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Are they good? I'm a lapsed player, but whenever I browse through the lore threads on here, I'm hooked again, and even consider playing (despite having no time!)

I just don't want to get invest in a series that sucks, can people who've read most of the ones available weigh in on whether it's worth it?

Edit: Bloddy hell there are a lot of them! I wouldn't even know where to start!

Yeah I got burned out on those... all of the Dan Abnett books were excellent. Imo he is the only actual 'writer' in the bunch and a few of the other books were still pretty entertaining but many were just filler to me.

Best way to do the Heresy is to pick a plot line you like. Let's say you like the Ultramarines, so if you want the full take on the Ultramarine crusade you go all the way back to the First Heretic, which is about Word Bearers but they are the most common enemy of the Ultramarines in the books, so it's good to have the history on the characters. Then Aurelion, same reason. Then you get to Battle of the Abyss. Not a fan of the book but whatever. Then you finally get to Know No Fear, the entire reason to be reading this arc. Very enjoyable, awesome book. Skip Mark of Calth and do yourself that favor, but read Betrayer even though it is again mostly about the bad guys and then finish off with Unremembered Empire, which actually ties together several plot arcs.

But that's just one example of an arc. Salamanders have an arc that's pretty important, but Nick Kyme is just my least favorite writer of the bunch. Night Lords have a bit of an arc that's enjoyable, but there's no real meat in it. Just a lot of stories that are enjoyable but don't tell a story worth telling. Blood Angels have something, Dark Angels have something, there's two books about Prospero between Wolves and Thousand Sons and of course the initial arc of the Dropsite Massacre and the Luna Wolves with books 1-6 and the Garro series and Vengeful Dead. Just have to pick a starting point and then follow that arc, ignoring the actual order of the books and bouncing around that section of the overall setting that you are interested in.

The initial trilogy, Eisenstein, and First Heretic are almost universally well liked. After that Legion, A Thousand Sons, Prospero Burns, Know no Fear and Betrayer tend to be mostly well rated.

It gets kinda hit or miss after that and I haven't kept up enough to give an informed opinion.

Ok that sounds like a good place to start - try the initial trilogy, and if something inspires me, choose books associated with that story line.

Ive just finished the second HH book, and have not been able to find the third, Galaxy in Flames in any of my local bookshops, or even from GW. Luckily ebay just sorted me out...the writing is hit and miss.

Dont buy Fleshtearers. It is so badly written I ended up forgetti g what the plot was about a third of the way in...

I've just been picking up the books with relevant interest to me, so i'm currently reading Mechanicum and Thousand Sons. Both of which are quite good.

Izural wrote:
I've just been picking up the books with relevant interest to me, so i'm currently reading Mechanicum and Thousand Sons. Both of which are quite good.

Those are my favourites.

Izural wrote:
I've just been picking up the books with relevant interest to me, so i'm currently reading Mechanicum and Thousand Sons. Both of which are quite good.

Definitely go Prospero Burns when finished with the 1K. I enjoyed that a lot more than I expected to

Scars is pretty good if you like the White Scars - I'm about halfway through, and enjoying it so far. Also has some Alpha Legion action, though it's all in the form of "What the hell are these guys doing?".

I was not a fan of Vulkan Lives, the writing/story in that one was pretty weak IMO, bad enough that I'm very wary of giving Nick Kyme another chance.

I'm enjoying Horus Rising (what an awful title; sounds like a budget video game) a lot more than I thought I would.

I just hope the others in the trilogy are as good.

I've read the first three of the series and enjoyed them, although I preferred the first. Maybe that's due to my preference for relationships and politics over action. The first setting the scene. I haven't been able to get hold of Flight of the Eisenstein yet.

I've read the first 4 and just picked up Fulgrim. I'm just going to read them all, but there are some that I've heard should be skipped. I liked all the ones I've read so far, actually some of the best GW fluff out there IMO.

 Griddlelol wrote:
I'm enjoying Horus Rising (what an awful title; sounds like a budget video game) a lot more than I thought I would.

I just hope the others in the trilogy are as good.

In my opinion, they are not as good, but still pretty cool. That first book really did a great job of capturing that old 'Chaos Lost and Damned' feeling for me; plus as I've said, Dan Abnett is just a really good writer ha.

 Mr. Grey wrote:
Scars is pretty good if you like the White Scars - I'm about halfway through, and enjoying it so far. Also has some Alpha Legion action, though it's all in the form of "What the hell are these guys doing?".

I was not a fan of Vulkan Lives, the writing/story in that one was pretty weak IMO, bad enough that I'm very wary of giving Nick Kyme another chance.

Scars is a fantastic book, one of my favs so far. I'm on the fence between white scars and imperial fists.

I finished the first book, and I have to say, I really liked it. I think I'll be buying a few more soon.