagonists up until the climax. I almost forgot it was even there at times.
This is where I have to ask myself how this even happened. You got an actual artificial intelligence that came to the conclusion all the meat-things need to be purged because of their weakness and predicted, at least in part, a schism between humanity's factions. It even made plans and arrangements to achieve said purge and can influence machines around it. This is a setup brimming with potential for excitement and conflict and moral deliberations. It seems like a rich opportunity for any storyteller. And yet it takes a passive role, being a tool to achieve the mission instead of feeling like an integral part to it. Even the mad heretek worshipping it is sidelined for yet another fight against the Mechanicum's constructs.
The fights were technically good, and could have served a good dramatic purpose, but instead their volume throughout felt overbearing. With the book's original publishing timeframe, I have to wonder if it suffered from the infamous time in Black Library's life where Games Workshop proper exerted too much influence over the publishing arm. 2015 saw the peak of marketing brochure-like releases, with short stories presenting the release of the week in a super positive light and what not. I got a similar feeling here. Kastelan, Castellax, Vorax etc, the book highlights a lot of 2015's releases very prominently, to the point of annoyance. It would not surprise me in the least if this was a corporate mandate in line with other policy changes back then, rather than Rob's own vision that had been in the creative stages for a long time before, as evidenced by the name of the book being declared years earlier at events.
Either way, the product that ended up on the market read too much like an action piece than a moe introspective, exploratory epic of the Horus Heresy variety. That's what happens when you spew lightning at opponents or use magnet fists and put an Astartes into a giant Imperial Knight-sized mecha-body.
Despite all the missed opportunities, this is also the longest Horus Heresy novella so far, I believe. It is noticeably longer than Aurelian , the Corax novellas or other. Referring to the audiobook runtimes given by Black Library (since they don't give actual page numbers for their releases anymore), it compares closest to Rob Sanders' own The Honoured short novel for Betrayal at Calth, and is barely 10 minutes shorter than Sanders' Shadow of Ullanor for The Beast Arises . Yet it achieves so little that I thought was actually of consequence or gave a different perspective on the war with Mars, it has been one of the few books I end up thinking wasted my time.
The prose is, as often with Sanders, a bit heavy for my taste. Some people will love it, others will find it needlessly complex in places. He conjures up thick imagery, but it also requires you to glue yourself to the page to not miss a beat. I admit that this was difficult for me this time, due to being sick and my head buzzing with scrap code as it is. Maybe my lack of enjoyment is at least in part down to that.
I can definitely say that one stylistic trait of Sanders is not to my taste at all, though: He barely ever gives you breathing room within any given chapter of his books. Where in most books you'll come across scene breaks, blank lines that invite a short break, or allow you to close the book at and get off your train, Sanders writes non-stop. You either finish a chapter or re-read sections just to get back to where you left off. This is the primary factor that has so far discouraged me from reading his Atlas Infernal , even though it has been sitting on my shelf since it released. If I have to get through about 40 pages without breaks just to get out of the prologue, my enthusiasm dwindles. Cybernetica is similar to that, and as a result felt exhausting to read.
Cybernetica lost me. Between the lack of more esoteric discussion, the battles that overstayed their welcome, the weird, out-of-character-despite-dark-code boss waiting at the end, the lack of poignant dialogue, the mission objective we all know from the start will not be achieved no matter what, and the disconnect from the characters, all presented in a relentless avalanche, this has to be one of my least favorite books in the entire Horus Heresy series. It didn't stimulate, it exhausted me.
March 16, 2024
March 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus IX Omnissiah I Death of Innocence (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.
Oofa doofa! I can't imagine the crushing disappointment of paying thirty quid or more for the limited edition version of this that was all thar was available for a long time.
A Raven Guard Tech Marine in all but being handed his digital diploma is caught up in the heretical shenanigans on the Red Planet and the machinations of the Sigillite.
Struggling through this and banging my head against Rites of War, a truly baffling old Warhammer game, gave my depression depression. This is hardly fair of me to say. What I mean is, I am obsessively reading the Horus Heresy and playing through the back catalogue of Warhammer video games as a way to cope with my chronic mental and physical health, which have been seriously flaring all year, and this book and that game did not help!
