Black Library book's that you MUST READ

[HeritorA]

Oh, man. Good topic!

 

I think you have to read a couple of the Ian Watson classics, for a look at where all this started. Space Marine goes to some strange places, but, regardless how you feel about the prose or its story, it challenges the reader. More, it doesn't pull punches. It portrays this universe in a suitably dark manner, something many novels don't even attempt.

 

Storm of Iron, mentioned earlier, is another one I'd say is a must. It has memorable characters on both sides, great action, and a suitably dark ending. I still think it's one of McNeill's best works.

 

Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series feels like an indispensable part of this setting. Not every book is of the same quality, obviously, but there are so many amazing moments and characters scattered, throughout. Had there been a novel before this series that came close to evoking so many emotional responses for the deaths of favored characters? I wish Abnett all the best of his career, but his success in other media will have been at severe cost to this setting if this series does not receive a proper ending by the man who started it.

 

From the Horus Heresy series, Abnett's Horus Rising and Legion cannot be omitted. The former opens the doors to the events that defined this setting. The latter dared to re-imagine a past that people had taken for granted. You can love it or you can hate it, but you can't deny that it took guts, or that it gave license to others to explore ideas and re-imagine concepts in a way that probably wasn't possible before.

 

The influence of Angels of Darkness can't easily be determined, but I think Gav Thorpe's classic has to share space with The Unforgiven. Angels raised questions and controversy. The Unforgiven has given answers that perhaps no one anticipated, more controversial than perhaps even Astelan's filthy heresy.

 

Simon Spurrier's Lord of the Night is another classic. Though not the first to cast a villain as the protagonist, it is the earliest Warhammer 40k novel that I can recall where a character from a faction understood to be evil saw himself as righteous and justified. Zso Sahaal's reckoning with Krieg Acerbus was a masterstroke of revelation, the former Talonmaster having his eyes opened to how wrong he had been about his legion.

 

Helsreach, the Night Lords Trilogy, and The Talon of Horus also feel so essential. Dembski-Bowden's incalculable contribution to this setting has been to pave the way for the villains of this setting to be shown in a way that allows us to at least recognize their motivations - to make them something more than an antagonist with ambitions to see the galaxy burn. He has challenged our perception of the Imperium's pre-eminent heroes, as well, forcing us to look for more than blunt, straightforward superhumans.

 

Likewise, The First Heretic has to be included. Master of Mankind covered monumental events and Betrayer was epic in its own right, but The First Heretic was when we finally got a chance to see the fight through the eyes of villains without said characters being out-and-out antagonists. Not every Word Bearer was likeable, but this book banished the specter of a legion turned to Chaos out of obsessive pettiness. I mean no disrespect to other authors, but there are Dembski-Bowden's Word Bearers; and then there are everyone else's.

 

Finally, there's John French's Praetorian of Dorn on this list, as well. This is one of those titles whose content perhaps no one anticipated or had on their wish-list before this series became the expansive setting of ideas that it is. No one, that is, anticipated a story of Alpharius using all his skills, cunning, and resources to steal into the seat of Imperial Power and force a showdown against Rogal Dorn. The audaciousness of the idea is matched only by that of the novel's end. We talk about there being too many unnecessary stories devoted to this setting, and I find myself wishing that there was more time and room for French to work his magic.

What you said: 'Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series feels like an indispensable part of this setting'

- true, even through almost half of the time the background information and lore are totally screwed in it.

'I wish Abnett all the best of his career, but his success in other media will have been at severe cost to this setting if this series does not receive a proper ending by the man who started it.' - sadly it is exactly that.

 

Also PoD sailed totally unexpectedly into our nets with the shocker ending lol.

'We talk about there being too many unnecessary stories devoted to this setting, and I find myself wishing that there was more time and room for French to work his magic.' - same brother, we defenitely want the same

[R_F_D]

Happy to start a different thread on the second topic if needs be but firstly; whatever happened to Gordon Rennie?  I really enjoyed his two Battlefleet books.

