A short story in John French’s ongoing Horusian Wars series, The Spirit of Cogs is a sinister little ghost story told by Glavius-4-Rho to Severita while the ex-magos is working on a repair. Casting his machinic mind back to his first experience on a true forge world, Glavius-4-Rho tells a tale of his younger self being recruited into a mysterious project, swathed in secrecy, which requires his expertise. He and another magos throw themselves into their work, despite the strange phenomena plaguing their efforts, but before long they start to question the consequences of the Mechanicus’ thirst for knowledge at all costs.
There’s an unusual combination here of rigid machine logic and a very human sense of fear and impending disaster, told as it is in an honest first person which portrays Glavius-4-Rho as having an unexpected sense of dry humour and a poetic turn of phrase. It’s a story about ghosts in the machine, and how it’s possible for an adept of the Mechanicus to reconcile their supremely logical creed with a concept which – on the surface – seems entirely illogical. Both a sad story of loss and loneliness, and a fascinating insight into the beliefs of the Adeptus Mechanicus, it’s cleverly conceived and beautifully executed, and once again demonstrates French’s innate grasp of the tone and feel of 40k.
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The Spirit of Cogs is available either as a standalone e-short or within the Inferno! Volume 3 anthology. The Anthology is the best value way of getting hold of this!
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Thank you for this review. The one thing I found odd in this story was the absence of connection with the “relevant” 40K lore, that would have helped the casual reader to understand, after all has been said and done, where the problem lays. I will not spoil the ending, but if, like me, you finished the story without satisfactory answers, I suggest to google “Legio Xestobiax”. It will make much more sense. Maybe the link was evident for those familiar with the Horusian Wars series, but since I didn’t read the books, I found myself a little at loss