Of the three dozen Horus Heresy books I've read, Titandeath is the one which feels most perfunctory. It fills a gap in the HH timeline: what have the Adeptus Mechanicus (light and dark) been doing since Graham McNeill's Mechanicus? It also answers the question: why did reduced numbers of titans take part in the Siege of Terra? The first question more interesting than the second, it remains, however, that Haley doesn't give the reader much reason to invest themselves in the story beyond that answer. The forces build up, a big battle occurs, and the book ends. While the same can be said of some HH books, it's with Titandeath the reader most strongly feels the sentiment: things happened as I expected.
And there are further challenges. Haley does an average job of conveying the size and power of the titans. The right words are in the right places—“giant”, “enormous”, “humongous”, etc., and there are a couple pivotal scenes which provide perspective to appreciate their might. That being said, more could have been done with the latter to imbue upon the reader the magnitude of the titans. Again, what exists on the page is not terrible. The ground trembles and scale is described. But more could have been done, for example, scale could have been more often imbued or perceived rather than described. And the titan denouement? The shark it does jump. To be fair, it will come down to reader perspective whether in fact a shark exists. I suppose the entire series is over the top...
If there is meat on the bone of Titandeath worth chewing on, first would be some of the battle scenes, which are generally well done—wide-angle lens, lots of smashing and crashing, klaxons blaring, missiles, las beams, etc. And secondly, the inclusion of women. Before you think me a woke zombie, read on. Titandeath is the HH novel/story which most prominently features women (at least that I have read). The female cadre who pilot the titans fit nicely into the story and series. Unlike female characters who are forced to occupy typically male roles in a lot of fiction today, the women in this book fit in—no pushing, prodding, or cramming needed. In other words, Haley does not go out of his way to say, Hey look! We included women! Rather, he utilizes a natural cross-over between gender and setting, and it works seamlessly. Some readers may consider this parent-child / pilot-titan relationship too overt, and therefore discriminatory. Women are more than wombs! they may scream. Of course that is true, which is why Haley's women receive the same level of detail as the men. And if I must say so, after dozens and dozens and dozens of gruffly male books, having a group of women play a key role is a nice change of pace.
Looking for other positives, my assumption is that Titandeath will be most appreciated by fans of the IP's table top experience. Big, stompy war engines crashing around on the battlefield. I don't play Warhammer, but my guess is the book brings some of that tactile experience to imaginative life on the page, and can be recommended as such.
In the end, Titandeath is difficult to recommend—for me, at least. As stated, it feels perfunctory, as if a paragraph or two in summation may have generated nearly the same. But I imagine others may find it easier to recommend, likely people who like taking the titan engines out for a spin on the table top battleground. Is the book a critical link in the Horus Heresy series that can't be skipped? I would argue only if you read Mechanicus by Graham McNeill, or if you are reading every single, one of the HH books. Otherwise, this one can very safely be skipped. Haley does his damnedest to bring the giant war machines to life, and I think he succeeds, just perhaps not with the most points for style.
No comments:
Post a Comment