Second, are the Forge World HH books available in another format other than the hardback versions?

[HeritorA]

Happy to start a different thread on the second topic if needs be but firstly; whatever happened to Gordon Rennie?  I really enjoyed his two Battlefleet books.

Second, are the Forge World HH books available in another format other than the hardback versions?

Gordon Rennie has created an awesome Gothic War duology and some epic comics stuff during BL early years, but then he simply left to create for another setting.

[Xisor]

Happy to start a different thread on the second topic if needs be but firstly; whatever happened to Gordon Rennie?  I really enjoyed his two Battlefleet books.

Second, are the Forge World HH books available in another format other than the hardback versions?

I almost attended a signing he'd be at, once, but it was cancelled for some reason. I was gutted.

 

More than all that: his BFG books were pretty much the books that drew me into 40k. (I originally started out playing BFG way before I had serious interest in 40k itself.) SO I was terribly keen to read those novels, but suspected that Space Marine books would be inherently boring. ("If they're done right, they'd have to be immensely tedious hyper violent psychopaths." <reads a Ventris short...> "This was not done right.")

 

In any event, I never knew why he didn't work with them. But those books were (and still are) downright amazing. The cast of characters, the choice of scenes and novel ideas for which pieces to focus on. They're unrelentingly brilliant, in my humble esteem.

 

Anyone who hasn't read them - go read them.

 

--- 

 

It's one I often forget about, and isn't even a novel, hell it's not even my favourite from the author (though he is my favourite author), everyone and anyone should go an find a copy of Matthew Farrer's The Masters, Bidding. A Chaos Marine short story.

 

I'd say it's the very best rendition of Chaos Space Marines in 40k. It really gets to the heart of everything about them. It's one I rarely hear mentioned though, especially because it's a short story. (Though I'm sure it's about 70+ pages long, so it's not exactly short!)

[HeritorA]

Happy to start a different thread on the second topic if needs be but firstly; whatever happened to Gordon Rennie? I really enjoyed his two Battlefleet books.

Second, are the Forge World HH books available in another format other than the hardback versions?

I almost attended a signing he'd be at, once, but it was cancelled for some reason. I was gutted.

More than all that: his BFG books were pretty much the books that drew me into 40k. (I originally started out playing BFG way before I had serious interest in 40k itself.) SO I was terribly keen to read those novels, but suspected that Space Marine books would be inherently boring. ("If they're done right, they'd have to be immensely tedious hyper violent psychopaths." <reads a Ventris short...> "This was not done right.")

In any event, I never knew why he didn't work with them. But those books were (and still are) downright amazing. The cast of characters, the choice of scenes and novel ideas for which pieces to focus on. They're unrelentingly brilliant, in my humble esteem.

Anyone who hasn't read them - go read them.

---

It's one I often forget about, and isn't even a novel, hell it's not even my favourite from the author (though he is my favourite author), everyone and anyone should go an find a copy of Matthew Farrer's The Masters, Bidding. A Chaos Marine short story.

I'd say it's the very best rendition of Chaos Space Marines in 40k. It really gets to the heart of everything about them. It's one I rarely hear mentioned though, especially because it's a short story. (Though I'm sure it's about 70+ pages long, so it's not exactly short!)

Yes yes and yes - I totally forgot that awesome story from Farrer. Xisor do you remember how funny stories Emmesh-Aiye and Khrove has created

[Augustus]

Slight side:

 

I've seen many of you mention Helsreach. I really liked AD-B's novella? with the celestial lions. Is there more of the same?

 

==

 

For Space Marines I'd go with Ragnar Blackmane You get 3 chapter characterizations (expertly done, I might add)

 

Imperial Guard I'd go with Fifteen Hours

 

Chaos I'd go with Ahriman-Exile

[Kelborn]

helsreach is imho THE Black Templar novel out there

 

It convinced me to keep up with Warhammer.

