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I just finished Abnett's Titanicus and loved it. It really is miles better than Mechanicum and manages a good balance of giant robot fights and human stories.

But I have to say if I hadn't played Epic back in the 90s I'd have been totally lost by the different Titan classes, the different ranks for crew and other details.

I wonder, could the BL include a glossary or even better pictures of the different titan classes in a book like this? Other IG books would benefit as well from artwork showing the different tank types and other information. It could be simple B&W line drawings like the maps we usually get, nothing fancy.

would it help - yes

would it look good - defo

will they do it - proberbly not

although some of the books i have read do have small sections of description in the back of the book but thats mainly for the slang

its like when a commi enters a book they describe his appearence but they never really let you know how a commi should act unless you already know

there are books i've read and loved but when i lend them to my brother who does not play(or know anything about 40k) he really does not get them

They could probably do a glossary , dunn oabout the drawings. If its a little hard knowing whats what, maybe some research of your own could come in handy.

I never played Epic and didn't think Titanicus was confusing at all, at least with regard to terminology. To my mind, a glossary is unnecessary and subtracts from the immersive experience of grappling with unexplained terminology.

It was nice at the beginning of Horus Heresy it had a list of who's who. No pics but at least each character had a little blurb about them so the reader could keep them straight.

I don't know so much about a glossary at the back of the book, but I'd love a 40K encyclopedia, especially if it was written in-universe that covered different vehicles, weapons, and organizations/factions.

I agree that the experience of pluging into all the futuristic technology and trying to figure it out for myself is one of the reasons I find sci-fi fiction so immersive.

However, in the HH novels and their HUGE array of characters I found the Dramatis Personae at the start really helpful.

If anything, Titanicus could have benefitted from this. I didn't get confused by the terminology and Titan classes, but remembering which titan/princeps/moderati/storyline went together each time got a bit much...!

Good idea, a glossary or examples or something. I would have liked a Dramatis Personae in some of their books. Double Eagle esp. had me looking back and forth a few times to figure out who was who in the squadron.

It would be great. After reading Angels of Darkness for the second time, I've gotten into the habit of underlining fluff that I deem important so that if I ever flip through the book, I can find it easily.

I must say that the lack of many entry level novels does make giving Black Library books out rather hard. Even the Horus Heresy series, quite an easy entry way, requires a fair bit of background info to really make sense. So a Glossary and picture index would really help, as would some proper introductory novels that would help bring people up to speed. But they won't do it, because thats not the line of biz they are in.

Actually, Fantasy can sometimes be worse - they will introduce wierd stuff all over the place without really introducing the concepts or characters at all.

You are probably aware of it, but http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page is essentially a 40k encyclopedia. I use it a lot when I need to know. Half the battle, and all that.

I would put out for a big official 40k dictionary with new artwork and the like as well. Just so long as Blanche isn't allowed more than 10% of the pictures.