Suggestions for Savage 40K Books

[Badass_Spaz]

Hello everyone and welcome to this wee little thread of mine. I come to you fine chaps with a problem... The desire to indulge truly savage literature set in the 40K universe. I've read Night Lords, which somewhat satiated my need, and finishing the Iron Warriors Ombious. Honestly, the only thing I've come across as truly brutal was the Word Bearers Omnibus, which is a truly glorious cluster fluck in itself.

So after being dipped in the all consuming brutality the Word Bearers brought I'm at a loss of where to look next. And doesn't have to be awesome battle sequences but actual grim dark stories 40K is known for. I actually avoid the Space Marine Omnibus's cause I'm not one for overtly heroic characters.

Any suggestions would be loved!

[HeritorA]

Night Lords trilogy  will do just fine :)

[Sandlemad]

Look to the guard. 15 Hours and Dead Men Walking are two of the grimmest 40k novels and both pretty good, if not necessarily Night Lord trilogy good. The former is about (awful) life in the emperor's service, the latter is about the Death Korps. Both are relentlessly dark.

 

Wrath of Iron is another brute of a book; Iron Hands besieging a corrupted hive city alongside the guard and titans. Don't go in expecting likeability. Same applies to the recent Carcharodons: Red Tithe, very much Unpleasant Marines with a lot of brutality. To a degree Flesh of Cretacia (Flesh Tearers tearing flesh) and Legion of the Damned (bizarre Khorne hordes vs psychotic Imperial Fists descendants and spectral astartes) apply too, minimal heroism, heaps of gore but not just unthinking bolter-porn.

 

For grimdarkness par excellence though, you might want to have a look at Abnett's short story The Fall of Malvolion. Mordian Iron Guard covering the evacuation of a planet being invaded by Tyranids, very short story. It was originally published in WD at the release of the 3rd ed. nids codex in 2001. I can safely say that in the 16 years since, I have not read anything 40k-ish that is as completely and utterly bleak. It could work as an introduction to 40k's tone at its darkest, in fact.

[Indefragable]

Just finished Pharos within the past 12hrs. Ostensibly about UM/IF and maybe some DA/BA....but most of it was actually Night Lords terror-porn. I was surprised how interesting those parts were. 

[Roomsky]

If Anthony Reynolds scratches that itch, I'd follow up with his stuff. Not much else, but Khârn: Eater of Worlds and The Purge are probably worth looking into.

 

David Guymer's contributions to The Beast Arises had about the tone I expected from 40k, rather dark and characters frequently viewing violence as the only possible option. 

[HeritorA]

Just finished Pharos within the past 12hrs. Ostensibly about UM/IF and maybe some DA/BA....but most of it was actually Night Lords terror-porn. I was surprised how interesting those parts were. 

Indeed - probably cause they did what they do best :)

[JH79]

I can easily second The Purge... absolutly horrific in parts, never wanted to see a Space Marine suffer HARD for his partaking in what is "necessary".

[Indefragable]

Just finished Pharos within the past 12hrs. Ostensibly about UM/IF and maybe some DA/BA....but most of it was actually Night Lords terror-porn. I was surprised how interesting those parts were.

Indeed - probably cause they did what they do best

Some nice* touches:

-how the NL Dreadnoughts had video screens embedded in their armor, broadcasting the horrors to come

-extensive use of psy-ops, especially pumping screams through vox channels. The defenders get used to it until they realize it's what's happening to their comrades on the other side of the door

-the crucifixions as a SOP. Reminded me of Spartacus.

-every NL squad carries interrogation/terror tools with them and perform on-the-spot "inquiries" of grotesque natures. This makes them particularly adept at small-unit fighting where they have a slight advantage as their foe :cuss -es themselves without the sense of security large forces provide, and also they can gain intelligence and act on it extremely quickly

I also like how the above was portrayed in a military sense: the NL focus on the above to their detriment. At the tactical level it is extremely effective and useful, but on the strategic level it hurts them since they could be focusing on more urgent military matters (like fortifying positions and what not). It also makes them sloppy...something their opponents frequently exploit. The feral, alpha-wolf type leadership they display is also interesting. On one hand it pushes them to out-savage each other. On the other hand, there is much internal politicking and maneuvering, which again, erodes overall effectiveness. The NL also know they need numerical advantage to deal with the likes of the UM (or probably most other legions) as a result. It is a credit to their skill that they can so often maneuver to achieve it. On the other hand, when it comes to stand-up engagements they tend to get mauled very badly.

*probably not the right word in this context

[Apothecary Vaddon]

Deathwatch by Steve Parker. It was so grimdark the sequel(s) got cancelled because it was too grimdark and people didn't buy it. That's pretty grimdark.

Grimdark.

[Jareddm]

Just to make some OT comments.

 

 

 

 

-how the NL Dreadnoughts had video screens embedded in their armor, broadcasting the horrors to come

 This was introduced in their HH2: Massacre lore as something present on all Night Lords armor.  It's no longer just random lightning flashes, but whole video of horrific torture.

