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Hi all. My son has shown an interest in the background of 40k (he's 12) and I've told him a lot about it as I've been around since 2nd edition but he would like to start reading books about it and I've no idea which books to recommend tbh. I was thinking perhaps a bit of everything I.E a Gaunts Ghost book, one of the Ultramarine books and maybe Eisenhorn. He's also interested in the Heresy but there just so many books in the series. Is there a kinda generic book that talks about everything 40k? Some sort of annual perhaps? I've not played for a few editions so I don't have the rulebook or Codices.

Thanks in advance

If you've got a local GW pop in as they've got free books to give away. Otherwise an anthology like Crusade + Other Stories is a good starting point. There's also Inferno but that has AoS, Blood Bowl and other stuff in it as well.

A generic source that covers a varity of things? Yeah not that long ago GW put out a book called "Crusade and other stories" that was basicly intended as agood starting place. I can't speak to the quality of the stories as I've not read it, but the idea is to have a sampler that gives a little bit about every faction and thus might be a good starting place https://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/novels/crusade-ebook.html . The Ultramarine books aren't bad, although if he's not hooked on a single chapter I'd reccomend considering Space Wolf. as it follows the induction of a person into the space wolves and thus is a great intro.

Regarding Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn, you obviously know your son better then I. and I've not read the ghosts books yet (yeah I know I know) but I know Eisenhorn can get pretty dark, and from my experiance thats pretty normal with Abbnet's works. Depending on your sons tastes he might find them a little dark. if thats a concern and you want to expose him to the guard via fiction maybe go with the Ciaphas Cain series?

Also regarding the Heresy, the first 3 books make a great starting point

Anthology is a great idea, I'll look at the inferno books as well (they used to be a magazine many moons ago!) Good call on the Cain series. Thanks for your suggestions, we will be visiting a town this weekend that has a GW so we'll pop into there.

Thanks for your help!!

There's also the Warhammer Adventures young adult stuff.

The Heresy is really something you need to be prepared to get into the long haul with, as it is a galaxy spanning epic.. Like lord of the rings but way bigger. If he's an avid reader getting through the Heresy books shouldn't be a problem though. I read those sort of books when I was that age. There are threads on here outlining the books required to get the main story arcs. 40k wise eisenhorn is good, the gaunts ghosts stuff, and I'll also recommend double eagle, which I am currently reading, which is aviation based, basically the battle of britain in 40k.

Oof 12 is a young age for war hammer books,. Not like in the way of material it talks about that's up to you as a parent, some of the deaths are pretty graphic. But just from a reading level they can be rough.

I always suggest the first 6 books of the HH, as they are probably the best in the series.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but the absolute best source for a broad overview is the lore section of the main rulebook.

This is pretty much where 99% of us started and got our first overall look into the W40K universe.

I would avoid Eisenhorn as a starter, as I remember thinking I was happy to be an experimented hobbyst while reading it. Not because it's dark but because IIRC, you have to know some fluff before to fully appreciate it.

 oni wrote:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but the absolute best source for a broad overview is the lore section of the main rulebook.

This is pretty much where 99% of us started and got our first overall look into the W40K universe.

He is right, you know, that's true.

yeah novel wise I'm operating under the assumption that his son had already read the core book primer. that if you haven't is a good place to start.

then choose some novels based on where his intreasts lie.

He hasn't read the core book yet. I'll see if I can find a 2nd hand one. Actually I suppose an older edition would be ok as well for background

overtyrant wrote:
He hasn't read the core book yet. I'll see if I can find a 2nd hand one. Actually I suppose an older edition would be ok as well for background

it would yeah, it'd not be up to date with the gathering storm stuff but that's not too big a deal.

Can you get him that ~£5 start collecting book which has a primaris to build on it?
That's a good intro as it gives a breakdown of all the forces, the core rules and lots of pictures. He can see what he likes without a massive investment and then go from there.