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I would suggest the Bible, but that has demons in it.

All kidding aside, Helsreach, 15 hours, and Dead Men Walking are probably your best bet.


And before you ask due to my joke, I am a Christian. I personally have no issue with the demons of 40k, seeing as they are fictional, but I respect your aversion to them. I do have a few questions though.

First of all, is it just demons that you want to avoid, or their cultists as well? For the most part I haven't really seen any demons in the Gaunts Ghosts series, just some very insane cultists. Also Cadian Blood is a great book and while it technically has CSM that worship Nurgle(decay) the cultists tend to just be zombies.

Personally, there is nothing I enjoy reading more in this fluff, than an arrogant demon who is full of Hubris, getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of pitiful humans.


Also, is it all of the chaos "gods" or is it just some of them. I can personally understand Slaanesh, since that one is based more off of Mephisto and Lucifer, and Khorne due to his resemblance to middle aged ideas of what Satan looked like, but both Nurgle and Tzeentch aren't as akin to JudeoChristian demons. Nurgle is a manifestation of how everything decays, and Tzeentch is the manifestation of how everything evolves and changes.

Also, they aren't technically Judeo-Christian style demons, but instead the manifestation of emotions and ideas in a parallel universe called the warp. Anger and hatred are echoed in the warp as Khorne, Lust and pride are echoed as Slaanesh, death and decay are mirrored by Nurgle, and change, fate, and attempting to change fate are mirrored by Tzeentch. The so called Chaos Demons are actually these manifestations bleeding over into the universe of the Imperium and are called demons by the fact that it is the only fitting name that they could come up with.


As for why they make the best villians, that is because most of the appearances by Chaos in the books tend to be by the cultists. As humans, they tend to create a villian that you can both relate to due to their humanity, and abhore due to how far they have fallen. You can also make parallels with the untainted Imperium and how they have fallen, and it adds suspicion and subversion to the villian.

On the other hands, the other villians just tend to be more bestial.
Nids: Hard to relate to because of their alien and hive mind so they are basically your Starship Troopers swarm. There is nothing to question, they just have to die.
Orks: Comedic and awesome, but very simple and bestial.
Eldar: A little easier to relate to, but only if they are written well, which they normally aren't.
Necrons: Until recently, they were mindless skeletal robots with no mind or thinking.
Dark Eldar: They enjoy pain to much, but make good pirates. Same issue as Eldar.



You might actually like The Emperor's Gift. As it takes place involving the Ordo Malleus, which are demonhunters, it does contain demons, but they are being slayed by Grey Knights, which are the incorruptable paladins of the 40K universe. They live to destroy demons, and are one of the things that demons fear.


On a final note, no matter what you do, avoid C.S. Goto.

Fall of Damnos- Ultra marines vs. necrons

IIRC, Redemption Corps (the Storm Trooper novel) doesn't involve Demons, and at least the 1st book of the Enforcer Ominibus doesn't either. Oh, and surprisingly enough, neither does Faith and Fire - possibly the best non-Abnet book I've read from the Black Library. (Or at least I don't think it does, it's been quite awhile since I read it last.)

Though, admittedly, the Forces of Chaos appear in all 3 of these books, but they don't fit in your category of the big bad boys.

jadebullet wrote:First of all, is it just demons that you want to avoid, or their cultists as well?

Well, I would like to avoid anything Chaos, but I can put up with Chaos SM and cultists.

jadebullet wrote:Also, is it all of the chaos "gods" or is it just some of them.

Again, I would like to avoid all if possible - and as you said, I have more of an aversion to Slaanesh and Khorne than anyone else.

Thanks all for clearing up Chaos for me, the way you guys put it they don't seem as bad (as in, they seem a little more acceptable to me. Of course they are still very evil!), but I'm still going to steer clear of them for the time being.

DemetriDominov wrote:....Faith and Fire - possibly the best non-Abnet book I've read from the Black Library.

I take it then that Dan Abnet books are pretty popular? I've actually got one of his books (not 40k though), it's pretty good.



At the moment my funds dictate a choice between the 6th edition of Warhammer 40k or a Black Library book, and I'm leaning towards the 6th edition of 40k. So it could be a while before I get any of these books, but I've put them into a list for future reference.

In that case get the rule book. Literature can wait.

40k Pirate wrote:

jadebullet wrote:First of all, is it just demons that you want to avoid, or their cultists as well?

Well, I would like to avoid anything Chaos, but I can put up with Chaos SM and cultists.

jadebullet wrote:Also, is it all of the chaos "gods" or is it just some of them.

Again, I would like to avoid all if possible - and as you said, I have more of an aversion to Slaanesh and Khorne than anyone else.

Thanks all for clearing up Chaos for me, the way you guys put it they don't seem as bad (as in, they seem a little more acceptable to me. Of course they are still very evil!), but I'm still going to steer clear of them for the time being.

DemetriDominov wrote:....Faith and Fire - possibly the best non-Abnet book I've read from the Black Library.

I take it then that Dan Abnet books are pretty popular? I've actually got one of his books (not 40k though), it's pretty good.



At the moment my funds dictate a choice between the 6th edition of Warhammer 40k or a Black Library book, and I'm leaning towards the 6th edition of 40k. So it could be a while before I get any of these books, but I've put them into a list for future reference.

Well with this I was not aware that you just did not want daemons. So heres a new list:
Ciaphas Cain books do have Chaos Cultists and CSM, but they are treated much more like saturday morning cartoon villains
Most of Gaunts Ghosts, however a few books have daemonic cameo's
Titanicus, titan warfare against cultists and Chaos Titans

DO NOT READ THE ULTRAMARINES SERIES: Several of the books have Daemons.