Recommendations for the least "milSF" stories

[Ascanius]

Hello, fratres.

I'm working my way through the Horus Heresy series in audiobook form while driving to and from work or doing chores at home, having so far reached the end of Chapter Six of Fallen Angels. I'm an extremely fast reader, so it's a very different experience in the audio format, having the story unfold at the pace of the actor's vocal performance.

One thing I have definitely noticed is that I find extended fight scenes pretty tiresome in the audiobook format, presumably because unlike with a printed story I can't skim through the description of each shot and blow and explosion. I don't mind combat scenes per se, but I find combat more interesting when it's used to illustrate something about the characters or factions involved. One example springs to mind: the way some of the combat scenes in Mechanicum illustrate the relationship of a Knightly Scion to the personality of his "mount", or a Titan Princeps to his engine, were really interesting.

Obviously, not being an idiot, I realise that in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, and the Horus Heresy series itself is explicitly about the greatest war to ever consume the galaxy - but there's more than one way to write about war, you know? I don't read a lot of milSF outside of the Warhammer series, precisely because so much of it I've tried is more or less "gunporn" or "tankporn" or whathaveyou, focused on lovingly described fighting with other scenes used just to get the characters from one fight to the next.

What I prefer are stories where the fighting is just part of the narrative, and more space is given to depicting people's attitudes and beliefs in such a different setting from our own. Here are some examples from the Horus Heresy series of things I've liked and disliked:

I really liked the story of Euphrati Keeler, Mersadie Olliton, and Kyril Sindermann carried through the first four novels to The Flight of the Eisenstein, and the parts of that latter book where Garro is dealing with the revelation of the Warmaster's treachery, the shock of Grulgor and his men reviving as Plague Marines, and Solon Decius becoming the Lord of the Flies. Obviously the latter two especially involve a lot of fight scenes, but even though there's plenty of description of the moment-to-moment progress of the fights they're also about depicting Garro's thoughts and emotions as he deals with these new horrors.

Or take Tales of Heresy, since that's the last one I finished. I liked all of the stories involved, but probably my least favourite was "Scions of the Storm" just because most of its wordcount comprised the action scenes where the Word Bearers fight intelligent battle robots and figure out how to get through the shield. Even then, I enjoyed the end where Sor Talgron realises what their enemies' religion is actually about, but doesn't realise he's already a few steps behind when it comes to the philosophy the Word Bearers are promulgating.

Conversely, I really liked both the characters and the plot of "The Voice", especially because I do love the dramatic irony of, well, everything in that story - I count at least three layers.

Same goes for "The Last Church", in that regard, even though it does become a little Atheism for Dummies at points - but part of my reaction is, I know, because my degree is in religious studies, so none of the arguments were at all new to me.

I also liked the elements of "Wolf at the Door" and "Call of the Lion" that were about how, as much effort as the Imperium is willing to expend to defend human worlds from xenos and bring them into the larger galaxy once more, it's always at the cost of Compliance.

Actually, as much stick as Fallen Angels gets from people here, I do like the parts set on Caliban which illustrate the cost of joining the Imperium, and give different opinions a fair shake - the nobles of Caliban might be mostly upset about the loss of their hereditary privileges, but it's not like they're wrong that Caliban has become completely unrecognisable with its forests cleared and population given no choice about relocating to arcologies and working in factories. I also liked the similar parts of Descent of Angels that were about how much things on Caliban changed both when the Lion came to power, and when the Emperor came to find him.

I've already decided I'm going to "read" the whole of the main Horus Heresy series in any case, but I was hoping people could recommend some stories set elsewhere in the 40K universe that were less milSF and more about the whole of the setting itself. I'm not looking for "day in the life" stories, really, just ones which have more to them than cool battle scenes and detailed descriptions of fights. Are there good stories about Inquisitors uncovering Chaos cults, for instance, or about Imperials forced into uneasy alliances with xenos species? Combat in the stories is fine, I just want more than just fight scenes.

I appreciate your time in reading this - especially if you read the spoiler-blocked stuff - and any replies!

[Sandlemad]

Gotta say, I look for the same thing. The 'cultural stuff' always seems miles more interesting than beat-by-beat descriptions of blow and counterblow. For novels where "more space is given to depicting people's attitudes and beliefs in such a different setting from our own" you're not going to beat:

- Prospero Burns. A very anthropological look at the space wolves, explicitly written in the style of the medieval Arab chroniclers of the norse (a la Crichton's Eaters of the Dead and/or The 13th Warrior). Culture, language, attitudes, superstition, it's all there as the narrator gropes towards a thick description of the Space Wolves and is repeatedly challenged. The big complaint a lot of folks had with this was that it didn't have enough battle scenes for a book that purported to be about the battle of Prospero but my feelings align with yours and I really enjoyed it. Some interesting stuff going on with imagery too, lots of stuff about eyes and taboos and apotropaic magic.

