If you could only keep ten 40k books, what would they be?

[Roomsky]

Scribe mentioning he's paring down his 40k literature to only personal essentials set me to thinking: what Black Library books would I hold on to if I had to downsize to the bare minimum? Since the forum's been a bit slow since the Heresy ended, I thought It might be a fun thing to share.

 

This is different from your top 10 Black Library books since you probably don't want to bring along something from the middle of a series. What's more, you may want a variety of authors and tones if limited to so small an amount.

 

To keep everyone's lists comparable, I'm instituting the following rules:

 

No Omnibuses - if you'd like a trilogy, that's 3 of your slots

No Horus Heresy (though you can include the 10 Heresy books you'd take as well, if you like)

No Anthologies - this is just to avoid muddying the waters

 

I'll start us off:

 

Space Marine - Still captures the madness of early 40k perfectly. While it doesn't reach the heights of the scene with the Emperor in Draco, I find it much more readable front to back. The antithesis of modern Walmart 40k.

 

Fire Made Flesh - The best Necromunda book, and Flowers is a great writer. Gives a good spread of the factions and is very well written.

 

Twice Dead King: Ruin - The Necron book I always wanted.

 

Honourbound - A nicely self-contained story that develops an original regiment and goes to far more believably human places than most 40k works do.

 

Fire Caste - Look, Fehervari's amazing in general but Fire Caste is on yet another level for me. It's so good that I have a hard time reading anything else when revisiting the man's works, probably my pick for #1 Black Library book ever.

 

Lord of the Night - An absolute classic that set the gold standard for Chaos Space marine stories.

 

Talon of Horus - ADB's my favourite Black Library author, and Talon of Horus is a triumph in every field. Great ruminations on the warp and life in the Eye.

 

The Carrion Throne - Seeing the rotting carcass that is the throneworld in all its glory. Banger of an Inquisitor story, too.

 

Titanicus - All the Abnettian crativity and humanity packed into a single great story instead of a lengthy series. What's not to love?

 

Brutal Kunnin` - Not actually my favourite ork book, but I wanted some humour in here and the ork book is the best place to get it. The juxtaposition in POVs remains brilliant and it's a very easy read.

[Scribe]

Soul Hunter Trilogy - This is peak CSM 40K.

Carrion Throne Trilogy - Yes sir, this is the Imperium. None of this 'no no its actually functional and there is nobility here'. Its a disaster, top to bottom.

Master of Mankind - The best of the Heresy that has the Emperor involved at all and the Event Horizon for the setting.

Bile Trilogy - This has a special place in my heart.

 

And thats 10.

 

[grailkeeper]

10 copies of the Infinite and the Divine.

[aa.logan]

*Really* good question.

 

Having largely moved to ebooks and scaled back my collection, I’ve opted to further restrict myself to books I own physical copies of. I’ve aimed for a balance of factions and authors, but have somehow come out quite Inquisition-heavy…

 

They are arranged in the order I took them off my shelves rather than by any particular preference.

 

 

To justify my selections-

 

Ghazghull Thraka

Perfect Ork book, near perfect Imperium one. Brilliantly written, nails the tone of the universe perfectly 

 

Rites of Passage

I unapologetically love Brooks’ writing but since I seem to no longer own any Crime or Horror books, I had to choose this one anyway, since BL books set away from the frontlines are probably my favourite. Completely changed my thinking about Navigators, and how the Imperium functions. Chetta is great and I want her in a book again please.

 

Mark of Faith

Do I over-rate this book purely because of a single paragraph towards the end? Maybe. The rest of the book is pretty damn good and it’s one of my favourite LEs, aesthetically.

 

Soul Hunter

First time I read this book it prompted my first-ever 40k-themed dream, which means it *just* edges out Talon of Horus. What a cast of absolute illegitimate sons. 
 

