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Made in se
Water-Caste Negotiator





Sweden


There's a metric ton of 40k books to read out there, and I was wondering if some of you could suggest to me some of the better book series to read.

Just for your information, the following books I've already read:

The ciaphas cain series- loved them, re-read them multiple times.

Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari- the best 40k book I ever read.

The blood angels omnibus by James Swallow- meh.

Space Wolves novels- very ordinary bolter porn.

Horus Rising, False Gods- interesting, and I intend to read more of them, but there's like... fifty books there and not all of them are bound to be good, right?

Helsreach- the worst, most tedious and annoying 40k fiction I've ever read; basically "Grimaldus whines: the novel".

I'm not a fan of bolter porn, AKA space marines space marining. 40k needs to do more than just throw out gratuitous violence to be interesting. I've heard good things about Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn- would anyone recommend those?

"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Sir Terry Pratchett 
   
Made in fi
Locked in the Tower of Amareo





 SevenSeasOfRhye wrote:
I've heard good things about Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn- would anyone recommend those?


Oh yes. GG is good for some IG based action(though there's some illogicalities in it too) and Eisenhorn is nice way to read stuff outside of battlefields. Both are definitely a good read. Neither involves much marines. Some but not much.

2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut



uk

Guants ghost are always recommended.....read one of the novels where there was virtually no action and it was still an amazing read...Necropolis was excellent.
Storm of iron was really good

 
   
Made in au
Ancient Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought






Storytime with Grandpa Bjorn.
Google it, finest piece of literature never to get published.

I don't break the rules but I'll bend them as far as they'll go. 
   
Made in pl
Horrific Hive Tyrant





I recommend:
A Thousand Sons
Horus Rising
Pariah
Titanicus
Dead Men Walking
Fabius Bile
First Heretic
Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne
Legion
   
Made in gb
Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'





Dorset, England

My recommendation is the Solar Macharius trilogy by William King.

The second book is definitely the best one, but I enjoyed all three and i wouldn't classify any of them as 'Bolter Porn'.
   
Made in se
Water-Caste Negotiator





Sweden

 Kroem wrote:
My recommendation is the Solar Macharius trilogy by William King.

The second book is definitely the best one, but I enjoyed all three and i wouldn't classify any of them as 'Bolter Porn'.


I am pretty iffy on William King. While I liked his Gotrek and Felix books, they were also pretty repetitive and unremarkable, being the fantasy equivalent of bolter porn (granted, with a wider and more varied cast of characters than his 40k works), and his space wolf books could mostly be summed up as "ragnar threw a grenade and twenteen cultists died like the heretics they were".

"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Sir Terry Pratchett 
   
Made in au
Hardened Veteran Guardsman





Seconding Dead Men Walking. If Grimdark and the Death Korps are your thing its amazing.

If you allow yourself to be killed and ingested, your soul is forfeited. 
   
Made in gb
Mighty Vampire Count






UK


Have you tried Sandy Mitchel's Inquisitor novels - Scourge the Heretic and Innocence Proves Nothing- I enjoyed them alot - not quite as repetitive as Cain ( I love the novels but they can get a bit samey)

For some excellent but dark and brutal action try Wrath of Iron plenty of interesting non Astartes characters to counterpoint and view the sheer mercilessness of the Iron Hands.

Imperial Glory is good (but again dark) and shows Orks in a scary light
Tired and broken by war, the men of the Brimlock Eleventh Imperial Guard are a force on the verge of collapse. Having been stretched across the galaxy by their loyalty to the Emperor, they are presented with one final battle that will allow them reward they all seek: to colonise the distant world of Voor and live out the rest of their days in peace. All that stands in their way is a force of savages – a plague of feral orks that has spread across the planet.

Enjoyed Desert Raiders - some interesting ideas, characters and cultural stuff.
Desert Raiders is a Warhammer 40,000 novel written by Lucien Soulban. It follows two Imperial Guard Regiments of the Tallarn Desert Raiders (the 82nd Shaytani of the Dust and the 351st Derv'sh Blades of the Imperium) units that are brought together after both being decimated to form the Tallarn 892nd. Sent to a planet from which an astropath distress call originates, the two units find they have religious differences, and this threatens the survival of the units as they are set upon by Tyranids.

Also the Yarrick novels are quite good - I did in particular enjoy their depiction of the Sisters of Battle


I AM A MARINE PLAYER

"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
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A Bloody Road - my Warhammer Fantasy Fiction 
   
Made in us
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Since you enjoyed Fire Caste, I highly recommend every story Peter Fehervari has put out. His Genestealer Cult book is fantastic and all of his short stories link together, either via characters or places.

