This guy wanted to get into the Warhammer 40k books, but didn't know where to begin, and what novel to start out with.
My friend has the "must start at the beginning" complex, so i gave him a nudge in the right direction.
Why not share that tip here?
If you are at all familiar with the Warhammer 40k board and pc games, you'll know that humankind has blasted and killed it's way through the universe. Destroying aliens, battling the forces of Chaos, subduing lost human colonies and generally creating mayhem in the name of the Emperor of Man.
"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."
The first book you should read is:
The Horus Heresy - Horus Rising.
The protagonists of this series are the Space Marines. They are genetically altered elite warriors of humankind, ruthless, intelligent and ever loyal to the Emperor and the Crusade.
The Space Marines are led by the Emperors own sons, immortal and immensely powerful, they are the "Primarchs".
These Primarchs leads the forces of the earth on conquest and the mission to reclaim the lost human colonies. These colonies will be subdued, and forced to accept the Emperor as their leader, or suffer the consequences. Religion is considered heresy and are to be wiped away from the galaxy. The only truth is the Emperor, logic, progress and science. And the only beeing allowed to live, is humankind.
In this story you'll get a good introduction on how the Empire expands, its ideologies and the inner workings among the Marines and the normal men and women of the Crusade. I won't go into any details, because i don't want to spoil anything. But this is the cornerstone to the whole Warhammer 40k epic. Shit hit the fan pretty fast, and by book two, hell is breaking loose among the crusaders.
"Horus Rising" is the first book in a series of 24 novels so far..book #25 is to be released soon, so if you plan on reading all of them, you should be covered for a while.
The books are written by several different authors, so every book offers something new in terms of writing. At the same time you'll discover good authors you probably never would have checked out if it weren't for his name on a Horus Heresy novel.
I'm currently reading the eight book "Mechanicum" and having a blast so far.
Have fun!
PS: If you're planning on reading Star Wars novels, you should check out my starters recommendation here.
It is not which series you should start with but which author.
ReplyDeleteDan Abnett!
The Eisenhorn trilogy is fantastic followed up by the Ravenour trilogy. Also his Gaunts Ghosts are perfect 40k series.
Horus Heresy is good, but after the first three.. it falls down.. it because of it is written by many different authors. The first one about the Dark Angels is garbage...
NO - you want to get into 40k novels, find anything from Dan Abnett then William King.
I would be careful to pay much heed to this advice, appart from Dan Abnett beeing a great author.
DeleteThe series doesn't fall after the third book. Granted, Descent of Angels was a bit on the weak side, but garbage? Poppycock. I'm currently reading book #9 in the series, "Mechanicum" by Graham McNeill, and it's great!
Favouring one author will do you a disservice. There are several great authors like Ben Counter, Graham McNeill, and Mike Lee working on this series, and other WH40k novels, all acclaimed writers in good standing with the fans.
Most die hard Warhammer fans told me to stick with Dan Abnett when i got into Warhammer. I'm glad i broadened my horizons further then that!
Yes, but this was about entry level :)and in the 40k realm, Abnett is probably the best author of the 40k bunch.
ReplyDeleteAnd as I have read most (not all) GW novels - most are very bad (some feels like bad fan fiction).
Horus heresy is in general good, but the drive from the first 3 goes down. Though a few are brilliant, like Fulgrim and Mechanicum.