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I haven't read a 40k black library novel, the only 40k fiction i have read is that which is in the codexes and source books. Instead of reading a few to get an idea i was just wondering if any of the black library fans could answer a few of my questions:

1: Do any of the books deal with the more unseemly consequences of war, i.e. Rape and the killing of children?
2: Do the books ever have analogues to notable atrocities in our history i.e. Ethnic cleansing, concentration camps and extermination of other 'undesirables'. In more than just district 9 style abstractions?
3: Do they ever show war and fighting in a bad light instead of just being gung ho?
4: Is there any inter-human racism?
5: Are there Love stories?

1. No
2. Some... very few
3. Not really
4. Little to none
5. Not really...

I can't answer the other questions, as my experience is rather limited, but there's reference in "Helsreach" to the Commander of the air forces at Helsreach sleeping with one of his pilots. There's also the Storm trooper Andrej, in the same book, being in love with his squad mate. It's never revealed what happened to her, but the end of the book hints at her Helsreach also includes a part where a priest tries to comfort civilians hiding in the ruins of their home and a part about a young Adepta Sororita being quietly scolded for looking so scared in front of the civilians they're protecting, with the reasoning behind the scolding being that the civilians look to the Sororitas for support and comfort. As such, the book indirectly adresses the horrors of being a civilian in a war, albeit in a distanced and not very thorough way.

1. Yes. Examples: The Last Heretic. A Thousand Sons.
2. Yes. Tales of the Heresy mentions the Emperor's own pogroms.
3. Yes. Example: Legion.
4. Yes. Example: Mechanicum.
5. Yes. Example: Legion.

I read a lot of Black Library stuff, from a variety of sources. I highly recommend the majority of them. I personally avoid Ben Counter, and prefer Dan Abnett and Sandy Mitchell.

In regards to your specific questions:

1. Not so much, although a little. You have to keep in mind that the company (and most of the writers) are British. And British literature seems to have a kind of a prim air about it. While the idea of rape and child murder are certainly there, they aren't discussed openly, most of the time.

2. Well, if you thought District 9 was an 'abstract' reference to historical racism, then yes, you will probably find most of the Black Library references to be likewise. There are a lot of events in the novels comparable to human history, but the Imperium tends towards a more Roman view of military conquest. There is more subjugation than genetic cleansing and the like. There are a few notable examples, usually concerning mutants.

3. Yes and no. The recurrent theme throughout 40k is one of 'yeah, we do bad things, but they're the things that have to be done.' More World War II movie, less like a Vietnam movie. If you want an African kind of feel ("These guys are committing horrible atrocities so I am going to oppose them, ironically by committing even worse atrocities") I reccommend books about Chaos. (Soul Hunter by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is a good example.)

4. Yeah, but not so much the "round them up and put them in camps" kind as the "sling racial epithets about the short guys from the high-gravity planet" kind. The more gritty, nasty racism is usually directed at those viewed by the Imperium as sub-human, like mutants and psykers.

5. Very little. I don't know if it's another one of those British things, but there is very very little romance, and any sex is implied.

I've read a variety of Black Library books, but not all of them. There might be exeptions to my answers in some of the books I haven't read, but these are my general impressions. I hope this helps.

1) Yes. Gaunt's Ghosts
2) Yes. Gaunt's Ghosts
3) Yes. Horus Heresy
4) No. Race as a concept is dead in the future. There's descrimination based on where you were born though.
5) Yes. Gaunt's Ghosts has a little interspersed within the carnage

Can you cite specifics Canuck? I haven't read all of Gaunts Ghosts or the Horus Heresy, but I've read some of each. I didn't really get a whole lot of what you're saying from the Horus Heresy. Maybe a little where the remembrancers are concerned, but if so, very little.

Jimsolo wrote:Can you cite specifics Canuck? I haven't read all of Gaunts Ghosts or the Horus Heresy, but I've read some of each. I didn't really get a whole lot of what you're saying from the Horus Heresy. Maybe a little where the remembrancers are concerned, but if so, very little.

Well I think we can group 1,2 and 4 under "how does the horror of war affect the normal people". The Guns of Tanith, Traitor General, The Armour of Contempt and even some of Sabbat Worlds covers all the aforementioned points.

Number 3. There's a lot of contemplation in that series on the morality of their Great, Imperial Crusade of Conquest. A good example is the Interex. Those were good guys. They shared almost all of the same ethics as the Imperial Truth Imperium but war was always inevitable. They were in violation of one of The Emperor's most strict decress: Speak not to the Alien. That's one example but it's a common theme in those books.

Let me know if you want to get more specific.

@Jimsolo: quite often in the HH books, the civilisations 'visited' by the Legions are depicted as having beautiful cities, advanced cultures and the like. And then the bolters start firing and it all gets turned to rubble.

Not entirely gung-ho.

It didn't really seem to be focusing so much on 'the horrors of war' to my mind, though. It seemed to be focusing more on the divide between normal humans and Marines, as well as focusing on the growing divide between the loyalists and the heretics. Again, just my opinion, but no one seemed to really give a damn about the poor, dying Interex. It was all 'me, me, me.'

Necroagogo wrote:@Jimsolo: quite often in the HH books, the civilisations 'visited' by the Legions are depicted as having beautiful cities, advanced cultures and the like. And then the bolters start firing and it all gets turned to rubble.

Not entirely gung-ho.

Yeah, I'm surprised at the amount of amateur philosophers within the legions. They almost all think about how they should lament the loss of this and that that they are forced to destroy.

Except the Space Wolves, it seems.

Platuan4th wrote:

Necroagogo wrote:@Jimsolo: quite often in the HH books, the civilisations 'visited' by the Legions are depicted as having beautiful cities, advanced cultures and the like. And then the bolters start firing and it all gets turned to rubble.

Not entirely gung-ho.

Yeah, I'm surprised at the amount of amateur philosophers within the legions. They almost all think about how they should lament the loss of this and that that they are forced to destroy.

Except the Space Wolves, it seems.

Oh Contraire mon frere. BL's most thoughtful, introspective character ever was Ragnar Blackmane. He would spend all day thinking about things everything from "Absolutism and Relativism" to "Wouldn't it be cool to be a Titan Princeps?". It get to the point were it was like "Can you kill some people now, you silly Space Wolf".

Thanks everyone!