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IMO, too much of 40k fiction revolves around Loyal Servants of the Imperium™ such as Space Marines, commissars, dutiful Imperial Guard officers, and agents of the Ecclesiarchy. On the opposite end, other books are about baby-eating Chaos Marines, but... that's not exactly my cup of tea, either.

Give me some book recommendations about rogues, criminals, and other anti-heroes just trying to survive and/or get rich.

I've read a couple of the Kal Jerico books, which pretty much have the tone I'm looking for (although I have mixed feelings about other aspects of that series).

this is going to sound very strange but have you read the Ciaphas Cain series?

Indeed, whilst Cain is a Hero of the Imperium he is also a pragmatic man who just wants to survive and enjoy the finer things - including wine and women

Necromunda novels will also likely be what you will enjoy.

Try Eisenhorn /Ravanor - great reads and many of their retinues have dubious pasts.

Plenty of rogues in Gaunts Ghosts

Also the Rogue Trader collection and related novels - they are often pretty dodgy and money /power is what they want

BrianDavion wrote:
this is going to sound very strange but have you read the Ciaphas Cain series?

I've read two of those books. I enjoy them, but in spite of Cain's refreshing cynicism, the series as a whole is still too much about the Emperor's loyal servants.

I guess what I'm also looking for is smaller-scale, lower-stakes stories. No planets to save, no Chaos lords to defeat, no vast military campaigns (except maybe as a backdrop to the actual story)... just a bunch of Firefly-style outcasts and petty criminals trying to survive another day and generally ignoring what the rest of the galaxy is up to.

Maybe I should write my own Black Library novel...

 Mr Morden wrote:
Also the Rogue Trader collection and related novels - they are often pretty dodgy and money /power is what they want

Rogue traders do seem interesting. I like the idea of independent explorers.


.

I'll also second Eisenhorn, it's a very dark and gritty look at life outside the military. they're not criminals per say but they certainly give you a good look at criminality. if you enjoy a good "detective story" you'll like Eisenhorn.

If you like self-serving characters, scheming and backstabbing, you could always try the dark eldar books!

Other than that, I'd suggest Lord of the Night. I'd say the main characters on both sides are anti-heroes in this one.

Necromunda books would be ideal, and Kal Jericho just got a reprint. One of the Imperium's leading rogues and criminals!

The Last Chancers is all about a Penal Legion, this might interest you.

The novel Blood Tithe includes loyal Space Marines and Chaos Marines, but the setting is a prison planet. One of the main character is an arbitrator and another is a latent psyker who is a prisonner. It gives you an indsigh on how these people see things when a chaos warband invade a prison planet and when a group of space marines also drops by to spice things up.

I'd look at some of the Necromunda stuff. It's all about street-level criminals trying to make it on their own. Plus there's a bunch of new stuff coming out for it (or just released) so it's a golden age if you're into that kind of thing.

The Ravenor series would also be right up your alley. Lots of gritty characters there, in the grubbier parts of the Imperium.

Have you read the Night Lords trilogy? While the main character is, in fact, the baby-eating Chaos marine you said you were looking to avoid, there is a HEAVY focus on the people that the CSM have enslaved, and their struggle to stay alive and retain their humanity. It's potent stuff.

Eisenhorn 3 book series is fantastic. Its all about fighting rouges.

At the risk of shameless self promotion, number 9 in season 2 of the new Novella series might be worth a look:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/07/31/coming-soon-novella-series-2/

Should be out in November. I think.

The Night Lords trilogy by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is a good look at one of the more notorious traitor astartes legions. It's notable for its strong lead character and insight into many of the different warbands.

Soul Hunter is the first book in the trilogy.

I’ll second the last chancers series, has some great characters and none of them are what I would call good.