WARHAMMER 40k NOVELS - Where to start?

Wanna read some 40k novels but don't know where to start? Here's some suggestions, from classic series to new releases!
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[@atomichobbit7358]

I recommend the Ciaphus Cain series. Cain is one of the most relatable protagonists in 40k and the humorous tone serves to ease you into the grim darkness of the setting. Plus many books are good introductions into factions like the tau, neurons and chaos.

[@wappe123]

Would you not say that these books are so funny and enjoyable because you already knew the setting though? Good second series Id say

[@LeAlejx]

He's like the Jack Sparrow of 40k

[@ncgzeal]

@@frankie3010 "Cain is a boring fratbro who somehow got a job as a comissar" and that's what makes him funny and relatable.

[@gman7497]

I've only read the first Cain book but I plan on doing a few more soon. I dig the guy precisely because he's so un-40k. It makes the setting a bit easier to swallow at times coz the tone is actually fun. Not that 40k books need to or should be fun and irreverent at all times but it's a nice change of pace.

[@rockstoneballs]

Every single book and story is the exact same; he somehow always manages to find himself in some manner of tunnel

[@HydraulicDesign]

Helsreach was my introduction, which starts off with Grimaldus saying "I'm gong to die on this world." He has absolute contempt for the humans he's supposed to be protecting and he has a hissy fit when he learns he's stuck defending this stupid hive city instead of gloriously dying in space. And you learn what servitors are...it's all so awful it's kind of funny. Very entertaining.

[@razmere924]

I haven't read Helsreach (Only saw the fan animated movie) but didn't Grimaldus learn to kind of silently respect humans at the end?

[@HydraulicDesign]

@@razmere924 Well yeah of course that's his arc...not that there are many left alive to respect by the end. :)

[@mikem4432]

@@razmere924 it is one of the BETER written stories for 40k which is not saying much.. the audio book is what was used for the animation of the series. is fantastic. I have yet to find anything better in ALL the 40k books out there..

[@Valtier_]

One of my favorite books I ever read, not just from a Warhammer perspective

[@Eagle-eye-pie]

@@razmere924 For me Grimaldus showed disgust and admiration for humans equally throughout the book, with admiration winning out at the end. He never really understood them though. Their desires, motivations and behaviours were largely a mystery to him.

[@qwellen7521]

It genuinely surprises me that there wasn’t a dedicated rouge trader series.

[@bentilbury2002]

Andy Hoare did a Rogue Trader series years. I haven't read them so I don't know if they're any good though.

[@noserenda]

There are two Rogue trader series though?

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

You’d think that Rogue Traders with their ability to go pretty much anywhere would lend themselves to a good series of interconnected short stories.

[@kingkongdong7042]

There wasn't a blue trader series either :(

[@qwellen7521]

@@CrimsonTemplar2 it could be structured like a mix BSG and classic Star Trek.

[@Bluecho4]

If folks are interested in Chaos Space Marines, I might recommend the Night Lords trilogy. It's a bit of a different kind of Chaos Legion, as they're only _partly_ invested in this whole Chaos business. Which actually gives you a good mix of character perspectives, as the Night Lords we follow are a mix of some Chaos worshipers and mostly just standard Night Lords. Which is to say, a bunch of bastards who were bastards even before the Heresy. Now that the Heresy (and their Primarch, Conrad Kurze) have come and gone, they're really bitter about the whole thing. The group shown in the trilogy are also underdogs, which is a different angle than is usually shown with Chaos Space Marines. They're a company barely limping along, their numbers dwindling due to attrition, accidents, and infighting. Night Lords especially can be difficult to sympathize with (remember, they're the ones that mostly don't have Chaos as an excuse for how evil they are), but making them underdogs helps with this. You're left wanting to see them pull through, even if you might not necessarily want them to win. Then again, part of the arc of the novels is the group (and specifically its main character, Talos) learning to not just survive, but grasp victory for the first time in millennia.

[@randombencounter263]

In the same vein, the Black Legion series by the same author is also really good. I think overall I like the Night Lords trilogy better because you get a bunch of viewpoint characters vs a single solitary protagonist (also why I prefer Ravenor over Eisenhorn) but if you've already read Night Lords and want more, Black Legion might be for you.

[@Delios90]

absolutely loved the night lords trilogy!

[@zach5539]

These where my first ever warhammer books i read and i absolutely LOVED them. Huge reccomend!

[@robincornwall1846]

Agreed. The Nightlords Trilogy is amazing and the best thing i've read in years.

[@purpleperfection6304]

The Night Lords trilogy was my starting point, and a very understated point is that they are fucking AWESOME. Some of the best action sequences in a book I've read! Seriously if you want really good combat those books are for you

[@AcrobaticRex]

The Infinite and The Divine is just so good, it's about damn time we had some good Necron novels, and it makes a fantastic companion to The Twice Dead King which has me really impressed so far.

[@joshuafarrington3649]

Both are great books but prolly not a great place to start.

