Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 1 September 2008)

Series: Warhammer 40,000/Sabbat Worlds Crusade

Length: 13 hours and 38 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The Titans walk to war in this brutal and captivating Warhammer 40,000 novel from the legendary Dan Abnett, Titanicus.

Of the many great Warhammer 40,000 authors out there, few are as impressive as Dan Abnett, who has envisioned an incredible number of awesome battlefields and unique character-focused war stories across the Warhammer universe.  Abnett has written a ton of exceptional and powerful books around the franchise, including several series considered to be the seminal texts of the extended universe.  This includes his brilliant Eisenhorn trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), and he has multiple entries in my favourite Warhammer 40,000 books list.  However, his best-known series is the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, which I am currently in the middle of reading.

The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are a key series of Warhammer 40,000 fiction that follows the frontline human soldier of this grimdark universe.  Set in an extended multi-planet campaign, known as the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, the Gaunt’s Ghosts books follow a ragged regiment of soldiers as they attempt to survive the dark servants of Chaos coming for them.  I am having an exceptional time reading the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, with books like First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis, Honour Guard, The Guns of Tanith, Straight Silver and Sabbat Martyr, really impressing me with the complex stories and intense action.  While I need to read more of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, I have taken a quick break to read some of the spin-off novels Abnett wrote around his main series.  Also set around the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, these spin-off novels follow other campaigns in this massive sector spanning war and provide Warhammer fans with a more in-depth view of these battles.  These spin-offs include the exceptional Double Eagle, which I had the great pleasure of reading last year, and which featured so many awesome duels between flyers.  Titanicus was another spectacular book shows a new and highly destructive battlefront of the crusade by focusing on the iconic Titan Legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

As war rage across the stars, the forces of Chaos constantly seek a way to disrupt the vital Sabbat World Crusade and destroy the human forces fighting to bring new worlds into the Imperium of Man.  To that end, the archenemy launches an ambitious and devastating surprise assault on the vital forge world of Orestes, whose under-strength defenders find themselves under mass attack from Chaos Titan war engines.  With both the citizens of the Imperium of Man and the forges of the Adeptus Mechanicus under threat, the planet appeals for help and soon finds its prayers answered from the stars in dramatic fashion.

Fresh from their own wars and heading out to join the crusade, the Titans of the Legio Invicta arrive on Orestes, determined to help their Mechanicus brethren.  Finding the forces of Orestes severely outwatched, the Invicta Titans stride to war, causing everything to tremble at the god-machines wrath.  Soon the world is engulfed in an engine war, with both sides wielding enough firepower to crack the planet and the entire population of Orestes caught in the conflict.

But as the war continues, a far more insidious threat arises that could impact far more than just the war on Orestes.  Deep secrets from within Orestes Forge soon begin to spill out, risking a schism between the Imperium of Man and the Adeptus Mechanicus.  With the planet trembling under the battling machines and enemy forces growing by the day, can Legio Invicta overcome the peril growing within their brotherhood before Orestes and the entire galaxy is put to the flame?

Dan Abnett presets another brilliant war story that is epic in every definition of the word.  Successfully presenting the awesome power of the Titans, Titanicus is a deeply compelling and impressive Warhammer 40,000 novel that I honestly could not get enough of.  Intense, exciting and so darn cool, Titanicus gets an easy five-star rating from me, as Abnett once again shows just how talented he is.

Titanicus had a particularly awesome and multi-layered standalone war narrative behind it that hooked me thanks to the author’s nuanced take on the destructive conflicts of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Starting off with some dark death to hammer home how grim the situation is, you are soon thrust into the main story as the planet of Orestes comes under attack and the defenders are pushed to the limit.  However, hope soon arrives with the landing of Legio Invicta, who back up Orestes’s existing Titans and defenders with their own engines and troops.  Abnett quickly and effectively sets up multiple character specific storylines as the book progresses that show various alternative viewpoints of the war.  The author works hard to showcase multiple levels of the conflict, from the top commanders all the way to the lowliest of soldiers, and I really enjoyed some of the intriguing storylines that emerged.  This includes desperate tales of survival by following human troops caught behind enemy lines and pursued by mechanical monsters, compelling dives into the minds of the Titan pilots, looks at the various political forces on Orestes, and even some fascinating storylines inside the Adeptus Mechanicus forge.  Abnett did an amazing job highlighting the desperate strife and the complex conflicts these figures endured, and you get a fantastic overarching look at the machine war that proves hard to look away from. 

