Your Favorite Warhammer/40k Novel?

[Coffeejack]

'Ciaphas Cain,: Hero of the Imperium'.

Also, '13th Legion' and 'Kill Team'. Those two are about a penal legion's adventures through space.
'Ravenor' is a great Omnibus about a group of Inquisitorial agents and their hunt for those running an interplanetary flect trade.

'Flects' are shards of glass, often from stained windows of cathedrals, that are found on worlds tainted or invaded by Chaos. By looking into these shards, one can experience joyous visions of the God Emperor or terrifying, twisted and corrupted scenes of fire and ruin. Those who go for a 'look' can become possessed by daemons. It's a nifty little premise and it makes for a great story, though it does take time to set the scene before getting to the action.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

Space Wolf, Traitor General, every Ciaphas Cain book, every Horus Heresy book, the 2nd and 3rd Grey Knights books, Ravenor, Eisenhorn... yeah, I can't pick a favourite.

 

[Aerodyamic]

Ciaphus Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM would have liked to stop by and visit the thread, but he's been busy, accidentally and completely inadvertently eliminating every threat that has ever looked in the general direction of the Imperium.

He's also been busy founding a Scholam, saving kittens from burning buildings, and posing for incredibly heroic paintings.

 

[Ieyke]

The Eisenhorn Trilogy, no contest. It just blows everything else out of the water.

BAM! That's me done... though having said that I question your usage of Cato Sicarius as your avatar in that case!

At the moment, though, I'm still reading the Horus Heresy series (regardless of the time of day, someone, somewhere is reading a HH novel... fact!) and my favourite from it is probably Nemesis, oddly enough even though Dan Abnett & Graham McNeill (signed copy of Mechanicum woohoo!) are my fav BlackLib authors. -_- S'why the Gaunt's Ghosts series is up there as well.

I'm a diehard veteran Ultramarines player, and one of the best known Ultramarines players on the Internets. Sicarius has served as my customary avatar since 5th edition C:SM came
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That said, the Ultramarines Series novels are shit. Graham McNeill couldn't write about Ultramarines to save his life.
Abnett's Know No Fear, Kyme's, Assault On Black Reach and Fall Of Damnos, however, are quite good. In fact, Know No Fear would probably be not far behind the Eisenhorn Trilogy if I started listing out the best Black Library books.

 

[Tiger King]

The Eisenhorn Trilogy, no contest. It just blows everything else out of the water.

BAM! That's me done... though having said that I question your usage of Cato Sicarius as your avatar in that case!

At the moment, though, I'm still reading the Horus Heresy series (regardless of the time of day, someone, somewhere is reading a HH novel... fact!) and my favourite from it is probably Nemesis, oddly enough even though Dan Abnett & Graham McNeill (signed copy of Mechanicum woohoo!) are my fav BlackLib authors. -_- S'why the Gaunt's Ghosts series is up there as well.

I'm a diehard veteran Ultramarines player, and one of the best known Ultramarines players on the Internets. Sicarius has served as my customary avatar since 5th edition C:SM came out.

Are you familiar with the B&C? I'm TEC.

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That said, the Ultramarines Series novels are shit. Graham McNeill couldn't write about Ultramarines to save his life.
Abnett's Know No Fear, Kyme's, Assault On Black Reach and Fall Of Damnos, however, are quite good. In fact, Know No Fear would probably be not far behind the Eisenhorn Trilogy if I started listing out the best Black Library books.

i liked the crossover of honsou and uriel ventris in dead sky black sun but yeah the ultramarines series isntthe bestist 40k book ever.

 

[Griffolion]

-snip-

Thanks for the thread, I enjoy these!

My favourite by far is the Grey Knights Omnibus. I just love the level of badassery that goes on with Alaric. Plus I'd say Counter is in the top 3 of the Black Library writers.

After that are the "Path of the..." books, about the Eldar. Not so much for the writing, but for the extra insight it gave into Eldar life, something that hasn't been really explored before novel wise (not fully). I'm a big Eldar fan.

I've also enjoyed the Fantasy novels regarding the High Elf/Dark Elf split, and the rise of the Shadow King etc.

