40k-book-club

[tall phoenix]

which is... a take

[glass coyote]

haha, well.... yeah. My favorite dark eldar character was the ...druggie I guess is what I would call him. So totally unlike the rest of the uptight murder fiends that are the Drukhari.

I know there has been some odd buzz about some netflix show and people swooning over the serial killer being portrayed.

[daring whale]

I thought the night lord novels were loved? Or is it just his book?

I heard good things about the trilogy

[glass coyote]

I've not seen that, but I tend to just read the books in my own personal bubble. If anything that fits right in with Konrad being insane. Is it him or the Night Haunter? a duel personality thing going on.

[drowsy urchin]

I've not personally read/listened it but that's what I've heard about it a lot, Dilara knows more

[glass coyote]

I like an interpretation of him going to his death one as a haha I was right moment and another for Konrad to bring the Night haunter to justice finally.

[glass coyote]

I would say do read the trilogy and then do the Konrad book. See a bit of tragedy with just how far the Night Lords have fallen.

[leaden ibex]

i think my personal top 3 primarch books are Alpharius, Angron, and Jaghatai Khan

i've noticed that a lot of the primarch books that are good end up being the traitor primarch ones

funnily enough despite being written by gav thorpe, i have heard the rogal dorn book was actually quite decent

[glass coyote]

I'm hoping the sanguinius book ends up good. I have that on pre-order. I missed out on the last few releases so my hardcover collection is missing like 2-3.

[leaden ibex]

it's written by chris wraight, so i have high hopes for that one

[glass coyote]

I might just grab the audio books on the ones I'm missing.

[teal solar]

Honestly has Chris Wraight ever written a stinker? Like all of his books are so good

his whole custodes series is wonderful, jaghatai is great too

[copper sphinx]

angron looks like a damn imperial knight

[drowsy urchin]

big boy

[daring whale]

Where do you get the hard covers at because honstely id love a few after i get some favorite legions. Im also trying to get into some guard regiments. I know of Cain and Gaunt but any other good books?

[drowsy urchin]

straight from GW mostly

[daring whale]

@drowsy urchin btw i love that book cover

[drowsy urchin]

Yeah both are great, especially the limited edition

[jaunty stratus]

the Ian St. Martin one or the Guy Haley one? totally lost oversight

[mellow knot]

Generally, that's because writing nuanced 'villains' is infinitely more rewarding from an author perspective.

[drowsy urchin]

Guy Haley one afaik

[teal solar]

For people who have both read the Outcast Dead and the War of the Beast books, which one do y'all think is more cursed

idk if the "World eater punches through ceramite with his bare hands and kills a custodes" is worse, or "harlequins reach the golden throne, bypassing all of the custodes" is more cursed

[jaunty stratus]

Honestly, none. World eater was juiced up beyond reason because butcher nails and harlequins are harlequins

[teal solar]

bare hands through ceramite though?

[jaunty stratus]

Sure, if you use your bones as a spear, why not. They are genetically enhanced, Yada Yada Yada

[teal solar]

Nails provide anger and pain tolerance, not hulk strength

[jaunty stratus]

What's cursed is the psyker "giving up being a psyker" to fight a blank

They provide acting without reason. They are space Bois, this provides hulk strength

[teal solar]

Even like, materially doesn't make sense. If I have hulk strength and I punch a steel wall, I'm going to obliterate my arm into pieces

but it's 40k, so whatever I guess

[jaunty stratus]

Exactly, 40k being 40k. Everything with gore is ridiculous anyway and there for entertainment

[teal solar]

McNeill does love playing fast and loose with the lore of his stories

like how he just tossed this reality destroying superweapon into his priests of mars series

[jaunty stratus]

Theres even huge inconsistencies with the Prospero events

[teal solar]

He did write storm of iron though, top tier book

[jaunty stratus]

Actually, one of my favorite writers together with DA

[daring whale]

I have read one book from Aaron Dembski-Bowden. How are his other works? I have read only Helsreach by him.

[hard gale]

best author in BL imo

couldn't tell you a book I haven't enjoyed by him

he just

'gets it'

[drowsy urchin]

he is very good yeah

[daring whale]

I really enjoyed Helsreach and want to get another.

[hard gale]

If you are looking at 40k, I recommend Aurelian

Story about a Grey Knight set around the time of the 1st war for armageddon

when Angron materialised into realspace for the first time in a long time

Daemon Angron that is

it;s a fucking ace read

[daring whale]

I been wanting a grey knight book. But I don’t want to get to far into 40 k just yet I’m really picky with them.

[hard gale]

If you're looking for something more Chaosy, his Night Lord trilogy is very good

[rich raptor]

That's The Emperor's Gift

[hard gale]

absolutely correct, my bad

I get them mixed up cause I am dumb

@daring whale the GK story is the Emperor's Gift, not Aurelian. That was a limited edition HH novella XD

[daring whale]

I’m staying away from chaos because I’m new to the setting and enjoy watching everyone freak out when chaos shit starts and I’m just as confused as them lol.

[hard gale]

hehe, fun way to approach it

[stoic grotto]

I liked DeathWatch and Shadowbreaker by Steve Parker

[wicked tree]

Ye, his DW novels are great

[stoic grotto]

otherwise as guys said ADB and Graham McNeill, are probably my favourite and most renowned WH40K authors

[wicked tree]

I’d add Wraight to that list tbh

[daring whale]

No Dan?

[wicked tree]

Eh, his SM novels are hit or miss more so than the other three

[uncut nimbus]

I'mma second this. Everything I've read from Chris Wraight has been EXTREMELY well written, and I don't mean as a 40K novel: I mean as literature.

[mellow knot]

Also, Chris is the Nicest Man Alive.

Actual fact.

[royal egret]

Abnetts marine novels are great you fucking heretic

He single-handedly made Ultramarines cool with one book

[wicked tree]

[torpid sequoia]

The only cool Ultramarine is a dead Ultramarine

[wicked tree]

I am Slaughter and Saturnine dispute this. As I said his marine novels are hit or miss

[meager trench]

Both those are bangers

Loved em

[torpid sequoia]

Except for Cpt Titus, he's the only cool ultra marine

[wicked tree]

Fair, a difference in opinion

[torpid sequoia]

and the chapter master that got hacked to bits and pieces during the first tyranid invasion

[wicked tree]

Classic Calgar

[royal egret]

Saturnine is fucking flawless how dare you

And War of the Beast is just that

We don’t talk about it

And that was still the best of those very bad books

[meager trench]

I enjoyed TBA especially after the sprawling mess of the HH at the end

[royal egret]

I seriously doubt he had an interest in the series considering he never wrote for it again

[meager trench]

Could've been better with the plot devices but overall enjoyed it

[royal egret]

And they just got a bunch of no names for most of the other books

[meager trench]

I think it was during the era were he wasn't writing much for BL at all

When it started, now he's kinda back

Guy Haley low key kinda carried the series imo at the end

Put the team on his back and took em to the promised land

[royal egret]

I’ve genuinely never heard anyone bring up Saturnine as a bad book though

Tbh it was kinda the book which saved the Siege for a lot of people

The books post Solar War were super lackluster imo

I don’t like Erda and all that shit but everything else is great

[acoustic ruin]

Anyone got any good books? To like get started.

[royal egret]

Eisenhorn and Gaunt’s Ghosts are the typical answers

[acoustic ruin]

Cheers

[royal egret]

I would also recommend reading the core rulebook fluff if you want to familiarize yourself with the lore more

And/or codexs

For whatever faction interests you

[acoustic ruin]

Taauuuu

Tau always fascinated me

[chilly loom]

The Farsight books actually bang

[acoustic ruin]

Wait

Hol' up

Books?

[chilly loom]

I like the Shadowsun ones too, but I prefer loyalists so

Yeee

[acoustic ruin]

I thought it was just the one

[chilly loom]

Farsight has a series I believe

[acoustic ruin]

Oof

[chilly loom]

Unless my tau friend has japed me on mistake

[acoustic ruin]

I think I've just read one warhammer book. Was about a human and dwarf that hunted demons

They had like a zeppelin

Iirc

[chilly loom]

Yeah It's Farsight, the novella, then Crisis of Faith, then Empire of Lies

and I believe they're still making another

[acoustic ruin]

Ouh

[daring whale]

@royal egret what book did Dan make about the ultra marines? Sorry I’m new to the books and haven’t came across them yet. Is it 30 k or 40k?

[meager trench]

30k

[daring whale]

Will it come up in hh?

[meager trench]

Know No Fear

HH novel

[royal egret]

^

It’s really good

[daring whale]

It’s coming up then for me

I just got fulgrim

[wicked tree]

Good meme XD

[royal egret]

I’ll be honest, I’ve literally never heard anyone except you dislike the book

[scarlet pecan]

hey im starting to get into the books and i rilly like the small humis in the big world

[royal egret]

I’ve heard some people have qualms

But it’s consistently considered one of the best Siege books

If not the best

Preference is preference but like

I don’t love all of it, mostly the Erda stuff

[royal egret]

Have you read the Warhammer Crime books?

[daring whale]

Oh it’s a siege of terra book?

[wicked tree]

Huh, I’ve heard mixed opinions.
Different circles I suppose.

[royal egret]

Not Know No Fear

Saturine

[scarlet pecan]

ive got the flesh and steel

[daring whale]

Oh it’s book 19 I’m pretty far off haha.

[wicked tree]

I might be biased but the Dorn, Corax, Perturabo and Jaghatai primarch novels were solid

[royal egret]

Try Bloodlines

But tbh I haven’t read them all but most are good

If not all

Crime is very consistent if you like that stuff

[scarlet pecan]

what is it about? crime or the gard?

i like the gaurd more tbh

[royal egret]

It’s crime

[scarlet pecan]

ya ive read steel tread, and traitor rock, ill be starting the catachan devil

[royal egret]

Have you read Gaunt’s Ghosts?

[meager trench]

A lot of the older IG standalone books were awesome. Desert Raiders, Dead Men Walking, you already mentioned Steel Tread. Rebel Winter too

Gaunt's Ghost as already mentioned is a classic series

The Macharius trilogy is good too

Might be hard to find alot of em though outside of like a public library system or ebay

[uncut nimbus]

Kindle

[meager trench]

Oh I guess BL converted a bunch of novels over a while ago they're mostly all available off their site

[tribal ermine]

starts reading the Yarrik omnibus. Sees the post from GW about his rumored death

RIP

[hollow yacht]

How do you pronounce Necroteuch? Necro-toyk? Necro-tee-ook?

[rich raptor]

took

it's almost certainlys upposed to use the latin-greek root teuch as in pentateuch

which means book, so it literally means death book in greek

obviously a reference also to the necronomicon

being Abnett, he is probably also aware of the fact that teuchos can mean tool or vessel as well as book (more specifically scrolls)

[sturdy lichen]

I'm sure it's already been mentioned, but is anyone hype like I am for future books set on Atoma Prime & Tertium?

[native frigate]

the audiobooks pronounce it like it rhymes with pentateuch

[coarse lynx]

Hello! I’m 100% new to warhammer and 40k besides playing some vermintide, just picked this up based on searching through recommendations in this thread and so far it’s really awesome. How did I go this long without being into 40k? 🥹

I can’t wait for Darktide to open up tomorrow, it’s looks so good. I missed the first beta because I was out of video games for a while but I can’t wait to try this

[glass coyote]

I first got into 40k thanks to the space marine video game. It's been a long, fun ride since.