As the plot of Titanicus continues, the various storylines go in some interesting directions, as you follow each of the characters or groups on their own unique journeys.  Abnett did a really good job of ensuring these unique storylines effectively played off each other as the book continues, and the way characters reacted to events from other plotlines was quite clever and helped to produce a cohesive and intense overarching narrative.  The introduction of a compelling storyline around intrigue and dissent amongst the Adeptus Mechanicus characters provides some extra drama and character conflicts, which added some interesting complexity to the plot, especially as it gave you an alternative group of antagonists which worked well alongside the menacing forces of Chaos, whose perspective you don’t see.  I appreciated how well Abnett set this storyline up in advance, and there are some clever hints to this, and other big events, earlier in the plot.

The final third of Titanicus is particularly impressive and intense, as the author brings together his various storylines extremely well.  I especially enjoyed some of the massive action sequences, while the resolution of the Adeptus Mechanicus storyline was powerful and full of drama as big personalities try to overcome mistrust and dissent.  While I would have liked to have seen the final battle in full, I think Abnett’s effective summary worked pretty well, and I understand that spending another few hours in combat would have watered down the author’s main message.  Each major character’s arc is resolved in a very satisfying manner, and there is an excellent blend of dramatic moments and intense action to keep the reader hooked.  I appreciated how a couple of these conclusions were more depressing, rather than being uniformly happy, which fits both the grimdark nature of Warhammer 40,000 as well as Abnett’s overarching themes that war has no true winners.  This story really came together well, and I deeply enjoyed the complex standalone narrative that Abnett came up with.

This was another insanely well written novel from Abnett, who excels at telling dark, deeply personal war stories from multiple perspectives.  The author provides the perfect balance of excitement, deep intrigue and fantastic character growth in Titanicus, all expertly set within the amazing Warhammer 40,000 universe, and it proves to be such an addictive read.  I personally became engrossed in the various character-driven storylines that emerged throughout the plot, especially the long-running storylines that lasted the entire book.  However, even the more minor character arcs, such as the occasional scene from a normal citizen living in the city to an extended look at the crew of a doomed machine, was hard hitting and Abnett really gets you invested in these personal tales.  As I mentioned above, these often-separate storylines worked extremely well in concert with each other, and Abnett did such a good job pulling them together into a brilliant, overarching narrative. 

Of course, you can’t talk about Titanicus’s writing without going into how incredible the action sequences are.  Abnett crafts together so many deeply intense and powerful battle scenes throughout Titanicus that constantly had the blood pumping as you watched your favourite characters brave the dark gauntlet of battle time and time again.  The author had a lot of fun envisioning war on multiple fronts, and I loved how we got to see infantry fights, tank battles and entertaining skirmishes between various augmented foes as the story continued.  However, easily the most awesome thing about Titanicus is the Titans themselves.  Insanely massive and powerful walking war machines, the Titans steal any scene they are in, and there are so many great reactions as the normal human characters see the Titans fight, especially when the despoiled enemy machines advance on them.  However, it is the sequences shown from the perspective of the Titan pilots themselves that are the best, as you become fully immersed into the battles in the scenes as the machines rain down destruction and depth.  You can honestly feel the insane powerful and destructive ability of the Titans as you move throughout Titanicus, and every single battle involving one of these massive walkers is epic on so many levels. 

As with the rest of Abnett’s books, Titanicus proved to be a particularly strong entry in the Warhammer 40,000 canon.  Serving as a companion piece to the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Titanicus is a must-read to anyone who has enjoyed Abnett’s main series and the overarching campaign it is a part of.  However, as there are no overlapping characters or major storylines, Titanicus can also be easily read as a standalone novel, and indeed would be a great introduction to Abnett’s writing style and his ability to write awesome war stories.  Titanicus would also be the perfect entry novel to anyone interested in exploring Warhammer 40,000 fiction, especially science fiction readers who love the idea of giant piloted war machines.  The cool action, complex character arcs and fantastic standalone narrative ensures that anyone can really dive into Titanicus and have a brilliant time, and I honestly think this book would appeal to a wide range of different readers.