 

[Smolderin]

Is it considered blasphemy that I have never heard of the Ciaphas Cain series? Cause if it is, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be a Heretic touched by the taint of Chaos. My course seems clear, I must go to my nearest Barnes and Noble retailer and buy the first Omnibus in order to clear the taint. I look forward to what I am about to read.

 

[saintdane05]

Is it considered blasphemy that I have never heard of the Ciaphas Cain series? Cause if it is, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be a Heretic touched by the taint of Chaos. My course seems clear, I must go to my nearest Barnes and Noble retailer and buy the first Omnibus in order to clear the taint. I look forward to what I am about to read.

Imagine Blackadder in space. There ya go.

 

[Smolderin]

Is it considered blasphemy that I have never heard of the Ciaphas Cain series? Cause if it is, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be a Heretic touched by the taint of Chaos. My course seems clear, I must go to my nearest Barnes and Noble retailer and buy the first Omnibus in order to clear the taint. I look forward to what I am about to read.

Imagine Blackadder in space. There ya go.

I have never hear of Blackadder... >.> Is that a bad thing? Am I losing nerd cred for not knowing about it? I do have a tendency of not knowing about well known television shows, and book series. Just a couple years ago I just learned about the Evil Dead Franchise, and I'm 21. I proclaimed myself to be a geek for all my life mind you, and yet some things still manage to escape me.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Is it considered blasphemy that I have never heard of the Ciaphas Cain series? Cause if it is, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be a Heretic touched by the taint of Chaos. My course seems clear, I must go to my nearest Barnes and Noble retailer and buy the first Omnibus in order to clear the taint. I look forward to what I am about to read.

Personally, I'd say not. The basic idea is that it's the secret journal of a heroic commissar who really was a coawrd looking after himself...except he really was just another hero after all.

It's basically Flashman, if you take away all the research in society and culture, dumb the jokes down as far as you can, and totally invalidate the whole point by saying he is actually a hero, even if he doesn't know it.

Maybe a good idea for one novel, or better yet, short story, but they made a series out of him going "I thought it'd look good if I did this, but had I known the truth I'd have done anything to avoid it, even if my reputation suffered".

 

[Smolderin]

Is it considered blasphemy that I have never heard of the Ciaphas Cain series? Cause if it is, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be a Heretic touched by the taint of Chaos. My course seems clear, I must go to my nearest Barnes and Noble retailer and buy the first Omnibus in order to clear the taint. I look forward to what I am about to read.

Personally, I'd say not. The basic idea is that it's the secret journal of a heroic commissar who really was a coawrd looking after himself...except he really was just another hero after all.

It's basically Flashman, if you take away all the research in society and culture, dumb the jokes down as far as you can, and totally invalidate the whole point by saying he is actually a hero, even if he doesn't know it.

Maybe a good idea for one novel, or better yet, short story, but they made a series out of him going "I thought it'd look good if I did this, but had I known the truth I'd have done anything to avoid it, even if my reputation suffered".

Forgive me if I am taking this the wrong way, but it seems as if you don't necessarily put the Ciaphas Cain series in high regards. Considering I am a person possibly looking to get into this series, may I ask why?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Forgive me if I am taking this the wrong way, but it seems as if you don't necessarily put the Ciaphas Cain series in high regards. Considering I am a person possibly looking to get into this series, may I ask why?

IMHO, the author is very obviously trying to write the Flashman series and set in it 40k. If you haven't heard of it, teh Flashman series is a set of historical novels about a reprehensible British officer who keeps having adventures he can't worm out of, and getting all sorts of awards for things he doesn't deserve. They were very well researched, with lots of endnotes and a massive bibliography for each book.

Unfortunately, while trying to cling to the Flashman formula, the author has also avoided any of the stuff that made it work. The whole point of Cain is that he's supposed to be a fraud, and that his reputation is undeserved. However, it's mentioned many times that it's not true, and that he genuinely is a hero, which totally undermines the whole point of the character.