[wicked tree]

A good first choice. Been a while since I’ve read that series. But it should give you a taste of all the major factions within the imperium.

[thorn bison]

I love how lacking in detail this description is and yet I know exactly what book you're talking about

Gotrek and Felix: Daemonslayer

Incredible book and a decent introduction into the Fantasy part of Warhammer

[acoustic ruin]

Hahahha yes!

Exactly

Fantasy is boring tho. Only fun part is lizardmen, imho

I remember being and edgy 16-year old and reading that intro part

And analyzing it for english-class

The one with the farmer minding his own business and then getting an axe in the chest

[desert cove]

What's the exact time for Darktide Beta?

10 am PST?

[dull fog]

There's a PCGamer article that has a list of all start times, I couldn't find an official source of timings.

You can find it here. https://www.pcgamer.com/warhammer-40000-darktide-pre-order-beta-release-time/

[dull fog]

Should've said the above in reply, sorry.

[desert cove]

ty

[mellow knot]

#❓faq-for-convicts message

[mellow knot]

I love the WHF stuff. It’s better than a lot of more mainstream fantasy stuff for my money.

[craggy bone]

try to get into it more, it looks boring from an outside perspective but as soon as you start learning about the setting more it becomes fantastic. After getting deeper into both WHF and 40k I prefer Fantasy a lot more

[thorn bison]

Fantasy is a hit or miss for me, the fantasy (and aos) books I've read have either been amazing or terrible which is very different from 40k where books can be great or awful or okay or meh

[acoustic ruin]

There's a pinned message in #general-chat

It adjusts to your timezone

[bold flame]

Warhammer and 40k are same universe but past/"present" right?

[acoustic ruin]

I wonder the same thing

[urban gull]

I don't think so. IIRC they've said it's two different things?

[wary badger]

As far as I understand the lore, they are not. They have some similarities, but that's all

[bold flame]

Word, anyone know of a good resource to research about the books for both? I'm not sure if WH40k is more of a Star Wars Extended Lore mess which is why I never got into that or more connected in general like say Discworld

[wary badger]

Here is more elaborated answer for those that seek it https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/34166/link-between-warhammer-fantasy-and-warhammer-40k 😀

[thorn bison]

Fantasy and 40k were connected but not anymore

The only similarities they have now are the gods and the orks

[wary badger]

If I could suggest something about books for 40k, for sure Black Library ones are good thing to go, especially Horus Heresy series

[bold flame]

I'm generally a big completionist once I get going into these kinds of things, so I'm trying to figure out if the 40k book series are canonically tied or more their own completely separate lines and etc., and if the former, if there's something like a chronological release order/compendium somewhere I can reference

[icy ingot]

most of the stories are independent from eachother the most coherent stories that are different but connect is horus heresy

[frosty ice]

Attention rejects, two hours remain.

[icy ingot]

anything else is just another story just the a sequel to the previous book

[bold flame]

Lol okay yeah that's why I didn't go into the Star Wars stuff years ago

[hearty niche]

Is there a guide on a good order to read 40k books or does it not matter? I already know general overview of lore. Recently bought Horus rising

[wary badger]

I will said it depends on series and author.
Some are more like separate events from far larger story.
Other, like mentioned Horus Heresy series are kinda tied, but more like saying about large story from different perspectives, looking through the eyes of different actor.
But I will say yes, there are a series which build logical narration, like for example, Dark Empire series which is one of the more recent

[bold flame]

But realistically grabbing Horus and going from there is a solid bet?

[icy ingot]

how i approach 40k books is find an aspect you like and find a book with that 40k has everything from war stories, eldrich horror, to crime noir

[wary badger]

Imo yes. Thats how I started with books

[bold flame]

Sold, sold, and sold lmao

I assume Fantasy is roughly the same thing with their books?

[icy ingot]

i prefer stories about normal humans IE inquisitors gaurdsmen and commisars

i dont know jack about fantasy

[wary badger]

I will say if you already know something about lore, focus on series that describe grand events. Horus Heresy, Fall of Cadia etc.
Other way around will be for sure to look on the fraction that you enjoy the most, ex. Imperial Guard and read about it -> Ghost's of the Gaunt series etc

[icy ingot]

currently reading bloodlines that is a 40k crime noir following a arbitrator in a hive city solving a kidnapping

[icy ingot]

there is a flow chart somewhere let me find it

[bold flame]

I know vague bits of intersectional lore, nothing concrete about the setting

[wary badger]

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/List_of_Novels here is a list with publication dates, may be useful

[icy ingot]

http://www.kylebb.com/HH/HHSeriesOrder.html

[humble skiff]

Is that the one where he tries to arrest a dude for putting ground up rodents onto the civilian relief rations and planets gets exterminartussed?

[icy ingot]

order of reading for horus heresy

[icy ingot]

i just started it idk

[humble skiff]

Probably then.

[hearty niche]

I played Black Templars as a kid and only 40k book I read back then was the Armageddon one where the one imperial guardsmen ends up with some templars and I think sacrifices himself at the end by flying am airship into a bunch of orks if I remember correctly lol

[icy ingot]

wait thats the tts joke didnt catch that at first

lol

[hearty niche]

Cool thanks

[bold flame]

Good stuff

[wary badger]

Yeah, Armageddon is a both great Imperial Guard campaign (commissar Yarrick and his . . . way of life 😀 ) and regiment.
As remember correct from last beta we could choose Armageddon as origin

[hearty niche]

I don't remember seeing it

[bold flame]

Are Necrons still a thing? I remember painting and half understanding how to play a few rounds with those back when I was like 15

[hearty niche]

Only remember recognizing Cadia

[icy ingot]

i dont remember armagedon? you mean cadia?

[bold flame]

Always liked me some edgy skellington robots

[icy ingot]

"infinite and the divine" and "twice dead king" are books of necron perspective and are great

[wary badger]

Was thinking about armageddon from this campaing : https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Second_War_for_Armageddon

[hearty niche]

I think the necrons leader is setup for a showdown with girlyman

[humble skiff]

I think the only none original planet is the floating bunch of rocks that is Cadia

[bold flame]

Sweet thanks, are these ones I should get some of the base lore books before trying to read?

[icy ingot]

infinite and divine has a nice comedy aspect that fits despite being necrons

[wary badger]

"Let it be known that the planet felt before the Cadians did"

[icy ingot]

infinite and divine is a good book if you dont know much they explain when apropriate

[humble skiff]

Honestly just give me the 597th Valhallan's anyday over Cadians

[icy ingot]

twice dead king i think is for more seasoned in the lore personally

[wary badger]

Ah, man of culture ! Pleasure to meet 🙂

[bold flame]

So I take it the Black Library are the "canon" books?

[wary badger]

Solid books to read if one would like to go a bit more deeper with understanding of lore and overall universe.

Most of the time 😄

[humble skiff]

Sometimes, I believe Head of the Hydra is revealed to be a lie by Alperius who says "this is a lie"

[icy ingot]

anything that has GW official logo is cannon until it isnt anymore

[bold flame]

Lmao fair enough

[icy ingot]

GW likes to retcon by saying all books and lore are from records kept from the respective factions and they could have been lying , wrong or exaggerating. at times

[humble skiff]

I believe the book that officially has the most cannon is Baneblade

[icy ingot]

like how the squats were totally 100% dead

[wary badger]

Yeah, it is quite typical narration that I heard more than once that if some information is said only once somewhere it could be whatever due to how things works in 40k

[mellow knot]

Yes. BL is the in-house publishing arm of Games Workshop.

[icy ingot]

like if las guns have recoil

[humble skiff]

Or make people exsplode and in others just punch a hole in them

[wary badger]

And Emperor be blessed that it do not kick so much 😄

[humble skiff]

You just need to have It in the hands of an elite specialist like Melta Man Jurgen.

Then it's as if it has no recoil

[icy ingot]

i just finished cains last stand

[humble skiff]

Is there a single issue Jurgen with a melts can't solve? Hive tyranids have gone down, as have daemon prince's.

[icy ingot]

cain books are fun

[humble skiff]

Ah yes the dam kicking book

A personal fav

[icy ingot]

dam kicking book 2

[humble skiff]

Hope we get 2 more I own the first 3 omnibusses and want a 4th

[bold flame]

Thanks for the help peoples, I'll be grabbing some reading this weekend lol

[mellow knot]

Enjoy 🙂

[gaunt glacier]

Armageddon global campaign was great, one of the best global campaigns of GW I'd say. Then again, its success paved the way for many more global campaigns to come in both 40k and WFB until EoT/SoC debacle making them far more reserved when it came to the player driven global campaigns. Refusing to accept player battle reports during CotNW, M5 and NC global campaigns until they stopped doing global campaigns altogether during 5E-6E-7E.
The best part of Armageddon global campaign was the pewter Mark Bedford Storm Troopers for me tho, they were quality sculpts 😍

[errant anchor]

where can i buy the siege of varks books

vrakas

[onyx crescent]

Armaggedon Steel Legion for the Win 💪

[tall phoenix]

They are in Forgeworld books but you can just read the entire thing on the 40k wiki, its entirely copy pasted there page by page.

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Siege_of_Vraks

[rapid swift]

Any recommendations on warhammer books for beginners who want to get into the lore?

[glass lintel]

Which faction looks the coolest to you?

[silk escarp]

There is honestly so much. But anything by Dan Abnett is a safe bet in my opinion. The Eisenhorn books are fantastic, the Gaunt's Ghosts series is really good too. Personally, I really enjoy the Horus Heresy series because it sets the stage for the Warhammer 40k universe, but starting that series is also a bit of a pandora's box if you're a completionist

[glass lintel]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh
Dan Abnett writes books about heroes, and that's why I've never liked them. It feels like all of their characters are meant to be sold as action figures later or have five people arguing about whether or not they could beat another action figure's ass. They're good if you like Marvel movies, in that each character will get their own origin, team-up, fall from grace, rise from rock-bottom, and cameo/deus-ex-Themina in some other book.

Gaunt's Ghosts sees a Chaos Space Marine get one-shot by a lasgun and an unprepared mortal human beat a daemonhost in a knife fight.

Eisenhorn has the ability to psychically compel people to step out of cover so he can shoot them in the face.

The Horus Heresy needs to spend thousands of pages describing the most epics moments in all of the setting . . . which more often than not results in them becoming drawn-out and dull. Real "I got this book because I heard Angron wins a fight with a collapsing building in it, but first I have to read through Horus having a bad dream and deciding to start the Heresy over taxes" kinda deal.

[royal egret]

If you read Eisenhorn and got the idea that he’s supposed to be some heroic character after all that

Like

Idk man, I feel like your reading comprehension might be a bit off

Spoiler art for Eisenhorn for anyone who hasn’t read it

That’s not a marvel movie character there

[thorn bison]

Hold on who's the big armoured lad?

Is that Fichig?

no idea how to spell that name

[vital maple]

I think it was fischig

[random marlin]

I only read a part of Gaunt's Ghosts (until His Last Command) but I kind of share the feeling of @glass lintel, although I'll be a bit more nuanced.

When I started reading Gaunt's Ghosts, I had heard about the author killing off characters ruthlessly and was expecting something like a war feeling to his book series, something akin to recent war movies/TV shows such as Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge and so on.