[@thefeatherbird_]

@@joshuafarrington3649 id argue Twice Dead King is a great start for people interested in necrons, it lays out who they are and how they function while also introducing the imperium from the xenos perspective

[@flameconvoy7424]

​@@joshuafarrington3649I started with The Infinite and the Divine, and besides the beginning where I was confused what shuriken pistols and the eldari dinosaur things were, the book does a really good job explaining everything else for newcomers, likely because Black Library expects this to be a readers first necron book

[@ilyana1126]

Dan Abnett’s “Titanicus” is an EXCELLENT introduction to the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Titan Legions, and is also part of the broader Sabbat War series that Gauntms Ghosts takes place in. A very good new reader friendly series is also Andy Hoare’s “Kingsblade/Knightsblade” which actually reads as a Young Adult novel, and is a very good introduction to Imperial Knights while also touching on the Astra Militarum, Inquisition, Orks and Chaos. The best Space Marine introduction book is from the Space Marine battles series, “Rynn’s World” by Steve Parker. That book shows you the entire structure of an Astartes chapter in relation to its mortal serfs and imperial population while also showcasing how dangerous Orks can be.

[@pencil845]

Solid recommendations! I started with Gaunt's Ghosts and can't recommend it more highly. Glad to see Tanith's First and Only are not forgotten.

[@alexyoblick]

I’m currently on listening to the 5th book Guns of Tanith on Audible. So many of the Ghosts are incredibly interesting.

[@Kelzb1tches]

Gaunt's Ghosts was my first book as well! really good

[@julesmord7001]

My introduction was William King's Space Wolf series, then Eisenhorn's trilogy, and then first 5 volumes of Horus Heresy. Random as it might seem, it gave me a good sense of the scale, an overlook on current affairs, and on 'what went wrong' part of the entire story. From there I'd say it's 'choose your own adventure' kind of thing. For me it was Gaunt's Ghosts series, and I've been keeping my straight silver close ever since :)

[@fernhausluv44]

For Tanith! For the Emperor!

[@harnischfechter]

I started with Space Wolf (and followed with Eisenhorn) myself, and I’d say that’s the best possible opening. Space Wolf helped me understand how space marines are made and offered an interesting perspective of someone who goes through the process from the very beginning, while Eisenhorn does a brillant job at introducing the reader to the politics and social structure of the Imperium.

[@jakru9909]

I have been a reader of D&D for some time, mainly Forgotten Realms. I am looking forward to the 40k series. Appreciate your notes

[@YingTongIddleEyePo]

I always use the Ciaphas Cain series to ease people in to the setting as really easy to sell it to non-fans "It's Blackadder in space" and personally I think the series does a great job of easing you into the craziness of the setting (I started with Horus Rising and went from there - talk about in at the deep end HaHaHa)

[@murkagesimps]

By far the best audiobooks I’ve listened to within the 40k universe.

[@Roboute727]

Agreed. And all the footnotes in the books help a lot for newcomers into the WH40K universe that dont know almost anything.

[@Mugdorna]

Perfect analogy

[@YingTongIddleEyePo]

@@Roboute727 Aye, and as it goes through the series you meet many of the different factions (Orks, Necrons, Genestealers/'nids, Chaos - I don't think he's met Aeldari yet) and get a nice, simple explination of them and what they're like. It's a cracking jumping on point

[@TheMrDewil]

Yeah, after reading Eisenhorn trilogy and some 8-9 books from Horus heresy I thought that in grim darkness of far future comedy and humor have been dead for thousands of years. And then Ciaphas Cain series came along. The stark contrast just shocked me. In a good way.

[@pacalein8474]

Particularly I recommend starting with short stories collections. They are fun and quick ways to get to know the 40K environment, practices, believes and diversity of factions and races.

[@philliplee2008]

Thank you so much! I have just started reading the Horus Heresy and was trying to find all stories pertaining to the Ultramarines. This video is extremely helpful!!! Thank you for the time and effort you put into this!

[@estebanfernandez5393]

what happened to Caiphas Cain!! ok, there are pros and cons to the writing style, but all in all, very light hearted, funny, and good at introducing the different inhabitants of the universe :)

[@andyhornyak]

Perfect timing.. got a friend wanting to get into the books so will recommend this vid to him

[@geoffdean2372]

I loved the Dark Imperium novels, especially the relationship between Rotigus and Ku’gath.

[@supravlieg]

I recently started with the Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! , series.

[@noserenda]

The Great work does a huge amount of fleshing out for Cawl, plus some really cool stuff goes down :D The Infinite and the Divine is probably my favourite GW book (And ive read most of them) just... top work!

[@YingTongIddleEyePo]

I&D was so much fun, like Douglas Adams doing 40k. Just finished Brutal Kunnin which is Prachett doing Orks - laugh out loud funny in places

[@TheAntiburglar]

I've never actually played a game of Warhammer, but I have read some of the stories about CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, and they're quite fun 😃

[@MrBratius]

I have been reading through the Heresy books...I love them...working on "Legion" right now...action packed.

