The Master of Mankind book review

Master of Mankind

The continuing saga of the 30K universe this time centers around the Emperor and the war in the webway beneath Terra. This is stuff that has been hinted at before but never really expounded on before this series started. My interest was piqued. Plus it was written by Aaron Demski-Bowden and so far I have yet to dislike a 30K/40K book he has written.

The story opens with a look at the story of Cain and Able. It seems lame at first and then we learn why this is a big deal. See when his first murder happened it wasn’t just a biblical tale it was also the birth of the first, but not the first chaos entity “The Echo of the First Murder” , “Ender of Worlds” or also known as Drach'yn, yup that very same one we all know from Abaddon’s sword.  From here the novel begins a slow revealing churn until a very satisfying and somewhat depressing end.

Now the story shifts to the continuing 5 year war in the webway beneath the Imperial Palace. Here the Mechanicus, Sisters of Silence and Custodes are fighting a losing war. The Emperor is stuck on the Golden Thorne to hold the doorway shut. Every battle sees them losing or holding long enough to retreat and regroup. They are battling an endless horde of demons running amok along with some World Eaters that have slipped into the webway too. Of course they drive home this is all the fault of Magnus and we see that event played out twice during the book.

We also have side jaunts with the Sisters of Silence rounding up psykers from around the galaxy in their black ships.

We have a fallen Imperial Knight house that has pulled out of prison to help fight in the webway to redeem themselves.

There a bit with the Mechanicus and Arkham Land dealing with the war, the webway, promises kept and promises broken between mars and Terra.

We have a bigger look into the Custodes, their roles, how they are all individuals but still a unified fighting force.

Then there is a lone Blood Angel who has been drug into the webway. He has been grafted with robotic limb replacements, but his body is rejecting them. Thus he is barley a functioning Astartes anymore, but still he is brought along by the Custodes.

Finally we get a look into the Emperor’s past, thoughts and grand plans.

All this stuff set against the crazy war with in the Eldar webway.

It all seems rather blah and boring until you realize that…. (spoilers ahead so stop and go read this book or not)

• The Emperor is a cold blooded pragmatist. He is not the loving father the Primarchs and Astartes drone on about. He had the Thunder Warriors killed off by the Custodes after they served their purpose. It is somewhat eluded to that the Astartes Chapters might get the same treatment when the galaxy is under his rule.
• He calls the Custodes his greatest achievement.
• He refers to Primarchs as specimens and by their creation number.
• During a flashback we see him with Angron on an operating table. He talks of how he can remove the cranial implants (The Nails) and cure him. However, he won’t because he has a use for a crazed killer. Angron is just a tool and not a loving creation.
• He plans to use the webway for mankind’s travel through the universe. This will stop the need for navigators and psykers. No psykers, no chance at chaos issues. Goodbye psykers.
• He maintains his golden god-like form for PR reasons only.
• What we really get is space not Jesus , but totally space Jesus and his grand plans that are falling apart around him. He is trying everything to complete his task but knows it is all futile.

Then we can jump to the webway stuff. Here we get the 30K-40K battle action we all know. The Sisters of Silence and Custodes holding until they are overrun and then falling back to repeat the process. The Mechanicum getting peeved that they haven’t got the webway cleared so they can travel to/fro Mars and beyond. They of course pull their forces out after horrendous losses and unfulfilled promises. We have the tale of poor Blood Angel Zephon the only Astartes to fight in this conflict. It is not due to his battle prowess because he can’t fight effectively with his body rejecting his robotic limb replacements. He was brought to the frontlines by the Custodes because he is the canary in the mine. They are using him to detect chaos forces and incursions or as a host for any powerful chaos to inhabit. Thus making it easier to banish/kill. Yup he is a sacrificial lamb. We have Imperial Knights selling their machines and lives to stop the demon army. Just so they can get out of prison and maybe redeem themselves. Then there is all the other typical battle stuff until the end. This is where a 1000 psykers are fed to the golden throne ( hmmm what does this example mean for the 40K future? ). We can all guess what happens next and how this plays out since Horus isn’t to Earth yet.

It is all bleaker than usual  for a 30K-40K novel. Everything is falling apart and the Emperor knows it. He has seen it, but still he tries to fight it. Why? Well because he has a plan and wants to have it fulfilled no matter the cost.

Even being a bit depressing it is still one of the better Horus Hersey novels. The revelations are impressive! The view of the Emperor could split the fan base. He has never been depicted like this. I was put off by his pragmatism at first, but as the story went on I totally got the why and how of this take on the Emperor of Mankind. I will be curious to see if this view of him will continue or if the next appearance for him will be different. A damn fine read and another winner winner from Aaron Demski-Bowden.