[Fluff] Best 40k Books I.

[dragannia]

I just finished the Inquisition War series. Brilliantly written, if a tad bit inaccurate at a few points (obviously since fluff was just beginning at that stage).

Eisenhorn and Gaunt's Ghosts are awesome. Gaunt's Ghosts can get a bit repetitive at times, but generally they're excellent reads. Eisenhorn trumps everything though. Even though Hereticus was...unsettling, it was still one of the best 40k novels I've ever read.

I've also read Nightbringer. Well written, but generally pulp fiction. But I still enjoyed reading it.

The other 40k book I've read is Words of Blood. Interesting, and some of it is very good, but generally average.

The next book I want to read is Firewarrior (just to see Kais romp through Greater Daemons ).

[-Norbert-]

Just finished with Farseer.
It is really good. And the end was quite surprising.

Does anyone know if there are (or will be) any sequal to it?
I read somewhere it's the first part of a Trilogy and the end very much suggests it to be part of a greater whole too.

[Cailet]

It is the first part of a trilogy but having asked the man himself (on his website, Trollslayer.net) there are currently no plans to do the second book (he does have a non-GW book to sell now so excusable I guess).

[Hodgeh MkII]

I'm in the middle of Eisenhorn now, like it, 1st person is good for a change.

A bit off topic, but what are some good reccommendations for plain Warhammer books? I just finished 'Death's Messenger' (a fun 'snack' read, plus it tied into WH Fanatasy Roleplay)...

[Cailet]

Konrad/Shadowbreed/Warblade series is brilliant (I have the boxtree originals, from when GW did good covers on books).

If you can find Ignorant Armies, Wolf Riders or Red Thirst (also boxtree books) they have some great short stories.

Beasts in Velvet and Drachenefels are pretty good too.

Hammers of Ulric and the Gortrek and Felix series are excellent reads (G&F is rather pulp I guess bbut hey).

I've heard good reports of Burning Shore.

[Hodgeh MkII]

I saw the other day that the Konrad omnibus is out.... you reccommend it, eh?

[Cailet]

Go for it!

[Kadon_Bloodblad]

Yeah, Burning Shore was great, I didn't like so much how he portrayed the Slann's way of thinking, but I might be biased since I'm a big Lizardman fan...but all in all, its a good read. And the Gotrek and Felix books, well, couldn't stop reading 'em.

[thechaosengine]

Thanks to everyone who has posted reviews and thoughts on the books but the lack of a search function still leaves the following question unanswered for me:

Which book should I start with?

The universe is of course built through a number of books and series. But is there a series I should start with to get going.

Lots of books have been reviewed here but I've no idea in what order i should read them

Where should I start my adventure!?

Thanks all

[Cailet]

Probably best to start with Crossfire and Legacy, maybe the Gaunt's Ghosts books too, they aren't bad.

After that read what you like, I recommend Inquisition War and Eisenhorn for more serious reading.

[that guy]

If this is off-topic then i'm sorry, but has anyone read "warhammer 40k warrior brood and is it any good.

[Hodgeh MkII]

thechaosengine, look for the 'Eisenhorn' omnibus, all 3 eisenhorn inquistor novels in 1 package, then anything Dan Abnett.

Then the 'Commissar Ciaphis Cain' series my Sandy Mitchell

[DeathBolt]

If this is off-topic then i'm sorry, but has anyone read "warhammer 40k warrior brood and is it any good.

I have just started reading it, and the start is really good and well written.

[Hodgeh MkII]

Is that the new CS Goto book about the Deathwatch?

[Kadon_Bloodblad]

Yeah, it is.

[DeathBolt]

It's a very good book, I am almost finished. I highly recommend (think that is the word in english) it to those who like action all the time (including me).

[DrakeZilla]

SPOILERS!!!
I've probably read about 25 of the the 40k books... and the only one I was reasonably disappointed with was Ravenor Returned... the story has absolutely no closure at the end... (and i had to shell out 10$ extra for a F***ing hardcover) and their treatment of Eisenhorn's story was awful. No description, not even a paragraph... just

Goon 1: "So... we killed Eisenhorn the other day"
Goon 2: "Really?"
Goon 1: "Yep, he just up and Died when we shot at him"
Goon 2: "All the other well established, hard-to-kill characters?"
Goon 1: "Them too"
Goon 2: "Wow... so anticlimactic"

Eisenhorn trilogy were my favorite of the 40k books... so i kept reading, waiting for Eisenhorn to come back, He didn't. I was pissed.