It's there, and Mr Abnett does a terrific job at building worlds, making everything believable (his work on the inner workings of the Imperial Guard is detailed and gives so much life to it) and making characters memorable, but he also tends to make the characters he loves so powerful than it kills my suspension of disbelief, because it starts looking like an 80's action movies. I completely understand if most people like it, but I always found overpowered characters boring (such as Space Marines, unless they're well written, like ADB does) and as such don't enjoy GG as much as I thought I would.

About DA killing off characters, I agree that some of them had impact (like ||Try Again Bragg, this one was awesome||), but in other cases, the deaths felt a bit... random, in the sense that for instance, a character hadn't done much in a whole book, only had a couple of scenes and then out of the blue dies with one sentence at the end of the book. It's much less impactful than the death I cited above or the ones in Game of Thrones, where they usually happen when you're invested in characters who have a character arc going on, and you still don't see their deaths coming. And there's also the issue that some of the characters are so obviously loved by Mr Abnett that they just can't die.

Still, I feel GG, like Eisenhorn can be a good entry point, as you follow "ordinary" (except for things cited above) people and it's easy to identify with the characters. It's a fun read and has played a big role in establishing the universe.

[vital maple]

Granted I used the audiobook

[thorn bison]

I read them all in paperback and I still can't remember lmao

[thorn bison]

If you keep reading you'll notice how the "character immortality" if you will, changes a lot and most characters he introduces get killed off (save for a few who are obvious) so it does get a GOT feel to it

It takes a while tho and the thing where unknown characters die is still prevalent throughout the books

[royal egret]

Yeah

[dusk pagoda]

Its kinda cool when writers keep to that theme as well with the books. Stuff being from characters perspectives and not just the author writing that something is or isn't is part of 40k's charm for me.

[rich raptor]

The quality of the prose itself is superior in Dan Abnett's books

Compared to some BL writers who are....not great

[glass lintel]

It's really hard to drop to most of those books after starting with the fun of Commissar Cain, the tragedy of ADB, and the Shakespherian drama of The Infinite and The Divine and The Twice-Dead King.

You go from

"Glory is for those too weak to find their inner strength, leaving them hollow parasites, feeding on the affection of even lesser men. Glory is for cowards, too afraid to let their names die.”

To "his bolter bolted boltily".

[mellow knot]

I mean, that's an extreme example, but sometimes, some people are happy with bolter porn. Pulp fiction is popular for a reason.

As you've rightly demonstrated, there's plenty of intellectual and deeper elements to the Warhammer book range. Something for everyone!

[rapid swift]

I’d say human for right now just as a starting point because I know that there are a lot of things to take in for the lore. Plus I heard the fall of Cadia was interesting

[icy ingot]

killing off little known characters i feel is necessary to keep you on your toes for characters. because a character will be introduce and you expect them to die but then end up becoming a main character and makes you appreciate that much more when a well known character dies. i also think that what little characterization the unkown character gets is great as it helps with the grimdark setting. otherwise you get "goon number 3 got shot in the head after killing the doctor"

[thorn bison]

I agree completely, I just felt it needed mentioning as they seemed not to like that aspect of the books

[icy ingot]

hell i got whiplash almost when i was reading a space marine book and like 3 space marines got vaporized by some traitor PDF and not a single mention of who they were happened. it wasnt even in a major battle a squad was sent to clear a thing and they met resistance. like would have been nice to at least see what their names were.

i feel just simply putting a name to a corpse makes you feel at least a little bit more for them

[hearty niche]

I really like the last chancers books and I would say they're lasgun porn

[ripe wyvern]

I'm a sucker for Caiphas Cain books.

I have the three omnibuses

Caiphus Cain HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!

[frail kiln]

marneus calgar

what u lot know about that

[ripe wyvern]

That he used to have a stuffed dinosaur tyranid writing desk.

Gotta love Oldhammer art

[hearty niche]

Less blatantly rediculous

https://spikeybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/emperor1.jpg

How come that doesn't embed? Silly

[glass lintel]

I really like ADB's - I wanna say running joke? - of keeping main characters' intros vague and relegated mostly to their interactions with others which slowly expand over the course of their book, but opening some chapters with the name, backstory, motives, hopes, beliefs, and favorite color of a new character shortly before one of the main characters lasguns them into the consistency of an ashtray, just to show you how much they just took away from the world.

[hearty niche]

Siege of Terra book Tier list (reworked and forgot Lost and Damned , Wrath of Magnus and Sons of the Selenar)
S- Saturnine, Warhawk
A- Wrath of Magnus, Echoes of Eternity
B-Solar War, Lost and Damned
C-Mortis, Sons of the Selenar
F-First Wall

[hearty niche]

May I ask why most of Tau books feel like either Tau propaganda or just straight off bulshit

[heavy juniper]

hehe. tau are so smug and obnoxious. and just as awful as the imperium

just finished echoes of eternity earlier. I'd put it at S. saturnine and warhawk at A. lost and the damned and fury of magnus at B-. mortis at C-, it was such a slog to read, almost D. solar war and first wall at D. maybe also sons of the selenar at D, but I really hate it actually so F.

[wary warren]

Hey guys, does some1 know anything lore-related to the med station humanoids with torso only, how are they made etc. Thanks

[royal egret]

They’re servitors, they lobotomize someone and stick them in there

[hearty niche]

Call it bias, but Warhawk is probably my favorite SoT book so far only because of its awesome fight scenes. Sure Echoes also has a few but… ya know.

[ionic panther]

Anyone knows fanfic (novel) about young female low rank psyker? The story starts about rebellion on some obscure planet and the psyker takes charge because her direct superiors suddenly caught severe case of being ded. I can't remember the name.

[midnight wind]

Do people recommend the Fabius Bile Omnibus? Or Eisenhorn?

[rich raptor]

Yeah most a r e bad. Only good one was Fire Caste

[thorn bison]

Eisenhorn is great

[clever fractal]

Eisenhorn trilogy is the best

[hearty niche]

Ravenor is also quite good, as a follow-up to Eisenhorn

[radiant lichen]

anyone have a link for good warhammer/40k novels? i checked the pin but it seems like it's rather specific to this part of the universe

[summer pelican]

Requesting good books that have good info on any Psykers? i just bought the first book in the Horus Heresy and another random one. Thank you in advance (:

[rich raptor]

Eisenhorn is more detective novel, whereas Ravenor is more action thriller

The main character in Eisenhorn is also a psyker, same with Ravenor

[lilac apex]

Oh what is Ravenor about? I started to read the Eisenhorn trilogy a couple of days ago and I am enjoying it so far

[heavy juniper]

it's the same story continued. eisenhorn, ravenor, bequin

[lilac apex]

cool thanks, I will check them out once I finished with Eisenhorn's I barely started Xenos

[glass lintel]

Games Workshop is based in England, and the majority of their content creators are European or American.

The Imperium of Man, Chaos,Orkz, Eldar, and Squats, are all based on pan-Anglo culture, history, or their perception of myth and fantasy. It's not very diverse.

T'au are an exception to this. Therefore, you have a lot of Anglo authors trying to decide what alien Space-Asia would act like.

It's a struggle.

[midnight wind]

SO I know I asked about Eisenhorn vs Fabius Bile omnibus, but would you guys still recommend Fabius Bile?

[glass lintel]

As someone who doesn't like the power fantasy of Eisenhorn and thinks that Fabius Bile is the most prominent member of the least-interesting Chaos chapter devoted to the least-interesting Chaos god:

Not especially.

[midnight wind]

Dayum LOL

Got it. I have a weird obsession with collecting omnibuses so I was considering it, but I have a $100 voucher and those two with The Successor Chapters book takes up like $67, and some good stuff is coming out. So maybe I'll save

[glass lintel]

• do you have the Nightlords omnibus?

[midnight wind]

I do. Counting Anthologies too, I have Noghtlords, Crimson Fists, Sons of Sanguinis, Masters of the Hunt, Soul Drinkers, Ahriman, death watch, The Long Vigil, Lupercals War, Book of Martyrs, Blood and Scions if the Emperor, and Cthonia Reckoning

[sullen mural]

Two of my personal favourites have got to be the infinite and the divine and assassinorum kingmaker

the infinite and the divine is as close as you get to comedy in 40k and has two powerful necrons trolling each other for multiple centuries using their high tech powers

assassinorum kingmaker is like if they wrote metal gear inside of 40k and its crazy but great at the same time

I use audible for 40k books also

[tawny basalt]

Yes the first two books of the series are quite good.

[sullen mural]

the twice dead king books are also great

[midnight wind]

I recommend Valdor: Birth of the Imperium if anyone wants something that is pre-Horus Heresy

[hearty niche]

I mean , there’s litterally book where there’s an fucking psyker which ISNT INSANE even tho he haven’t been trained or shit and just was implanted with xeno implants . Which don’t know human biology at all

Not to mention gulp crusade

[random marlin]

(and also @thorn bison) killing little known characters was not what I was thinking about, it's ok with me too and even little known characters are a bit fleshed out by Abnett before meeting their demise, which is a plus.

I was referencing that on several occasions in GG books, it goes like this: character A, who's been there since book 1, had a lot going on in book 1 to 3, and only had a couple of scenes in book 4. We're in book 5, he has even less "screentime" with only one or two scenes and doesn't do much, and then at the end of the book, he dies in one of the final sentences of the novel.

This has little to no impact on me as he did not have a character arc going on, unlike, say, Games of Thrones where characters sometimes get killed during (or as a conclusion) to their arc, maximizing the impact of their deaths. As a counterexample, the most memorable death to me from what I read until now is (spoiler if you haven't read at least 8 or 9 GG books) is ||Bragg's|| because there's been a buildup to the character's death and it was all the more impactful (and surprising!) when it happened.

But as usual, that's just the way I see things and I understand if people have felt differently. As @mellow knot said, there's a big range in the BL library in termes of style and genre. The only thing which bothers me with it is that sometimes you don't know what you get with a BL novel before you've read it. Case in point, Fire Caste which is more similar to Apocalypse Now and was very badly received as people just wanted a simple action story, as it's the style of the majority of BL Astra Militarum novels.

[hearty niche]

Reason why i hate gulp crusade novelization :

Space marine , white scar , TALK with xenos , which THROWS SHIT AT HUMANITY and DOESNT KILL IT

White scar

SPACE FUCKING MONGOL ON A BIKE

https://tenor.com/view/look-how-they-massacred-my-boy-godfather-sad-cry-hurt-gif-16433641

[ionic panther]

Personally I love a bit silly take on WH40k:
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/when-in-doubt-blame-the-eldar-pa-si-multicross.380256/
and
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/dungeon-hulk-warhammer-40k.617535/

[rich raptor]

Fire Caste was also imo influenced by the Vandermeer funguspunk / modern hoeroey genre

[fervent knot]

Are there any Eldar stories that don't end with, "And then everything sucked more."?

Are Eldar just incapable of having a happy ending?

[worldly cypress]

Hey do you play Warhammer deathwatch rpg? Where?

[mellow knot]

I mean, there's generally no happy endings in 40k anyways... 🙂

[chilly loom]

You have fallen to the Gav Curse

Where his only thought of eldar is "muh dying race"

Thus the Path of eldar and Ynnari tril(duo more like lmao) suck

Path of the Deldar bangs tho

So does Masque of Vyle

Old Eldar fluff: "Biel Tan once launched a campaign against a occupied Maiden World, slaughtering 7 marine chapters and 11 guard regiments in the purge."