This is one of those stories that's a true heartbreaker because the premise is great. Graduating class of Tech Marines fight the Dark Mechanicus with our protagonist going on to be a lone Raven Knight Errant on a truly ludicrous and epic solo mission back into the fray they escaped from and coming face to face with a familiar face they weren't expecting to face who has heeled turned to no longer be a face...BUT, and I thought this was just me but a while bunch of other people seem to agree though your mileage may vary, in actuality it sucks...
Maybe I just don't get on with Sanders' writing, but I found the prose incredibly bland and the characters two dimensional with almost everything that makes them any different to anyone else being explicitly told about them, rather than shown. I was already concerned when it opened with some interesting detail about our protagonist, being told a bunch about another character, and the rest kinda just being there, before going straight into deadly combat that lacked any drama or peril because I didn't have a chance to know or care about anyone. There's also a real long, almost rambling amount of description of scenes and dialogue that doesn't seem to contain any colour or flavour, especially for how meandering and dense it feels to read.
Look, I did writing at uni and I'm a reader, not a writer, so I have to give Sanders credit for doing the thing and I really don't mean to be disrespectful to them, but this is so far off the pace of nearly everything in the Horus Heresy and Black Library in general. At least it isn't as offensive as Abnett and McNeill can be, particularly around women, and it's nowhere near as bad in message as the worst thing I've read I the Horus Heresy, which is the jingoistic apologia antithetical to the foundation of Warhammer 40K that is Illyrium by Darius Hinks, but it is just ever so boring and does contain a totally unironic narrator voice use of 'noble savage' and a full doubling down on its use moments later, which is...something.
The Horus Heresy and it's audience deserve better and the only thing that is making me feel less bad about how much I've gone in on this is the fact that this was originally released as a ridiculously expensive limited edition novella, which is a while other thing in itself, but for this to be seen as good enough for that reflects real bad on Black Library.
So often it feels like Games Workshop and Black Library truly have no idea what they are doing, but through, largely, a talented crew, especially in the initial ideas and designs, they bumble their way into making stupid money because the concepts they own are so great.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 17.41 Horus Heresy novels, 10 novellas, 45 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 8 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
Oofa doofa! I can't imagine the crushing disappointment of paying thirty quid or more for the limited edition version of this that was all thar was available for a long time.
A Raven Guard Tech Marine in all but being handed his digital diploma is caught up in the heretical shenanigans on the Red Planet and the machinations of the Sigillite.
Struggling through this and banging my head against Rites of War, a truly baffling old Warhammer game, gave my depression depression. This is hardly fair of me to say. What I mean is, I am obsessively reading the Horus Heresy and playing through the back catalogue of Warhammer video games as a way to cope with my chronic mental and physical health, which have been seriously flaring all year, and this book and that game did not help!
This is one of those stories that's a true heartbreaker because the premise is great. Graduating class of Tech Marines fight the Dark Mechanicus with our protagonist going on to be a lone Raven Knight Errant on a truly ludicrous and epic solo mission back into the fray they escaped from and coming face to face with a familiar face they weren't expecting to face who has heeled turned to no longer be a face...BUT, and I thought this was just me but a while bunch of other people seem to agree though your mileage may vary, in actuality it sucks...
Maybe I just don't get on with Sanders' writing, but I found the prose incredibly bland and the characters two dimensional with almost everything that makes them any different to anyone else being explicitly told about them, rather than shown. I was already concerned when it opened with some interesting detail about our protagonist, being told a bunch about another character, and the rest kinda just being there, before going straight into deadly combat that lacked any drama or peril because I didn't have a chance to know or care about anyone. There's also a real long, almost rambling amount of description of scenes and dialogue that doesn't seem to contain any colour or flavour, especially for how meandering and dense it feels to read.
Look, I did writing at uni and I'm a reader, not a writer, so I have to give Sanders credit for doing the thing and I really don't mean to be disrespectful to them, but this is so far off the pace of nearly everything in the Horus Heresy and Black Library in general. At least it isn't as offensive as Abnett and McNeill can be, particularly around women, and it's nowhere near as bad in message as the worst thing I've read I the Horus Heresy, which is the jingoistic apologia antithetical to the foundation of Warhammer 40K that is Illyrium by Darius Hinks, but it is just ever so boring and does contain a totally unironic narrator voice use of 'noble savage' and a full doubling down on its use moments later, which is...something.
