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Made in gb
[DCM]
Stonecold Gimster






Brief Background: I played 40k since the late 90's. (as well as Warhammer Fantasy from the 2nd ed box set from 1984 till the End times).
I've always enjoyed reading the backgrounds in the army books and codices but for some reason, never bothered with GW novels.

I did however subscribe to W+ and have enjoyed Angels of Death and Hammer and Bolter, so I decided to try a series of novels, with reading the Horus Heresy. I purchased book 1 (Horus Rising) and started to enjoy it, so I added the next couple to my want's list on the GW store. My wife asked what I wanted for Christmas (and my Birthday which is very close to Christmas) so I suggested my wants list on the GW store. I planned on adding the next few books in the series as well.

It's then I discover that although a few books are "Temporarily out of stock online" - fair enough, I can use the "email me" button and still add them to my Wants list. There are some that are now "No longer available online" with no "email button".

Have I started a long series of books that will have gaps in as GW won't re-print? (eg. Book 4).

Is it worth me bothering trying to follow this series if I can't get them all in order?

My Painting Blog: http://gimgamgoo.com/
Currently most played: Silent Death, Xenos Rampant, Mars Code Aurora and Battletech.
I tried dabbling with 40k9/10 again and tried AoS3 - disliked both, but I'm enjoying HH2 and trying Battletech Classic and AS out 
   
Made in us
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





GW are atrocious about keeping print runs in stock, even of their most in-demand series. If you can do digital then I recommend it as you'll likely be scouring amazon and other places for individual novels. There's also multiple versions with some editorial changes between hardcover, trade paperback, and mass market paperbacks as well.

That said, the series is not linear in the slightest. After the first five books it opens into a good dozen or more different story arcs that interweave between novels. If you're lucky, those novels are all by the same author. Most of the later books also have "prologue" and "epilogue" short stories that were released online only, but have since been collected in one of many anthologies (which are included as numbered entries in the series). The problem is if you were to read the novels in numerical order, you'll eventually hit stories that were released alongside a novel 10 books prior, but weren't collected in an anthology until 2-3 years later.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/10/27 16:58:50


 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Stonecold Gimster






Thanks for replying with all that info.
I'll read books 1-3 to start with.
If books 4/5 don't come into stock, I'll use the free audible trial with amazon and listen to them before moving on.

My Painting Blog: http://gimgamgoo.com/
Currently most played: Silent Death, Xenos Rampant, Mars Code Aurora and Battletech.
I tried dabbling with 40k9/10 again and tried AoS3 - disliked both, but I'm enjoying HH2 and trying Battletech Classic and AS out 
   
Made in us
Guard Heavy Weapon Crewman




Morecambe, UK

Some good points above. Have you tried looking beyond the Horus Heresy?

There are some great series out there that you can buy in omnibus form, so don't so much need to worry about buying the individual books.

Abnett has the best collections I'd say: Eisenhorn, Ravenor and Gaunt's Ghosts are all great.

Some of the other omnibuses are a bit hit and miss. Ciaphus Cain is good I think, however, it does get very samey after the first few novels, once the novelty of the style and the flashman-in-space thing wears off. Equally, some of the generic space marines omnibuses, are a mixed bunch.



   
Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

One thing to keep in mind is that the GW novels can vary pretty wildly in quality. I tend to follow certain authors and avoid others based on experience. For example, I am not a fan of Ben Counter or James Swallow, and I ambivalent about Graham MacNiell and Gav Thorpe. On the other hand I will always read anything by Dan Abnett and Aaron Dembski Bowden or Chris Wraight, and almost anything by John French. The heresy series has a lot of short story anthologies that I feel you can generally skip, and I have skipped a large number of the books after the first 5 with no major impact on my enjoyment or understanding of the plot.

   
Made in ca
Commander of the Mysterious 2nd Legion





I reccomend ebooks. once you get used to them and realize "stock issues are no longer an issue" you'll never go back

Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two 
   
Made in us
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

I also recommend eBooks that's how I started reading the Black Library. Occasionally they'll have a a dozen or so at a very low price on humble bundle. They have them yearly as I recall, here was the bundle from last april:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/04/15/there-are-a-whopping-26-warhammer-40000-ebooks-in-the-latest-humble-bundle/
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




Another one for e-books here, if for no other reason than if you ever move house you'll appreciate not having to pack up and carry 600+ books

I find 40k books to be very hit and miss. Some of the writing is attrocious and both physically and mentally painful to endure. (Gav Thorpes stuff for example) but you also get works of absolute genius (Know no Fear by Dan Abnett) and there are serveral very good series out there.

The Horus Heresy is good. Most the books i've enjoyed but there are some misses and the standard does drop as the series goes on, but the initial Trilogy is a must.
The Beast Arises is good as its something inbetween the Heresy period and modern period.
Gaunts Ghosts, Eisenhorn, Ravenor are all good.

Currently on the third book of the Dark Imperium series and it has its good bits and bad bits. Story is ok but writting about chaos is a bit 'meh'. Its hard to write for races that dont think like humans and as a result you get all these grandious statements and declerations and every paragraph is way over the top, but when a writer IS able to give them a bit of character they can shine.



I've not enjoyed any of the chapter series though. I think they are too cliche and too full of religious rhetoric which I find tedious and just filler instead of story telling.


If you go audiobooks, audible is the way to go if you have an appropriate way to listen to them. (or know how to convert them to alternate formats) The cost savings are HUGE over regular prices and they often have deals that make them even better. Just picked up book 2 and 3 of Dark Imperium for £6. Buying from Black Library direct would have been £60.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

If you go ebooks do consider getting a proper e-reader like an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. The e-ink technology they use is outstanding and honestly so similar to reading on paper; plus even their most basic models now have a built in light which makes reading effortless.

All in all I love books, but I love my Kindle too! Lets you read loads of books and buy the "next in the series" in seconds. As noted it also gets around the whole "out of stock" issue.




An interesting thing to note is that you can buy them on BL or on Amazon store for a kindle. If you get books on the BL website there's no copy protection on them so you can swap them around different readers at home effortlessly.


For some omnibus editions ebooks are actually superior in almost every way - no spine that will give out - no heavy weight in your hands that no matter how engaging the story, wears you down. No heavy weight or lump on the shelf etc...


The only thing they don't really do well is pictures or images. Any book that uses a lot of visual reference like that is 100% better as a physical copy; as is any book where you have to flip back and forth between pages. e-readers are great for one thing and that's stories. Start to finish walls of text kind of books.



Ps he's more fantasy than 40K but Josh Reynolds is very well recommended reading for any of his stories.


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