 

 

-extensive use of psy-ops, especially pumping screams through vox channels. The defenders get used to it until they realize it's what's happening to their comrades on the other side of the door

Pharos made me realize that the Night Lords might just have the best vox and communication experts in all the legions.  They must be exceptionally skilled in order to hack into pretty much any comm system they come across in their conquests.

 

[Badass_Spaz]

Well well well, I did not expect so many answers piled on when I came shuffling on back in here.

I guess Deathwatch is a must cause... Well, Grimdark and Pharos sounds excellent.

15 Hours, after reading a few blips regarding its background, has become a must and so has Deadmen Walking.

Pharos is tempting but I'm haven't even started the Horus Heresy series yet. I'm finishing other omnibuses and books before I dedicate an entire year or so of my life reading HH... Thus, I must be deprived.

Khârn is sittng on the Book Shelf and will be next after Dark Eldar Omnibus. Oh, and I'm listening to The Beast Arises audiobooks and they are glorious. That snivling bastard Vangrich... Love'em!

Otherwise, I appreciate everyone popping in here and giving me those fine suggestions.

[Ensis Ferrae]

I would also check out Red Tithe which is pretty brutal all around. It features Night Lords, and Carcharadons Astra (Space Sharks), two fairly "brutal" space marine units wiithin 40k.

[HeritorA]

I can easily second The Purge... absolutly horrific in parts, never wanted to see a Space Marine suffer HARD for his partaking in what is "necessary".

Through 'Purge' is my most beloved HH novella to date - it does not contain 'that' gruesome moments from Reynolds WB W40K trilogy. It's warfare - it's brutal, tragic. But without mass brutality of daemonic incursions/possesions of W40K. In the first book of WB trilogy that one scene with the tower is mych darker then all the events of Purge combined.

 

Deathwatch by Steve Parker. It was so grimdark the sequel(s) got cancelled because it was too grimdark and people didn't buy it. That's pretty grimdark.

Grimdark.

Yessss, forgot that. Probably one of the rarest BL PG-18 rating novels :)

[Xisor]

I might be wholly forgetting, but what was especially Grimdark about Deathwatch? I recall enjoying it a lot, as Parker's tremendous, but the detail escapes me.

 

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It's not 40k, but "Skarsnik" was the closest I've come to just setting a novel aside in revulsion and not looking back. It's a very good novel, but something about it really turned my stomach early on.

[HeritorA]

I might be wholly forgetting, but what was especially Grimdark about Deathwatch? I recall enjoying it a lot, as Parker's tremendous, but the detail escapes me.

 

---

 

It's not 40k, but "Skarsnik" was the closest I've come to just setting a novel aside in revulsion and not looking back. It's a very good novel, but something about it really turned my stomach early on.

Indisclosed 'beat' scene, brutality of Genestealers impregnant program

[JH79]

 

I can easily second The Purge... absolutly horrific in parts, never wanted to see a Space Marine suffer HARD for his partaking in what is "necessary".

Through 'Purge' is my most beloved HH novella to date - it does not contain 'that' gruesome moments from Reynolds WB W40K trilogy. It's warfare - it's brutal, tragic. But without mass brutality of daemonic incursions/possesions of W40K. In the first book of WB trilogy that one scene with the tower is mych darker then all the events of Purge combined.

*shudders* I have been eyeing up Reynolds' Word Bearers Omnibus as I really do enjoy his style of writing, but this has me worried re how much i would be able to take. I know it's the wrong mentality to have in a setting like 30 or 40k but i just cannot stand the "bad guys" winning / doing their thing lol

 

As for The Purge, while most of the warfare depictions were very graphic these didn't really get to me... it was more of what Talgron and his zealot nutcase buddy did on Terra that really just had me hand over mouth one mintute, fist clenched bashing a table the next. The fate of that poor Astartes had me relishing every second of agony and pain that Talgron endured, may he experience much much more in the near future! Great Novella though, easily one of the best next to Aurelian.

[HeritorA]

I can easily second The Purge... absolutly horrific in parts, never wanted to see a Space Marine suffer HARD for his partaking in what is "necessary".

Through 'Purge' is my most beloved HH novella to date - it does not contain 'that' gruesome moments from Reynolds WB W40K trilogy. It's warfare - it's brutal, tragic. But without mass brutality of daemonic incursions/possesions of W40K. In the first book of WB trilogy that one scene with the tower is mych darker then all the events of Purge combined.

*shudders* I have been eyeing up Reynolds' Word Bearers Omnibus as I really do enjoy his style of writing, but this has me worried re how much i would be able to take. I know it's the wrong mentality to have in a setting like 30 or 40k but i just cannot stand the "bad guys" winning / doing their thing lol

As for The Purge, while most of the warfare depictions were very graphic these didn't really get to me... it was more of what Talgron and his zealot nutcase buddy did on Terra that really just had me hand over mouth one mintute, fist clenched bashing a table the next. The fate of that poor Astartes had me relishing every second of agony and pain that Talgron endured, may he experience much much more in the near future! Great Novella though, easily one of the best next to Aurelian.

Yeap. Plus you could say that from one point of view that 'event' in the end was a loyalist victory through defeat :)

Plus additional point - traitors lost a competent commander instead getting another zealot