The Horus Heresy and it's audience deserve better and the only thing that is making me feel less bad about how much I've gone in on this is the fact that this was originally released as a ridiculously expensive limited edition novella, which is a while other thing in itself, but for this to be seen as good enough for that reflects real bad on Black Library.
So often it feels like Games Workshop and Black Library truly have no idea what they are doing, but through, largely, a talented crew, especially in the initial ideas and designs, they bumble their way into making stupid money because the concepts they own are so great.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 17.41 Horus Heresy novels, 10 novellas, 45 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 8 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
February 15, 2018
A two star rating is defined as "it was ok" by goodreads. That is perfect for this book.
The most interesting characters are left behind early in the story and it quickly plummets into mediocrity from there. The writing lacks the descriptive power of Abnett, Dembski-Bowden, and McNeill, feeling repetitive and uninspired. Learning about some of the Mechanicum's inner workings and their vigilance against techoheresy was nice and of course the Vertex system was pretty mind-blowing. However, none of it satisfied. It was just a novella. "It was ok."
The most interesting characters are left behind early in the story and it quickly plummets into mediocrity from there. The writing lacks the descriptive power of Abnett, Dembski-Bowden, and McNeill, feeling repetitive and uninspired. Learning about some of the Mechanicum's inner workings and their vigilance against techoheresy was nice and of course the Vertex system was pretty mind-blowing. However, none of it satisfied. It was just a novella. "It was ok."
February 15, 2018
Nah... Another 50/50, and quite literally. Started strongly, first half of the book was intriguing, like a good beginning of an even better story. But that's not how things turned out. I had a hard time enjoying the second half, even the plot twists were unable to do it for me. On to the next one...
March 25, 2016
Ah Cybernetica!
The rumored novella, that came in and out of existence for a number of years, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! The Carrion was a awesome and interesting character to see the story through, and I really found myself becoming attatched to both him and his comrades The Null and The Void. It has been too long since we were last on the Red Planet, and seeing it from another perspective, as well as seeing some of the abominable machines employed there, was a treat. I found that the over-the-top "tech/machine"-ness of the writing was very well done, but lead to the reading being a little slower than I would have liked. Though that's just me reading and the mental movie playing in my head. The novella was still a damn good read, and a damn fine addition to the Horus Heresy. Here's hoping Rob Sanders gets a full novel soon!
The rumored novella, that came in and out of existence for a number of years, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! The Carrion was a awesome and interesting character to see the story through, and I really found myself becoming attatched to both him and his comrades The Null and The Void. It has been too long since we were last on the Red Planet, and seeing it from another perspective, as well as seeing some of the abominable machines employed there, was a treat. I found that the over-the-top "tech/machine"-ness of the writing was very well done, but lead to the reading being a little slower than I would have liked. Though that's just me reading and the mental movie playing in my head. The novella was still a damn good read, and a damn fine addition to the Horus Heresy. Here's hoping Rob Sanders gets a full novel soon!
August 16, 2015
While most recent Horus Heresy releases have moved the story forward chronologically, for the latest Limited Edition novella, Rob Sanders’ Cybernetica, Black Library have taken us back to an earlier point in the timeline. Set on Mars just as the Heresy begins, we follow a Raven Guard known as The Carrion, sent to train as a Techmarine after he was grievously wounded and left unable to follow his legion’s way of war. Alongside brothers from other legions he finds himself fighting to survive against the might of the Mechanicum, while on Terra, Rogal Dorn looks for a way to deal with the escalating situation on Mars.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
January 14, 2016
Always love the tech savvy stories revolving around troublesome mars, but especially AI. Its warhammer 40k biggest taboo, hell even for the warped dark mechanicus AI is considered heretical.
