Priest of Mars de Graham McNeill

Shadowhawk: Priests of Mars is your upcoming novel and its premise is extremely interesting: the adventures of a Mechanicus Explorator mission. Tell us more!

Graham: Priests of Mars is a book that takes us (you and me!) out of our comfort zones. It’s a chance to do something different, to stretch myself with character types I’ve not used and to delve into the strange mysteries of the Martian Priesthood. All the usual crutches of 40k are going to be stripped away, as I’m taking the characters beyond the edges of the galaxy where I’ll get the chance to throw them into situations where they’ll encounter things they’ve never seen, face challenges they never expected and find allies and enemies they never thought they’d meet. Its grand space opera and I can’t wait to get started on it, as I think folk are going to really love it.

Roboutte Guilliman a écrit:Mais ça me paraitrais logique..

Varney a écrit:Ce serait pas plutôt des Warhouds? Ils ont l'air plus "ratatinés".

- Ghost of Arkio - a écrit:
allez, maintenant qu'on s'est échauffé,
- qui pourrait me dire quelle classe de vaisseau est en train de survoler cette ville?

- Ghost of Arkio - a écrit:
Je ne connais pas l'Arche de l'Omnimessie, aurais-tu une image ou une réf.?

A new Graham McNeill novel is always cause for celebration, and Priests of Mars is no exception. The first of a pair of novels delving into the secrets of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Priests of Mars promises to answer many questions that people have been asking for years. Among these questions are “How do the Adeptus Mechanicus recruit new troops?” and “Whatever happened to…” Well, actually, wait until you get to the end of this exclusive extract and we’ll finish that question:

‘No, please! Don’t!’ he cried, but the men holding him gave his pleas no mind. A bulked-out servitor with piston-driven musculature hauled him inside the iron-hulled vehicle, where at least thirty other men were shackled in various states of disarray. Abrehem saw Coyne and Ismael trussed like livestock ready for slaughter. The ogryn sat with its back rest¬ing against the interior of the confinement compartment with a bemused smile on its face, as though this were a mild diversion from its daily rou¬tine instead of a life-changing moment of horror.
‘No!’ he screamed as the steel doors slammed shut, leaving them sealed in dim, red-lit darkness.
Abrehem wept as he felt the engine roar and the heavy vehicle moved off. He kicked out at the doors, almost breaking bone as he slammed his heels into the metalwork again and again.
‘Won’t do you any good,’ said a voice behind him.
Abrehem turned angrily to see the man who’d threatened Ismael with the knife. He no longer had his weapon, and his hands were bound before him with plastek cuffs. Like the ogryn, he seemed unnaturally calm, and Abrehem hated him for that.
‘Where are they taking us?’ he said.
‘Where do you think? To the embarkation platforms. We’ve been col¬lared and we’re on our way to the bowels of a starship to shovel fuel, haul ammunition crates or some other shitty detail until we’re dead or crippled.’
‘You sound pretty calm about it.’
The man shrugged. ‘I reckon it’s my lot in life to get shit on from on high. I think the Emperor has a very sick sense of humour when it comes to my life. He puts me through the worst experiences a man could have, but keeps me alive. And for what? So I can go through more shit? Damn, but I wish He’d have done with me.’
Abrehem heard the depths of the man’s anguish and an echo of some¬thing so awful that it didn’t bear thinking about. It sounded like the truth.
‘Those things you told the regimental commanders really happened, didn’t they?’ said Abrehem.
The man nodded.
‘And all that stuff on Hydra Cordatus? It was all true?’
‘Yeah, I told the truth. For all the good it did me,’ said the man, holding out a cuffed hand to Abrehem. ‘Guardsman Julius Hawke. Welcome to the shit.’

That’s right, the question we started above is “Whatever happened to Guardsman Hawke?” This is one of the questions Graham gets asked most often, and as you can see, he’s finally answered.
If you’re not familiar with Hawke, you should probably read Storm of Iron. Graham’s second novel, Storm of Iron featured an epic conflict between Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors (including Honsou, who went on to plague the Ultramarines in Dead Sky, Black Sun, Iron Warrior and The Chapter’s Due). Caught in the middle was a simple Imperial Guardsman, Julius Hawke, who managed to kill several Iron Warriors one-on-one, wipe out a huge swathe of their forces and survive while all the Imperial Fists died… To call him badass would be an understatement…
Priests of Mars will be released in August.