Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey everyone. I'm wanting to get into some 40K novels. I'm totally new to 40k and have looked at a few books here and there, but I'm a little overwhelmed. Where is a good place to start? Is there a beginning? Please help.


-Big N8

Well the novels all assume at least a little familiarity with the game, so bear that in mind.

For a good deal on the Horus Heresy (the huge civil war from 10,000 years ago that makes up a gigantic chunk of the back story) there's an entire novel series that begins with the trilogy Horus Rising, False Gods and Galaxy in Flames.

If you want a good luck at the corruption and mutual suspicion that characterizes much of 40K's galaxy, I'd also recommend the Eisenhorn omnibus by Dan Abnett.

Of course, a really good way to familiarize yourself with the basics of the universe would be to buy the hardcover rulebook, and read the background section there. It has a neat time-line and a decent summary of all the races.

Hope that gets you started.

Thanks. I guess part of my problem is, I don't know if I should start with the Horus Heresy, or should I start with the corruption and suspicion? Besides the rulebook, is there any kind of "Official Starting Point" Should I just get a book that's as close to the beginning of the timeline as I can find? Would you suggest starting at the Horus heresy? Am I putting too much thought into this? I'd just hate to start reading one series and not know what's going on or who certain people are because I didn't read the novel I should have read before.

Some of the best reads at the moment-

Horus Heresy, all 9 books.

Space Wolves Omnibus 1 & 2

Ciaphus Cain series

The Ultramarine Omnibus

And as a personal favorite, I enjoy the Word Bearers series starting with Dark Apostle. it gives a good look at chaos as of now.

Books not to read EVER-

Anything written by C.S. Goto. Seriously.

I'd also highly recommend Cadian Blood. Aside from anything by Dan Abnett, one of the best Imperial Guard novels out now.

Well I just started reading the Ravenor by Dan Abnett and I think its great. This book is about the Inquisition so you see the imperium in a much more human way. It shows a lot about what its actualy like living in the imperium and day to day life for the civilians. The story isn't really about huge batles so if thats what your after this may not bt the thing for you. However it's got a bit more depth than some of the books about war. You don't really need to know much about the background to read this book. I think reading Eisenhorn first may help though as I think some of the characters overlap between the Ravenor trilogy and Eisenhorn.

The Horus Heresy books are good if you want a lot of history about the space marines.

I think your pretty safe with any of the Dan abnett books as long as you read them in the right order otherwise you probably won't understand what's happening.

Yes I will also give this warning as I don't think it can ever be said to much: If you want the 40k setting to make any kind of sense DO NOT READ ANYTHING BY C.S Goto. Black library books can be a bit of a contradiction sometimes but that guy just makes it up as he writes.

Nate 54 wrote:Thanks. I guess part of my problem is, I don't know if I should start with the Horus Heresy, or should I start with the corruption and suspicion?

Depends on what you like. I'd say the Horus Heresy books are more easily accessible to those unfamiliar with 40K.

Nate 54 wrote: Besides the rulebook, is there any kind of "Official Starting Point" Should I just get a book that's as close to the beginning of the timeline as I can find?

There isn't really an official starting point. 40K isn't like the old World of Darkness with a meta-plot that guides everything. It's a deliberately stagnant setting so not much changes. I recommend the rulebooks and codices because they are nice overviews, but that's just me. I'd just read whichever book you feel like starting with of those mentioned in the thread (aside from Ravenor which is a sequel to the stories in the Eisenhorn omnibus. the Commissar Cain books are a more lighthearted approach as well.

Having said all that, as the starter box set with the background free mini rulebook is Assault on Black Reach, the novella of the same title (which I have not read) might also be a nice starter.

Nate 54 wrote:Would you suggest starting at the Horus heresy? Am I putting too much thought into this? I'd just hate to start reading one series and not know what's going on or who certain people are because I didn't read the novel I should have read before.

The heresy is such a pivotal moment in the background that I would recommend starting it (it helps that the series has generally better authors than a lot of the other 40K novels. You are over thinking this a bit, in my opinion. And most of the series's are independent of the others with just a shared backdrop so you shouldn't have two many problems if you start with the first book in that series.

