Black Library book's that you MUST READ

[pompeyladbfp]

Old BL gets some stick sometimes, everyone hates one author or moans about something.

So I thought I'd create a post  that might get inspire someone to pick up a novel they may have missed, or never had the inclination to read. So what I'd like to see is people posting the favourite book and why..

 

Emperors Gift by A-D-B

 

just a great read, fits in the background perfectly and brings to life the 1st battle of Armageddon and the war afterwards. Great character portrayal and it has that just one more chapter X-Factor.

 

over to you

[Carach]

HH books:

 

First Heretic

Know No Fear

 

probably the 2 best in the series, and connected to each other so could perhaps stand alone if one has not read anything else.

 

Haven't read the last 3 in the series however (expecting a bumper harvest for christmas this year though!) so i dunno if any of them are worth adding.

 

Outside of the heresy series i haven't read too much tbh. None that are on a level of wow like the two mentioned above, anyway. Eisenhorn/ravenor trilogies are awesome - I do like books with good continuity like that; where the characters become family. It's one of the reasons the Master & Commander series (not wh40k related) are my favourite books of all time.

[Kelborn]

Though I'm not an expert like some other guys in here, imho these ones just have earned it to be listed:

 

Bear in mind that I haven't read all published stories. Therefore it's more like a personal list of the "best".

 

30K

 

A Thousand Sons

Scars

Path of Heaven

Legion

The First Heretic

Betrayer

 

40K

 

Helsreach

Wrath of Iron

Night Lords trilogy

The Emperors Gift

Angels of Darkness

 

In between

Battle of the Fang

[helterskelter]

In before Laurie golding tells you to buy them all....

 

The Gildar Rift by Sarah Cawkwell

 

Really good read, nice flow, nice to see some red corsairs and silver skulls.

The boss battle is great too.

[Space Truckin]

Legion  by Dan Abnett

One of those books I've read a few times and enjoy something new about it everytime.   Great insight into the imperial guard and a great way to write a novel about the Alpha Legion without writing a novel about the Alpha Legion.  It's kinda their thing.   

[DarkChaplain]

Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett

Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari

Death of Integrity by Guy Haley

Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium by Sandy Mitchell

Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Baneblade by Guy Haley

Angels of Darkness by Gav Thorpe

Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha by David Annandale

 

There's a bunch of short stories I'd throw in the ring too but I figured novella+ was better suited here.

[Jim Shady]

Personally..... (I'll leave the HH stuff for now)

 

Dark Eldar Trilogy

Gaunt's Ghosts series

Wrath of Iron

Atlas Infernal

Night Lords trilogy

 

And from the SMB collection:

 

Rynn's World

Battle of the Fang

Legion of the Damned

Siege of Castellax

 

There's a small percentage of novels I didn't like and everything else was enjoyable but these I could easily re-read at any time.

 

What about including shorts or quick reads?

[Marshal Rohr]

Helsreach. You can do Blood and Fire, too.

[Scribe]

If I have to pick just 1, its Wrath of Iron. One of the very few books I finished, and immediately re-read. 

 

Its insanely good, covers multiple Imperial view points from Mortals to Marines, to AdMech, and Titans. It shows us that it is humanity, and the monsters it breeds out of necessity, that is evil in the 40K universe.

 

I cannot recommend it enough.

[pompeyladbfp]

yup wrath of iron was great, and so current at the time.

[Sete]

Helsreach. That was the book that dragged me into 40k.

Bought on a second hand market back when I lived in mainland UK.

[pompeyladbfp]

i think any BL book that makes you want to collect that army has done well

[Olis]

Necropolis. Still my favourite Gaunt's Ghosts book.

[Bonestomper]

My single favorite novel (of any genre) is Survival Instinct by Andy Chambers. And I teach literature!

[caladancid]

Shira Calpurnia Enforcer series by Matthew Farrer. Not much else gets down in the day to day life of the Imperium like these do.

[Jareddm]

Engine of Mork and its followup, Evil Sun Rising.

 

A lot of people skipped over them because they were just seen as tie-in stories for Sanctus Reach, but I consider them to be the best Ork POV stories in all of 40k, or if not that, certainly giving Deff Skwadron a very good run for its money.

[Kriegsmacht]

Let the Galaxy Burn anthology. HAs some really good fun stories on there.

[pompeyladbfp]

some real nuggets of gold in here, some to add to my kindle for sure..

[m_r_parker]

There are a few mainline novels that I'll always recommend, but most have already been mentioned above and will pretty much always be cited in topics like this (Night Lords trilogy, The First Heretic, Horus Rising, Galaxy in Flames), but there's a few that I don't think get the plaudits they deserve despite trying to promote them as much as I can:

The Purge - Anthony Reynolds

I have a soft sport for the Word Bearers, and for the main I really don't like the Ultramarines. Most of the time they're written a little too 'good' and honourable and that doesn't engage me in any way, but part way through this novella I was actually shocked at the levels they would go to to take out the invading Word Bearer forces. That final chapter where preparations are being made for an upcoming invasion is brutal in the extreme, something we rarely see in the HH series, and is completely iconic of the Word Bearers that makes them diabolical without turning them into moustache twirling cliches - a very hard line to walk. It's a fast read, and doesn't feel like it's lacking pace anywhere. I'm constantly lending my copy out to people just to make sure that a many people can read it, and will always promote this whenever I can.