Aaron did a tremendous job here. It's one of the few I would recommend at any time. :)

[Augustus]

Cool. I'll give it a shot. The reason I let it pass was because the Armageddon setting has never really interested me. 

[Azaryn]

What would be the must read for a Blood Angels fan? 

 

I wouldn't mind reading some Raven Guard stuff too.

 

I loved Wrath of Iron but didn't like Ravenwing at all ...

[HeritorA]

What would be the must read for a Blood Angels fan? 

 

I wouldn't mind reading some Raven Guard stuff too.

 

I loved Wrath of Iron but didn't like Ravenwing at all ...

For the Blood Angels you are not in luck. That Legion/Chapter suffer from the absence of good stories.

Raven Guard almost the same - through George Mann W40K Raven Guard (amazing audio 'Thelion Rain', splendid novella 'The Unkindness of Ravens', awesome short 'With baited breath'; 'Shrike' from the Legends of Space Marines.

They are much better than their HH counterparts from Thorpe. Through he has an amazing audio 'Raven flight'.

Wraith of Iron is about the Iron Hands  - and tis good. Ravenwing is from Thorpe about DA, which is bad. Unforgiven is much better - Ravenwing the worst part of the trilogy.

Read Angels of Darkness, Unforgiven about DA. A lot of good DA stories in HH - like Savage weapons from A D-B (the best Lion in HH ever), Lion from Thorpe and Angels of Caliban.

[Azaryn]

 

What would be the must read for a Blood Angels fan? 

 

I wouldn't mind reading some Raven Guard stuff too.

 

I loved Wrath of Iron but didn't like Ravenwing at all ...

For the Blood Angels you are not in luck. That Legion/Chapter suffer from the absence of good stories.

Raven Guard almost the same - through George Mann W40K Raven Guard (amazing audio 'Thelion Rain', splendid novella 'The Unkindness of Ravens', awesome short 'With baited breath'; 'Shrike' from the Legends of Space Marines.

They are much better than their HH counterparts from Thorpe. Through he has an amazing audio 'Raven flight'.

Wraith of Iron is about the Iron Hands  - and tis good. Ravenwing is from Thorpe about DA, which is bad. Unforgiven is much better - Ravenwing the worst part of the trilogy.

Read Angels of Darkness, Unforgiven about DA. A lot of good DA stories in HH - like Savage weapons from A D-B (the best Lion in HH ever), Lion from Thorpe and Angels of Caliban.

 

Thanks for the tips will add a couple of those to my list.

[HeritorA]

 

 

What would be the must read for a Blood Angels fan? 

 

I wouldn't mind reading some Raven Guard stuff too.

 

I loved Wrath of Iron but didn't like Ravenwing at all ...

For the Blood Angels you are not in luck. That Legion/Chapter suffer from the absence of good stories.

Raven Guard almost the same - through George Mann W40K Raven Guard (amazing audio 'Thelion Rain', splendid novella 'The Unkindness of Ravens', awesome short 'With baited breath'; 'Shrike' from the Legends of Space Marines.

They are much better than their HH counterparts from Thorpe. Through he has an amazing audio 'Raven flight'.

Wraith of Iron is about the Iron Hands  - and tis good. Ravenwing is from Thorpe about DA, which is bad. Unforgiven is much better - Ravenwing the worst part of the trilogy.

Read Angels of Darkness, Unforgiven about DA. A lot of good DA stories in HH - like Savage weapons from A D-B (the best Lion in HH ever), Lion from Thorpe and Angels of Caliban.

 

Thanks for the tips will add a couple of those to my list.

 

My pleasure. Plus I remembered an amazing Raven Guard audio drama from George Mann 'Labyrinth of Sorrows'. Both this one and 'The Unkindness of Ravens' and short 'With Baited breath' are connected. And depict conflict at Sargassion Reach against Death Guard.

First goes 'Labyrinth of Sorrows', then 'With Baited breath', then The Unkindness of Ravens'