Yeah we get it, tech marines play their part but are most of the time ignored. I think it gives a new perspective on what it means to be a techmarine and that it doesn't always have to be a bulky overconfident iron warrior.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
RIP Carrion
Yeah we get it, tech marines play their part but are most of the time ignored. I think it gives a new perspective on what it means to be a techmarine and that it doesn't always have to be a bulky overconfident iron warrior.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
RIP Carrion
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2016
Frustratingly similar to Rob's Archaeon: Everchosen in that the first third or so is wonderful character stuff, then it just devolves into things beating the crap out of each other. By the time the big third act "reveal" happens, I'd long since went into auto-read mode that I forgot the significance of it. Oh well.
December 11, 2015
This is one of the few Games Workshop 40k Novels where I wanted to read more and wished it was longer.
January 2, 2017
This was a good story and a decent outcome. A good journey and a valiant effort.
December 15, 2025
A great look into what the Heretic siding forces of the mechanicum are up to, plus we got a glimpse of the state of mars itself, soemthing sorely lacking during the Horus Heresy.
The main character, the carrion, is easily one of the most interesting Raven guard characters we've got to see. The A.I. engine was also fascinating to read about and where it story goes is very intriguing.
Unfortunately the latter half of the story does meander abit and can feel abit lacking I substance compared to the first half.
Overall a great look into a Mars and a interesting character in the Raven Guard 'Carrion'
The main character, the carrion, is easily one of the most interesting Raven guard characters we've got to see. The A.I. engine was also fascinating to read about and where it story goes is very intriguing.
Unfortunately the latter half of the story does meander abit and can feel abit lacking I substance compared to the first half.
Overall a great look into a Mars and a interesting character in the Raven Guard 'Carrion'
August 17, 2021
A decent story, particularly interesting for its exploration of Mars, the Mechanicum, and some blurring of the lines between traitors and loyalists, but spoiled by a disappointing plot twist and characteristically OTT action scenes.
TBD whether essential reading to understand the plot of the Heresy…
TBD whether essential reading to understand the plot of the Heresy…
October 1, 2023
This was much better than the reviews had me expect. Also much better than Sanders' previous novella. The question of A.I. being a danger or a savior, and how the protagonist, by being half cybernetic by fate was caught in limbo between the two factions of machine purity or purity of flesh, tolerated by both but belonging to neither...was quite deeper than I expected. Well done.
August 4, 2025
The story begins at around the same point as “Mechanicum” and converges with the Malcador “Knight Errant” plotline. This story follows members of the Legion who had been sent to Mars to train as Tech-Marines. But with a Martian Civil War underway, and the Fabricator General sworn to Horus, the forces of Mars have decided it best to wipe the Marines off the surface of Mars.
The main protagonist, Dravion Klayde “The Carrion” is of the Raven Guard Legion, but a battle against vicious Xenos cost him an arm and two legs. The bionic replacements were considered too cumbersome and noisy by his brothers, who valued stealth above all else. So, he was sent to Mars, to learn the ways of the Machine Cult. It’s a strong hook to begin the story, he was cast out for not meeting the requirements of his Legion and so he is left feeling like he doesn’t belong anywhere.
The action is intense but easy to follow. It also works well on an emotional level. The Space Marines are confused and furious at the betrayal, they don’t know if this factionalism or if all of Mars has turned against Terra.
The second portion of the story begins on Terra. Zagreus Kane, the leader of the loyal Mechanicum faction appears alongside Rogal Dorn and Malcador, which treats us to a fantastic debate as they consider the future of Mars.
The main protagonist, Dravion Klayde “The Carrion” is of the Raven Guard Legion, but a battle against vicious Xenos cost him an arm and two legs. The bionic replacements were considered too cumbersome and noisy by his brothers, who valued stealth above all else. So, he was sent to Mars, to learn the ways of the Machine Cult. It’s a strong hook to begin the story, he was cast out for not meeting the requirements of his Legion and so he is left feeling like he doesn’t belong anywhere.
The action is intense but easy to follow. It also works well on an emotional level. The Space Marines are confused and furious at the betrayal, they don’t know if this factionalism or if all of Mars has turned against Terra.
The second portion of the story begins on Terra. Zagreus Kane, the leader of the loyal Mechanicum faction appears alongside Rogal Dorn and Malcador, which treats us to a fantastic debate as they consider the future of Mars.