The Gav: "uhh one UltraBerries chapter and a guard regiment invade and almost destroy Alaitoc"

[summer pelican]

Thanks (:

[heavy juniper]

hehe. it is very annoying when one writer basically has exclusivity on writing about a topic

[chilly loom]

After they hard cancelled the Ynnari tril because no one wanted to buy the paperweights, I Pray they do not let him touch craftworlds again

Better not a book at all than a garbo one

"I want more xeno books" tends to come with the monkey's hand curse that they'll get some absolute baboon to write it

[royal egret]

I mean most of the recent ones have been good

[void stirrup]

When you, a professional writer, are on the same tier of Eldar writing as the leprechaun on a tricycle known as CS Goto

You have goofed.

[swift beacon]

funny enough, the eldar seems to make other factions ending bad. Well, most of the time.

[fervent knot]

Shout out to Farseer by William King. Poor, poor Darke.

[fervent knot]

I did enjoy Farsight's first book. It's amazing to watch him not understand what daemons are, and the comically evil humans in it.

[swift beacon]

lmao i remember reading that as young kid

that was one of the breaking points that push me to warhammer

tho i didn’t know warhammer that well besides miniatures

[fervent knot]

Same. Really stuck with me for the sheer level of Eldar assholeness. Now we have Eldar sending Nightlords to planets to avoid their gardens getting stepped on. XD

[fervent knot]

Think it was the same for me. Really got into it around the time third edition was released, but more for the novels in both 40k and fantasy than the minis.

[swift beacon]

to me, it was more fleshed out in 2010. when my friend had chaos and regular SM miniatures. Not sure which edition it was, but that helped push through it. But in 2016, that’s when i finally got into the lore, and everything lmao

[craggy bone]

the order goes first 3 eisenhorn books, then 3 ravenor books then you read the fourth eisenhorn book and after that the bequin novels

[dreamy ledge]

Just bought gloomspite

Hype af

[cold dome]

Listening to Watchers of the Throne series right now. Pretty good so far.

Might double back and listen to Master of Mankind and some of the other Custodes books, I started with Valdor.

[wanton cave]

i am the #1 psyker to manage the fucking monster penance

[royal egret]

Ok not really relevant to these channels

[fervent quiver]

the infantryman's uplifting primer

[mellow knot]

Please don’t post links to pirated material.

[fervent quiver]

its my book and one drive but alright

[royal egret]

That’s not how copyright works lol

[mellow knot]

If it’s something you’ve written then giving it the same name as an existing copyrighted work then you might want to think about that.

If it is and it’s an innocent thing then I apologise - but just to make you aware that it’s an existing GW title.

[unique socket]

Just finished Infinite and The Divine and I love those fuckers so much

[mellow knot]

(Also, apologies - I have to go to a meeting right now)

[faint plume]

I haven't read too much of 40K books and whatnot. Any recommendations on where to begin?

[random marlin]

Eisenhorn or Gaunt's Ghosts, by Dan Abnett, are the ones which are usually recommended.

[faint plume]

Cheers, I'll look into 'em

[granite anchor]

Been reading the Horus Heresy (up to Mechanicum). I greatly enjoyed Gothgul Hollow as well.

[gaunt glacier]

I'd also recommend the Ciaphan Cain series

[faint plume]

jots down the books

[hearty niche]

my grandma gives me a book every christmas (no, im not a minor) which should i go for? Ive read the eisenhorn and gaunts ghosts series and recently bought the first horus heresy book

[cyan lodge]

Hi there, i'm interested in the LOre of Warhammer 40,000 - which would be the best book to start with? I know pretty much nothing about the world or it's characters but i enjoy darktide very much

[unique dove]

I'm in the same boat and from the research I've done, especially if you're inspired by Darktide, The Horus Heresy books are a good place to start. Horus Rising is the first book.
The other popular suggestion is Eisenhorn and the two books that follow it to get started.
Another thing I see mentioned is that a lot of the stories are set in their own contained part of the universe so just start with whatever you like the look of

[naive fog]

"A thousand sons" Was the book i liked the most out of all the horus heresy books. Thousand Sons pre heresy were really cool.

[kind flax]

Where does everyone listen to their books? I'm trying audible but the whole one credit a month deal makes it difficult to really binge

[unique dove]

I'm too cheap for audio books

[graceful osprey]

you can buy 3 packs of credits on audible for around $36

that's like $12 per credit

so I either buy multiple books at once or a credit pack and use them as new books are released

[heavy juniper]

love that. can also recommend vaults of terra. that one has all three books released. think maybe chris wraight is writing the third watchers of the throne book right now, maybe, hopefully.

[onyx crescent]

Are there any salamanders related books?

[narrow dirge]

Hey guys, anyone know any good dark eldar books?

[graceful osprey]

path of the dark eldar series

[glass lintel]

The Horus Heresy books are - for the mostpart - exceptionally fuckin' dull. Think about it kinda like literal bible and similar mythological texts.

The statues and stained glass figures are really cool. You hear about all the cool moments and monsters and events that end-up as like, the name of missions and cool guns.

The books are those moments and everything else, which I dislike and really burnt me out.

The Horus Heresy opening trilogy tell the tale of how the most significant event in Imperium History began. It also features the main character borrowing a book from the library, an asshole poet trying to find something worth his time, Sanguinous eating fruit, a fight in the Saggitarius system against aliens who somehow just so happen to have horse power armor and still use bows and arrows coincidentally just like Sagittarius does, and Horus bitching about taxes.

[narrow dirge]

will look into it, thanks!

[glass lintel]

• because of all the various different factions and authors and eras and genres, I heavily recommend just scrolling through the GW website for whichever army you think looks the best aesthetically, and then asking for the best books about those. There's a ton of reddit threads for that, and Goodreads is a robust resource for me.

Liking noblebright heroes is valid, but it also means a lot of the books deal with themes counter to how they function in the tabletop or setting, IE Gaunt's Ghosts being from the most expendable army in the imperium while being unkillable elites who kill space marines.

[graceful osprey]

Tome of Fire series

[onyx crescent]

Any good? I have an army of salamanders and idk if their series is good 🗿

[glass lintel]

Loyalists generally don't have good dedicated series.

[graceful osprey]

I haven't read them but I've heard mixed things

[onyx crescent]

😭

[graceful osprey]

Salamanders one of those groups in the unfortunate position of only having one author, Nick Kyme

[onyx crescent]

Atleast I can be happy knowing black legion series is atleast good 🫠

[graceful osprey]

I've heard his Volpone Glory book is pretty good but I don't see the salamanders books recommended often

[onyx crescent]

Sad

I’ll still give it a go, I got my own sal 2nd company minis and it never hurts to try yk

[teal solar]

I read the tome of fire books, thought they were OK?

although I found them a bit jarring, they use the same general cast of characters, but it feels like there's big timeskips between them

they do have a pretty fun confrontation with the Marines Malevolent in the first book though

[dreamy ledge]

Almost done with gloomspite

Uh

I was expecting lil@goblin vermintide

It is not lil globlin vermintide

[dreamy ledge]

It’s much much more vomit inducing

The bad moon is

[graceful osprey]

you've stumbled into age of sigmar

where everything is on coke

[dreamy ledge]

Fucking horrifying

[graceful osprey]

i've heard dark harvest is another good aos horror book

[dreamy ledge]

A good way to describe gloomspite is

The way they win a war is

Never to be seen

It’s a good sign when trh gitz are out and about because that means you are past the hard part Lmao

But like holy fucking shit the bad moon is something else

I don’t want to spoil the book

Because it’s much much better the less you know about them

[native frigate]

How do I spell translythopede correctly so I can see if there are any images showing what it looks like?

[tall phoenix]

Its not a thing in wider 40k as far as I know

probably is just book specific

[low lion]

has anyone here read any of the Minka Lesk books? I think there's three of them now or something?

[meager trench]

I thought the first one was vaguely ok, the second one was terrible, and by then i'd lost most interest so ended up skimming the third. the style of writing was just not my cup of tea and i didn't really connect at all with the protagonist or find her interesting. however i know people who really did enjoy them, so might just be hit or miss.

i'd give em a try at least. though imo theres plenty of other guard novels that you could read as well

[low lion]

I read... I think the second one? Traitor Rock? I just picked it up on a lark because I saw it at my bookstore and was like "cool I love Imperial Guard" and had no idea it was part of a like, series

But I also thought it was OK, kind of like popcorn, you get through it and it's enjoyable enough to keep eating but once it's gone you forget all about it

What are some good Imperial Guard novels? What I liked about the Minka Lesk one was that it was very no-frills, very "life of a guardsman" type story.

[meager trench]

that's the third one, Cadia Stands and Cadian Honour were the prequels

can't go wrong with Gaunt's Ghosts

I really enjoyed Bill King's Macharius trilogy

some of the older novels I really like are Desert Raiders, Rebel Winter, Cadian Blood, Gunheads

[teal solar]

Ciaphas Cain's series is also very good, if very light-hearted in tone compared to everything else

[meager trench]

another classic, yes

[teal solar]

Baneblade and Shadowsword also cover tank crews, a nice read into what it's like to crew a Baneblade

Dead Men Walking is also depressing AF, but good too

[meager trench]

yeah, Dead Men Walking was a banger. pretty grimdark

Fifteen Hours was a great entry

[teal solar]

Imperial Glory is also a very good one

[meager trench]

great scene at the end, got goosebumps reading it first time around

[teal solar]

Imperial glory is probably one of the most realistic ones in that it just covers a routine operation that doesn't have somebody like Mkoll or Gaunt or Cain just hard carrying everything

Just some tired old soldiers that want to finish their tour and get out

[meager trench]

Fifteen Hours was a lot like that, just a rando guardsman who ends up getting shipped to the wrong warzone iirc, then outlives his expectancy by a few minutes

[teal solar]

My only beef with 15 hours isn't even related to the book's content, it's how meme culture latched onto it to give everyone the idea that all guardsmen will die in 15 hours

[meager trench]

yeah, the memery does get out of hand sometimes

[low lion]

Imperial Glory sounds pretty cool, yeah

and same with Baneblade and Shadowsword

I'll have to try those ones out next

[teal solar]

Personally I want more stories with the Banana Boys

need more watchers of the throne style content

[meager trench]

yeah. i suspect Watcher 3 is either already written or whatever, BL has a crazy delay on their novels. Throne of Light was getting it's special edition copies signed months and months before it shipped, iirc Haley put out a tweet about signing copies of a mystery book ages before the release date. and I believe Void King was done like a year before it came out last month

also tbh Wraight is kind of the only guy who I trust to put out good 40k Custodes content

[teal solar]

Wraight is just a great author in general, his Jaghatai novel was great

[meager trench]

yeah

[grand scaffold]

I want the sequel to @spear of the emperor@ >

Think ADB said its been done

Also more Peter Fehervari

[mellow knot]

I quite enjoyed the Salamanders books. But that’s the joy and problem of many authors.

[glass lintel]

It's not dropping until the
Draws words randomly assigned out of an Ultramarine helmet.

Custodes Jumppacks
Custodes, but the lance is now dual-sided with a stormbolter on either end.
Primaris custodes

• models drop. Gives them something to name-drop.

I'd love to rerelease the books, but every time a model released within the same edition of the book as mentioned, it had the name in parenthesis and the narrator mumbled it.

[calm mica]

Are there any good novels dedicated to the sisters?

[graceful osprey]

yes! Mark of Faith by Rachel Harrison and Requiem Infernal by Peter Fehervari are both excellent. i've also heard the james swallow series is pretty good, starts with Faith & Fire

[calm mica]

Thanks! I’ll definitely check those out!

