Servants of the Machine God

Warhammer 40,000

by David Annandale, C.L. Werner

A brand-new anthology of stories featuring the enigmatic Adeptus Mechanicus, cybernetic servants of the Imperium who venerate technology above all else.

It is the 41st millennium and humanity teeters on the brink of destruction. Yet out of the darkness comes a cold hope. The Adeptus Mechanicus are logical, remote beings of cybernetic construction. Their armour is a work of mechanical art, their weapons unparalleled in intelligent design. One of the most hostile fighting forces of the Imperium, the Priesthood of Mars serves justice upon their enemies with forbidding momentum. Though nominally allied with mankind, it is in the name of the Omnissiah that their mighty war machines step forth into the cauldron of war, for the Machine God alone is worthy of their sacrifice and neither man nor xenos can deter them from their single purpose of championing his dominion. This anthology contains a dozen gripping tales about the formidable Titans, Imperial Knights, battle-servitors and skitarii legions with which the Adeptus Mechanicus wage war, all written by some of Black Library’s most popular authors, including Graham McNeill, Gav Thorpe, Josh Reynolds, Rob Sanders, David Guymer, David Annandale and Andy Clark.

Genres: Anthologies, 40k, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2018

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, this was a great first approach to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Rather confusing at the beginning, because the book opens with several stories of Knights... and I didn't know why XD I later figured out that the Mechanicus serve the Knights so it started making sense.
But then we actually get stories about Mechanicus and other factions, and we get to see them more as they usually are and those are the stories I loved. Mechanicus have always struck me as rather scary because they are more machine than humans and therefore they don't quite understand things such as empathy or need, it makes them look cold and the decisions they end up making are terrifying. There were amazing stories in this anthology, and it's a good way to get a broad sense of how they operate.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good anthology that focuses more on the Knights than on the Skitariis and other servitors of the Adeptus Mechanicus. There's nothing really exceptional here, but the overall quality of the stories makes them worth reading.

[Danie Ware · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couple of outstanding stories in this, but most very dry. Not terrible, by any means, but a bit of struggle to get through to the end.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining anthology of twelve short stories and novellas. I chose this book as my first foray into Warhammer 40k, because I'm particularly interested in the Adeptus Mechanicus. "Vanguard" is the only must-read story in the book, but I'm glad I read them all. You'll walk away with a pretty full picture of the Adeptus Mechanicus major units and use this as a launchpad to determine what 40k books to read next.

My top three stories in order are: "Vanguard", "Zheng Cypher", and "Vengeance of the Immortal". Honorable mentions go to "Hunting Ground" and "Knights of the Imperium".

My only real complaint about this anthology is in the ordering that the editor chose. If you read in sequence, you'll have giant robot fatigue by mid-book and still not have any real impression of the Adeptus Mechanicus itself. Here's my suggested reading order for a more impactful experience:
1. Infinite Circuit
2. Enigma of Flesh
3. Zheng Cypher
4. Vanguard
5. Clade
6. Knights of the Imperium
7. Becoming
8. Defiant
9. Hunting Ground
10. Vengeance of the Immortal
11. Gates of the Devourer
12. Of Gods and Men

Worth adding that three of these stories are directly connected to previous Black Library books, although those other books did not seem to be required reading to enjoy those in SotMG:
- "Vanguard" -> "Fire Caste"
- "Clade" -> "Skitarii", "Tech Priest"
- "Vengeance of the Immortal" -> "Honour to the Dead"

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of action heavy short stories which mostly focus on the titans. You need to have a decent understanding of 40k lore and terminology to grasp several of the stories, although some define themselves well enough to be a satisfying story.

Personally I found a lot of the stories to be quite dry, and difficult to grok due to my lack of understanding of the setting. Someone embedded in the factions lore would probably be able to get more from this tome.

Knights of the Imperium was the highlight here.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of high action, fast paced stories featuring Adeptus Mechanicum and Adeptus Titanicus factions. I really enjoyed how exciting they were and dove right into the fighting. I wish more Black Library novels were as direct.

[catweaseloz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories most of which are more like a graphic novel, in style, without the pictures. Wouldn’t make a lot of sense without knowing the 40k background. The titan and knight stories were probably more interesting.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection of shorts by some top dog Warhammer writers. More Titan and Knight stories than straight up cog boy tales, but tales good enough to hold for full length novels. Check it out.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The omnissiah approves

This is a fairly diverse compendium covering many facets of the mechanicus from imperial knights and titans to tech priests and skitarri

[Phillip Wyrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The AdMech stories are great. Too bad that over half the first part of the book are boring stories about Imperial Knights. Who approved this? Skip the first half and it's a good anthology.