[Hodgeh MkII]

Ok, since I'm in the middle of 'Hereticus', that post seriously warranted a spoiler alert.

/me drives Barbiasater through DrakeZilla's eye

[Cailet]

Sheesh, Draz, in a thread like this, Spoiler Warnings are pretty much mandatory.

[DrakeZilla]

*Pulls Barbarisater out*
Sorry, I didn't mean to wreck the story for you, that was posted at like 3:00 AM, and i was at least 45% asleep already. I feel terrible now.

Now, to atone...

*Hands Barbarisater to a nearby Dark Angels Chaplain*
"YAY CYPHER!"
(this'll take a while)

[Cable]

Does anyone know of any books focused on Catachan's, or at least the troops on a Catachan-esque Deathworld? I love Catachan's - they rock and want to read a novel centered around them.. my BL book collection isn't exatly the greatest - Dawn of War, Fire Warrior and dare I say, Annihilation Squad...

Thanks

-Adam

[Shas'ui]

I don't know if they are especially about the Catachans but here is a link to a list of about 8 books about the Imperial Guard. Here just click on the icon and navigate the little window that pops up.

[Robert Frazer]

I'm afraid that there haven't been any books related to the Catachans, AdamBomb. The closest to Catachan-oriented fiction that you can enjoy is a comic strip entitled The 19'ers which was serialised in Warhammer Monthly issues 62, 64-65, 67-68.

It details the exploits of a small band of Catachan Jungle Fighters who have been deployed into an Ork-infested and chokingly dense rainforest on the world of Maypax. The company leader is a loyal and faithful officer in the Guard, but he is feeling quite resentful about the high casualty rate he's suffering on this world - the worst of any campaign he's participated in - to no obvious strategic purpose. Thus when he hears from a dying Explorator who is mortally wounded after an Ork raid that there's a treasure-stuffed temple in the vicinity, he notes that his orders don't explicitly forbid him from taking diversions and so on his next Ork-killing tour around the jungles decides to take the 'scenic' route...

It was fairly mediocre, to be frank, but I suppose that it's preferable to naught.

[Cable]

It appears the omnipotent powers of Robert, Lord of all that is Fluffy have a downside as well.... THERE'S NO CATACHAN FICTION BOOKS!!! *Cries*

Anyway, thanks Robert and Shas'ui for trying to help me.. I guess I'll have to go wrie my own Deathworld fanfic..

Until next time!

-Adam

[FabianX]

If anyone gets a chance to read Warrior Brood I suggest you do it pretty good IMO. Only thing I didn't like is that the Mantis Warriors(Billed as Mantis Legion in IAIV not sure about0 the name change), who took part on the wrong side of the Badab Uprising, in the book they say that the Astal Claw fled into the Eye of Terror. In all other fluff they fled into the Maelstrom. I don't know if the Author got it wrong or maybe they are trying to show the the Imperium is ignorant and think that the Maelstrom and Eye are the same thing. Other then that it was a very good read and adds alot of good back ground for the Mantis Warriors and some more insight into Deathwatch.

[Cable]

Annihilation Squad.

Many people have said its a pile of shite / waste of good trees etc. but I'm curious,

*SPOILER*

I'm assuming Kage and all the others die at then end... with Kage and von Strab falling into the precipice, the overlord would have certainly of died but seen as Kage was falling away from Oahebs, wouldn't the demon inside him have erupted and hence the 'Warp-dream' he has at the beginning of the book about falling and sprouting wings etc. actually happen?

Also, there's no indication whatsoever about what happens to Schaeffer. He can't die, he's a legend for crying out loud!

Does anyone know what happens or did Gav Thorpe just finish it there?

Thanks

-Adam

*END SPOILERS*

[Commander Ozae]

Has anyone read the Liber Chaotica, and if so could you please tell me about it. It is apparently amazing in terms of fluff for the dark gods but when i looked it up on amazon all they said was that it was basically for warhammer fantasy and not 40K.

