Teaser

The forge world Gryphonne IV has fallen, devoured by the tyranids of Leviathan. Explorator Talin Sherax is one of the scattered survivors, and has her eyes set on arcane technology that could yet redeem the lost world . . .

Review

This has been a good year for Mechanicus fans. Earlier in the year we had Guy Haley’s excellent Genefather, and now we have a second, unrelated novel featuring everybody’s favourite cog-adorned scientists. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Jonathan D Beer’s debut The King of the Spoil, I think it takes at least two novels to really judge an author’s style, so I happily grabbed the audio edition of his latest work. Equally happily, Dominion Genesis is a step up on every level.

A quick aside before we begin, the audiobook of Dominion Genesis has some unusual chapter names. There’s a lot of *** going on in the place of proper nouns. I don’t know if this is an error on the part of Audible, or some kind of meta-censoring on the behalf of our friendly neighbourhood Martians. Either way, it didn’t affect the book in the slightest, I think it’s just worth noting.

One of the things that fascinates me about the Mechanicus is that, though they are the engineers and scientists of the Imperium, they are not innovators. There is a deep-rooted fear of the unknown, with new ideas explicitly anathema to them. The idea of a maverick tech-priest playing at being Indiana Jones and recovering lost technologies is therefore a hook that I’m bound to grab hold of. Explorator Sherax is a great character, with a fully fleshed-out team of allies and rivals around her. I love the interplay between the various Mechanicus factions, and the more intimate rivalries on a personal level. The priests of Mars may run their lives by rote and repetition, but Beer must be credited for drawing each character as a clear and distinct individual, with existences that feel they go much further than what we see on the page.

Of course, no Mechanicus feud can exist without something over which to fight. This is where ancient and esoteric technologies come into play. The murkier past of the Warhammer 40,000 setting are rich in mysteries, and this one kept me guessing for a long time. At first, I was hopeful we were headed for an encounter with the Necrons, but we actually get is equally thrilling. Our first introduction to this mysterious technology is one of the strongest parts of the book. An encounter that starts of spooky before descending into full-blown body-horror, along with a unique perspective on possible applications of orks.

If I had one criticism of the book, it’s that it jumps around a lot. That’s perfectly natural for an adventure story of this calibre, but the short length means we don’t spend long enough in any one location to truly get to know it. Coupled with a narrative split between two sizable casts, and we end up with a novel comprised of brilliant chunks that don’t quite cohere as well as I’d like them to. Nevertheless, there are no weak links in the chain of narrative.

An audiobook lives or dies by its narrator, and as usual, Black Library are the best in the business. Colleen Prendergast is positively marvellous, be it as Sherax and her coterie, or the gruffer and down-to-Terra Vostroyan Blackbloods. On that note, it’s good to see the Vostroyans being put to good use. Another of my favourite scenes involves the best description yet I’ve seen of a regicide game. Turns out it’s not just reskinned chess after all, but I still want to own a set for myself.

If you’re a Mechanicus fan, you’ll likely be on your way to buy this already. If all you’re after is some archaeological heisting, then you could do far worse than grabbing a copy of Dominion Genesis.

Audio Stats

• Narrated by Colleen Prendergast
• A Standalone Novel
• Focuses on the Adeptus Mechanicus
• Published 2024 by Black Library
• 10hrs 47mins