- The First Heretic. Questions of faith and theology handed more subtly than in The Last Church. I think you'll like this one. If you found Euphrati Keeler's arc interesting - from apathy to faith in the face of the monstrous - you will probably find Cyrene's arc just as interesting, if not more so.

They're fiddly to get (maybe less so now they're in some of the collections) but you might find that the novellas are better for this than the usual run of numbered HH novels.

- Brotherhood of the Storm is my favourite BL work. There is action but maybe two thirds of the book (via two of the three narrators) consists of reflections on the WS's philosophy of the warp, the culture of Chogoris, how the WS interact with the wider Imperium, and the personality of the Khan. Very pensive book, understated and thoughtful. The novel Scars might fit the bill as well in that it takes BotS as a base and applied a lot of growing paranoia and 'who knows what' tension. The same clash of attitudes going on between the Terran and Chogorian warriors bears fruit.

- Wolf King. There is one serious fleet battle and one large-scale boarding action but large parts of the book are interesting shipboard espionage, Russ dwelling on his relationship with the emperor and what he wanted of Fenris and the soul/culture of his legion. Meanwhile the wolves are getting claustrophobic and anxious about their place in the heresy.

- Aurelian. A lot of philosophy and stuff about the nature of the warp. Lorgar's basically on a spiritual vision-quest. This fills some gaps in The First Heretic but perhaps has less obvious theology? Some new glances on foundational 40k stuff though.

- Prince of Crows. You can find this in the Shadows of Treachery collection. Political scheming between the Night Lords leadership and an extended flashback/dream-thing on Nostramo where Sevatar gets to ask Kurze some hard questions about the ethics of what he and the NL have done throughout the crusade.

Other odds and ends:

- These might not exactly be what you're after but they sort of fit as stories where "fighting is just part of the narrative". The Crimson Fist (in Shadows of Treachery) and The Harrowing (in War without End) are both heavy on the action but treat it more like a historical account then a third person 'X stuck his power fist through the traitor', if you get me. I quite like that style but YMMV. Know No Fear is similar, it's written almost like a documentary or oral history about a disaster. Very tense and good at getting you into the mindset of an Ultramarine.

 

- Templar is written as a series of remembered duels but each of them represents an argument Sigismund is having with himself about loyalty, restraint, having to kill his brothers, etc. He fights against champions of other legions with other attitudes and viewpoints so even though this is practically the definition of a blow-by-blow sword-porn book, each blow is a chance for Sigismund to express and question his beliefs. He's a physical guy!

 - The War Without End collection has a few gems. Howl of the Hearthworld is a good look at Fenrisian culture and how bits of it - specifically names - can translate imperfectly in the wider imperium, but also how the wolves can use this to their advantage. Hands of the Emperor covers the stresses conflicting duties have on the Imperial Fists and the Custodes on Terra; one of those stories where everyone believes they are right (and sort of are) but there's still going to be bloodshed. Twisted is a quietly sad study of Maloghurst's character and his changing relationship with Horus.

- Shadows of Treachery has some good short stories, besides the novellas Prince of Crows and The Crimson Fist. Death of a Silversmith is tiny but atmospheric. The Lightning Tower is a solid character study of Dorn and his fears for the heresy. If you read Blood Games in Tales of Heresy, you'll get a leg up on this one (as well as Hands of the Emperor).

- The Garro stories. I wasn't that keen on these initially but Garro: Vow of Faith was good and would help you catch up with Keeler. The stories in The Silent War are pretty much all focused around espionage rather than just combat, if that's of interest. The short story The Sigilite is good; Malcador talks about human culture in the long term and there's a cameo from a Terran artefact that should be familiar to the reader, if not to a 30k citizen.

 

That was long! Hopefully there's bits there you might find useful.

 

EDIT: Oh, forgot Betrayer. Definitely Betrayer. The mongrel culture of a mongrel legion and how Angron's beliefs finally burst through into rebellion. What you felt about the nobles of Caliban and the complexity of the situation will apply x100 here.

[Marshal Rohr]

There is very little realistic military stuff in BL novels. Calling it milsf is like calling lord of the rings milsf.

[Ascanius]

Thanks very much, Sandlemad, that's a lot to work with!

 

Rohr, I know what you mean - it's not like most authors attribute realistic tactics to the way 40K forces fight - but there's still quite a bit of "bolterporn" out there from what I can tell. Plus, I just don't know what else to call stories which are mostly about the combat, even if real milSF aficionados would turn up their nose at all the power-armoured chainsword duels. The Lord of the Rings doesn't spend nearly as much time on detailed fight scenes, even though obviously it does describe small-scaled skirmishes and large battles alike.

