Solo novels - Not connected to anything...

[chevalierdulys]

I've been reading on and off for years, having read around 200 (most warhammer stuff) and some 40K I would like your opinion to read some solo novels.

One of the problems I face is that some novels are connected to others (even so slightly like there is a short story on X collection, a novella there and it's sometimes I want to read a novel and not being preoccupied ) but I would like some good entry points with solo novels... 

40K or Sigmar (Horror and Crime I am slowly readingI've read almost everything and warhammer also)

Btw, Necromunda, the Kal Jerico follows the three released ten years ago? of is like a clean slate?

Thank you

 

[Nagashsnee]

FIRE CASTE. 

 

 

I will take no questions.

[wecanhaveallthree]

Gunheads.

 

Some of the best tank action in the canon, a great multi-perspective military story. I'm shocked I don't see it mentioned more often in the same vein as, say, Fifteen Hours. Definitely one of the best standalone.

[theSpirea]

I'd say most of the recent (post Kal Jerico) novels can be read as standalone. Fire Made Flesh is my favorite from that setting. I will also mention the excellent Spark or Revolution novella.

Edited April 18, 2023 by theSpirea

[Tolmeus]

The novels of the 'Space Marine Battles' series. Of course not all of them are brilliant, but for me it was the surprising majority. And volumes like 'War for the Fang', 'World Engine' or 'Pandorax' work easily enough as singular novels without wider connections to the 30k or 40k scenario. 

 

To be fair though, it makes the experience certainly more worthwhile to have a general knowledge of Warhammer40k.

[Sothalor]

How "solo" are we talking here? The reality is, every 40K novel is intrinsically connected to the setting. There's just no getting away from fundamental mainstays of the franchise, like the warp, the Imperium, the technology, the aesthetics, etc. - they wouldn't be 40K novels otherwise.

 

And also, fundamentally, what is your issue with novels that are part of a series or have connected stories? Many of the best-regarded 40K novels are series, but as series may be read on their own without issue.

[chevalierdulys]

I mean per example, I wanted to read Book of Martyrs an anthology then I found out that that book connects with Rose at War and a couple of other novellas. Or per example devastation of baal that some suggested connects with a bunch of other BA novels making a timeline of BA history.

 

Of course I know they are all connected, after all they are set in the same shared universe... I am not knew to this.  I divided in two or three arcs, before 13th crusade, during and afterwards...

 

When I talk solo I mean like per example Straken,  Fifteen Hours (thinking the vast majority of IG novels are solo) or some of space marines battles. I just want a story and not being worried that, oh you know, there is a novella that links to this and you must read to finish the story (or a prequel). That kind of thing. 

 

Sorry if it was a confusing question. 

[EverythingIsGreat]

There's a few IG-related novels that are or could be read as standalone, like Rebel Winter, Iron Blood, Steel Tread etc. Some are good, some not so good, imo. The Emperor's Gift (Grey Knights), although referencing large swathes of the lore, can also be a stand-alone experience. It is a favorite of mine.

[chevalierdulys]

4 minutes ago, EverythingIsGreat said:

There's a few IG-related novels that are or could be read as standalone, like Rebel Winter, Iron Blood, Steel Tread etc. Some are good, some not so good, imo. The Emperor's Gift (Grey Knights), although referencing large swathes of the lore, can also be a stand-alone experience. It is a favorite of mine.

I have Emperor's Gift. I am going to read that one. Thank you

[DarkChaplain]

The sad part is that some of the standalone novels might have become trilogies or series, had they been more successful or BL management not been a :cuss:show at the time.

 

Space Marine Battles is certainly a good recommendation, with some exceptions; for a while it was trendy to add a novella or audio drama to go with the main novel. Those have usually been collected together a few years later (Helsreach + Blood and Fire = Armageddon; Battle of the Fang + The Hunt for Magnus = War of the Fang; The Fall of Damnos + Spear of Macragge = Damnos (though the audio drama Veil of Darkness exists, too); Rynn's World + Traitor's Gorge = The War for Rynn's World).

 

Some, like Purging of Kadillus, also connect to their respective authors' other works, but generally, they've all been written as standalone novels.

 

Other than that, I'd certainly recommend not going for singular standalone novels, but think in terms of trilogies - or rather, Omnibuses. Not only do you get a lot more bang for your buck, but also entire story arcs and the extra short stories, in entire print bricks.

[Sothalor]

Almost nothing outside of explicit collated series requires you to read or reference other works, even if they are connected in some way. Per your example, Devastation of Baal stands on its own perfectly adequately as a novel covering the attack on the Baal system by Hive Fleet Leviathan. There are characters that transcend that one book, yes, but it's by no means an incomplete story. Or Book of Martyrs - if its narrative stands on its own, what's the problem with it being connected to other things one of its authors has written? That kind of feels like complaining about an account of, say, Operation Market Garden because the 101st Airborne were also participants in the Ardennes Offensive.

 

 

Most of the time, these "links" you're referring to are essentially like easter eggs or cameos - brief cross-appearances or references to reinforce a larger setting - not integral plot points to the narrative of that specific work. 

 

Frankly, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Again, unless you're picking up something like Book 2 of 3 in a series, you won't find yourself with an incomplete story (quality may be a different matter). 

