Chronological order for Custodes reads?

[DOGGED]

Well the title says it all. As part of the initiation on Custodes lore, I've found many reads featuring them as main characters (secondary roles aside like seemingly those of the likes in The First Heretic or The Carrion Throne). But before I dive in (in fact I'm backpedaling from 50 pages into Master of Mankind) I'd like some advise on how to proceed in a chronological order.

 

The stories I'm referring to are these (I've included the synopsis from goodreads.com just in case this topic can be of any help for those people wondering as myself):

 

1. Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, by Chris Wraight. 

 

Constantin Valdor. It is a name that brings forth images of heroism, honour and peerless duty. For it is he who commands the will of the Legio Custodes that most esteemed and dedicated cadre of elite warriors. He is the Emperor’s sword, His shield, His banner and he knows no equal. Clad in shining auramite, his fist clenched around the haft of his Guardian Spear, he is the bulwark against all enemies of the throne, within or without.

 

Nearing the end of the wars of Unity, Valdor’s courage and purpose is put to the test as never before. The petty warlords and tyrants of Old Earth have been all but vanquished, and the Emperor’s armies are triumphant. What now for the nascent Imperium and what fate its forgotten soldiers, its Thunder Warriors and armies of Unity? A new force is rising, one which shall eclipse all others and open the way to the stars. But change on Terra is seldom bloodless and for progress to be ensured darker deeds are necessary.

 

2. Two Metaphysical Blades, by Chris Wraight. 

 

This is the story of two blades, spears crafted by the hand of the Emperor Himself in the days long before the birth of the Imperium. Linked, equal but opposite, these blades are destined to be wielded by two of the greatest heroes of the Age of Darkness. And as the spears themselves, Appolonian and Dionysian, are equal and opposite, so too are those to whom they were gifted. This is their story too. The warrior-scholar, a savant and a servant. The warrior-king, a savage and a soldier. Their fates entwined in ways they do not understand, they carry the blades as both gift and curse, fulfilment of destiny unseen by any save the Master of Mankind.

 

3. Blood Games, by Dan Abnett. 

 

Amon Tauromachian, one of the Emperor’s elite Custodian Guard, returns to the Imperial Palace after a year on one of the Blood Games by which these exalted heroes train. Tasked with a new mission, he is sent to the hives of Hy Brasil to check on the loyalty of a notorious troublemaker. With the galaxy at war and half the Imperium’s armies in rebellion, any hint of heresy on the Throneworld must be stamped out. Amon’s mission draws him into a web of deceit and betrayal, where no one can be trusted and nothing is at it seems. Can he unravel the truth and secure Terra for the Emperor?

 

4. The Master of Mankind, by Aaron Dembski-Bowen. 

 

While Horus' rebellion burns across the galaxy, a very different kind of war rages beneath the Imperial Palace. The 'Ten Thousand' Custodian Guard, along with the Sisters of Silence and the Mechanicum forces of Fabricator General Kane, fight to control the nexus points of the ancient eldar webway that lie closest to Terra, infested by daemonic entities after Magnus the Red's intrusion. But with traitor legionaries and corrupted Battle Titans now counted among the forces of Chaos, the noose around the Throneworld is tightening, and none but the Emperor Himself can hope to prevail.

 

5. Ordo Sinister, by John French.

 

The webway – a bizarre alien landscape created by the eldar in ages long past; a network of otherworldly tunnels that burrow through time and space. When the wards protecting the webway are accidentally breached by the primarch Magnus, hordes of daemons are able to exploit this weakness to attack the heart of Terra directly. While the Emperor himself tries to hold the wards in place, a desperate battle takes place in the webway itself – a battle that requires very special combatants – among them the Psi-Titan Borealis Thoon.

 

6. Magisterium, by Chris Wraight. 

 

The Webway War is over, the Custodian Guard devastated by the daemonic hordes that flooded the lower reaches of the Imperial Palace. Constantin Valdor, commander of the Emperor's Guard, stands at the head of his fellows, but in conflict with the Lord Commander of the Imperium, the primarch Rogal Dorn. And it is not the first time Valdor, the Emperor's magisterium, has found himself pitted against a primarch. His memories of Prospero are all too fresh…

 

7. Auric Gods, by Nick Kyme. 

 

For millennia the Adeptus Custodes have stayed true to their sworn duty – defend holy Terra and the God-Emperor to their very last breath. But when the Great Rift tears the Imperium apart, loosing tides of daemons upon mankind, they are faced with a dilemma. Should they continue to guard the Palace and the Golden Throne, or take to the stars to proactively root out the Ultimate Enemy? When Shield-Captain Cartovandis receives a mysterious distress call from the planet Vorganthian, he gathers a band of Custodians to investigate. When they arrive, they find a world in the grip of self-annihilation, overrun by Chaos cultists. In a race against time, the Custodians must find out what has happened, and hunt down those responsible, before the madness has a chance to reach its true target – something much closer to their hearts.