I'd also recommend the Ahriman series, especially now that it's been completed and John French put up a complete reading order of all the novels and short stories on his blog.
   
Made in gb
Swift Swooping Hawk





If you're looking for something much different to bolter porn, I'll recommend the Path of the Dark Eldar trilogy by Andy Chambers. It's a fantastic tale of schemers scheming against the schemes of other scheming schemers, almost every character is an absolutely terrible person but they're all so damn entertaining that you'll end up rooting for them anyway.

Also, Morr and Motley are the best buddycop duo in 40k. Accept no imitations.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/08 17:27:22


 
   
Made in au
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot





Australia

Rynn's World is a decent read. There's a couple of things in there that'll make you go "That's a little bit ridiculous", but it's a decent read nonetheless.

I've made very little progress with the HH books myself, but the Galaxy in Flames and Flight of the Eisenstein Novels are very good.,

The first two Gaunt's Ghosts novels I thoroughly enjoyed, though I got half way through the third novel before I lost interest. I don't know whether or not it's because the GG got less interesting or that particular novel came across as sub-par to me, but that's yet to be seen.
   
Made in gb
Ultramarine Librarian with Freaky Familiar





Gaunt's Ghosts is always good, as is Ravenor.

Out of Horus Heresy, I'd say Mechanicum and Know No Fear are very good. The first three are also pretty solid too.


They/them

 
   
Made in gb
Guardsman with Flashlight






The list I have is mainly centered around the traitor legions as I find villainous characterization to be more interesting, but I'd recommend them to any 40k fan looking for some good drama/tragedy.

Storm of Iron is about the Iron Warriors laying brutal siege to an Imperial fortress and is very intense, naturally it reallyhas it's combat porn moments but there's a ton of characterization, and banter/rivalry to balance it out.

Butcher's nails again has it's gory description moments but it's kept short and sweet, the story itself is short so wouldn't take up much of your time, it's an audio novel though, I liked this as I always found Angron's struggle with his implants to be fascinating, this story is great at describing their effects on his mind and how they made him see the galaxy around him. Kharn the betrayer has a more 3D portrayal as a character here too, the World Eaters as a whole are shown to have members with more personality than they're usually given credit for.

Some here might disagree, but if you find the Primarch Fulgrim interesting at all there is his novel 'Fulgrim' it focuses a lot on the III legion's corruption, and also tells the story of Human remembrancers on-board the EC's flagship and how they fell along with Fulgrim and his men. Some people didn't like it but I found it really engaging from start to finish, it was all very tragic

Then you have 'The reflection crack'd,' which follows on from 'Fulgrim.' It does a very good job of showing how far the Emperor's Children have fallen and gives a good insight into Fulgrim's newly evolved character and his obscene self-worship following his corruption to the influence of Slaanesh.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2017/05/08 18:57:33


 
   
Made in us
Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'




Alaska

If you're looking for stuff that isn't Space Marines and bolter porn, you might check out the Shira Calpurnia series. The main character is an Adeptus Arbite, so it has more to do with secret plots than open warfare, although there is quite a bit of fighting. I quite enjoyed the series as there was a lot of stuff about civilian Imperial life in the books.

YELL REAL LOUD AN' CARRY A BIG CHOPPA! 
   
Made in us
Rampaging Furioso Blood Angel Dreadnought





Boston, MA

I loved the Gaunt's Ghosts books and the Eisenhorn books as well as the Ravenor stuff.

I stalled on the HH series for a while, basically as soon as crappy James Swallow got involved. I forced myself to read Fear to Tread twice, a) because I'm a BA devotee and b) because it was so forgettable the first time... it was forgettable the second time too.

That said, I jumped back in... Know No Fear by Abnett is probably the most well paced 'military history' style story I've ever read, it is so good. The sort-of 'sequel' Unremembered Empire is decent but not as good.

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Made in au
Infiltrating Broodlord





The Last Chancers novel is a good easy read.. just don't bother with any of the follow up novels they are terrible and not needed
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





Augusta GA

No one's recommended Eisenhorn yet? Anything by Dan Abnett is great, but that's one of his best. Look for the omnibus, it's a three book work about a Radical Inquisitor that does more world building for 40k than most of the rest of the authors combined.

Titanicus, Ravenor Trilogy, A Thousand Sons, all good as well.

