‘Genefather’ – Guy Haley (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 346 Pages

I’m not much for ‘reading resolutions’ these days; I don’t have anything against them, they just don’t seem to work for me and I’ll be honest, I’d rather enjoy my reading than feel all guilty about not finishing a book that I didn’t want to read but thought I should. That’s me anyway, good luck with your reading resolutions if you have any ;o)

One thing I am trying to do though, this year, is to read more of the books that have been sat on my bookshelves for way too long. Books that I wanted to read but somehow never got round to because… Well, I ended up buying more books. I know :o)

‘Genefather’ is one of those books and I have been hankering for a little more ‘Warhammer 40k’, in my reading... It didn’t take a lot to put two and two together and make ‘Genefather’ my next read…

In the hope of taming the Great Rift that divides the galaxy in two, Archmagos Belisarius Cawl invites representatives from across the Imperium to the artificial world of Pontus Avernes. Certain he can convince them of his genius, he must secure their assistance in unlocking the secrets of the pylon network – great structures built by an ancient race that he believes can stave off the pull of the warp.

But amongst the attendees is an uninvited guest: none other than Fabius Bile himself. The Pater Mutatis needs no validation of his own genius and has his own agendas, the pursuit of which will bring about an epic confrontation of the galaxy’s greatest scientific minds – and from which only one can emerge victorious.

When the Black Library first started publishing their ‘Warhammer Horror’ and ‘Warhammer Crime’ lines, I couldn’t help but wonder what the next step would be. ‘Warhammer Romance’ was always going to be a non-starter but I thought ‘Warhammer Humour’ could have been interesting ;o) Well. The ‘Horror’ and ‘Crime’ lines turned out to be fairly short-lived but in ‘Genefather’, I got a slight glimpse of what ‘Warhammer Humour’ could have looked like and… I reckon it could have been a lot of fun.

In ‘Genefather’, this is all down to Belisarius Cawl, a man (well, some him still is, technically…) whose intellect runs at several times the speed of everyone elses and so has the time to deliver a series of pithy one-liners and observations that always raised a chuckle. What I really appreciated here is that Haley is clearly more than capable of introducing that humour to the proceedings but never overplays his hand. ‘Genefather’ is very much a ‘Warhammer 40k’ novel, in all the ways that matter, but it’s also a novel that isn’t afraid to step into ‘slightly comedic territory not often travelled’ and feels very much at home now. Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of ‘grimdark’ warfare but I love it even more when a Black Library writer steps off the beaten track and gives me a fresh look at the setting. That’s exactly what Haley does here but not at the expense of the setting itself.

And me being me… The thought of the 40k equivalent of a ‘works conference in a hotel’ tickled me, especially when Imperial Knights start fighting Heretic Astartes on the front lawn :o)

Like I said, ‘Genefather’ doesn’t forget what it is at heart and delivers a tale that meets those expectations. I’ll admit that, not having read many ‘Mechanicus’ novels, I struggled to keep up with ‘which human/machine hybrid was on which side’ and it would probably have helped, context-wise, if I’d read a few more of the ‘Indomitus Crusade’ books as well. That’s on me though, not ‘Genefather which stands very well on its own.

What I found was a novel that has a lot of twists and turns (accompanied by gunfire in all the right places), just as you’d expect, but also a fresh perspective on the humanity that runs through the Mechanicus, almost despite itself. Cawl and Fabius Bile must both face up to the fact that acts of creation have consequences that reach far beyond the original purpose; this makes for at least one quite touching moment but also moments and dialogue that really made me think. The outcome is a very engaging tale that kept me guessing and I’ll be honest, I skipped to the end to see if one particular character made it all the way through. I won’t tell you if they did or didn’t… ;o)

I’m still not a hundred percent sure if ‘Mechanicus’ novels and I are a good match but ‘Genefather’ went a long way towards making me want to check out a few more. It was a bit of a slog to get through the ‘technical bits’ but again, that’s just me. ‘Genefather’ is a compelling mystery that kept me guessing and an impactful tale of war in my favourite ‘war-torn far future setting; laced with a rich vein of humour. I’m glad I finally took it off the shelf for a read.