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Google Aaron Dembski-Bowden and pick anything he has done.

Xenology. How could I forget about xenology. Lord of Night I thought was a good read too. I wish Simon Spurrier wrote more for the 40k universe.

 King Pariah wrote:
Xenology. How could I forget about xenology. Lord of Night I thought was a good read too. I wish Simon Spurrier wrote more for the 40k universe.

I keep looking for xenology but the cheapest I have found it was $45 for paperback and was like... no

to the OP though path of the eldar by gav thrope

 G00fySmiley wrote:

 King Pariah wrote:
Xenology. How could I forget about xenology. Lord of Night I thought was a good read too. I wish Simon Spurrier wrote more for the 40k universe.

I keep looking for xenology but the cheapest I have found it was $45 for paperback and was like... no

to the OP though path of the eldar by gav thrope

I got lucky and got my copy for $7

Crusade's End

The first Horus Heresy omnibus

Before he fell to the lure of Chaos and started a war that plunged the galaxy into darkness, Horus was mankind's greatest hero. This Horus Heresy omnibus contains the opening trilogy of the series, showing the noble Warmaster's descent into treachery and the beginnings of the conflict that would ensure his name will be remembered for as long as the Imperium stands.

I've only recently started reading the Black Library books and started with the Horus Heresy books. I've read the first four and they are very good, I can't wait to move on to the next one. I also read the Fleshtearers book which is atrocious, and if it were the first BL book I read I wouldn't get any more.

Personal recommendations are Ben Counters Daemonworld, Chris Wraights Battle of the Fang, Dan Abnetts Eisenhorn, Graham McNeils Storm of Iron, Rob Sanders Legion of the Damned and Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier.

Daemon World, Storm of Iron, Eisenhorn and Lord of the Night being some of the 'classic' 40k stories I guess.

My favourites:
Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons. Horus Rising, Legion, The First Heretic, Mechanicum, Know No Fear, Prince of Crows.
40k: Pariah, Titanicus, The Beast Arises series, Dead Man Walking, Storm of Iron, Khârn: Eater of Worlds, War of the Fang, The Pyres of Armageddon, Blood Reaver.
Comics: Deff Skwadron.

I enjoy novels about the Imperial Guard more than most. Other than the Gaunt's Ghosts and Ciaphas Cain novels, I enjoyed Fifteen Hours by Mitchel Scanlon and Baneblade by Guy Haley.

I've always liked the Deathwatch stories. There's just something about the interactions between the characters, whom are of different chapters, that make the story much better to read. Steve Parker's Deathwatch brings two certain Astartes to mind.

I've now seen two people recommend Daemonworld by Ben Counter, I really really disliked it.

They really need to do a reprint of Xenology.

The Ciaphas Cain series are probably the most genuinely fun 40k novels I've ever read. The characters are likable without being boring, the plots are less dreary while still feeling fitting for the universe, and the pacing is actually good throughout. They're not trying to be works of fine art, they're just enjoyable reads. The biggest point in their favor is that Sandy Mitchell doesn't use a lot of gratuitous, flowery prose while actually saying very little, which a lot of BL writers do under the mistaken belief that that somehow makes their writing better.

15 Hours, Cadian Blood, Dead Men Walking

 NoPoet wrote:
I didn't used to rate Abnett but he's matured into possibly the BL's finest writer. His characters are generally nowhere near as annoying these days. He sticks to the fluff a bit more than he did in the utterly broken Gaunts Ghosts days. However all his novels start so heavily couched in their own jargon you'll be 50 pages in before some of them start to make sense.

Of course, "sticking to the fluff" is rather unrelated to whether a book is good or not.

My favourites are Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain novels, but don't forget the two Dark Heresy novels. Between those, the Eisenhorn trilogy and the Ravenor trilogy, you can see how methods in the Inquisition can vary wildly. After that, I like the Enforcer trilogy by Matthew Farrer, Inquisitor by Ian Watson (nearly 20 years old by now, but still good. Don't bother with the sequels, though) and his Space Marine.

Xenology is good, but it's a large graphic novel format; a bit awkward for reading on the train.

Xenology is excellent.