 

8. The Emperor's Legion (Watchers of the Throne 1), by Chris Wraight. 

 

The Custodian Guard have stood watch over the Emperor's Palace on Terra since the foundation of the Imperium. Charged with protecting the Master of Mankind from all threats, within and without, their fearsome resolve is renowned throughout the galaxy, and their golden armour is the last thing that a would-be assassin or saboteur will ever see. Alongside the Null-maidens of the Sisters of Silence, who are anathema to psykers and sorcerers alike, there is no threat to the Golden Throne that they alone cannot vanquish... until now.

 

9. The Regent's Shadow (Watchers of the Throne 2), by Chris Wraight. 

 

As Guilliman, Regent of Terra, heads off to lead the Indomitus Crusade, he leaves behind a world still in turmoil, beset by cult activity. Stripped of its huge armies for the galactic offensive, recovery is precarious. The Custodians do what they can while keeping the Palace secure, and the Sisters of Silence rebuild their citadel on Luna. When the warship Phalanx returns, it seems that stability will at last be assured. However, as reconquest forces push out further into the slums, they come across signs that another mysterious foe is active. The truth dawns – not every enemy is corrupted by Chaos, for there are many on Terra who do not share Guilliman’s vision of a new order, and the prospect of a Terran civil war looms...

 

 

That's it. I'll update the post with the correct order, also including stories where Custodes have secondary roles if they are deemed important enough. Any help will be appreciated. Cheers!

 

EDITED to correct order, include reads and for links and vocabulary mistakes.

Edited May 2, 2021 by DOGGED

[Hellex_The_Thanatar]

1 and 2 are incredibly swapped if you are talking chronological.

 

So are 3 and 4 I believe.

 

You could also throw Ordo Sinister in after MOM, it's not heavily about Custodes but they do feature in it a but.

[DOGGED]

1 and 2 are incredibly swapped if you are talking chronological.

 

So are 3 and 4 I believe.

 

You could also throw Ordo Sinister in after MOM, it's not heavily about Custodes but they do feature in it a but.

 

Thank you very much for the heads up, I updated it swapping the order for Two Metaphysical Blades and Valdor (read the first, already reading Valdor, definitely you are right) and including Ordo Sinister. Blood Games, I (for now) leave it before Master of Mankind but I'll check it when I read them both.

[DOGGED]

OK, so having gone thru 1-7 (except for John French's Ordo Sinister, but I trust Hellex_The_Thanatar's opinion on that) I can confirm the order is right.

 

Master of Mankind was a great read! Valdor also, the others not so great.

 

The Watchers of the Throne series has got a promising start.

[INKS]

some of the special editions are worth a TON. I prefer to get things in hardback to own. I might start getting these in audible or something so I can just listen.

[Hellex_The_Thanatar]

OK, so having gone thru 1-7 (except for John French's Ordo Sinister, but I trust Hellex_The_Thanatar's opinion on that) I can confirm the order is right.

 

Master of Mankind was a great read! Valdor also, the others not so great.

 

The Watchers of the Throne series has got a promising start.

Yeah ordo sinister is just a short story that can be summed up as:

 

Custodes request (not tell or order) the ordo sinister (turns out they are blanks btw) to help out in the webway because their losses are too high.

 

Ordo S says Yes even knowing he likely die.

 

So turns out the ordo sinister is it's own outside branch of power for the emperor and not under Custode rule (or at least not the Custodes that asked for help).

[INKS]

What about books like the carrion throne? I know they are more side characters here but is there a list of books where they are side characters?

[DOGGED]

What about books like the carrion throne? I know they are more side characters here but is there a list of books where they are side characters?

 

Don't know about them (I mean, have not read them, really) so if anybody has any feedback on them I'd gladly put 'em on the list.

[Plasmablasts]

The Vaults of Terra books (the Carrion Throne and The Hollow Mountain) are excellent and well worth a read. For the purposes of this thread, one of the minor Custodes characters from the Emperor’s Legion has a significant supporting role in TCT.