Importance (if any) of the Blackstone Fortress novels?

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

I'm hoping someone can let me know whether the Blackstone Fortress novels are worth checking out at least in regards to their impact on the 40K universe. It seems like the first novel and most/all of the short stories are basically Dungeons and Dragons... in SPAAAAAAAACE. But the final novel supposedly took a twist halfway through. Just curious if said twist is something that would be expected to ripple out into the rest of the setting and therefore be something I should take the time to read. Or if the entire series is just its own bubbleverse and not likely to ever be mentioned again.

 

I personally am fine with spoilers, but obviously not asking anyone to break whatever the set protocol here is (I don't delve into this particular forum all that often).

[aa.logan]

I’ve only read the first.

 

It was an ok romp, and fleshed out life on the frontiers of the Imperium a little, but as you have inferred elsewhere, doesn’t really contain any setting-altering bombshells. It’s pretty self-contained, and a light read, but I’m glad I got it in a humble bundle rather than by buying the fancy edition, however pretty it is.

[Ahriman]

Nothing universe shattering but still open to be exploited into something bigger one day.

[byrd9999]

If you just want to know the lore nuggets, maybe try a reddit forum?

 

Personally, I find Darius Hinks' style to be stodgy and a chore to read, but the short story anthology is great fun.

[sitnam]

I think the BSF is kind of its own contained thing. I quite enjoy both of Hinks novels, and wish they had a third in between the two, but I I doubt it'll have major 40k implications.

 

I think the real interesting bits about the two novels from meta perspective is the portrayal of some minor xenos species. Dahyak Grekh, the Kroot, has several chapters in book 1 that I thought were great, coming from a Kroot fan. The second novel heavily features both Joakaero and Zoat, which was nice to see

Edited November 8, 2020 by sitnam

[Red_Shift]

The short story anthology is the standout by far, mostly because of the Man of Iron character. I was thinking about the second full length Blackstone fortress novel the other day and I honestly struggled to remember what happened. I'm pretty sure it was nothing of any import.