There's also lots of footnotes (a big improvement on endnotes), but they aren't of any susbtance, they are just extra waffle or bad jokes. Often of the "you've seen this movie right...so have I!" sort. Very, very rarely the author will recognise there's a difference between repeating something someone else has written for laughs, and actually doing anything funny like parodying or otherwise commenting on it.

Now, this might not have been a problem if after removing everything that made Flashman work, the author had replaced it with something else. But he didn't, beyond crap jokes. The first story had a vaguely passable story, the second wasn't bad, but the series doesn't really work. The characters are poor, the writing style forgettable, the humour dreadful.

It's a shame, because the author has written some good stuff for the WHFB range, but just doesn't seem to be trying, or thinks simply repeating lines from other authors is inherently funny. Mind you, even in that series, two characters repeat the Monty Python line about being turned into a newt for no reason at all.

 

[Smolderin]

Forgive me if I am taking this the wrong way, but it seems as if you don't necessarily put the Ciaphas Cain series in high regards. Considering I am a person possibly looking to get into this series, may I ask why?

IMHO, the author is very obviously trying to write the Flashman series and set in it 40k. If you haven't heard of it, teh Flashman series is a set of historical novels about a reprehensible British officer who keeps having adventures he can't worm out of, and getting all sorts of awards for things he doesn't deserve. They were very well researched, with lots of endnotes and a massive bibliography for each book.

Unfortunately, while trying to cling to the Flashman formula, the author has also avoided any of the stuff that made it work. The whole point of Cain is that he's supposed to be a fraud, and that his reputation is undeserved. However, it's mentioned many times that it's not true, and that he genuinely is a hero, which totally undermines the whole point of the character.

There's also lots of footnotes (a big improvement on endnotes), but they aren't of any susbtance, they are just extra waffle or bad jokes. Often of the "you've seen this movie right...so have I!" sort. Very, very rarely the author will recognise there's a difference between repeating something someone else has written for laughs, and actually doing anything funny like parodying or otherwise commenting on it.

Now, this might not have been a problem if after removing everything that made Flashman work, the author had replaced it with something else. But he didn't, beyond crap jokes. The first story had a vaguely passable story, the second wasn't bad, but the series doesn't really work. The characters are poor, the writing style forgettable, the humour dreadful.

It's a shame, because the author has written some good stuff for the WHFB range, but just doesn't seem to be trying, or thinks simply repeating lines from other authors is inherently funny. Mind you, even in that series, two characters repeat the Monty Python line about being turned into a newt for no reason at all.

Would you say that a person that hasn't read Flashman or even heard of it all, would find a modicum of enjoyment to be had with the Ciaphus Cain series?

Also in regards to the whole, he is a fraud but he really isn't thing...wouldn't that make him actually ultimately more...likeable? What I mean is, who would want to read about a bona-fide coward in every sense of the word as a main character unless the aim of it was comedy? Wouldn't a character who has the attribute of a coward but has the ability to pull through his own cowardice be that much more enjoyable as a protagonist, using his cowardice as a catalyst for some dark humor thrown in for good measure?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Would you say that a person that hasn't read Flashman or even heard of it all, would find a modicum of enjoyment to be had with the Ciaphus Cain series?

I can't say. Back on the GW forums, I held their works to a much higher standard than most, the series does seem to be popular with people who aren't me. As an aside, I read at least the first few Cain books before reading Flashman.

Also in regards to the whole, he is a fraud but he really isn't thing...wouldn't that make him actually ultimately more...likeable? What I mean is, who would want to read about a bona-fide coward in every sense of the word as a main character unless the aim of it was comedy? Wouldn't a character who has the attribute of a coward but has the ability to pull through his own cowardice be that much more enjoyable as a protagonist, using his cowardice as a catalyst for some dark humor thrown in for good measure?

There's two problems with that.

Firstly, a commissar really shouldn't be likeable. After all, it's their job to terrorise the troops, so that they are more afraid of being executed for disobeying orders than of being killed by the enemy. Someone like that should not lend themselves to being a nice guy.

Secondly, if you want a story about someone who is a nice guy, there's more or less the entire range of BL books. Even ones dealing with commissars and Inquisitors as heroes tend to have them as fairly ordinary action heroes. The only thing that makes Cain stand out amongst almost everyone else is that he's not really a hero. Except of course, that's just another hero, and there's much better stories about heroes in the BL.