 

[chevalierdulys]

Thank you all for your recommendations... I do have the armageddon LE. Maybe I will enter that world. Always was interested in the Black Templars since the comics from BOOM Studio. Thank you again

 

 

[LemartestheLost]

1 hour ago, Sothalor said:

Per your example, Devastation of Baal stands on its own perfectly adequately as a novel covering the attack on the Baal system by Hive Fleet Leviathan. There are characters that transcend that one book, yes, but it's by no means an incomplete story.

Exactly this, The Devastation of Baal was my first entry into the lore and I thought it read just fine as a standalone story. In fact, I’d argue that all three of Guy Haley’s Blood Angels “trilogy” works read fine by themselves. I also can recommend Steel Tread for Imperial Guard. Apocalypse from the Space Marine Conquests books is a standalone banger as well!

[chevalierdulys]

thank you all for you input.  My only thing with solo stuff is that sometimes you need something that's not a 10 book series (or three for that matter). Sometimes I was just want to grab a book read and finish and be done.  I read a lot of other stuff besides warhammer. I read maybe one black library novel per month (or every other month) and having finish a couple of big series beast arise & gaunt ghosts I Was searching for those isolated stuff to read. Don't get me wrong, I do know about 40K universe. i've been collecting novels since 2001 but my joy was more on warhammer fantasy (which I am ten books to finish it all). That's why I Was investigating about 40K 

Nevertheless, I do appreciate and I've got here some interesting recommendation (steel thread, Armageddon and emperor's gift.) Thank you again.

[Dzirhan]

Space Marines Battles has already been said, there's the various older imperial guard novels which are standalone and been compiled into omnibus (though Gunheads actually has a prequel short story but not necessary to read before the novel, 15 hours has a post-event short story as well), unorthodox selection would be the Primarchs and character novels which pretty much a a standalone novel in the sense that it covers a phase of the characters life and wraps up at the end of the novel (e.g Cassius, Lemartes, Astorah, Sigismund, Helbreacht). There's the compilation in one book of short stories and novellas in a faction title series (e.g Ultramarines, Astra Miltarium, Sons of Corax and Legacy of the Wulfen) and of course the earlier black library novels, even though part of a series could be read as standalone such as Execution Hour and even First and Only. Henry Zou's now redacted Bastion War trilogy actually can be largely read alone even though some of  the characters run through the series, Paul Kearney's two Calgar books can be just read standalone separately as the only thing tying them is Calgar himself. Some of the standalone novels such as Silver Skulls, Sons of Dorn actually read like they were meant to be a series but for various reasons ended up not going further, the Gildar Rift from Space Marine Battles is one book with a number of unresolved plotlines. Finally Guy Haley's two tank books, baneblade and shadowsword, and Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain series even though they feature the same lead character can be pretty much read standalone with no problem

[Dzirhan]

I should also add that some of the latest offerings, like Outgunned and Assassinorum: Kingmaker are standalone, though Kingmaker does leave open the possibility of a sequel, and almost forgot about Death World, an older novel but a good story

Edited April 19, 2023 by Dzirhan

[Arguleon Veq]

Daemon World by Ben Counter… especially if you like operatic, over the top, old school Warhammer 40k novels

[sitnam]

If we are looking strictly for solo books, no limited 2 or 3 part series, then Shroud of Night is a good one. I don't even like Alpha Legion but it made me a fan of Andy Clark 

[gaurdian31]

Space Marine Battles/Conquests are good stand alone books as stated, so is Assassinorum: Kingmaker and Shroud of Night. I would also recommend Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier if you can find it. Great stand alone chaos book, same with Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill.

[chevalierdulys]

On 4/20/2023 at 3:04 PM, gaurdian31 said:

Space Marine Battles/Conquests are good stand alone books as stated, so is Assassinorum: Kingmaker and Shroud of Night. I would also recommend Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier if you can find it. Great stand alone chaos book, same with Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill.

Oh I have the book. All you mentioned. I recently read Simon Spurrier Fire Warrior (but since it was a game related stuff it wasn't that great to be honest. But I love his take on the Xenology. Really love it. Maybe I going to go for that one. Thank you

[Carach]

The Warhammer Crime books are decent and relatively short reads. Each of them are self-contained.

 

I've read Grim Repast, Bloodlines and Flesh & Steel so far; They're all decent, though they are all detective stories rather than big action bolterporn items, just fyi

 

 

[Taliesin]

Spear of the Emperor by ADB. A second novel has been in the works for many years but for now it remains a great standalone book.

[lost_angel]

On 4/18/2023 at 6:28 PM, Tolmeus said:

The novels of the 'Space Marine Battles' series. Of course not all of them are brilliant, but for me it was the surprising majority. And volumes like 'War for the Fang', 'World Engine' or 'Pandorax' work easily enough as singular novels without wider connections to the 30k or 40k scenario. 

 

To be fair though, it makes the experience certainly more worthwhile to have a general knowledge of Warhammer40k.

Going to chime in off the back of this comment to say that Chris Wraight’s Wrath of Iron is distilled 40k at its best. 

[cheywood]

28 minutes ago, lost_angel said:

Going to chime in off the back of this comment to say that Chris Wraight’s Wrath of Iron is distilled 40k at its best. 

In the midst of rereading it now. By no means would I call it Wraight’s best novel - his character development, prose, plotting, and pacing have all improved dramatically over the years - but I can’t think of any novel, from any author, that better captures the Imperium’s approach towards warfare or its treatment of individual beings.