[Cailet]

*SPOILER*

I'm assuming Kage and all the others die at then end... with Kage and von Strab falling into the precipice, the overlord would have certainly of died but seen as Kage was falling away from Oahebs, wouldn't the demon inside him have erupted and hence the 'Warp-dream' he has at the beginning of the book about falling and sprouting wings etc. actually happen?

Also, there's no indication whatsoever about what happens to Schaeffer. He can't die, he's a legend for crying out loud!

Does anyone know what happens or did Gav Thorpe just finish it there?

Thanks

-Adam

*END SPOILERS*

BIG FUCK-OFF SPOILER WARNING!

Gav seems to have ended it there and then. I would guess that Kage can supress the Daemon, to an extent at least, certainly I think, until the point of no return.

And Schaeffer got out I'm sure. The distraction provided by Kage is ample opportunity.

Has anyone read the Liber Chaotica, and if so could you please tell me about it. It is apparently amazing in terms of fluff for the dark gods but when i looked it up on amazon all they said was that it was basically for warhammer fantasy and not 40K.

The two are somewhat interchangeable.

[Azara]

ok first there is a short story about catachan imperial guard, its part of a collection of short stories like the book deathwing (it might be in that actually or the other short story collection book i have) SPOILER SPOLIER SPOILER its about a squad of imps who are trying to escape a zone in the jungle in 24 hourse because in 24 hours the whole of that zone was going to be eradicated somehow (i think it was orbital bombardment or something) the 2 main characters are a imps guard who helps a fem psycher (second main character) by practically carrying her out of the zone. its a good short story, good characters very good confrontation scenes, and a somewhat cruel twist at the end
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
the twist is that the commisar leading these remnant out of the danger zone sacrifices himself (sort of) in order to fill the main character with courage by example and then through hes death filling the imps guard into a rightous furry at seing the commisar die and making him go into a berzerker furry and massacre the rebels that were attaking him. the cruel twist is that the commisar died in the last battle before the next zone where it was supposed to be finally safe, but it seems that that zone was also penetrated by rebels and as such they have to move another 100km or so to the next zone or get orbitally borbarded to oblivion, a very dark ending that made me feel very sorry for the exhausted imps guard and the fem psycher, and sad i think.

anyhow i recomend 'Lord of the Night' above all other 40k books (and above gortrex and felix warhammer books but they are the only ones that are warhammer that i have read), it is by far the best book ive read that is 40k and ive read about 90 % of the books mentioned in this thread.

P.S. i got my sig from lord of hte night as well although im thinking of changing it to
'hail lord of the night death to the emperors followers' or something liek that, its a message from the night lord cut into the flesh of a priestess in the book.(itll e in gothic though)

P.P.S. the ending i think is the most bloody mad driving i can think of, he leaves it in such a way that youre practically begging to know what happens next, it drove me mad to the point i started to have spasms. :fight: :omg:
i really hope theres going to be a sequel. but i doubt it ah well an obsessed fan can dream right?

P.P.P.S. oh and i second that simon spurrier made a good job of fire warrior and how could he not? he wrote 'lord of the night' after all.

[Klaus88]

I just finished Warrior brood its a pretty good insight to the workings of a deathwatch kill team and the poltics of the inquistion

[Abyss]

Warriors of Ultramar, Wow just wow for this book, still reading The Inqusition war it's really hard to follow it

[Batousai]

Has any one here read "What Price Victory".

This book isn't about anyone Space Marine Chapter or Imperial Guard regiment. Its a group of short storys set in the 40K universe. Exserpts from 40K books that are out now. I recommend this book to every noobie getting their feet wet in the World of 40K.

[Cailet]

Damn good book that one.

[Batousai]

My favorite was "Forever Loyal", "Calculus Logi" and "Crimson Night". What was yours Caliet

[Cailet]

I'm trying to remember, the Genestealer one I think.

Calculus Logi was pretty good, I remember.

[Batousai]

I just bought my first 40k Book, which happens to be Dawn of War. And i just finished the part where they defend the city of Magna Broum(sp). Now after playing the game and reading some of the book, i can finally begin to grasp the whole Cyrene "mishap". And why everyone is looking at Gaberial sideways.