Liber Xenobiologis

A complete hidden gem and one that should have gotten way more plaudits, and a much wider release. Surprisingly good narrative, absolutely gorgeous art. I’d place it behind only Codex Imperialis in my personal pantheon of essential 40k texts

 

Xenology

Wasn’t going to include this, but when I was getting out the previous title I couldn’t resist. I sorely wish there were more in-universe texts. 
 

The Diary From the Cadia Stands Mega Edition

Nearly put the novel in, because it’s magnificent, but it didn’t have me in literal floods of tears like this did. It’s near criminal that this is only accessible to the lucky few like me who stumped up for the fancy box- it was worth it for this alone.

 

Inquisition War Trilogy

Almost entirely personal choice here, it’s where it all started for me. If I still had my Boxtree copy of Chaos Child I’d have included just that and picked two other books (Likely Bile 1 and Lord of the Night, but maybe Lords of Silence-CSM books are evidently the best…), but I’m restricted to the omnibus and don’t mind too much. Re-read it fairly recently and it’s still amazing. 
 

They’re mainly relatively recent, I see looking back over my list- there are lots of older titles that would be in contention but since I only have ebooks of them I have decided that they don’t count.

 

Edited July 17 by aa.logan

[Felix Antipodes]

I admire those who have the mental steel to attempt this sort of thing.  I couldn’t get it down to just ten books even if I limited myself to just a couple of authors 

 

I second @aa.logan about wanting more stuff like Xenobiology.  Love these sort of pseudo-history books.  While I’m sorta wishlisting, I’d love them to give the Inquisition War trilogy the fancy LE box treatment.  Yeah, no longer canon, but crazy bonkers and a personal favourite.

[SvenIronhand]

I'm with Felix. I couldn't possibly do that. 

I would want more like Spear of the Emperor.

(Where's my sequel, ADB?)

[grailkeeper]

My serious answer

 

1. Storm of Iron. Not the first 40k novel I read, but the first that I thought was good. I had read a few of William Kings and Abnetts before but this is the first I remember being blown away by. BL keep reprinting it for a reason!

 

2. Infinite and the Divine. Black Library's best book. The fact that its an author's first novel  and is about a relatively niche area of 40k makes that even more impressive. 

 

3. Soul Hunter. I'd read Cadian Blood and not been massively impressed. This blew me away. It changed the game how Space Marines are written. A pretty huge acheivement given they're the protaganists of at least 50% of GW novels before and after. Some of my fondest memories are reading this book in my favourite restaurant. This is the book I buy for friends.

 

4.  Third edition Rulebook. Technically not a black library work and probably cheating, but it is what got me into 40k. Another equal tie would be the 3rd ed Cityfight codex which I used to read and re-read. There was a great little short story with the line "look alive" being said to a corpse, which I still think about 20 years after reading.

 

5.  Only in Death. I'd read the first Gaunts Ghost books around 2000 and not been impressed that it contained soldiers who arent actual regiments from the game. Shows how much your opinion can change over time! This particular entry stands in for all the Gaunts Ghosts books and the extra dimensions Dan Abnett has added to 40k generally. I picked it because its the one that first came to mind. I'm sure arguments can be had about what is the best Ghosts novel over all but this probably is the one I think about most.

 

6. For the Emperor. The first Ciaphas Cain book. The best source of levity in 40k and introduces a certain amount of realism for that. 99% of people arent heros and its good to have a protaganist who reflects that. I do wish Cain had stayed more of a Flashman rip off as he was in this first book. I prefer accidental heroism and misinterpreted caddish actions by Cain to the later approach of  genuine heroism by Cain who is modest about it. Denny has some similar stuff but really Cain is unique amongst BL characters.

 

7. Fire Caste. I'm not as big a Fehervari fan as most people here, but this is a brilliant book. His later works get a bit baroque and dream-like for my tastes. Still, love this one. 

