http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/7.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net
I ask because I just bought my third Black Library book this month, which I expect to have polished off by Monday (need to finish Curse of the Necrarch first).

Although I am not so into the 40k novels, I do have a fair amount of their wares which I always find an enjoyable read. Thus far, I have all the Slayer Novels, all the Darkblade, the Vampire War trilogy in seperate volumes, The Witch Hunter Trilogy, again in seperate volumes, the Brunner trilogy (really rather good!) the first three Time of Legends (Sigmar, Nagash and todays purchase, Malekith) plus various other odds and sods which make for good bath time reading.

I think I stick with the Black Library because I am very funny about my Fantasy. To me, a Goblin is a squitty little monster with more ambition than threat, not something that can knock up a steam powered suit of armour, and an Elf is haughty and removed from the world by it's own arrogance, rather than some tree hugging hippy who just wants everyone to get along. I have tried a few other types, but didn't get on with them!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468358.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468358.page GMT 40K stuff. It's pulpy, and most of it is narratively limited and predictable. But I soak up the atmosphere, the details, the descriptive passages.

I suppose that's because my enjoyment of the hobby is essentially narrative at its core. I'm a so-so tactician, but I love the fluff, the modeling, the story-telling.

So, yeah, keep it coming, Black Librarians. Your over-the-top, bloated, purple prose and baroque, bizarre, and often downright ridiculous imagery? Guilty pleasures. Exquisite ones, too.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468385.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468385.page GMT wd. and i skimmed through the whole book]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468452.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468452.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468467.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468467.page GMT WHFB game more, and the 40K universe better. Play fantasy, read 40k..]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468488.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468488.page GMT
Stupidly bought a lot of the Gaunt stuff, primarily because I thought the first short story published in Inferno many moons ago was very good. I managed to slug through them, in the vain hope that it would get better as it went along. It didn't do so, in my opinion at least.

The books threw up some nice ideas, like the intervention of Imperial forces in a world's own civil conflict as well as Imperial tech versus WWI-esque tech.

They fell down in my opinion on the sheer amount of characters Abnett tried to write about, to the point they keep popping up and it feels like you are expected to know just exactly who they are, but they just don't ring a bell. A few other things, like the Imperium being very lenient towards apparent criminal soldiers and a few other odds and ends made the books nowhere nearly as good as they ought to have been.

The Cain books, on the other hand, I've found brilliant. They add a bit of a human touch to the 41st Millenium which isn't there in a lot of books, like showing people getting on with their lives and being unaffected by a lot of the wars going on. The level of politicking involved in a lot of them is fantastic and something I really like. The humour and pop-culture references are also right up my street.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468774.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468774.page GMT
Barrington J Bayley is the author and the only reason I read it. He is one of the great writers of serious weirdness. Sadly he passed away this last October at 71 years old.

I also read Abnett's "Ghostmaker". it was meh.
]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468791.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468791.page GMT Swann's Way but it passes the time while I'm working on my morning constitutional. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468794.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/468794.page GMT ot be one of the better writers in their stable.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/469832.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/469832.page GMT
Very satisying read thus far!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471538.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471538.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471596.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471596.page GMT
I'm not so sold on the Horus Heresy stuff in general - the first 2 books were a bit slow going for me and then I got bogged down. But I'm looking forward to getting into Mechanicum and the new Titanicus when it comes out in paperback.

Not sold on Gaunt either. All got a bit samey after a while - and too much like Sven Hassel for my tastes. I liked 15 days though.

I think the Caiphas Cain stuff is some of my favourites. But then I always liked Flashman. Gotrek and Felix are always a good romp too!

The Iron Snakes book was quite fun. I liked that. It was nice to read about Goody-two-shoes marines that weren't Ultramarines!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471605.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471605.page GMT BL and I own a few, though a few have also been given to charity shops or used to keep a fire going. However I too must declare my love for Gotrek & Felix and Commisar Cain.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471705.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471705.page GMT 40k. Now, given my favour of Fantasy games to 40k, that might be the reason right there, but I highly reccomend trying some outside of Gotrek and Felix.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471712.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471712.page GMT TM) to the WFB universe, which colours my judgement. I read a couple of the Malus Darkblade novels, which didn't really appeal, but then I also read the Genevive series, which I thought was a lot better. My favourite WFB novel was Zavant, but the Konrad books were quite good as well.

My personal strike-rate favours GrimDark (TM) over WFB, but as I said, I think that's just personal preference rather than a reflection on writing standards.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471829.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471829.page GMT
For those uninitiated, think Murder Mysteries in the Warhammer World. Very satisfying in a strange way!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471869.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/224068/471869.page GMT