[Disciple of Caliban Sgt]

Another recommendation is Know No Fear by Abnett. He has a good way of keeping them "gunporn" down to a minimum and not embellishing I believe. I know you are asking for lack of but have you tried the Gaunt's Ghost series? Anyway Fear to Tread and Know No Fear are the two I would add to the above list. Don't get me wrong they have their fight scenes but there are plenty of cultural inputs that I find fascinating in both. Know No Fear is actually got me doing a Ultra Army from the sheer awesomeness of the depiction and I never thought I would contemplate much less do a smurf army.

 

 

Please keep in mind that Gaunt's Ghosts will have lots of fighting (it is imperial guard after all) but I believe Abnett does quite well with it. Also ADB seems to have his pulse on keeping the death and dismemberment down so it is not merely mind numbing but actually has a point. The Primarchs as stated is good.

 

DoC

[Ascanius]

I may try the books mentioned that do have a lot of battle scenes in print, since I can get through them a lot faster. :)

[Sothalor]

Are you limiting yourself to the Horus Heresy material?

 

If you're looking for stuff that's most explicitly not front lines bolterporn, then absolutely check out the Eisenhorn and Ravenor series by Dan Abnett, which follows their titular Inquisitors. You get great glimpses of the "mundane" world of the Imperium: from the halls of the rich and powerful to mutant ghettos, from the idle rich trafficking in Xenos artifacts because they believe their wealth and influence sets them above the law to cults and secret societies embedded so deeply in the fabric of the Imperium that it's nigh-impossible to dig out all the rot. 

 

There's a follow-up, known as the Bequin trilogy (Bequin being one of the characters from Eisenhorn), but currently there's only one novel, Penitent. Also highly recommended.

 

 

There's also the Shira Calpurnia series by Matthew Ferrier, which is about the Adeptus Arbites and Calpurnia's navigation of her duties. Much of the novels is about how the Arbites interacts with the Ecclesiarchy, local culture, Rogue Traders, the Astropathic Choirs, and so on. They're very different from the "typical" 40K novels.

[Petitioner's City]

Are you limiting yourself to the Horus Heresy material?

 

If you're looking for stuff that's most explicitly not front lines bolterporn, then absolutely check out the Eisenhorn and Ravenor series by Dan Abnett, which follows their titular Inquisitors. You get great glimpses of the "mundane" world of the Imperium: from the halls of the rich and powerful to mutant ghettos, from the idle rich trafficking in Xenos artifacts because they believe their wealth and influence sets them above the law to cults and secret societies embedded so deeply in the fabric of the Imperium that it's nigh-impossible to dig out all the rot. 

 

There's a follow-up, known as the Bequin trilogy (Bequin being one of the characters from Eisenhorn), but currently there's only one novel, Penitent. Also highly recommended.

 

 

There's also the Shira Calpurnia series by Matthew Ferrier, which is about the Adeptus Arbites and Calpurnia's navigation of her duties. Much of the novels is about how the Arbites interacts with the Ecclesiarchy, local culture, Rogue Traders, the Astropathic Choirs, and so on. They're very different from the "typical" 40K novels.

 

These are indeed the least 'military science fiction' of 40K fiction. And one of the reasons Penitent's successors have not arrived is precisely because of this, they weren't selling the setting. But BL fortunately has changed their tune on this. 

 

In terms of civilian culture in Gaunt's Ghosts, this really began it - with Necropolis, Sabbat Martyr, Guns of Tanith, Traitor General, Blood Pact and Salvation's Reach all putting enormous focus on 'civilians' within the Imperial (and Chaotic) war machine. Maybe also the WW1-inspired novel. 

 

Basically, read Abnett if you want less milscifi :D And Matt Farrer. 

 

And perhaps the Necromunda novels?

[Sothalor]

A few more come to mind: the Ciaphas Cain series by Sandy Mitchell, which I've seen described as "Flashman in 40K" - it's about a Commissar who's more interested in making it alive to retirement by finding the safest, most comfortable postings in any current ongoing warzone possible - and failing miserably every step of the way. It's very much a tongue-in-cheek, lighthearted (for 40K) series. It's still "milsf" in the sense that the protagonist is a member of the Imperial Guard and that of course heavily informs the people he's around and the situations he finds himself in, but there's actually a fair bit of... call it the absurdity of the bureaucracy that he has to deal with, besides just the battles.

 

Also, Titanicus by Dan Abnett. Yes, ostensibly it's about a Chaos invasion of a Mechanicum Forge World and the Titan Legio that gets called in to oppose it. There's much more to it, as it goes into the relationship between the Imperium and the Mechanicum and deep-rooted schisms between differing viewpoints (think opposing theological stances on doctrinal viewpoints, with city-busting weaponry on giant mechs), the bonds between Titan and crew members, outskirt nomadic society, and so on.

[Ascanius]

Are you limiting yourself to the Horus Heresy material?

 

Not at all. :)

 

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations!