Warhammer 40k - The Books

[Geddes]

I recently got lent a copy of the first book in the Horus Heresy series by a friend and it wasn't bad, I was always a bit interested in the back story of the games universe.

I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any more books in this vein which are any good, also, if anyone can tell me if the rest of the Horus Heresy series is worth reading as I've heard that it trails off a little in later books.

Also, feel free to discuss the books.

 

[Ultrajoe]

The later books do lose their luster, but i recommend them anyway, as they are still great reads. If you can get your hands on the Ciaphus Cain (Sp?) novels, do so with all due haste (much haste is due).

As always: Dan Abbnet is your god.

 

[Geddes]

I had heard that the Cain books were worth it, luckily i've got a book store near me which specializes in Sci-fi and Fantasy so getting ahold of a copy shouldn't be a problem.

Also, are there any books which feature Tyranids prominently as I used to play them way back when and found them rather interesting.

 

[Typhusoid]

The Horus Heresy is an excellent series, especially Fulgrim, but I would avoid Descent of Angels and Battle for the Abyss

 

[Ryuzaki]

The Horus Heresy series is a good one, as is the Spacewolf trilogy.
Also if you like Warhammer Fantasy then the Gordrek and Felix books are brilliant reads.

 

[BigKingBob]

For nids, your best bet is with either "Warriors of Ultramar" which is one of the ultramarine series, One of the imperial guard books (I forget the name, the one with tallarn rough riders on the front) or the Ciaphas Cain books deal with nids a couple of times.

The rest of the horus heresy series up to "Flight of the Eisenstein" are very good but after that they become a bit hit and miss. I'd recommend "Fulgrim," "Legion" and "Mechanicum."

But mostly, and I cannot stress this enough, read "Storm Of Iron"

No, seriously, go read it.

Now!

Most epic and fitting 40k that has ever been written and published.

 

[Fudj]

Soul Drinkers is good to......you get to see Space Marines gone rouge, but not chaos

 

[opiwankenobi]

The later books do lose their luster, but i recommend them anyway, as they are still great reads.
As always: Dan Abbnet is your god.

I was thinking the same, until now. I am reading "Tales of Heresy" and Dan Abnett's story of the custodes is great, but to be honest, it is not the best one in the novel. That would be "Wolf at the door" and "The last church" so far. I propaply will be accused with heresy for saying this, will I?

 

[Sonicron]

For nids, your best bet is with either "Warriors of Ultramar" which is one of the ultramarine series, One of the imperial guard books (I forget the name, the one with tallarn rough riders on the front) or the Ciaphas Cain books deal with nids a couple of times.

The rest of the horus heresy series up to "Flight of the Eisenstein" are very good but after that they become a bit hit and miss. I'd recommend "Fulgrim," "Legion" and "Mechanicum."

But mostly, and I cannot stress this enough, read "Storm Of Iron"

No, seriously, go read it.

Now!

Most epic and fitting 40k that has ever been written and published.

I agree with everything you posted. All of these are great books; I just finished reading Storm of Iron, and I even used Mechanicum in a university research paper on morphological processes typical for sci-fi literature.

To the OP: Further books I heartily recommend are the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies respectively (read Eisenhorn first). Dan Abnett is (imo) the best Black Library author, and these novels will blow your socks off.

As for the Space Wolf series... they're enjoyable, no mistake, but the first 4 out of 6 are written by William King, and although he does a very good job, there's little to no variety in his writing style, so things got kind of boring for me around the 3rd novel even though the book's story was made of awesome. Things get more interesting with the 4th novel, 'Wolfblade'.

 

[burninjack4l]

I'd highly recommend "The Grey Knights" the "Imperial Guard Omnibus" and "Dark Apostle" followed by "Dark Disciple"
The Grey knights is, well, obv. a first perspective into the most BAMF the Imperium has when it comes to killing Demons, and has a pretty entertaining plot.
The Imperial Guard Omnibus is three separate books plus some extra bits to each, all revolving around the Imperial Guard, and the book really gave me an appreciation for them, all three of the books revolve around Imperial Guard vs Orks vs Environment.
The last two books tie together, and they're based in the Chaos perspective, and were just as entertaining as the other two even though I'm more of an Imperium fan.

 

[Sonicron]

The later books do lose their luster, but i recommend them anyway, as they are still great reads.
As always: Dan Abbnet is your god.

I was thinking the same, until now. I am reading "Tales of Heresy" and Dan Abnett's story of the custodes is great, but to be honest, it is not the best one in the novel. That would be "Wolf at the door" and "The last church" so far. I propaply will be accused with heresy for saying this, will I?

I finished 'The Voice' just half an hour ago. Obviously I haven't read 'The Last Church' yet, but until now 'Wolf At The Door' and 'Scions Of The Storm' were both better than Abnett's Custodes story.

 

[xxnightlawxx]

I recently got lent a copy of the first book in the Horus Heresy series by a friend and it wasn't bad, I was always a bit interested in the back story of the games universe.

I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any more books in this vein which are any good, also, if anyone can tell me if the rest of the Horus Heresy series is worth reading as I've heard that it trails off a little in later books.

Also, feel free to discuss the books.

go to gamesworkshop.com all the 40k books all the horus heresy books and all the other books too

 

[Vortigar]

I've read the Eisenhorn trilogy, an Ultramarines omnibus and all the gaunt's ghosts books. Those as well as other random ones along with the horus heresy ones.

The Ghosts peter out a bit, after the shrine world (baetie whatshername?) he kinda lost his touch there.

Well, that leaves me with only one series to recommend and that's Ciaphas Cain.

Who was also already mentioned above...

Oh yeah.
Angels of Darkness is a lot of fun as well.

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

...Finally something I'm good at *ahem*
Chaos:
Storm of Iron is a good look at Chaos, which takes a deeper look into the workings of chaos, while also changing things from the stock standard "Imperials=win in a can".

Space Marine:
The Ultramarines Omnibus was great in my opinion, it features the trials of an Ultramarine captain and his work in fighting the emperors enemies, includes Nids and Chaos. One of my favorite WH40K books. The series is (so far) 4 books, 3 in an omnibus (Nightbringer, Warriors of Ultramar and Dead Sky, Black Sun) and so far another has been released The Killing Ground.

There is also The Space Wolf Omnibus which contains Space wolf, Ragnars Claw and Grey Hunter all quite good. The series continues in Wolfs Honor, Wolfblade and Sons Of fenris, which may later be put into an omnibus. Good if you like Space Marines, adds a slightly viking feel to the whole thing which makes it a different read from other SM novels but still highly enjoyable.

The Soul Drinkers Omnibus follows the trials of a semi-renegade chapter, still following the emperor but shunned by the Imperium. Very good, different but still gives a great look at warfare in the 40k universe. The series is up to 5 books (I think, can't find my copies).

Imperial Guard.
I'll give you the basics of these, there are quite a few:

Fifteen hours: Good, follows basic Imperial Guard indoctrination and fights against orks. Some disliked it but I thought it was good.

Gaunts Ghosts (series): Very good, hailed as the best IG novels you can find. Very long series, available in two omnibuses and (so far) 4 single novels.

Gunheads: Follows tanks in combat. Not amazing but still good, has good tank warfare and Ork Fights.

The Last Chancers Trilogy: In my opinion quite average. It starts off quite well but I think by the end of the series you will dislike the protagonist, it gets a bit dodgy at points, disappointing in others. Includes Nid, Ork and Tau warfare.

Ciaphas Cain: Hero of The Imperium is an omnibus containing the first three books in the series, including a few short stories. There are also another three books in the series not et available in omnibus form Death or Glory, Duty Calls and Cains Last Stand. All really good, provide enjoyable looks at a commissar.

Inquisitor.
Eisenhorn (omnibus): Follows the journey of Inquisitor Eisenhorn. Enjoyable and well written, I really must read it again...
Ravenor, Ravenor Returned and Ravenor Rogue are also quite good, following the...apprentice I guess you would call him, of Eisenhorn. Still pretty good though, I'm up to Rogue and it's quite good.

