Book Review: Lords of Mars.

Author: Graham McNeil.
40k Focus: Mechanicus.
Plot: Follow up to the best selling book: Priests of Mars. The story follows a fleet of the Mechanicus on a quest to find the lost Archmagos Telok.
Legibility/Flow: 8/10.
Depth of story: 8/10.
Reader Engagement: 8/10.
Overall: 8/10

Worth it? - Yes.

Quick Comments:

Wow, what a story. If you have read Priests of Mars then you will absolutely love this. Mcneil's story follows the Machanicus fleet on their road to recover the lost Archmagos Telok......and what a story it is. There is plenty of action, including a number of Titan battle scenes, and an array of plot lines to keep you going. Mcneil has captured the essence of the Mechanicus perfectly - heartless and robotic. It's great. Trying to follow the different Magos characters can get a bit confusing at times but once you learn to associate the different parts of the ship to the varying Mechanicus personnel, it gets much easier.

All of the main characters are back, including the horrific Rasselas X-42, Abreham Locke's personal Arco-Flagellant. You get to see more of him in this book, a lot more. He makes the story line much more thrilling. Galatea is even more creepy here than it was in the previous book, and like Rasselas X-42, he plays a larger role in the book. Add in to this the array of Skitarii, Black Templars and Eldar warriors running around, and you have yourself a hot-pot of violent encounters, political intrigue and page-turning twists.

The only reason why I am giving it an 8, and not a 10, is because the major "enemy" in this is some random crystals. Nothing has really been explained of their existence but I assume that is being saved for the final book. It felt as if Mcneil needed to add in some action and came up with this "crystal defence matrix" idea at the last minute. In my opinion, it would have been much better to have some other alien life form swarming around. However, it's not a major let down, at least you get to see the Legio's at work!

Overall, it's worth the read. I'll admit it took me a while to finish the book. I'm a slow reader at the best of times but this took me eight weeks to finish. It kept me turning the pages at night before bed but I didn't have the drive to pick it up in my spare time during the day. Although, in saying that, I am looking forward to the finale. What technologies will be discovered? Does Archmagos Telok want to rejoin the Imperium? What the hell is Galatea? All questions set to be answered in book three.

Get it. You will love it.

- Out.