[graceful osprey]

there's also Celestine: The Living Saint by Andy Clark. it was alright but not my favorite

[meager trench]

Celestine was alright yeah, I did like the unique look at her resurrection that happened every time. Worth reading for that

[steady nest]

damn they took down Z-library, now I can't get Necropolis anywhere

not on kindle, not available in my country >.>

fraggin A

[granite anchor]

If you like ORC BOIZ, read some Brutal Kunnin.

[hearty niche]

Damn game was running fine without crashes and stuff before the patch.. But now I have these issues. o_O

[stone fossil]

Night Lords novels are pretty good

[stone fossil]

That book was really solid

[native frigate]

oh okay thank you

[hearty niche]

My girlfriend was trying to introduce me to 40k stuff, I kind of like the Imperial Guard (Astra Militarum?). Where should I start for books? I saw a lot of conflicting answers.

[fierce wharf]

Ciaphas Cain is pretty a good starting point but it depends on what kinda thing you're after.

[hearty niche]

Neither do I, really. Maybe sort of a ground level thing, like Band of Brothers, if you've ever seen that series. But I'm happy with any suggestions though.

[fierce wharf]

Band of brothers is amazing 👍.

Lemme do some research on it, I haven't read many of the books myself either!.

So, gaunts ghosts from what I've heard is great for day to day soldier life. But Ciaphas Cain is a bit of that and what they do off duty and makes civilians more human rathethan statistics in a battles.

[hearty niche]

Thanks, I'll try and get my hands on those

[fierce wharf]

I hope you enjoy them! But if you ever need any info lore wise, drop me a message at some point!

[surreal zephyr]

I recently bought a big lot of Tanith first and only books (1 - 13) on ebay, not started yet since im still reading the first Cain omnibus, but im excited

[turbid notch]

Dan Abnett is definately one of the best story tellers of the Black Library, so seconding Gaunt's Ghosts

[gritty warren]

so this may get me slaughtered by some people but I really enjoy the VT and Darktide but I never got into any of the lore behind anything 40k. Where would be a good starting point? (audio book format is best but not required)

[wicked ice]

Horus heresy

[hallow summit]

Old but gold: Eisenhorn.
Its a low key story, not a lot of "bolter porn" (a term that describes "senseless" X kills Y kills Z and feels awesome about it, its a common trope that sometimes is...overdone) and it has set a lot of the world that we today know of wh40k

[full condor]

I just finished Ravenor Rouge

which book should I read next?

[glass lintel]

Gaunt's Ghosts are heroes, and not indicative of the standard guard experience.

[glass lintel]

The books cover 10,000+ years, about six or so factions, and dozens of sub-factions. It depends entirely on what you like.

The Horus Heresy novels are largely boring as paint drying, and are better as the cliff's notes from the Adeptas Ridiculous podcast or Leutin/Oculus Imperia/Baldemort deep dives onto the topics which are 1/30th the length.

[full condor]

I am completely done with Horus Heresy. I am caught up with the seige of Terra. Echoes of Eternity is amazing

[glass lintel]

It sucks as a series but has some of the best books in the franchise in it.

Kinda like Star Wars, where if you only count the good parts amounts to

The Pod-Racing Scene
The Clone Wars TV show
The Mustafar Fight
Rogue One
Revenge of the Sith

The Horus Heresy, which is around fifty books, similarly boils down to

A cool quote
A funny quote
"Oh, so that's how that got named/invented."
The faction book for the factuon you like.
One of the best bits of sci-fi ever written.
Demigods debate tax legislation.
etc

[hallow summit]

I got to say that i enjoy the whole series of the siege. Yes there are books that are not as good as others but Saturnine and Echoes of Eternity alone...o m g, they are amazing.

Saturnine sets the mood so perfectly, a lot of "wins" for the loyalist but it emphasises that no matter how much they "win" they are still fckd

[jovial star]

So I forgot that I ordered the new version of The Witch Hunters Handbook back in august through my local GW, has anyone else gotten theirs yet? I never got a call that it had arrived for pick up so just wondering how long made to order books take to ship out and arrive.

[abstract laurel]

Anyone knows if GW picks a certain pattern to cycle through reprints? I'm looking for the sequel books for Baneblade in particular.

Also, taking any recs for tread head books.

[fierce wharf]

It's so I've heard, I can't verify it as I haven't read them. 🤷‍♂️

And I'd imagine a book indicitive of a standard guard experience would last about a page ending in the soldier being killed

[glass lintel]

I have read them. Gaunt's Ghosts read less like a book about the guard and more like the Lord of The Rings.

We've got the best member of their respective DnD class, and they're in a battle with all the generic losers until one of the named characters 1v1s an enemy hero unit.

[fierce wharf]

So what would you recommend for a starting point for imperial guard books?

[abstract laurel]

Reminds me of that book, 15 Hours, which is so called because the average guardsman lifespan is 15 hours

[fierce wharf]

That's longer than I thought.

I thought it was just ten minutes

[abstract laurel]

Well, it takes time from arrival to getting mustered to the front lines :p

Not everyone drops straight into combat zone and dies, that's just Elysians

😂

[fierce wharf]

They'd probably last longer than a Krieger

[abstract laurel]

Nah, most of them in the lore die pretty quick since they drop right into the enemy

Kriegers at least can count the time alive before the enemy attacks 😂

[fierce wharf]

Honestly that's some really shite planning

I swear there's another unit similar to the elysians

Can't remember the name of it though

[abstract laurel]

Harakoni Warhawks

Elysians, but surviving, is the joke

[wicked tree]

If I’m remembering correctly there’s another named drop regiment in Apocalypse, though they just act as regular infantry due to the nature of fighting

[fierce wharf]

Is there much lore about them? I can't remember lol

[abstract laurel]

Not really, but they're an established regiment that's existed since I think 2nd Ed guard dex

[random marlin]

It all depends of what you're looking for. My opinion is in brackets, but it's just one of many.

Comedic: Ciaphas Cain (fun, instructive about the guard but can become repetitive in its humour)

80's action movies mixed with Band of Brothers: Gaunt's Ghosts (by Dan Abnett, a loved series with a lot of qualities which has established a lot of the lore of the guard and doesn't shy from killing characters off, but it sometimes goes too far with its overpowered characters being able to eliminate waves after waves of enemies)

Focused on Cadians: Cadian Blood and the Minka Lensk trilogy which starts with Cadia Stands (didn't read Cadian Blood but I will, the Minka Lensk trilogy is ok but of variable quality)

More grounded and grimdark books about the guard: 15 Hours (the 15 hours life expectancy meme about the guard comes from it, but it actually only concerns the warzone where the novel takes place), Dead Men Walking

Apocalypse Now meets Game of Thrones meets John Carpenter's The Thing: Fire Caste (it's a guard book, the author's title has been changed by Black Library because there are Tau in it and it was GW's focus at the time. Apocalypse Now because the story is similar to it and feels like a fever dream, Game of Thrones because the novel is ruthless with its characters and we follow different sides which all have their takes on things, and John Carpenter's The Thing because its author, Peter Fehervari loves this movie and Lovecraft and has one of the most interesting takes on Chaos in the Black Library)

And there are many, many more others, like the recent Volpone Glory and Steel Tread for instance.

As a starting point, Ciaphas Cain, Gaunt's Ghosts are ok. Another possible starting point is 15 Hours if you want a less heroic and more grimdark depiction of what the life of a guardsman is.

[glass lintel]

My one complaint with Cain is that they really love their proper nouns, so you'll be a bit lost when they describe the XV88 Broadside Battlesuit running alongside their Chimera Transport as they shoot their Accatran Pattern Mark II Laspistol.

[abstract laurel]

But for the nerds like me I love it 😂

[thorn bison]

This is based entirely on personal opinion and is not fact, I personally love the Heresy books (save Fulgrim, that book is 200 pages too long) so they shouldn't all be put into the same box of "random quotes and background lore without interesting storylines and characters"

Not trying to be rude, I just don't want people to think that the Heresy books suck as a whole

[abstract laurel]

I thibk it just depends on the book and author.

The titan books were all solidly done and literally titan porn.

[thorn bison]

Of course, some authors are clearly better than others but their books can still be good and don't ruin other books just because they themselves might be bad

I've personally only found two Heresy books I didn't like, Fulgrim and Know No Fear

I'm biased though since I don't find the UM interesting in the slightest and Fulgrim is simply too drawn out

[glass lintel]

Yeah, this was really it for me.

It's one thing to like a book. It's another to find consistency in over four dozen books by twenty authors about twenty separate characters with twenty armies which follow or differ from their worldviews and philosophies, written in just under two decades of shifting culture and setting development.

This often results into a viscous three-dimensional Punnett Square of trying to get as many successes on

Do you enjoy the Author?
Do you enjoy the Faction?
Do you enjoy the Character?

Even in books by my favorite author for the setting, a lot of them have the feeling they had to be written and the author was simply chosen. It's why more than anything, my most common recommendation for learning where to start is just . . . clicking on the coolest thumbnail or paintjob, seeing if you like the description blurb, and diving into them.

[abstract laurel]

Oh boy, ADB is SUPER critical of the night lords books, but those are hailed as some of the best CSM writing.

I got the limited CE of it and the forewords he writes is all "yeah I hated how xyz came out and kept revising it until my editor told me to put the fucking pen down and stop rewriting"

[random marlin]

This video by Arbitor Ian, EVERY HORUS HERESY NOVEL REVIEWED in about 20 minutes! about the various books of HH is quite instructive: https://youtu.be/I1m8gmu3Nyc

[glass lintel]

I mean, honestly? I've yet to find a WH40k book that tops the Night Lord Omnibus.

It's written in such a way that the fall to Chaos was sympathetic, but remaining renegades is still vile. Combatants may use the same weapons, but we know why our protagonists left the battle alive. The protagonist is flawed, and their fellow cast all see it too, just in different ways that inform their characters.

Still looking for more than one WH40k book that writes women well, though. Spears of the Emperor is still the only one that manages, and that's because it feels like a woman going through the events of Alien or The Terminator while everyone else is playing Star Wars.

[abstract laurel]

Yeah, it really puts into perspective why all the independent warbands trying to not turn into chaos still turned chaos. Turns out finding supplies for astartes is pretty hard!

Even within their group there was still plenty of room for tragedy - ||after the big Uzas reveal at the end I legit shed a tear||

[glass lintel]

Same.

[thorn bison]

I've got to be honest, the cliffhanger at the end is still the coolest end to a BL book I've ever read

Uncontested favourite book

[abstract laurel]

I really want a sequel series

[random marlin]

About 40k books writing women well, I also thought Spear of the Emperor did a good job with it, and I find Peter Fehervari's characters well written in that regard too, like Asenath in Requiem Infernal.

The worst female character for me was the noblewoman in Necropolis in the Gaunt's Ghosts series. Overall, I liked the book very much, but this female character seemed to have no other purpose but to fall in love with Gaunt after having exchanged two sentences with him, and then they make love. That's about it.

In other books, like the Minka Lensk trilogy and Steel Tread for instance, the fact that the main protagonist is a woman isn't important at all, as whatever the gender, they would have acted exactly the same. Which is, in a way, a good thing, I guess.

[thorn bison]

I've always liked Lotara Sarrin, the admiral of the Conqueror flagship, but as was mentioned she could also be any gender and would act the same way

[swift beacon]

it’s been nearly 13 years, WHERES THE LORE ON MY BOY DECIMUS??