 

8.  Baneblade. This is more of a stand in for Guy Hayley's work over all, rather than this specific book. Guy Hayley is consistently good and one of the few BL author's whose non-BL work I've bought. (The others are Abnett and Tchaikovsky, although I consider the latter  more of an author who happens to have written a BL novel). Given the consistency of Hayley's work there isn't one that jumps out at me as being his no 1 go-to book, but this was the first I'd read. 

 

9.  Sum of Its parts. The first short story on the list. Rhu is about my age. At the time I read this I was trying to enter the BL open submissions and genuinely got depressed how much better this story was than anything I'd ever written.

 

10. First Heretic. I know heresy isnt allowed but technically this is pre-heresy. The only author on my list twice because of my love for ADB. For me Black Libraries no 1 author. He's introduced me to so much stuff- including other authors both BL and non. I'd say there's a good argument he is BLs most influential author- a lot of writers use Abnett's terminology but many concepts about how books should be written have seeped from ADB to others. This particular novel is pretty foundational and sets up so much in the 30k and 40k universes. His first heresy novel knocked it out of the park and turned a joke faction into something incredibly meaningful. ADB has had his troubles but B&C and the Internet as a whole are worse off for having him step back. I talked to him once or twice on twitter and he invited me once to play games in his house. Covid stopped that ever happening but if he's out there reading this I'd love for it to happen!

Edited July 17 by grailkeeper

[Scribe]

3 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

4.  Third edition Rulebook. Technically not a black library work and probably cheating, but it is what got me into 40k. Another equal tie would be the 3rd ed Cityfight codex which I used to read and re-read. There was a great little short story with the line "look alive" being said to a corpse, which I still think about 20 years after reading.

 

Great call out, both of these books, but I think the 3rd Edition rule book is absolutely foundational stuff. I wonder if I still have that stashed away.

[Casual Heresy]

An excellent question Roomsky and a tough one for sure! Though there are a couple of Heresy books in my list because I love them/they mean something to me.

 

Here are my pics.

 

Dante: one of my favourite characters in the whole setting and I love the story and how Haley dives into what makes him tick.

 

The First Heretic: I might be an Ultramarines fan boy but I love the whole story of the (almost justified) fall of the Word Bearers.

 

Bloodlines: I love Warhammer Crime and wish BL would do more with it. Bloodlines is a great book and a great view of 'domestic' 40k and how the majority of the Imperium thinks and behaves on a daily basis.

 

Spear of the Emperor: A Masterclass in taking a tiny obscure bit of lore, in this case the colour scheme and scant info on the Emperor's Spears and spinning it out into a rich and full part of the setting. I love how ADB gets into the psychology of marines and how they are viewed by mortals. I'm desperate for book 2

 

Horus Rising: Holds a special place in my heart because I did a chapter of my Undergrad dissertation on it. It was also the first Black Library novel I ever read.

 

The Devestation of Baal: I've re-read this one a few times and I just love it.

 

The Infinite and the Divine: It's brilliant. All the lovely grim darkness of 40k with just the right amount of comedy. Plus Exodites in action! (Give me a space elf dinosaur knights army GW you cowards!)

 

Grim Repast: Another excellent Warhammer crime novel with a very 40k ending.

 

First Founding: I love a big background book and I love Space Marines so it's a match made in heaven. I'm quietly prayer for a successor chapters version one day.

 

Liber Xenologis: Another beautifully illustrated and detailed background book. I need more like it!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 18 by Casual Heresy

[skylerboodie]

I've actually been reading Codex Battlezone: Cityfight for the first time just this week!

[grailkeeper]

The relevant bit. I wont put in the full extract. When I was a kid I used to read and re-read the codexs and white dwarf as I couldnt afford much else. 
 

[Krelious]

I'm gonna come out and say the Infinite and the Divine is possibly the most over-rated Black Library book with maybe the exception of Saturnine or anything written by Abnett. 

Dont get me wrong the Infinite and the Divine is a good book but i felt it was ruined by something like 40-50 pages of an ending battle that just kept on going and got confusing. 