C.S. Goto is a pretty good story writer but he really needs to pay more attention to 40k fluff, the story is great so far and ive only come acrossed three "fluff flaws" so far.

[Full_ork]

Sorry if this was asked before I don'[t have time to read the whole thread.

Are their any books involving orks talking and fighting? Like showing the ork side?

[draaka]

my top three book(s):

1.konrad trilergy ( i know i cant spell)

2.the ghosts (go gaunt)

3. dues encarmine (the blood angels thing)

[Commander Ozae]

How are the deus books, i heard their pretty good.

The favorite book i've read so far either has to be Eisenhorn (with the Inquisition) or Ragnar Blackmane (tales of the Space Wolves). Both were excellent books but i've heard Gaunt's Ghosts is really good too. I'll get to that soon.

[Robert Frazer]

Sorry if this was asked before I don'[t have time to read the whole thread.

Are their any books involving orks talking and fighting? Like showing the ork side?

There's very little, by the way of specific greenskin fiction, Full_Ork - they're the antagonists more often than not. I believe there are a couple of short stories ferreted away in the anthologies somewhere, although I couldn't place them for you.

You'd have more luck examining the Orkish comics, of which there is a very, very slight - but nonetheless warmly appreciated - corpus of work. It includes the following:

-Rite Bait's Skwig Imporium (Inferno!, Issue 12)
-Betta da Warboss ya Know! (Warhammer Monthly, either Issue 27 or 28)
-Deff Skwadron's five adventures (collected in a graphic novel format).

[omega the end]

Are the blood of (blood angels primarch) books any good? I think it is a series of three books but i'm not sure.

[Mattnav]

There was a question a few pages back about the existence of Catachan/Death World IG stories. While I'm not aware of any specific books devoted to these guys there is a sizeable chunk in the second 13th Legion book that deals with some guys who might as well be Catachans (even if they aren't). Schaeffer picks up a piece of ........possible spoiler..........cannon fodder.....sorry, a recruit from them (not that I think referring to anyone in a 13th Legion book as cannon fodder is in anyway a spoiler).

[Commander Ozae]

I like the looks of the Horus Heresy books by Dan Abnett, he is the Black Library's greatest author and if he pulls off the books then we'll have an amazing trilogy on our hands. I have full confidence in his abilities.

[CRasterImage]

While waiting for my book order to arrive, (completing my set of Gaunt's Ghosts) I decided to fill the time by reading Dawn Of War.

Hmmm. I havn't finished it and I am not sure I am going to either.

None of the characters talk or behave the way they should. The Space Marines, the PDF, Librarians, Chaplains, Commanders, etc... None of the characters seem to be behaving as I would expect them to. They all come off sounding too cartoonish or just incorrect.

Maybe Dan Abnett has spoiled me.

[Commander Ozae]

Dawn of war only works if you played the game. It is designed for the gamer to add more information for the game. I think Gabriel is very well done. Just endure the book, it gets better as it goes on.

[Azara]

who ever was wondering about the deus encarmine and deus sanguinius books (blood angles novels) they are alright, first book is better then second and truth be told they are too short even for W40K books. you can read them through once but not a second time without considerable pains.

[Stealthlazer]

1. Gaunt's Ghosts are best by far. Really gets down to the level of your basic trooper and shows their deaths as well. Amazing how long Dan Abnett has kept the series going.

2. The Ravenor books. Good feel for the 40k universe and shows some cool action. Gets gritty and mixes horror in with some action.

3. The Soul Drinkers books. How better to see the twisted vilainy of the Imperium than through their finest heroes. Through the renegade Chapter you can se the evil of the Imperium and their struggle to survive.

[Andkat]

Do any texts from Necron, Eldar, Dark Eldar, and Tau perspectives exist, or is it all IoM or CSM?

[Cailet]

Firewarrior might be from Tau perspective.

There are bits of Eldar/Dark Eldar stuff in Shadow Point bu the book is quite poor.

Necron stuff looks like this 100011110101001010010100110

[silent killer]

Dan Abnett is by far the best 40K novel writer around IMO. First it was his Gaunt's Ghosts that really captivised me. And the i read the Eisenhorn triology, and man was that good.