[thorn bison]

I also want to know what happened to him

He could see the future and then the book ended, like what? Where's the rest of it? I NEED MORE

[swift beacon]

i know right, it turns out in the end. he has a huge play to the night lords and hasn’t been fleshed out. Like i’m glad my Alpha legion has now gotten more lore. But my 2nd favourite legion has been collecting dust lately

[thorn bison]

Same here, I can't stand that they haven't written anything. at. all. about the most writable character they have!

He could herald Night Lord relevance but NOOO we can't have nice things

I mean yeah AL and IF have gotten more books as of late but my NL are like an empty husk

[swift beacon]

Y’know despite the Alpha Legion being all secret and mysterious. You would think they’d have the least books, but nope Night Lords get that treatment. At least we know the previous Alpha Legion books, ||the Unsung, the Redacted, and Sons of the Hydra still live||

[thorn bison]

Yeah exactly, we have heard nothing about the fate of anyone from the NL Omnibus

Are they dead? Alive? Neither? tell us!

I want to see my favourite super terrorists commit acts of unspeakable evil again, just like the good ol' times

[swift beacon]

i swear man, the only small sequel we ever got was the attack on Ultwe. Where almost the entire Night Lord legion attacked them, which is meh. I WANT JUSTICE FOR MY DARK BOIS

[glass sparrow]

yeah Abnett has his highs and his lows. His low in this case is the noble you mentioned, but I would argue he writes Torna Creed rather well for a female character.

[random marlin]

Yes, I completely agree.

[sullen brook]

just ordered my first 40k book, starting with the Horus heresy.

[thin saffron]

what should i read first?

[royal egret]

Eisenhorn trilogy

And/or Gaunt’s Ghosts

[thin saffron]

alrighty

[abstract laurel]

We don't even have that many female BL authors do we?

[royal egret]

There’s a few

[fierce wharf]

One of the few I can think of is Rachel Harrison for the Severina Raine novels.

[royal egret]

Yeah she’s the main one

There’s some who do short stories I know

[mellow knot]

There's Danie Ware, Rachel, Jude Reid, me... that I can think of off the top of my head.

Victoria Hayward as well

[abstract laurel]

Neat, glad to see way more now than in the past!

[mellow knot]

It was a strange time, being the only one for a while.

[abstract laurel]

Just realized who you are - that's neat!

I never read any of your works, unfortunately - was never a big fan of SM novels 😦

[mellow knot]

No apology required 🙂

[mellow knot]

There's always the Darktide Ogryn short story. 😉

[fierce wharf]

Hol up

You wrote 40k novels?

That's cool af

[mellow knot]

Yus.

[fierce wharf]

That's amazing!. I just wanted to ask something in regards to the writing process if that's alright?

[mellow knot]

Ask away! Can't guarantee a coherent reply. 😉

[fierce wharf]

Hahaha, totally get that!. I'm actually writing a journalistic piece of some various bits as a hobby on some stuff, and I was wondering. How do you put your thoughts down onto the paper in a way that's coherent?. I have big time spaghetti brain. Lol

[unique socket]

Gasp! You made my bf cry! He loved it, good job!

[mellow knot]

I find I tend to write what I'm thinking, then go back and re-read it, adjust it and tweak accordingly. A big help can be to read aloud what you've written and see if it sounds coherent.

[mellow knot]

I apologise for being the Bringer of Sads.

[faint granite]

@mellow knot you made me cry

[mellow knot]

I secretly thrive on these tears. Muwahahahah.

[faint granite]

Tig deserved better

he deserved food and cuddles

[fierce wharf]

Ah awesome!. I really appreciate that advice!. I know journalistic isn't exactly the same as fiction but I suppose writing is writing!. Thanks again 🙏

[mellow knot]

You're welcome!

[mellow knot]

Tig's fate is technically unknown. He may have found a way off Atoma Prime and opened a shop on another world, selling fluffy coats.

[faint granite]

the author said it so it's canon

[fierce wharf]

It's canon

[mellow knot]

Or maybe he was an infiltrator all along and sold out the Inquisition for.. jellybeans.

[fierce wharf]

Tbh I probably would for jellybeans

[faint granite]

[mellow knot]

A little snippet about Tig. He's named for a friend of mine who passed away earlier this year. He was a small, slight chap and he would have absolutely loved being immortalised as an Ogryn.

[unique socket]

Damn, I'm so sorry for your loss. That's so sweet

[fierce wharf]

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.

[mellow knot]

Thanks. He was a real character, but he's well loved and well remembered. 🙂

[faint granite]

https://tenor.com/view/salute-gif-8977961

we shall kill a thousand heretics in his name

[mellow knot]

I think that's why I loved so many people saying that they'd be using 'For Tig!' as their Ogryn battle cry. 🙂

[fierce wharf]

Damn, someone cutting onions in here or just me?.

[fierce wharf]

I'll always use this as my battle cry from now on.

[reef solstice]

So do any of the 40k books have literary merit?

[glass lintel]

Several of them.

[reef solstice]

Go on...

[glass lintel]

Some of the books use Sci-Fi and Fantasy for their intended purpose: Increasing stakes, drama, and action beyond what contemporary eras have the ability to convey.

In my opinion, The Infinite And The Divine and The Night Lord Omnibus both push the narrative of a fall from grace, of conflict between brothers, reaching for a new future, and fearsome combat, beyond what any other setting - whether it's a World War or Star Wars or Dune - could compete with.

[unique socket]

I just finished Infinite and hoooooooly shit it’s good

[royal egret]

Eisenhorn trilogy, Gaunt's Ghosts, several Heresy books and series within, Watchers of the Throne books, Vaults of Terra, Helsreach, Forges of Mars trilogy would all I say have some merit.

Twice-Dead King

Severed

[meager trench]

the question is just so generic so as to be largely pointless to even answer imo lmao

[teal solar]

It's also just besides the point, you're not reading black library novels to read deep meaningful literature, like they're literally written to be advertisements

It's like asking which Pokemon movie has the most significance to film

[reef solstice]

I was just curious if they were all 'trash'

[teal solar]

a good amount of them are yeah

like the early ian watson ones are just weird fetish novels

they've been good recently though, quality has generally risen for the most part

[chilly loom]

Rise of Darkrai, next question

[reef solstice]

But as like good sci-fi novels on their own merits, if you were to forget 40k existed

[chilly loom]

The greatest 40k books are alright compared to actual fiction

Its not too fair to compare since 40k books are made to sell a game

[teal solar]

Eternal Reward covered the generally recommended ones, I'd also add dead men walking, Titanicus, and almost anything by Peter Fehervari

[chilly loom]

My favorite part of 40k books is when you can tell theyre talking about Model you can purchase and it emphasizes them in some battle or scene

And the way they refer to it comes across stilted

[teal solar]

oh for sure, like the dark imperium novels spend so much time just masturbating over the repulsor tank and how sick reavers are

[chilly loom]

LMAO precisely

[teal solar]

"The repulsor tank was an unstoppable force, it's gravitational drives crushed everything underfoot, and the thunder of it's main gun obliterated the traitor lines"

not even a quote, but it's basically how those lines are written

[reef solstice]

That sounds awful.

[chilly loom]

Its not the worst thing in the world, but yeah its stilted in a funny way

[teal solar]

Yeah any time they start to refer to things by their full names, you know they're trying to advertise something

[chilly loom]

P much

[reef solstice]

Thats a shame, I would read something if it was good, but there's plenty of really good scifi already so not getting baited

[chilly loom]

I wouldnt pay for BL, but if you have spare time and pick the right title, its not too bad

Picking the right title goes along way of course tho LMAO

[meager trench]

there are def really good titles, if you're not really interested in the setting no biggie

[wicked tree]

Tbh, if you’re hesitant on taking the plunge. I’d first try and narrow in on a faction that properly interests you.
It’ll be easier to find some quality novels on a faction you like as opposed to a general what books are good, I suppose

[meager trench]

i thought DI was generally alright, there were definitely some parts here and there where named unit stuff comes through but overall I enjoy the novels a lot

there are worse offenders and speaking at a high level the novels in that series are more about explaining the Plague Wars than they are selling any individual models.

[glass lintel]

The Nightlords Omnibus, The I&D, and the Twice-Dead King transcend the franchise. Spears of the Emperor is also a kickass revenge plot. I think you could unironically get a good RoI from a theatrical release of movies or series about them.

[royal egret]

I generally agreed at this point it’s such a lazy and common thing

[mental patio]

I drive for a living and tend to go the audiobook route. Quite enjoy the Gaunt's Ghosts series

[abstract laurel]

Wait, I did like that one 😂 It's actually what convinced me to play an ogryn hahaha

[solid spade]

What's better: inquisition or commissar books in general?

[glass lintel]

Every Inquisitor book is about the same person and every Commissar book is boring, with the exception of Commissar Cain . . . so Commissar Cain.

[ebon jungle]

All hail Ciaphas Cain hero of the imperium!

[hearty niche]

Mood kindred

[opaque bronze]

Yeah lmao still a good series of books though

It made me like guilleman a fair bit

[shell spruce]

Commissars I'd say. Pyres of armageddon with commissar yarrick was a good read, gaunt's ghosts series is also great, as is ciaphas cain . The eisenhorn/ravenor books were incredible but that's about it from the inquisitor books

[thorn bison]

Honourbound with Severina Raine is another good commissar book

[fossil tundra]

Iv taken to reading my Cain books in-between the others....always a good inspiring laughable adventure.

[mellow knot]

Hooray for ogryns 🙂

[thorn bison]

Is this the book about the Mentor who travels to find the Spears chapter?

[random marlin]

It is.

[thorn bison]

Based, I'm almost done with Lords of Silence and am gonna start that one next

LoS is great btw, really solid Death Guard book

[hearty niche]

Somebody recommended First and Only for a ground view of the Imperial Guard and I just got it as an audiobook so I'm looking forward to it!

[fierce wharf]

I'm just reading the Vincula Insurgency Ghost Dossier 1 and it's quite good so far only a few pages in mind. 🙂

[fierce wharf]

Hope you enjoy it! 🙂

[sturdy arrow]

Hey guys, I'm completely new to the series. Bit overwhelmed with how many books there are. Anyone has a recommendation on where to start? My apologies if this question has been asked before.

[random marlin]

Everybody started one day, don't worry. 🙂 However, it could probably be nice to have a pinned answer with the usual suggestions for starting, which are Eisenhorn - Cain - Gaunt's Ghosts - Horus Heresy with a short summary for each one.

[fierce wharf]

This is one of the best bits of advice I have scene.

Sorry for the tag btw!

And it also depends on what you're looking for!. Are you looking at any particular faction, or topic or just general, how things are the way they are with the space marines? etc etc.

[sturdy arrow]

Thanks I'll have a look at those. A pinned message would be great, I can imagine loads of new people coming in with the same question 😛

I like Space Marines and the Death Korps

To be fair, I am interested in knowing more about any faction, but primarily those two.

[fierce wharf]

I mean, if you like space marines and want more context on how they came to be and all that kinda jazz then I'd say the Horus heresy series is fantastic, giving more back story on how the Space marine legions became chapters, as for krieg, dead men walking is meant to be pretty good and the imperial armour siege of Vraks.

For space marine books there's absolutely bucket loads on them, so it really depends on what kind of genres and styles you like.

[sturdy arrow]

Ah great. Thanks for the help so far. I'll do some more research based on those suggestions. Really appreciated. 🙂

[fierce wharf]

No probs! I'm sure others can help out with more but it's really down to what you like in books whether character focussed or action!

