HH characters in 40k books

[Izlude]

Was curious about some of the 40k books dealing with the HH characters like Abaddon and Ahriman. I generally only read in the HH setting mostly due to time/money plus I never much cared for the few 40k books I have read. I don't know too much about the 40k books that deal with main HH characters. and a few questions about the books from my favorite HH authors.

 

1. The Talon of Horus: I just got it from Amazon and a few chapters in, it is really good so far. I got it mostly since it was written by ADB and heard Abaddon is more than some blood hungry maniac and has some depth to him. Is this the Black legion series that people are talking about? Is this the only book thus far?

 

2. Ahriman: I love John French's work in the HH series and he is definitely one of my favorite authors. I always enjoyed this character and it looks like there is a trilogy done with Ahriman. The reviews look overall very good, is there much tie in with HH setting? Recommend?

 

3. Nightlords: I have never been much of a nightlords fan although I have enjoyed Sevatar and the NLs in Pharos but they always came across as sort of cartoony to me. I read little about Talos in the HH setting and he didn't strike me as super interesting compared to some others. It looks like there is a trilogy with this as well. 

 

I think these are the ones that people have generally liked and as mostly a HH reader, would these books still be worth the read? Also on a side note I always found it interesting that all the traitor legion characters like the above, Fabius, Khârn, etc are alive and kicking in the 41 timeline and like no "loyalist" equivalents around...looks like it pays to sell your soul to Chaos ha ha.

[helterskelter]

Iron warriors from the storm of iron/dead sky, black sun, are in the heresy too. Berossus for one

[Sandlemad]

All three of the books/series you mentioned are widely considered to be among the very best BL works around. All of them are centred around characters who are looking backwards, at what they used to be, and comparing that with where they are now. They don't necessarily tie in directly - events like Prospero or Terra are referenced frequently and there's occasional flashbacks - but they're all engaged in a dialogue with the heresy, so to speak.

 

1. That is indeed the only Black Legion book but the next instalment is coming out late this year. Some of the characters do not or have not appeared in the heresy novels but they all lived through it and bear its scars in one way or another. The narrator Khayon, for example, has a strained relationship with Ahriman and Magnus both, and you'll get more from it if you know what they were like.

 

2. 100% recommend. It has a heavy, heavy dose of warp-craziness, so that makes it tonally quite different to most HH books. Fair bit of time-travel nuttiness too. It's all appropriately Tzeentchian and the plot be difficult to follow sometimes but very worthwhile. Really excellent.

There is a lot of tie-in with the heresy in the first book, Ahriman: Exile, to the point where if you have not read A Thousand Sons, some of the characters' relationships and background will be a bit opaque to you. The subsequent books have less of a direct tie-in the heresy stuff - a lot of the characters do not appear in the HH books - but build on the character of Ahriman, Magnus and the wider legion for some of the plot points.

 

3. The NL trilogy is excellent. Talos was a bit of a nobody during the heresy (he had the ear of the primarch at some point but he was 'just' a line apothecary and not a big mover and shaker compared to Sevatar) but he makes for an interesting character. These books are a laser-focused look at the trials and tribulations of one NL warband in some pretty dire circumstances.

All of the main characters spend a lot of time thinking about, working through, and discussing what they did during the crusade and heresy, what Curze intended for the legion, what they legion should be, what the legion is, what kind of relationship they should have with the gods, and other inside details. They all have pretty different views on these subjects but it's a lot more considered and less moustache-twirling than the NL in Pharos. They're all horrible, horrible monsters ten times over, and many of them relish what they do, but there's thoughtfulness about the why.

 

I would also recommend Fabius Bile: Primogenitor and Khârn: Eater of Worlds for any 30k reader getting into 40k fiction. They're similarly reflective about the heresy and what has changed since then. Both have characters you'll be familiar with but develop them strongly.

[DarkChaplain]

Gav Thorpe's Angels of Darkness/Legacy of Caliban books have Astelan in them, who is active during the Heresy. Dark Angels stories often have cameos, like Attias(sp?) in C Z Dunn's The Ascension of Balthasar or his Pandorax with who may or may not be a known character.

Then there's the Flesh Tearers book which has Amit in Flesh of Cretacia and Sons of Wrath, but whether you count that as actual 40k or not is up to you.

Swallow also tied his 40k Blood Angels back to Meros iirc.

[HeritorA]

Gav Thorpe's Angels of Darkness/Legacy of Caliban books have Astelan in them, who is active during the Heresy. Dark Angels stories often have cameos, like Attias(sp?) in C Z Dunn's The Ascension of Balthasar or his Pandorax with who may or may not be a known character.

Then there's the Flesh Tearers book which has Amit in Flesh of Cretacia and Sons of Wrath, but whether you count that as actual 40k or not is up to you.

Swallow also tied his 40k Blood Angels back to Meros iirc.

Sadly. It's ruin the imersion into setting. Instead of wide range of interesting characters - we have all the same ones. It's  like Santa-Barbara. And tiresome :)

[Izlude]

So I ended up getting the BL Ahriman trilogy series. It looks like it has the three main books and then a handful of shorts. Can I read the shorts before tackling the 3 mains or does it make sense to read the 3 main stories first?

 

Oh about 1/4 done with The Talon of Horus. Man it is truly an awesome book, it is every bit as good as ADB's other HH stuff. I may just have to get the NL's trilogy as well. Looking forward to the next black legion book!

[DarkChaplain]

I'd have recommended waiting for the Omnibus in spring, personally. It has them all in order I believe.

John French actually posted a reading order on his blog:

http://john-french.blogspot.de/2015/01/ahriman-series-order-of-stories.html

[HeritorA]

I'd have recommended waiting for the Omnibus in spring, personally. It has them all in order I believe.

John French actually posted a reading order on his blog:

http://john-french.blogspot.de/2015/01/ahriman-series-order-of-stories.html

Which is probably the best ever list to follow while dealing with Ahriman.

[Kelborn]

A miracle!

The authors reading order is the best!

 

(Sarcasm :P)

 

Can't wait for the Omnibus. Think that all the time shrnanigans are way better when read in a row.

[HeritorA]

A miracle!

The authors reading order is the best!

(Sarcasm )

Can't wait for the Omnibus. Think that all the time shrnanigans are way better when read in a row.

Yeah - they are. A lot of us read them as they were released. And not in that order - so the new readers has advantage of going from point to point :)