October 18, 2021
This sucked lol idk what was wrong with it. I suspect a combination of Sanders writing and the subject matter (obv nothing's wrong with Keeble) is the issue. Def not looking forward to listen to more of Sanders' work.
January 3, 2022
Opportunity missed
A good story line.however, so badly written it felt like a pantomime. I expected a narrator to pop up and urge the crowd to shout "he's over there" and "oh no he isnt!" But no such luck.
Really turgid read written it would seem by a small boy.
A good story line.however, so badly written it felt like a pantomime. I expected a narrator to pop up and urge the crowd to shout "he's over there" and "oh no he isnt!" But no such luck.
Really turgid read written it would seem by a small boy.
August 16, 2019
Good but also very short. The ending is yet another cliffhanger in a series of cliffhangers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2020
Nothing overly special... first half of the story was gripping, the second half lost me and I had to skog to finish it. Took me longer than usual to finish a book this size
September 21, 2022
Rogal Dorn is one of the best primearchs.
Never bored of any page time he gets.
Fun little side mission that lays the ground work for major stuff to come i feel.
Never bored of any page time he gets.
Fun little side mission that lays the ground work for major stuff to come i feel.
August 31, 2024
A mixed one, the small scale combat in the book is riddled with purple prose and is uninteresting but everything else about it is great. The book is better at depicting large scale in passing.
February 23, 2025
Always a sucker for a raven.
April 29, 2025
Carrion just wasn't that interesting and it suffered from a plot full of techno babble that didn't move the overall plot forward at all.
July 21, 2018
In Warhammer 40k, each space marine legion sends their techmarines to Mars to learn the mysteries of the machine cult. These nerd marines return to their chapters ready to operate anything more complicated than a push button or spin dial. This partnership between the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Adeptus Astartes was forged even before the Great Crusade. At the end of Mechanicum, we saw the loyalist servants of the Omnissiah ground into oblivion... but what happened to the loyalist techmarines who were training on Mars at the time the Heresy got underway?
This novella opens with Sergeant Dravian Klayde reflecting on the path that took him to Mars. He and his fellow techmarines are ready to graduate from training when they notice their teachers are absent. It isn't long before the shooting starts.
What I expected was for the nerd marines to work together to wage guerilla war against the traitor mechanicus, but the enemy are not interested in a drawn out conflict. They send a titan to squash the loyalists like the annoying bugs they are. We know that Rob Sanders has a knack for writing things that don't go as expected. Even knowing that, I wasn't prepared for where this book went: an unbearably sad tale of betrayal that goes on a little too long. The first half is great though!
This novella opens with Sergeant Dravian Klayde reflecting on the path that took him to Mars. He and his fellow techmarines are ready to graduate from training when they notice their teachers are absent. It isn't long before the shooting starts.
What I expected was for the nerd marines to work together to wage guerilla war against the traitor mechanicus, but the enemy are not interested in a drawn out conflict. They send a titan to squash the loyalists like the annoying bugs they are. We know that Rob Sanders has a knack for writing things that don't go as expected. Even knowing that, I wasn't prepared for where this book went: an unbearably sad tale of betrayal that goes on a little too long. The first half is great though!
January 13, 2016
This story started out very strong giving readers an insight into the world of Heresy-era Techmarines and their role on Mars. The initial fight was also very pleasing to read - I always like to read about Iron Warriors. But the the book lost me. Since it is a novella a great deal was glossed over and it felt obvious that this was the case. The main characters travels across Mars lacked scale and the awe that was meant to be conveyed fell flat. The combat devolved into the author always having something "suddenly" happen and felt lazy. I ended up skipping paragraphs just to get to the gist of what had happened.
The final 'boss' fight felt forced as well. The Iron Warrior throws the Raven Guard off the tower near the beginning to save his life and then blames him for abandoning him after being blown sky-high by a Titan? What an unconvincing bad guy!
The final 'boss' fight felt forced as well. The Iron Warrior throws the Raven Guard off the tower near the beginning to save his life and then blames him for abandoning him after being blown sky-high by a Titan? What an unconvincing bad guy!
January 8, 2017
I though it was very good and the character was well developed enough
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