[placid pumice]

Gaunt’s Ghost is a great place to start for Imperial Guard. Eisenhorn and Ravenor are good for the Inquisition. Space Marines pick your poison.

[hollow berry]

Eisenhorn is not a great place to start - the perspective can make it difficult

honestly 15 hours is where you want to start with guard books - entirely stand alone unless they made a sequel i don't remember

Then Gaunts, Ravenor, and Eisenhorn

Angels of Darkness - Dan Abnett is also clutch for SpaceMarine first novel

[novel raven]

Hi, if you are still asking for advice, the books mentioned above are major works in the warhammer universe.
You have to know them for sure, but old fans often forget that the real concern of newcomers is that the warhammer universe has its own technical vocabulary, codifications, rules and approaching such a work whose atmosphere is a key element without knowing them can harm comprehension and imertion.

If I had to suggest a work to start, I would recommend Sandy Mitchel's books with his hero Cyaphas Cain.
It is also not a dictionary of words like "auspex", "arbitrator" ect...
But the books deal with many aspects of the environment, races and codes of the universe.

[ruby inlet]

Souldrinkers Omnibus is quite nice as well if you're into Space Marines/Chaos stuff. Esp. since you get all the books into one omnibus.

[novel raven]

In addition, the fact that brings some rather funny moments make it an UFO in the universe is often appreciated to counter the heavy atmosphere aspect of 40k while respecting it.
From my observation these books that have facilitated the discovery of the universe of a lot of new fans.

[abstract laurel]

The "dictionary" is Lexicanum.

Ciaphas Cain novels kinda don't capture the grit and dirt of 40k imo, they're too humorously poised.

[shell spruce]

The word bearers first novel is a good read. Storm of Iron is also a must read imo, that was a nail-biter of a read. Both are books of chaos invasions against the Imperial guard, but with different chaos factions. It's really cool to see the Guard stand on their own when dealing with traitor legions

[shell spruce]

First 3 novels are great, iirc the omnibus was first 40k book I read. Also they have the best colour scheme out of all the chapters, hands down. That purple is glorious

[abstract laurel]

I love the word bearers one for featuring my favorite guard regiments pulling a glory charge and then all meeting a very typical (dead) end 😂

[thorn bison]

The all-time best advice anyone has spoken here for newcomers is to look at the books and pick the one with the coolest-looking cover and start there

[abstract laurel]

Except anything written by CS Goto, Ian Watson, or Matt Ward.

[thorn bison]

That's fair, yeah

Don't trust them

[random marlin]

I would advise against it, it's a good way to choose a forgettable/mediocre book with a great cover, and then think the rest of the BL production is like this.

[thorn bison]

it's worked for me almost every time I've picked a book with the exception of "Fulgrim"

But yeah sure, do some research on the books you're thinking about first

Not sure why people worry so much about the first book they're getting though, I got Leman Russ: The Great Wolf as a christmas present years ago and went from there

Don't even particularly like Russ but it was enjoyable and got me stuck into the BL books

[uneven vigil]

Ok so I'm trying to go knee deep into the new books featuring Guilliman, should I go for Dark Imperium or Dawn of Fire? Also which is better in your opinion? I know Dawn of fire book 2 has some custodes and I love my golden boys.

[thorn bison]

Dawn of Fire is more general Indomitus Crusade with some Guilliman appearances at the beginning and end of the books

Haven't read Dark Imperium so I can't comment there unfortunately

[mighty geyser]

Yeah after Fulgrim he's worst Primarch for me, at least Puertorabo was capable

[thorn bison]

DoF are great books though so you should check them out

[uneven vigil]

I will definitely give them a shot, I thought Guilliman would be more featured in them with the custodes like Colquan or Vychellan being PoV but also being with him

[thorn bison]

He has big appearances he's just not the main focus of the books

Just so you're prepared for that

He may be on the cover but it's the others who get the most screen time

[uneven vigil]

I'm looking for some good custodes books too since I play them on TT so I don't mind

[thorn bison]

Oh well in that case you should read Master of Mankind if you haven't already

Plenty of Custodes action there

[glass lintel]

Custodes are like Tyranids: They aren't allowed to be interesting and the protagonists of the book.

This is know as an "Inverse-Guardsman."

[thorn bison]

Well Dawn of Fire breaks that cycle by having interesting protagonist custodes

Master of Mankind does that as well imo

[shell spruce]

Which of the primarch books do you guys recommend? Have read a few (up until Fulgrim's, and then i skipped the order to pick up Mortarion's and Rogal Dorn's) wanted to see if any stand out of those that I skipped

Heard that the alpharius novel is interesting 🤔

Ferrus seems a bit boring though

[glass lintel]

Personal Opinion:
None.

There's some neat insight there, but far and away it really only takes away from the allure of the divinity and mystery surrounding them, like giving every Marvel character three movies so you get the Origin, Peak, and Downfall/Succession which is . . . over-saturating.

[thorn bison]

I'm gonna sit on the opposite side of the spectrum and say that there's many good ones.

Alpharius is easily the best one imo and perfectly captures the Alpha Legion feeling.
Leman Russ Is pretty good if you like the Space Wolves and like watching them argue with the Dark Angels but that's pretty much it.
Magnus The Red is a great look at Magnus and Perturabo as they struggle to save a world that's dying from tectonic upheaval and it shows Magnus being pushed out of his comfort zone.
Perturabo shows a very vulnerable and personal side of Perty that few have ever seen and really tells you why he is like he is.

I cannot reliably recall the other ones I've read but some are good and some are less so, it's a bit of a gamble

The ones I've suggested above are very good though imo

Rogal Dorn is good as well incase you haven't started reading that one yet

[shell spruce]

Just started it actually

[latent rover]

I'm reading black library chronologically (currently reading vengeful spirit)

so i've only read Fulgrim. But i really liked that one

[shell spruce]

I was referring to the Horus Heresy Primarch novels, rather than the novels in the Horus heresy series

I enjoyed Fulgrim as well though (both the primarch a d the Horus heresy novel)

Curious as to why people seem to dislike that novel from the series

[thorn bison]

Fulgrim the Heresy novel is just painfully dragged out in the end and could easily have been at least 50 pages shorter, that's generally why people don't like it

[mighty geyser]

I agree, discribing how Ferrus tought him how disarm a Nuclear bomb just for Fulgrim to stab it with his sword...

[mellow knot]

Again, in deference to the fact that different people like different things, I loved it.

[drowsy urchin]

I've only recently heard some disliked it, most I know loved it

me included

[thorn bison]

Of course, my message was not meant to represent the community opinion as a whole, just the general sentiment of most of the people who I have spoken to about the book

I liked the book too, I just think it could have been shorter and kept that goodness going all throughout instead of slowing it down and then suddenly speeding up with the ending

[burnt vigil]

If im just starting to read about warhammer

Where should i start

[heavy juniper]

yes, it’s excellent!

[fierce wharf]

I've got it on audible, and it's awesome.

[swift beacon]

the audio version makes the atmosphere of the book amazing, one of my favourite primarch books. But as an Alpha Legion fan, i think it’s bias for me to say that it’s the best out of the primarch books.

[swift beacon]

eisenhorn series, or Gaunts Ghost series. Again, i would say the Horus Heresy books. But it’s bit of a stretch, since the series is huge and is ongoing.

[meager trench]

15 Hours is a good intro, Calgar's Siege as well

[smoky shell]

40k got any good audiobooks? Narrators make or break a story and I have a 2 hour commute.

[lavish badger]

I loved "Talon of Horus"' voicing

[nimble jungle]

sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this, if i wanted to get started reading the books where’s a good jumping off point, i’ve only played dawn of war 1 and this game so i have basically no knowledge of anything w40k lore outside of random stuff that has made it out into the wider internet

[reef solstice]

What's the smallest scale book? I know 40ks whole thing "look how much bigger than this big thing this other big thing is", but still.

[zinc viper]

I'd possibly go with Eisenhorn. The inquisition view of the imperium, it's technology, and structure is a great base level of knowledge to have.

[nimble jungle]

thanks, i will check it out

[heavy juniper]

the warhammer crime series is very fun smaller scale 40k

[rich raptor]

Read the Dan Abnett books first imo

Then read Dune

Then consider reading some of the other BL authors

Do NOT start with Horus Heresy

I enjoyed Brothers of the Snake

Uhh other BL others Adam Dempsmi Boden is alright

The Emperor's Gift was pretty good

His Night Lords books were ok too if a little silly

[nimble jungle]

Dune Dune? or is there 40k book called Dune

[rich raptor]

No, I meant the scifi classic

[desert cedar]

Only 40K books all my AoS novels wasted

[long snow]

So I want to get into 40k lore besides just watching lore videos on yt. But audible won't work for me cause I don't have a credit card. Any suggestions as to what to do now? Do I just buy physical copies instead or?

[abstract laurel]

Disagree, those were pretty solid books.

Generally considered some of the best traitor marine books around

[desert cedar]

If you want to buy physical copies check your local retailers prices before ordering from GW

Shipping may be cheaper

Unless you are in the UK then just order from the Black Library

[long snow]

Oh right gw is an option. I was looking at a store near me that sells English books

Like 17-20 for one book

Seems about normal?

[desert cedar]

What currency?

Because here they are about £8 at most

[long snow]

Euros

Guess i have to look somewhere else

[desert cedar]

It's just the wild import fees of GW

How do they decide import fees?

Well, more so foreign prices?

Whichever is funnies I guess

[jaunty stratus]

Uhm, are you German by any chance? Then it's the result of price fixing for books

[long snow]

Dutch

[jaunty stratus]

Yeah, Dutch have a that too.

[desert cedar]

Ye

GW strategy is they get a map of the world and throw darts with numbers on them and wherever they hit that's the price

It's a great plan

[jaunty stratus]

Well yes, but lots of European countries have fixed prices for books, like they aren't allowed to sell under the price x, it's mostly something around 20€. Something about "books being cultural goods that need protection", while others for some strange reasons don't get that treatment. Anyway, in that case you can't even blame gw, they actually just follow the law. But yea, it's not like gw wouldn't sell them for the same price without a law forcing them

[desert cedar]

GW charging me half the cost of a knight for a rulebook and then has the gall to raise prices on plastic models

SMH

[heavy juniper]

sanguinius primarch book up for preorder today. even the chris wraight books in this series have not been interesting. bought it anyway lol

[glass lintel]

The language of the Night Lords homeworld is described as "a murderer whispering into your ear", and the narration of the Night Lords Omnibus is appropriately chilling. The voices for each character fits them as well as it fits their weapon, so one character's voice be as appropriate for them as it would be for a chainaxe. Far and away my favorite book in the entire franchise.

This also meant that reading The First Heretic (It feels like the highly-talented ADB was given a month to write it and tried to figure out character motivations) was physically painful thanks to the fact that the narrator who did a stellar job for Lorgar and the Word Bearers decided that Konrad Curze - a haunted cutthroat demigod who stalks through the nightmares of primarchs and entire systems alike - was voiced like . . .