Theres also Relentless which follows the story of an Imperial Guard ship captain and his betrayel and quest for vengeance. i thought it was good, though don't expect amazing Space warfare, it mainly focuses on life on the Ship.
Also, Rogue Star and Star of Damocles are pretty good. They follow Rogue Traders as they struggle to regain the power they once had.

I'll have a look but I think that's it.

Oh yeah.
Angels of Darkness is a lot of fun as well.

No offense but how in gods name did you find a copy of that book? Amazon, Black Library and bloody Ebay don't have copies. Which sucks as I hear it's quite well written

Edit: I may be confused with a reprint.

 

[Sonicron]

Angels of Darkness is a lot of fun as well.

True, forgot that one. I'm actually using this one to try and get some of my pals into W40k, since it isn't just another celebration of the Astartes' awesomeness, but reads in parts more like a detective story.

 

[Therumancer]

I consider the "Eisenhorn Trilogy" and it's sequel in spirit the "Ravenor" books to be the strongest all around Warhammer 40k titles. Following that is the "Gaunt's Ghosts" cycle, followed perhaps by Ciphas Cain. I should warn you though that for all of the referances Ciphas Cain is a Satire as much as anything. It's also not quite as funny if your not familiar with the game, or more importantly with the stereotypes overused in other novels. Given Cain's rank, I have noticed what seems to be a few deliberate parodies of Gaunt for example.

On a good day I think William King is better than Dan Abnett (sorry to fans) not to say that he is bad. It's just that William King is a much better fantasy writer I think. I don't think any of the 40k books were as good overall as the Gotrek & Felix series, especially the middle books when he turned away from the short story format. I guess they are both the respective masters of their genere within the Black Library. Eisenhorn comes close to Gotrek and Felix but isn't quite there.

If you like Inquisitors, also try the "Inquisition War" trilogy, though as a warning it has a lot of problems (which I won't get into).

>>>----Therumancer--->

 

[opiwankenobi]

I finished 'The Voice' just half an hour ago. Obviously I haven't read 'The Last Church' yet, but until now 'Wolf At The Door' and 'Scions Of The Storm' were both better than Abnett's Custodes story.

"The Last Church" is different. There is no Battle, just talking. Mindgames. But so far, i liked the story.

Be aware: SPOILER

Spoiler

The plot twist and Revelations true identity are quite obvious

 

[Aedwynn]

I consider the "Eisenhorn Trilogy" and it's sequel in spirit the "Ravenor" books to be the strongest all around Warhammer 40k titles. Following that is the "Gaunt's Ghosts" cycle, followed perhaps by Ciphas Cain. I should warn you though that for all of the referances Ciphas Cain is a Satire as much as anything. It's also not quite as funny if your not familiar with the game, or more importantly with the stereotypes overused in other novels. Given Cain's rank, I have noticed what seems to be a few deliberate parodies of Gaunt for example.

On a good day I think William King is better than Dan Abnett (sorry to fans) not to say that he is bad. It's just that William King is a much better fantasy writer I think. I don't think any of the 40k books were as good overall as the Gotrek & Felix series, especially the middle books when he turned away from the short story format. I guess they are both the respective masters of their genere within the Black Library. Eisenhorn comes close to Gotrek and Felix but isn't quite there.

If you like Inquisitors, also try the "Inquisition War" trilogy, though as a warning it has a lot of problems (which I won't get into).

>>>----Therumancer--->

I'll tentatively agree with the above statement by Therumancer. (I like Bill King, but dislike Marty StuGotrek and Felix.)

I'll also throw in that Execution Hour is a pretty good read, and if you can find a copy, Deathwing is excellent. (Some of the Deathwing short stories concerning Mei'Lindi and Grimm are re-printed in The Inquisition War.)

And finally, I enjoyed Eye of Terror. It's pretty faithful to the old 'Realms of Chaos' books background and has one of the better depictions of what the Imperium and the Eye of Terror would be like to visit.

Spoiler

Both 'the Inquisition War' and 'Eye of Terror' come close to revealing just what, exactly, the Emporer's motives are, so they're at least worth a look for that aspect, IMHO.

AVOID anything by C.S. Goto.
If you choose to read the rest of the Horus Heresy novels, skip over Battle for the Abyss at least.

As ever, YMMV on all the above.