I'd agree that a story about a coward having to overcome their fears could be done well, only I would most definitely say that it wasn't in this story, and that the humour was puerile and woeful rather than dark.

 

[Smolderin]

Would you say that a person that hasn't read Flashman or even heard of it all, would find a modicum of enjoyment to be had with the Ciaphus Cain series?

I can't say. Back on the GW forums, I held their works to a much higher standard than most, the series does seem to be popular with people who aren't me. As an aside, I read at least the first few Cain books before reading Flashman.

Also in regards to the whole, he is a fraud but he really isn't thing...wouldn't that make him actually ultimately more...likeable? What I mean is, who would want to read about a bona-fide coward in every sense of the word as a main character unless the aim of it was comedy? Wouldn't a character who has the attribute of a coward but has the ability to pull through his own cowardice be that much more enjoyable as a protagonist, using his cowardice as a catalyst for some dark humor thrown in for good measure?

There's two problems with that.

Firstly, a commissar really shouldn't be likeable. After all, it's their job to terrorise the troops, so that they are more afraid of being executed for disobeying orders than of being killed by the enemy. Someone like that should not lend themselves to being a nice guy.

Secondly, if you want a story about someone who is a nice guy, there's more or less the entire range of BL books. Even ones dealing with commissars and Inquisitors as heroes tend to have them as fairly ordinary action heroes. The only thing that makes Cain stand out amongst almost everyone else is that he's not really a hero. Except of course, that's just another hero, and there's much better stories about heroes in the BL.

I'd agree that a story about a coward having to overcome their fears could be done well, only I would most definitely say that it wasn't in this story, and that the humour was puerile and woeful rather than dark.

Ah, well thank you for sharing your viewpoint on the matter. Still I'm sure you would agree that it is best to form your own opinions about things by experiencing said things first hand. That said I'm sure that the first few books (which I am sure are conveniently packed together in a Omnibus somewhere) will give me some sort of idea of what I will be getting into if I choose to further read into the series. Other people seem to like it, maybe I will to. Books are like wine eh? Not everyone will like the same flavor. Anyways, Iv'e enjoyed are short discussion, thank you for answering my questions.

(And now to look up Flashman...you got me intrigued. Ha ha..)

 

[night_tiger9]

If short stories count, then Then the story "The Crimson Fist" is pretty good. liked how it fleshed out the Imperial Fists during the Heresy.


if not, I love the books Rynn's world and Know no Fear. lots of action and good stories.

 

[khiliani]

I have only read fantasy ones, of which my favourite is the tales about Gilead, simply cause it is so emotionally bleak. every possible chance for redemption of the main character is just ripped away, and it fits nicely in with the wider High elf style.

also good is the ambassador chronicles, simply as good books

 

[Alssadar]

I'm not WHFB guy, more into 40k.
That being said, I love the Rynn's World Novel by Steve Parker, which delves very well in the conflict between humanity and Astartes when all is crumbling, as well as being written quite well.

I also enjoyed the Ragnar Blackmane series by William King and Lee Lightner. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't love space-viking-super-soldier-werewolf-vikings?
"By the bloody Ice Bear's right buttock, I'm bloody hungry." -Sven

I also enjoy the story "At Gaius Point" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden(I spelled his name right on the first try!) in the Legends of the Space Marines collection.

I've ordered both the Eisenhorn and Ravenor omnibuses and they are expected to arrive within a week. I've loved all of Abnett's other work in the multiple collections of short novels.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Commissar Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!

The first WH-40K book I ever read. Book is awesomeness in pure form. Also, Emperor's plaything.

Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium

I must inform you that the title "Hero of the Imperium", when used after the name Ciaphas Cain. Must be in all caps with three exclimation points at the end. No exceptions. You are now to be tried for heresy. And as I enjoy your soon to be greater suffering at the hands of the Inquisition, I won't execute you on the spot.
*Adjusts Commissar's hat* "Ahh the responsibility this hat imparts".