A few series' and their first books are:

Horus Heresy series: Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
Eisenhorn series: Xenos by Dan Abnett (also available in an omnibus entitled Eisenhorn)
Gaunt's Ghosts series: First and Only by Dan Abnett (also available in an omnibus entitled The Founding)
Blood Angels series: Deus Encarmine by James Swallow (also available in The Blood Angels Omnibus)
Ultramarines series: Nightbringer by Graham McNeill (also available in The Ultramarines Omnibus)
Space Wolf series: Space Wolf by William King (also available in Space Wolf: The First Omnibus)
Grey Knights series: Grey Knights by Ben Counter (also available in the Grey Knights Omnibus)
Ciaphas Cain series: For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell (also available in Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium)
Soul Drinkers series: Soul Drinker by Ben Counter (also available in The Soul Drinkers Omnibus)
Imperial Fists series: Sons of Dorn by Chris Roberson
Night Lords series: Soul Hunter by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Salamanders series: Salamander by Nick Kyme

I'd like to endorse the recommendations above, and throw in a few of my own:

- Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier
- Storm of iron by Graham McNeill
- Let the Galaxy Burn and Planetkill anthologies

Also:

C.S. Goto sucks. C.S. Goto is bad.
So bad, in fact, that the Mafia use deaf people to read his books out lout to people that crossed them.
There's even talk about the Geneva Convention being appended to cover his works.

Don't read Deus Encarmine or Deus Sanguinus. Both of those are poor reads. James Swallow's Blood Angels are horrible.

If you want a good James Swallow read, the ninth book in the Horus Heresy has a short story by him, Faith and Fire is about the Sisters of Battle and you get a good look into their fluff and organization with it.

Thanks a lot guys, lots of good info, this should help. I think I'm going to start with the Horus Heresy and go from there. Thanks again.

-Nate

Lorgar's_Blessed wrote:If you want a good James Swallow read, the ninth book in the Horus Heresy has a short story by him, Faith and Fire is about the Sisters of Battle and you get a good look into their fluff and organization with it.

Sorry to be a bit off topic, but the Sisters of Battle weren't founded until after the Age of Apostasy - what are they doing in a Horus Heresy book??


On topic, I would start with something by Dan Abnett as he's so consistently enjoyable to read. If you want history start with Horus Rising, if you want fighting start with First and Only (or the The Founding omnibus which includes it) and if you want street-level intrigue start with Xenos (or the Eisenhorn omnibus which includes it).

That was meant to be a seperate sentence. He has a short story in Tales of Heresy, but he has a complete novel for SoB called Faith and Fire. Sorry for the confusion.

Aha! Phew. I'm sitting here finally getting around to reading the fluff in the 5th Ed. Rulebook and getting very depressed at the bizarre additions they've made in the Age of the Imperium timeline and was worried GW had weirded out their fluff even more!

No, sorry. A silly punctuation typo out of being quick.

I still find the Silent Sister thing funny since I personally think without them pre-heresy, GW would never have come up with the SoB. Then again, it may be the other way around, I'm not sure.

As far as I know, the Silent Sisters are an invention of the new wave of Horus Heresy fluff that started with the Horus Heresy card game thing. I certainly hadn't heard them mentioned before then, but they may have been retrieved from some Rogue Trader fluff I'm not familiar with


Automatically Appended Next Post:
P.S. sorry for the brief hijack!

READ THIS!!!
Dead Sky Black Sun

It's my favorite book ever!
And I don't just mean in 40K.

It's a truly epic tale of two Ultra Marines that find themselves on a Daemon world.

By Graham McNeill

I think it's in the Ultramarines Omnibus. It's the 2nd book in the series.
The other Ultramarines novels are all pretty long and drawn out, they're pretty good, just not crammed with action.

Also Storm of Iron.
It's the prequel to Dead Sky Black Sun, told from the eyes of the Chaos lord the Ultra Marines fight.

There is no book "Starting point".
They all leave huge gaps.

P.S. NEVER EVER EVER read any thing by C.S. Goto unless you want the lammest fluff, that has almost nothing to do with 40K.

I read alot of 40k books. Until I realized that nothing ever comes close to a good ending. The best you can hope for is an ending that doesn't suck as bad as it could have.

Seriously, Let the Galaxy Burn should have been called Tales From The Crypt: Sci-fi edition.

I think the stories are good, but I have just overdosed on the classic British military mentality of doom gloom and "stiff upper lip" in the face of certain death.

I enjoy playing 40k, I am a polite loser, but I enjoy winning, not getting my ass handed to me in 800 different depressing ways.

Read if you dare, but dose up on some Wellbutrin.

Oh, to add onto my list. I do highly suggest reading the Grey Knights Omnibus. It was another amazing series that showed a lot of fluff for the Inquisition and even more. It was an excellent three book series.

I've literally just read "Horus Rising" by Dan Abnett, as I wanted to read some 40k books.

It's a great place to start. Takes bit of going back to re read paragraphs for a couple of chapters, but otherwise Brilliant!!!

I went out straight away to buy the next 2 in the Horus Heresy series!!