[long snow]

so should I just get em for 20 euros anyways or? I mean I could technically 🏴‍☠️ them but I do prefer the feel of an actual book

[jaunty stratus]

depends, there is still the reseller marked for used books, if you don't mind used books, look there, they will have fair prices. I don't know exactly how this is handled in the netherlands, but in germany, there was a long period, where ebooks weren't affected by the fixed prices and they were much cheaper, of course if you don't mind ebooks. And now the biggest irony: audiobooks, you pay way less money to have someone read them for you. So these are some alternatives.
considering you want a real book in your hands, i would recommend the first alternative

[long snow]

I mean id want audiobooks the most (as long as they arent some shitty tts reading it)

but idk any alternatives to audible

[jaunty stratus]

ye, I do know only black library and audible, and here black library really is way to expensive compared to our overlord jeff amazon. But humblebundle has from time to time some great audiobook bundles for a very cheap price

[long snow]

would this be the right one?

https://www.blacklibrary.com/new-titles/featured/dark-imperium-ebook-2021.html

This is audio only i assume

12 euros, not too bad

oh nvm

thats just the ebook

audio is 33?

[jaunty stratus]

yup, thats what I meant

[long snow]

thats insane holy shit

[jaunty stratus]

meanwhile audible-> 3 month trial for 4,95€ each month/per audiobook

[drowsy urchin]

if you wanna go cheap you should go audible

[long snow]

yep, but it needs creditcard and i dont have one

[drowsy urchin]

or wait for warhammer humble bundle audio bundle

last one had all the dark imperium books iirc

[jaunty stratus]

ye, and me knucklehead couldn't decide wether do buy or not until I missed it, when I finally decided to pick it up

[drowsy urchin]

I've pretty much bought each of the audio bundles thus far

the value is always so good it's hard not to

like 20 books for the price of less than one

[jaunty stratus]

it was the fact that I'm not that used to english narrators, like I really have some problems understanding longworth, when he does some dialects. Praised be Helen Keeley for a clear voice btw

[drowsy urchin]

ah understandable

although I really love Longworth

[jaunty stratus]

luckily, I can train to get used to his voice with darktide now

[drowsy urchin]

truu

[jaunty stratus]

doesn't it have direct debit too in netherlands?

[drowsy urchin]

make sure you're using .com audible and not .co.uk

if you're not from the UK that is

[long snow]

ah

well it defaults to that everytime

lemme try and swap that

[drowsy urchin]

yeah it's silly

[long snow]

I switch it to com

click on get this deal

switched to co.uk

huh

[drowsy urchin]

are you signed in

like did you make an account to the co.uk domain

[long snow]

idfk where i made my amazon account tbh

[drowsy urchin]

you can always make a new one to the .com domain, same email should work

[long snow]

it says im logged in on the .com version of the site tho

[drowsy urchin]

on audible.com?

[abstract laurel]

LOLOL

I just died laughing with that mental.. image? audio? in my head

(I have the physical books and never listened to the audio-books)

[long snow]

ye

still only lets me add a credit card tho

nothing else

[drowsy urchin]

it asks for a credit card but a debit card should be fine as well, if you have onee

[long snow]

tbh im not even sure if what i have is a debit card. cause im not english and idk whats what tbh

dont think it is

[drowsy urchin]

it's a payment card without the option to put the payment on credit which you pay later

Like Visa Electron if you've heard of one

[long snow]

idk the only pass i have is just the one i got from the bank. this is all mad confusing to me tbh

[glass lintel]

Also, I am trying so hard to make my way through Eisenhorn and am just not getting it. I've read through protagonists going into fights missing limbs, fused into their armor, actively on fire, and so-forth in the setting. Lots of clever infiltrations and witty charisma to get what they want as well.

Eisenhorn, though . . . they get to drop a "I'm the Inquisitor, so do as I say" line with anyone they want, and beyond that get the psyker power to literally just will people to do what he says, which is shown when he just literally tells someone to leave cover so he can shoot them.

[long snow]

it says v pay on top if that means anything

[drowsy urchin]

with a quick google search it should work as well

it's a debit card issued by Visa as well

[long snow]

I see, thing is i try to put in the numbers on the front or w/e and it just says invalid on the site

afaik all i can do with it is iDEAL which isnt an option on audible

[drowsy urchin]

well shit

[long snow]

I hate this

[drowsy urchin]

have you had your card for how long? I came across some news about how the V Pay should be rolled out and replaced by normal Visa debit cards starting last year

so you might get your card replaced with a better one if you visit your local bank if you'd like

[long snow]

Ive had mine for like 2 years

Oh well. Sucks to suck I guess

welp i got klarna to work and use a one time credit card

so gg

1 month of free audible

[drowsy urchin]

hell yeah

[long snow]

how do i get more credits on their service?

[drowsy urchin]

either you buy 3 at once with a discounted price or each month you've subbed you get one

[long snow]

I see

wait I get 1 back if I return a book? So I can just listen to the thing and return it after or is there like a time limit?

[drowsy urchin]

yes but if you abuse it it won't work for long

I've done it only once in the last 4 years and it was because I really didn't enjoy the book

[long snow]

if i cancel now will i still keep the credit for this whole money or?

[drowsy urchin]

you keep the credit but you can only use it whilst you have the membership status active iirc

so you'd need to use it before the month has gone past

but it stays with your account if you decide to resub

it isn't lost

[long snow]

where the fuck are the titles that doesnt cost credits. seems like everything i want to read/listen to requires em

[drowsy urchin]

you can also pause your subscription which basically keeps your membership status but you won't need to pay for the months nor do you get new credits

[long snow]

and both things i got recommend have 3 books each

[drowsy urchin]

each title can be bought directly as well I'm pretty sure

but it's cheaper with credits

[long snow]

i dont even see an option to buy credits

[drowsy urchin]

top right corner if you are on the website

[jaunty stratus]

don't cancel the abo if you have a credit left to spend, it will vanish with the abo, so invest it prior cancelling it

[long snow]

OMG

I couldve paid with paypal through the android app the whole time

why only in the app and not on browser

[drowsy urchin]

beats me, the whole audible ux is pretty bad in general

[long snow]

well

do i start with witcher or do I go with dark imperium or night lords book 1

[jaunty stratus]

eisenhorn

just a hint in case, google for the audible subscription trial, it costs half the price per month, you just cancel it in time and resubscribe if you feel the need for it, it has no one time use

[long snow]

decided to start with soul hunter

[drowsy urchin]

neat, very good series that one

[jovial laurel]

Watchers of the Throne is great.

Especially on audio

[gaunt glacier]

I'd definitely recommend Watchers of the Throne

and also Vaults of Terra

[hasty stratus]

Are there any books focused on Imperial first contacts? Like when they find new worlds ( Xeno or otherwise)

[thorn bison]

The Rogal Dorn primarch book is a good one, it's during crusade times where the Fists encounter a new human civilization

There is at least one more I know of, I'll see if I can find it

[thorn bison]

Alright, I think Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader contains some stuff about new encounters but I am not entirely sure

Even if it doesn't it's still a great book as far as I can remember

[hasty stratus]

Sweet!

I have heard good things about The Flight of the Eisenstein, worth getting as well?

[thorn bison]

Certainly, but you should probably read the three books before that one for the full experience and context: Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy In Flames

They reference events in Flight that occur in the previous books which will likely confuse someone who hasn't read them

[hasty stratus]

Is Flight the last book for that arc?

[thorn bison]

It's more of a followup for those who want it but in my humble opinion it is an important read to see how everything leads up to Terra discovering Horus' treachery

Flight continues the story and ties up a loose end or two

[hasty stratus]

Okay cool. Ill have to check them out

[rocky anvil]

Finished it few days ago and it was awesome

[glass sparrow]

Flight of the Eisenstein also introduces possibly the greatest death guard loyalist of the entire heresy. One named Battle Captain Nathaniel Garro, first to known as a knights errant after this initial journey.

If you cannot tell already, yes I am a massive fan of Garro's story during the heresy.

[glass lintel]

Bad call. I am utterly unbiased, but you are starting the best three books in the entire franchise and will be unable to find anything better for at least a few months.

[naive fog]

If you want to read some good "Oldhammer", the "Sould Drinker" books are great

But be prepared for a lot of old lore

And the books "Space Marine Battles"

Especially "Helsreach"

[hollow agate]

Im on the book Garro right now!

But also ive just gone through all the horus heresy books in order

it is one of the better ones tho

[abstract laurel]

Storm of Iron is solid, too.

Oldie but a goodie. One of my faves from the Oldhammer days. Does Graham McNeil still write?

... Oh, he's owned by Riot Games now.

[meager trench]

Yes, still writes. Not a mainline author but does stuff here and there, like Fury of Magnus, Sons of the Selenar

[shell spruce]

Been a while since I read it, but iirc most of the lore still stands

Was pretty cool to see the soul drinkers referenced in the war of the beast

[naive fog]

Yeah. There is even a primaris soul drinkers chapter now

Yeah Graham McNeill wrote the Uriel Ventris books and my most favourite horus heresy book "Fulgrim". Aside from Dan Abnett he is one of the best GW writers out there. But he works for Riot Games now.

[heavy juniper]

he still does some black library stuff, but maybe only short stories. or short novellas

I’ve got the uriel ventris and iron warriors books in the reading queue 😀

[graceful osprey]

if you like graham mcneill I highly recommend the Forges of Mars trilogy

[placid pumice]

Been out of the scene so long I don't even know where to start now.

[thorn bison]

Pick a faction and go from there I'd say, I'm sure you can find something fun

The book I finished most recently was Lords of Silence which follows a Death Guard warband, it was quite good

If you're into Chaos books, that is

[void stirrup]

Weird details in that one like when a little lord (what Death Guard apparently call nurglings) shits all over a marine's shoulder and he just pets it affectionately.

[wispy leaf]

Hey so I am new to the hobby and wanting to start reading up some of the lore. Any good books to start out with??

[thorn bison]

I mean all DG marines carry dozens of plagues and they were ordered by Mortarion to never clean their armour so I don't think any kind of dirt or filth is bad in their eyes

Besides, they probably see it as a way for Nurgle's little messengers to show favour and affection

Though I would like to add that the very same marine does kick one of them like a football later in the book

[distant cargo]

I just got my release of Cadian Blood in the mail, and it looks amazing!

[placid pumice]

More of the fact I have lost the thread of The Horus Heresy series. I was on like book 12 (release order) or something when I stopped paying attention. Now they have like 3 different categories. I need to also finish the Guant's Ghost stuff.

[thorn bison]

Oh yeah, now there's the Horus Heresy novel series, the Siege of Terra series and the Primarchs series

Tough to pick between them

I'd recommend one of the Primarchs books to start, perhaps Alpharius or Rogal Dorn, maybe Magnus The Red if you like him

From there you can go forth and find the next book in line that interests you

[thorn bison]

Gaunt's Ghosts is definitely a series you should finish btw, it's great

[placid pumice]

I will figure out where I was in the original HH series and finish that. Then branch into the other stuff.

[void stirrup]

Horus Heresy is 54 books. A good number of those are short story anthologies. Each of the Primarchs either has a novel, or is going to get one (not included in those 54). Then there is a new series where the heresy finally reached Terra. 7 books deep right now, it will wrap up with THE fight between Big E and Horus. Supposedly we are getting ANOTHER series afterward for the Scouring.

Seeing as how the "current" series Dawn Of Fire is lagging, they may pause the Scouring to rev the modern stuff. Wish they would re-print War of the Beast first, I don't have physical copies.

[meager trench]

pretty much everything is lagging out of BL. it seems like they have a fair few books already written months or even longer out in advance

and it seems like it's not an editorial cycle books are going through, they just wait to release em

[heavy juniper]

books in general are definitely written 'months' in advance of getting released