I'm re-reading the Horus Heresy, and this is my review of Titandeath: The God Machine Cometh by Guy Haley, book 53 in the series. The book's primary story line is about, obviously, Titans, the battle mechs (think Neon Genesis Evangelion) of Warhammer 40,000. I consider myself a moderate fan of mechs. I enjoy some mech wargames, I've watched a few shows about mechs. There are definitely mech aficionados that outrank me, but my usual compulsion is to be interested in mechs. The Titans' relationship to the Mechanicum makes the Warhammer 40,000 version of mechs all the more enticing to me, though, so I was very excited to re-read this novel. It's a big book though, and I'd forgotten that there's a whole B Plot about the Blood Angels.
But before the Blood Angels come the Titans.
The story begins on Procon, long before the Horus Heresy. The Adeptus Mechanicus has come to the world during the Great Crusade and are holding a competition to find a house of nobles worthy of being inducted as Titan princeps. At a critical moment in the competition, house Mankata Vi fumbles the ball (or steps over the line, or something). Princess Mohana Mankata Vi, without thinking, rushes in, grabs the ball, and scores the winning touchdown.
(I'm breezing past the specifics of the competition because it sounded like a sport and so I retained no memory of what I read. Assume they were playing Blood Bowl.)
This turns out to be awkward for everyone, because the competition was meant to be a test of the men of the houses. As punishment, Mohana Mankata Vi is promptly exiled by her father. But she's exiled as the winner of the competition, and so the Mechanicum initiates her into Legio Solaria.
By the time of the Horus Heresy, Mohana Mankata Vi is an old woman kept in stasis, only to be awakened for executive decisions. Legio Solaria models itself after Pahkmetris, an ancient hunting goddess of Procon. Its membership is limited to females, in honour of the Great Mother, Mohana Mankata Vi.
In the modern day of the Horus Heresy, Legio Solaria has been ordered to join the Imperial battle for Beta Garmon. Before that pivotal moment, though, there's a lot of history and development of Princeps Esha Ani Mohana, a daughter of Mohana Mankata Vi, and the main character (if there is one) of the book. She's an interesting character, with maybe a typical Warhammer 40,000 profile. Esha Ani Mohana is disciplined, loyal to the Emperor, loyal to her Legio, and driven to make set the universe straight again. Atypically, though, she also honours the old goddess, Pahkmetris, as many of her Legio do. It's not a cult, exactly, but there's a definite duality among Legio Solaria. The people of Procon were introduced to the Imperium back during the Great Crusade, but at the same time they were introduced to the Omnissiah by Cult Mechanicus, so the Emperor's secularism never exactly took root and while the Omnissiah did apparently grant great power there was still a lot of room for private prayers to Pahkmetris.
I don't think this would necessarily be of interest in another fantasy setting, but in the Warhammer universe it's a notable exception. It never amounts to anything, but it's a nice cultural detail.
Throughout the main story line of the Titans bravely marching off to war (and by bravely, I mean stupidly, but in the Warhammer universe those two things are as interchangeable as they are in real world militarism), there's a B Plot about Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels, and Jaghatai Khan, Primarch of the White Scars. I enjoyed their scenes together. It's always nice to see some Primarchs being supportive of one another, compared to the way Horus and the other traitor Primarchs treat one another.
But the real story here is Sanguinius. Having been shown his own death by his father, Sanguinius is living what he knows to be his final days. He knows exactly how and where he's going to die, he knows who will slay him. On the one hand, this gives him a fearlessness he can wield in battle, but on the other hand it's obviously profoundly sad for him. That comes through in the writing, and you really feel for Sanguinius during this book. I'm a fan of the Blood Angels anyway, so maybe I'm predisposed to think so, but I do feel like he's masterfully and sympathetically written.
The brilliant thing about Sanguinius's sadness is that it bleeds through to the rest of the book. Sure, there are lots of Horus Heresy books that aren't happy stories, but this one is dangerously close to the end of the entire series. This is a dangerous place to be for a Warhammer character. There are lots of casualties in this book. The Imperium doesn't fare all that well. The Legio Solaria is tested beyond its limits. The forces of Horus and Chaos (I don't think they're exactly the same, at this point) come on strong.
Like Sanguinius, we all know exactly what happens at the end of the Horus Heresy. By virtue of the fact that there is an end to the Horus Heresy, but that there is a Warhammer 40,000, we know exactly who wins. It's fascinating that knowing how something ends doesn't make the journey toward that ending any less painful.
And that's what this book is about.
All images in this post copyright Games Workshop.