 

My answer is simple, all of ADBs works are S tier compared to anyone else and id keep all of his novels as I have all of them in limited edition and even multiple copies of the same book, I have 3 different copies of The First Heretic.

 

 

 

 

 

[Scribe]

53 minutes ago, Krelious said:

I'm gonna come out and say the Infinite and the Divine is possibly the most over-rated Black Library book with maybe the exception of Saturnine or anything written by Abnett. 

Dont get me wrong the Infinite and the Divine is a good book but i felt it was ruined by something like 40-50 pages of an ending battle that just kept on going and got confusing. 

 

My answer is simple, all of ADBs works are S tier compared to anyone else and id keep all of his novels as I have all of them in limited edition and even multiple copies of the same book, I have 3 different copies of The First Heretic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless ADB only has 10 novels, that's cheating. Then again I broke the rules in the first response so who am I to say... :D

[SkimaskMohawk]

On 7/18/2024 at 8:48 PM, Krelious said:

ruined by something like 40-50 pages of an ending battle that just kept on going and got confusing. 

 

My answer is simple, all of ADBs works are S tier compared to anyone else and id keep all of his novels as I have all of them in limited edition and even multiple copies of the same book, I have 3 different copies of The First Heretic.

 

Kinda described how I felt reading khabanda into angron in Echos.

 

Like don't get me wrong, adb has consistently great books. But calling all of his work S tier compared to every one elses is dumb.

[Scribe]

OK, I'm going to include Heresy because I think Master of Mankind MUST be on the list, but otherwise, 10 books, not a trilogy x 3...

 

Master of Mankind - Must have. If you want to understand what 40K is, this has to be in your list.

Wrath of Iron - Must have. If you want to understand what the Imperium's defenders are, this has to be in your list. One of the best gut punch endings.

Valdor - "What happened to make the Imperium..." this is part of it. I dont know that this book gets the love it deserves, and Abnett RUINED Valdor the character in his SoT books.*

Soul Hunter - Just...great. CSM as CSM should be.

Primogenitor - A fantastic entry, showing the scope of what can be in the setting, and a book about fatherhood (trust me).

Bloodlines - That 'domestic' 40K, and just really fun.

Betrayer - If you ever wanted to see the World Eaters with some actual character, this is it.

Carrion Throne - I remember just racing through this book, it was fantastic and it once again paints the picture of the Imperium as it is. Rotten, dysfunctional, demented.

Helsreach - This is with Soul Hunter in the league of 'remember when this book came out and everyone started an Army for X faction'. Flat out great book.

Talon of Horus - Yeah, its also that good.

 

* Abnett's take on Valdor is actually so bad, I hope to never see a spoiler of any book he writes with the character, and I sure as hell will never buy another book he writes after TEATD.

[TheArtilleryman]

It occurred to me trying to answer this post that I haven’t read enough 40K fiction; I’ve read mostly Heresy novels.

I’ll offer some of my favourites that are not often called out as the best books by most people:

 

Grey Knights

The whole Soul Drinkers series (6 books)

The first Ciaphas Cain novel

The Lost and the Damned

and if I can sneak in one heresy novel it would be The Flight of the Eisenstein.

Edited July 20 by TheArtilleryman

[Bestkeptsecret]

Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight

Plague War by Guy Haley

Mephiston: City of Light by Darius Hinks

Watchers of the Throne Series by Chris Wraight

Apocalypse: A Space Marine Conquests novel by Josh Reynolds

The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley

Eater of Worlds by Anthony Reynolds

The Faultless Blade by Ian St. Martin

Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom by Mike Brooks

[DukeLeto69]

Actually too hard but here’s an attempt (the list would likely change week on week).