However, as with most books in the franchise, Titanicus will mostly appeal to those established Warhammer 40,000 fans who will love Abnett’s dive into some unique aspects of the universe.  Naturally, this is primarily going to be around the Titans, who are a very awesome part of the Warhammer 40,000 setting that are often underutilised in fiction due to being too overpowered (or getting badly nerfed when they do appear).  I think Abnett did these war machines perfect justice in Titanicus, and you really come away appreciating every aspect of them, including their raw power, their powerful spirit, and the love the crews have for them.  However, Abnett also dives into the dark side of the machine, and some of the sequences that show the pilots losing their humanity were particularly jarring.  Honestly, I thought Abnett’s portray of the Titans was just brilliant, and I have yet to see another Warhammer author do any better.  Abnett also takes a lot of time to dive into the lore surrounding the Adeptus Mechanics.  While these parts of the book might be slightly confusing for newer readers, established fans will love seeing Abnett explore these machine-worshipping figures, especially as a theological schism becomes a major plot issue.  Other cool lore aspects include examining the uneasy relationship between the Imperium and the Mechanicus on planets they share, the dark side of human life on a planet under siege, and even little fun moments, like a toy maker finally finding success as he makes models of the Titans battling across the world.  All these elements make Titanicus a particularly epic read for fans of the franchise, and I personally loved seeing Abnett’s take on all these cool universe inclusions.

While the writing, story and Warhammer 40,000 elements are all exceptional on their own, what really brings them together and makes Titanicus truly awesome are the multiple cool characters scattered throughout the plot.  Abnett introduces a huge range of fantastic and complex characters in Titanicus who you grow quite attached to as the plot continues.  All the characters, from major figures to minor one-scene characters, are fantastically written and cleverly influence the plot in their own cool ways.  Highlights for me included the desperate crew of a destroyed tank who try to escape on foot, only to find more danger in front of them.  A group of inexperienced conscripts who are completely unprepared for the horrors of war also prove to be really entertaining, and you grow invested in their struggles to survive and the tragedies that await them.  Abnett also examines several intriguing Adeptus Mechanicus figures within the Orestes Forge, whose frustrations, ambitions and struggles for power are far more human than they’d like to believe.  However, the best character arc for me was the one that revolved around the crew of a Legio Invicta’s Titan who are forced to accept an Orestes’ Princeps (the pilot plugged into the Titan’s mind) when their own dies without a successor.  The resulting conflicts between the inexperienced and arrogant outsider pilot and the veteran Legio Invicta crew, which includes the Titan’s moderati (second-in-command), who finds himself under a suspended death sentence, sets the scene perfectly, and you become really intrigued in seeing how the Titan will survive.  Watching these figures come together as a crew is a highlight of Titanicus, although Abnett does an excellent job twisting that around later when internal conflict splits the protagonists.  All these characters, and many more, gave Titanicus some real emotional heft, and I became so damn invested in seeing the final fate of so many of these outstanding protagonists.

I think that it’s kind of a given that I listened to Titanicus on audiobook rather than seeking out a physical copy of the book.  Warhammer audiobooks are so damn good, and frankly there is no better way to enjoy the franchise’s awesome narratives and compelling action.  This is particularly true for Titanicus, as the intricate details and impressive combat sequences really shine through even better when read out.  I especially loved how incredibly epic the various Titan-on-Titan battles came across in this audiobook format, and the fantastic voice of narrator Toby Longworth ensured that you were enrapt by every single second of carnage.  Longworth, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, always does an exceptional job bringing Abnett’s amazing stories to life, and he was once again exceptional here in Titanicus.  Longworth captures all the characters in Titanicus perfectly, and you get a real sense of their personalities, emotions and their reactions to the insane events of the book.  This includes the various Adeptus Mechanicus figures, which Longworth voices in all their mechanical glory, and you can just imagine these augmented figures, and indeed all the complex characters of Titanicus, as Longworth describes them.  This makes for such an exceptional experience, and I flew through the audiobook’s near 14-hour long runtime extremely quickly.  There is honestly no other way to enjoy Titanicus than on audiobook, and you are guaranteed to have an amazing time.

Dan Abnett continues to showcase why he is such a highly regarded author of Warhammer fiction with the brilliant and captivating Titanicus.  Perfectly showcasing a war between one of the franchise’s most epic components, the massive Titan war engines, Titanicus was an exceptional read from start to finish and one that I cannot recommend enough.  I had such a great time with Titanicus, and I look forward to reading even more Warhammer 40,000 books from Dan Abnett this year.

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