*edit* okay Gunzhard mentioned it, but did not praise it nearly enough.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/05/09 02:00:40


 
   
Made in se
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator






Eisenhorn is probably the single best piece of 40k fiction there is.

Also if you liked Cain then you'll probably like the last chancers.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/10 20:41:57


His pattern of returning alive after being declared dead occurred often enough during Cain's career that the Munitorum made a special ruling that Ciaphas Cain is to never be considered dead, despite evidence to the contrary. 
   
Made in au
Hissing Hybrid Metamorph





'Straya... Mate.

Soul Hunter Omnibus - By Aaron Dempski Bowden.

Follows a Night Lords Warband, one of my favorite series I have ever read, 40k or otherwise.

The omnibus has the whole lot in it too.

Edit: it's more about the struggle of chaos warbands than bolter porn, though being night lords, it does have a lot of gratuitous violence.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/05/11 03:01:42


 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




A random ditch next to a zoo (self imposed exile)

I've been reading 40k stuff since the year dot, and have a collection numbering in the hundreds. I must have pretty low standards because there are quite a few books that I absolutely love that get a right pasting, generally speaking. Here is a list of some of my favourites:

Daemon World. Utterly exhilarating read set entirely in the Eye of Terror.
Storm of Iron. Kind of like David Gemmell's Legend but written for a 40k audience.
The Seige of Castallax. C L Werner's first foray into the 40k universe, and what a triumphant arrival it is!
Eisenhorn. As close to literary perfection as it's possible to get.
The Ravenor Series. Not quite as good as Eisenhorn but still better than most.
Priests of Mars. I enjoyed this book as much as I did Eisenhorn, but the two sequels let it down badly.
The Word bearer Trilogy by Anthony Reynolds is sweet, especially the third one, Dark Creed. That book has THE best ship-to-ship boarding assault scene I've ever read. It lasts for a whole chapter and Reynolds was on fire when he wrote that!
Fabius Bile. Recent book by Josh Reynolds is an awesome read that harks back to the good old days when I was making my way through the books mentioned above. Plus, it's got Harlequins in it, nuff said.
The Souldrinkers Series.
Blood Gorgons. This is one sublime book by an author who is no longer with BL for some shady reason. I enjoyed this as much as I did Daemon World. Henry Zou did a sterling job introducing a new Chaos Space Marine Chapter, and his characters are as well realised, and we'll liked, as the main characters in the opening trilogy of the Horus Heresy series. I'd give anything to get my hands on a sequel to this book.
The Space Wolf Series
The Night lords Series by A-D.B is the high quality content that you'd expect from Bowden. Without spoiling things, a couple of my stand-out scenes in this series are one where three Space Marines get trapped in a room with a Terminator in a fight to the death. Bowden really captures the desperation and chaos in that scene. The other is where one of the main characters takes on a Company Champion in single combat. Probably the best duel I've ever read since I started reading 40k.
The Grey Knights Series

That's just a few books I can think of off the top of my head. I'll no doubt kick myself for forgetting some once I've posted this, but the ones mentioned above are all solid reads that gripped me from start to finish.
Everyone has different tastes and like to read about different things. Personally, I like to read about Space Marines, powerful daemon princes and the Inquisition with all its dark intrigue, which is why I like the above books. Of course, there are a few Horus Heresy novels I could mention but the deserve a list by themselves, so I've omitted them here.

Hope this helps and good reading!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/05/13 00:31:00


"How many people here have telekenetic powers raise my hand" - The Emperor, The council of Nikae

"Never raise your hand to your children, it leaves your midsection unprotected" - The Emperor

"My father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic" - Kharn 
   
Made in us
Been Around the Block




My recommends off the top of my head are:

Titanicus by Dan Abnett

Rebel Winter by Steve Parker

Gunheads by Steve Parker

If you like Orks:

Engine of Mork by Guy Hayley

Evil Sun Rising by Guy Haley
   
Made in se
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator






Was reminder of it when I made a post in the general discussion section. One of my favourite series of books that's rarely mentioned in 40k is the Necromunda series. Probably the best look you'll get at day to day life in the Imperiums hive cities for the low-middleclass common man. I'd espescially recommend Salvation, it largely followes a scribe and his struggle against the Imperiums beuarocracy (don't worry, there's plenty of gung-ho action and religious fanatasism in it too).

His pattern of returning alive after being declared dead occurred often enough during Cain's career that the Munitorum made a special ruling that Ciaphas Cain is to never be considered dead, despite evidence to the contrary. 
   
 
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