 

INQUISITOR - Ian Watson

 

CARRION THRONE - Chris Wraight

 

BLOODLINES - Chris Wraight

 

REQUIEM INFERNAL - Peter Fehervari

 

BLOOD PACT - Dan Abnett

 

EISENHORN - Dan Abnett

 

PARIAH - Dan Abnett

 

KNOW NO FEAR - Dan Abnett

 

SOUL HUNTER - ADB

 

EXECUTION HOUR - Gordon Rennie

[Alpharius902]

• Imperial Glory (Richard Williams): Definitive Warhammer IMO, showing the results of what being ground down by the Imperium will do, making you a fanatic, burned out, or just looking for a way home. Highlights in particular were Ducky, as well as Carson
• Requiem Infernal (Peter Fehervari): It was either this one or the Reverie to show off Fehervari's talents when dealing with the warp, but this one won out for the being the connective tissue of the Coil. Highlights in particular were constant interjections of Sister Mercy as well as the ending with the Scorched God
• The King of the Spoil (Jonathan D. Beer): The downfall of a (proto) hive district, and the Imperium's response when its citizens call for freedom. Highlights in particular were the opening killing as well as later appearances of the Arbites
• The Twice Dead King Duology (Nate Crowley): Gives a bittersweet portrayal for the downfall of a dynasty, while giving an amazing look at the general body horror of being a Necron. Highlights in particular were Oltyx's discovery of the state of the crownworld as well as Neth's sacrifice
• Path of the Dark Eldar Trilogy (Andy Chambers): Gives my favorite showing of the Drukhari and giving their elements personality, while also expanding on all aspects of Eldar society. Highlights in particular were the constant bickering between the haemonculus and the wrack, as well as introducing the character of Malixian in general
• Urdesh Duology (Matthew Farrer): Even though Abnett didn't write it, it's my favorite portrayal of the Sabbat setting, tying all of the disparate elements into a very compelling story and allowing them all to shine. Highlights in particular were the Miracle of Ghreppan and the ending duel between Priad and Nautakah

 

If I can stuff the shelf with an extra short story - The Inheritor King: For its portrayal of the Mechanicus in general, and for Tey's verbal beating of the Inheritor King in particular

[Scribe]

53 minutes ago, Alpharius902 said:

Path of the Dark Eldar Trilogy (Andy Chambers): Gives my favorite showing of the Drukhari and giving their elements personality, while also expanding on all aspects of Eldar society. Highlights in particular were the constant bickering between the haemonculus and the wrack, as well as introducing the character of Malixian in general

 

Good call out, I enjoyed that trilogy a lot.

[Orange Knight]

-Horus Rising

-The First Heretic

-Eisenhorn: Xenos

-Dark Imperium 

-Plague War

-Godblight

-The Great Work

-The Infinite and the Devine

-The Devastation of Baal

-Assassinorum: Kingmaker

 

[Roomsky]

Pleased to see so much variation so far. While I don't agree with every pick (sometimes vehemently so,) I always find the diversity of favourites and "essentials" encouraging - helps demonstrate how much legitimate quality there is in Black Library's catalogue.

 

A bunch of people have listed Heresy books, so I'll do the 10 Heresy novels I'd keep as well. In their OWN list because I READ my rules.

 

The First Heretic

Betrayer

Master of Mankind

Echoes of Eternity

 

ADB remains my favourite author, and all of his Heresy books contribute to why. The First Heretic was my second Warhammer book, and unlike Horus Rising, really sucked me into the universe. All of his books are expertly crafted - TFH is a perfectly paced descent into corruption, Betrayer succeeds in selling the World Eaters and being a strong follow-up to TFH, MoM is the first time ADB's prose really went above and beyond and you can feel the care he put into the content on every page, and Echoes is just my favourite Black Library book period. Could re-read all of them endlessly.

 

Prospero Burns

Legit just a solid sci-fi yarn. And look, I acknowledge Abnett slipped the leash on this one, but I am personally thankful. Space Wolves before PB annoyed the :cuss: out of me. This made me love the legion.