Aurelian - Aaron Dembski-Bowden (aka A-D-B )

Aurelian isn't perfect (please don't hit me Aaron, not the face....) but in the whole it's a great read. The opening scene with Horus gathering the traitor Primarchs after the dropsite massacre is just glorious to behold, seeing the change in Lorgar to this uber-confident bad- is so rewarding. This is only made greater when part way through the meeting he actively draws his crozius and levels it at one of his brothers and makes a bold and damning accusation, that moment in itself just makes you sit up and take full notice of how he has changed. The conversation with Magnus from across the Warp echoes that change in Lorgar.

And the cover, that destroyed Avatar trying to crawl away as Lorgar stands in the background - I think A-D-B has said it was his favourite cover until MoM was commissioned.

Word Bearers Trilogy - Anthony Reynolds

Did I mention I have a soft spot for the Word Bearers? This time at least it's 40k and not Heresy-era. Out of the trilogy I think book 2 is probably the weakest, and book 3 is probably my favourite. As I said for The Purge, there's a fine line to walk in making an antagonist 'evil' without it becoming cliched and corny, but book 1 of this trilogy really sets the scene for just what the Word Bearers are capable of, and how they view everything else in the galaxy. The quite graphic depiction of the construction of the tower, from the various augmentations the slave workers are forced to endure down to the suspicious construction material going into the brick and cement, is truly disturbing (in a good way, which is that although distasteful at times it's not just there for repulsion, it enforces the cruelty of the Word Bearers and the 'wrongness' of what they're doing). And there's a real reason for them doing this that ties the trilogy together, it's not just the Word Bearers being evil and twirling their moustaches while laughing maniacally - there's an objective, and they achieve it. The third book really shows the infighting between the different Dark Apostles, even when they're assigned the same mission and objective, as well as showing the Imperial side of the invasion of a planet from a Word Bearer force. Combatting the deployment of invading Titan forces, reacting to multi-pronged assaults into cities, trying to keep morale up in an increasingly defeated and despairing military force. The final chapter of the book showing the discussion between Marduk and Erebus, and hinting at the continued rivalry between Erebus and For Phaeron for the heart of the Legion while Lorgar remains in isolation is so tantalising - I would dearly love to see that get developed somehow.

Helsreach - Aaron Dembski-Bowden

My favourite Space Marine Battles book so far, and one of the only depictions of the Black Templars that I truly enjoyed. They're so much in there that was just so right, and showing it from the POV of Grimaldus showed a lot of insight into the way a Marine mind worked without it getting to corny. The outburst between Grimaldus and Helbrecht before the invasion as the defending force is being briefed by Yarrick, with Grimaldus bellowing in the middle of the briefing 'You will not send me to die on that world!' was just so out of place for what I would expect a marine, yet alone a Chaplain, to say - and yet it completely fits, and grounds you into the story. The negotiations with the Crone of the Legio, getting the Titans to walk in support of Helsreach, was enthralling. Having a brief stop in the middle of the book , right after the initial assault on the Hive, to start to list the deaths of the Templars as time progresses drills home the attrition that they are suffering whilst defending this location. My favourite part though was probably the comparisons drawn between the Templars and the Salamanders after the defence of the docks; the Templars want to pursue the Orks and wipe them out, but the Salamanders want to recover their forces and setup better defences for the civilian population. Grimaldus wants them to stay and help defend the Hive City, but they want to head out and connect up with their Chapter Master, leaving an already depleted Templar force to certain doom. The final discussion between Grimaldus and the Sergeant petitioning the chaplain to speak in front of the Salamanders is particularly hitting. Grimaldus knows that to be asked to perform his duties to a different chapter is an exceedingly rare occurrence, and a great honour to do so to one of the original 20 Legions - but still he can't put aside the disdain he has for them, for how differently they operate, and tells them to 'Get the out of my city!', it's just beautiful.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

Rynn's World for sure, Deathwatch by Parker as well (that was really grim, too grim for normal 40k fans tbh, supposedly it didn't sell well? I thought it was one of the best 40k books I've ever read), Gunheads by Parker too, Brotherhood of the Snake.

[Olis]

Deathwatch by Parker as well (that was really grim, too grim for normal 40k fans tbh, supposedly it didn't sell well? I thought it was one of the best 40k books I've ever read),

Oh? Colour me interested in that one, then. ^_^

[Jareddm]

Deathwatch by Parker as well (that was really grim, too grim for normal 40k fans tbh, supposedly it didn't sell well? I thought it was one of the best 40k books I've ever read),

Oh? Colour me interested in that one, then.

One word: Genestealers.

[LaurieJGoulding]

In before Laurie golding tells you to buy them all....

 

Who's that?

 

I have my favourites, obviously. I really enjoyed 'Khârn: Eater of Worlds' by Anthony Reynolds, for that awesome bridge between 30k and 40k, and remaining so true to the character.

 

(The artwork was a bit meh, though...)

[caladancid]

Oh for sure Steve Parker's Deathwatch. One of the best.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Betrayer

First Heretic

Angels of Darkness

15 Hours

Necropolis

entire Ciaphas Cain series

 

if it wasnt for these stories I wouldnt be in the game