Fall of Damnos is a personal favourite of mine, but only because I feel like it's a great representation of Necrons (at the perfect time, just before the codex came along and messed with the fluff, but enough to give the characters personality and make the units interesting). Probably not as good a read if you're not a Necron lover.

Faith & Fire and Hammer & Anvil are very good, particularly the former.

The Ragnar Blackmane omnibus is also fantastic.

 fallinq wrote:
They really need to do a reprint of Xenology.

The Ciaphas Cain series are probably the most genuinely fun 40k novels I've ever read. The characters are likable without being boring, the plots are less dreary while still feeling fitting for the universe, and the pacing is actually good throughout. They're not trying to be works of fine art, they're just enjoyable reads. .

Agree - these are my favourite 40k novels - but there are many good ones - Deathwatch, Helsreach are standouts in my mind.....

I'm also gonna go ahead and recommend Ciaphas Cain by Sandy Mitchell. Probably the best on-the-train books you'll find since it's easy pickup and quick to get into. The best to start with is either "For the Emperor" or "Death or Glory".

Other then Cain when it comes to "light" 40k fiction I'd go with the last chancers, deathworld or gunheads. All are nice guard novels with interesting spinns and twists.

For something a bit "heavier" to really get into I'd go with fire caste, eisenhorn or let the galaxy burn.

Edit: And for the love of the Emperor, stay away from anything by Henry Zou

fallinq wrote:They really need to do a reprint of Xenology.

The Ciaphas Cain series are probably the most genuinely fun 40k novels I've ever read. The characters are likable without being boring, the plots are less dreary while still feeling fitting for the universe, and the pacing is actually good throughout. They're not trying to be works of fine art, they're just enjoyable reads. The biggest point in their favor is that Sandy Mitchell doesn't use a lot of gratuitous, flowery prose while actually saying very little, which a lot of BL writers do under the belief that that somehow makes their writing longer.

Fixed that for you.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I've now seen two people recommend Daemonworld by Ben Counter, I really really disliked it.

I didn't get on with it either. Gave up quite early on.

 Lord_Inquisitor_Doge wrote:

fallinq wrote:They really need to do a reprint of Xenology.

The Ciaphas Cain series are probably the most genuinely fun 40k novels I've ever read. The characters are likable without being boring, the plots are less dreary while still feeling fitting for the universe, and the pacing is actually good throughout. They're not trying to be works of fine art, they're just enjoyable reads. The biggest point in their favor is that Sandy Mitchell doesn't use a lot of gratuitous, flowery prose while actually saying very little, which a lot of BL writers do under the belief that that somehow makes their writing longer.

Fixed that for you.

Well if that's they're belief, then it's not misplaced.

Do they really need to pad out their writing though? I mean in some cases yes, but when we're talking about a book that's already a good 300-400 pages, it's just unnecessary. Do BL authors get paid by the word?

After some 160 BL books read. My preferences are:

Night Lords Omnibus
Eisenhorn series
Gaunts series
HH - Tallarn series
Word Bearers Omnibus
Cain series

Distant Echos of Old Night novella
Scars
HH - Know No Fear
Helsreach
Fifteen Hours
Storm of Iron
War of the Fang

fallinq wrote:

 Lord_Inquisitor_Doge wrote:

fallinq wrote:They really need to do a reprint of Xenology.

The Ciaphas Cain series are probably the most genuinely fun 40k novels I've ever read. The characters are likable without being boring, the plots are less dreary while still feeling fitting for the universe, and the pacing is actually good throughout. They're not trying to be works of fine art, they're just enjoyable reads. The biggest point in their favor is that Sandy Mitchell doesn't use a lot of gratuitous, flowery prose while actually saying very little, which a lot of BL writers do under the belief that that somehow makes their writing longer.

Fixed that for you.

Well if that's they're belief, then it's not misplaced.

Do they really need to pad out their writing though? I mean in some cases yes, but when we're talking about a book that's already a good 300-400 pages, it's just unnecessary. Do BL authors get paid by the word?

From what I've read of basically writers and publishers in general, it's commonplace to just take the premise of a short story or novella, stretch the plot out as much as possible, and add in as many adjectives as possible. That way, they can take an 80-page story, make it 300 pages, make a quick buck and call it a work of art. I'm currently reading a book filled with articles by authors back in the 1980's, and that's basically what was going on back then, and nothing that I've heard from the few modern writers I know tells me that the writing industry has changed at all.
The vast majority of BL novels could easily be shave off 100 (or even 200/300) pages, or even be made into a short story/novella instead, without taking any plot out at all, but BL/GW wouldn't make as much money that way (they'd have to lower prices), so we have the current system.

Karkasy wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I've now seen two people recommend Daemonworld by Ben Counter, I really really disliked it.

I didn't get on with it either. Gave up quite early on.

Just for a friendly point of difference I'll put in that I really liked it. Different tastes all round

13th Penal Legion was a really good book series.

Priests of Mars series is also excellent, if you are into void combat and AdMech.

Gaunt's ghost are not bad. 3rd book was good, thr rest is more or less average. I hate Abnett's one-page endings.

Ciaphas Cain series is for you, if you are into satire.

Storm of Iron. Graham McNeill did a fantastic job of making the bad guys evil without being just cartoonishly evil. Also seriously made consider doing an Iron Warriors army as it shows how they perform a siege using various tactics.

Dead Man Walking by Steve Lyons is amazingly grimdark. Also, it's about DKoK which in their stoicism are surisingly fun to read.

 Bobthehero wrote:
15 Hours, Cadian Blood, Dead Men Walking

I really enjoyed Dead men walking. So depressing.

Sandy Mitchel's stuff is great. It's a shame they seems to trail off after Innocence Proves Nothing, so far as I can tell that series just trails off without actually ending, too bad since it was a rather good read.

The Ciaphas Cain novels are a very enjoyable read if a little heavy on the plot armor side of things. They've been some of the more actually entertaining wh40k novels I've read to date, unlike a lot of the other authors in the setting the stories seem to actually go somewhere and accomplish something more than just shooting themselves in the foot. It's worth picking up the two Ciaphas Cain omnibus just to enjoy the narrators voice, after that the books can get a bit formulaic though.

The Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Pariah Novels by Dan Abnett are really good... I am am really looking forward to see where the story goes after all the mystery set up in Pariah.

Valefore was a pretty decent read.

As much as I enjoy the idea of the Grey Knights I've not been a big fan of either of the novels written about them. "I'm just going to forget I'm a Grey Knight for a while and become a champion gladiator for Chaos, then go back to being a Grey Knight as that doesn't corrupt me at all..." and "Hey lets murder all the guardsmen who fought alongside us, oh the Space Wolves don't agree, lets destroy a Chapter of Space Marines then." Worst off all was maybe "To make every single bullet we fire out of our guns a pure soul is killed in blood sacrifice to make, pardon me while I waste ammo missing shots on full auto." I haven't read any of the short stories yet but hopefully they behave more like champions of the Emperor against chaos than agents OF Chaos like the novels have made them out to be.

I've never enjoyed a single book I've read by Gav Thorpe, the path of the Eldar started out promising, a look into a truly alien mindset and way of life, but it goes downhill fast. The pacing of 'Path of the Warrior' is screwed up enough that characters in the book itself actually comment on how wrong it is. Also... all 3 books in the series have massive sections that are just copy/paste of what happened in the other books. Supposedly from the perspective of another character... but not really, entire paragraphs are word for word the exact same. Lazy writing, supper boring and annoying... Path of the Farseer doesn't progress the plot from Path of the Warrior until the very last chapter and leaves off on another cliffhanger in the very same battle that isn't resolved till the end of book 3. There are lots of scenes that seem like they should be significant or important in some way but which never come back up or actually tie into anything. The Dark Angel Novella wasn't much better.

the first book of the Shira Calpurnia novels by Mathew Farerrer is pretty good, The second is entirely skippable, it's an entire novel that barely involves the protagonist just to set up the 3rd novel, could have been done better as a short story. The 3rd story is pretty interesting again.

Anyone else find it ironic that the 'Victories of the Space Marines' collection almost entirely comprised of Stories in where Space Marines lose, at best there are a few pyrrhic victories, it includes a story from the perspective as a chapter as that chapter is being entirely and destroyed... for Thrones sake! A little too much tryhard on the GrimmDark, give it a rest.