 

Scars

Scars has got it all. Fleshing out a nondescript legion into a fan favourite. Lots of other legion presence: Wolves, Iron Hands, Thousand Sons, Alpha Legion, Deatn Guard. Ties develops several threads while also making those elements stand on their own. High energy front to back. All of Wraight's work is good but his Heresy first is a personal favourite.

 

Praetorian of Dorn

French firing on all cylinders. Balanced portrayal of the legions involved, good world building, tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, and some meaningful death for once. Love love love.

 

Saturnine

This book is hype. This book is the pure, exciting energy of the early heresy distilled into a chonker of a tome that's actually as well written as our nostalgia thinks those early books are. Always gets me hooked front to back.

 

And now, the picks that people really won't vibe with. Again, if forced to reduce your collection, it's not always about just keeping the best books.

 

The Outcast Dead

No, it's not better than any wraight book, or French book, or non-Unremembered Empire Abnett book. Yes, it's full of inconsistencies. But this is the first time Terra was properly developed. There's so many big, fun ideas. It's about the little people caught in the middle of a galaxy-shaking event, and what they see vs what's really afoot. It has one of the best portrayals of the Emperor put to page. It ticks so many boxes that I need in a truncated Heresy collection.

 

The Damnation of Pythos

Y`all let the fact this doesn't move the plot along cloud your read of this one. Also, I love Iron Hands. Like TOD, this covers a perspective I crave in the Heresy - survivors of a shattered legion struggling to not simply self-destruct. It's bleak, and brutal, and immaculately paced. Wrath of Iron's probably the better written Iron Hands book but oh boy do I not care about a bunch of that fighting or a bunch of those characters. I connected with every character in this quite quickly and it uses battle relatively sparingly, which is a personal plus. This was the early sign Annandale's at his best when you just let him write a horror story.

Edited July 22 by Roomsky

[Scribe]

3 minutes ago, Roomsky said:

 

Editing

 

*silently judging*

[aa.logan]

With these rules, 10 from the Heresy is hard. If I could take anthologies, at least two of Mark of Calth, Meduson, Sedition’s Gate, The Primarchs, The Imperial Truth and The Silent War would certainly be in my 10. As it is, here they are arranged in bookshelf order…

 

 

Valdor

We don’t need a Unification Wars series, this book can’t be topped. 
 

Angron

Not just because of the red pages, honest. What’s a bigger tragedy- the way that the Emperor mishandled Angron or the fact we didn’t get more from Ian Saint-Martin for BL?
 

Perturabo 

To me, the most interesting Primarch. This book really does his early years justice and develops his character well. 

Horus Rising

As basic a choice as it might be, I couldn’t neglect it.

 

Nemesis

Gives us the best look yet at the cultures of Assassin temples and expands the scope of the Heresy beyond marine-on-marine. Unfairly overlooked by many, it’s one of the best in the whole series.

 

The First Heretic

As predictable an inclusion as Horus Rising, perhaps, but it’s incredible. I could easily have included all of ADB’s titles, but I opted to be more restrained. The best titles in the series flesh out the traitor legions and make than more than just villains, and this book maybe does that better than the rest.

 

Scars

Would have been chopped from my list for an anthology if the rules permitted, but an excellent book nonetheless. One of the very strongest opening chapters to a Heresy novel, but the standard is maintained- presumably a tribute to its unusual episodic writing and initial release.

 

Slaves to Darkness

I don’t normally get on with French’s prose but I do here. This is the book where the marines of the traitor legions start feeling like proper characters again after a few titles of neglect- they really should be front-and-centre in more books than they are.

 

The First Wall

Again, there is more to the Heresy than marine-on-marine and I know that some folk didn’t like the militia focus of this but I relished it. 
 

Saturnine.

Best book in the SoT, maybe even in the whole HH. Reminds me of Stienbeck, but with daemons.

 

Edited July 22 by aa.logan

[Scribe]

1 hour ago, aa.logan said:

Valdor

We don’t need a Unification Wars series, this book can’t be topped. 

 

I really agree. In my personal collection of 'this book will be carried forward till I die'.