[@alexyoblick]

Definitely a solid stand alone story and one of the few books that actually gets the Alpha Legion correctly

[@user-jm2jq7ox2r]

Does anybody know how to read the Heresy in Order, I've seen the PDF but feel free to link it, also

[@randombencounter263]

I really appreciate the recommendation for Spears of the Emperor. Not being the biggest fan of space marines it wasn't on my radar at all but I got the audiobook and really enjoyed it.

[@Dracobyte]

Thank you for all these great recommendations!

[@andyshaw5378]

Well that without doubt is the best explanation of the 40K universe I have ever read/heard. Well done and a massive thank you.

[@hallygreenb]

Couldn’t find Eisenhorn at the bookstore, so I walked out with MARK OF FAITH, a Sororitas novel, and it’s surprisingly very good! I’m about halfway through so far but it’s not only setting up two intricately woven protagonists, but it also really captures the inner truth of what it means to be a battle sister guided by faith in something you can’t communicate with

[@Lux_EternaxX]

Just got my copy of the Eisenhorn trilogy BECAUSE of this video! Thank you!!❤❤

[@rmod42]

Excellent reccomendations, really glad to see the Shira Calpurnia trilogy in there - often overlooked but it does a fantastic job of illustrating the world of 40K and how it actually works in a civilian setting. In the grim darkness of the far future there may only be war but in order to fuel that the economy has to keep rolling.

[@Tsotha]

that has always been the parts of the 40K universe I have found most interesting, the moments when you get a peek at what civilian life is like in such a place - looks like the Calpurnia trilogy is something I would love reading

[@vamp3340]

I started with the Black Legion series (Talon of Horus) since I'm a big chaos fan (base knowledge of 40k, but never read the books before that) and it was the BEST starting point imo. I LOVE ADB and he's by far my favorite WH author even after reading many others

[@punkjay4681]

Thank you for writing my comment for me. Well, I was 2 decades and about 50 novels into WH40K by the time I read them, but good to hear that my judgement wasn't totally clouded :D

[@guypadfield1786]

Another great vid!! 👍

[@changer_of_ways_suspense_smith]

I'd recommend Ahriman: The Exile and Ahriman: Sorcerer for those interested in the Thousand Sons at all. It's probably the most sympathetic portrayal of the Chaos side I have ever seen to the point it might make heretics out of people. I know there are a lot of interest in the Thousand Sons right now because Rubric Marines have been selling out all over the damn place. If you're going to build an army of dusty Egyptian sorcerers, you might as well get to know the best one there is, Ahriman the Bad Ass.

[@OTee1998]

Thanks, Ian! I was overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start lol

[@HulaLuau]

The Gaunts Ghosts series is a good start. Also, its weird how people forget that the Halo Scar pretty much started disappearing after the events of the Priests of Mars series and the Kotov/Telok expedition

[@Arctik39]

This is a video that I would have wished was made a few years ago. Such a great topic! Super useful for new 40K community members :)

[@Tsotha]

same here!

[@anthonyplayter2981]

Your video production skills are amazing. :)

[@kendoyle]

I started with Ian Watson's Space Marine published by boxtree. Never knew about GW but started getting white dwarf the month after. Went to a very interesting talk with Ian Watson a few years after that. (Edited to change Livingston to Watson. I got my Ians mixed up)

[@tigerstein]

Ian Watson wrote Space Marine (and the Inquisiton trilogy), those four were the first novels I read about 40K. they are a bit janky by today's standards, but i liked them.

[@kendoyle]

@@tigerstein dammit. Wrong Ian. I'll edit that. Thanks very much for bringing it to my attention.

[@tigerstein]

@@kendoyle For a moment my brain was confused too about which Ian is which. Needed to search for it to clear it up :)

[@bentilbury2002]

I think Ian Livingston wrote "The Space Marine of Firetop Mountain" 😜

[@stryke-jn3kv]

@@tigerstein I agree the Inquisition ones are utterly bonkers however Space Marine like other books from that period (Drachenfels or Beasts in Velvet for two other examples) are miles better than many of today's efforts. Mainly as back then you were guaranteed an actual author rather than someone promoted in house who after writing rules was convinced that they could just as well with actual novels and were then willing to churn them out regardless of quality *cough*Gav Thorpe*cough*.

[@Sonicron86]

Fantastic work, sir! Ill happily recommend it to any acquaintances who might want to delve into 40k.

[@citizendisco]

Thanks, really useful! Just read the first Gaunts ghost book and wasn’t sure where to go after that.

[@davidrobertson5996]

Just started the Eisenhorn Omnibus - brilliant. Great recommendation, thanks!

[@Richiemouse]

Great vid, I've only just started reading 40k books. I started with The Emperors Gift by Aaron Dembski-Bowden because I like Grey Knights and there's not much written about them. I'm currently enjoying the Eisenhorn books and although I've already got some others queued up I'll take a look at some of your recommendations too.

[@martianlocksmith8332]

If you want to get into space marines, the ultramarines/ iron warriors omnibus is a nice introduction, since you get a taste of the large scale conflicts, but even more small missions, driven by character. Also it’s interesting to see so many parts of the lore and the conflict explored (from both sides)

[@benjaminmickle6997]

My intro to WH40k was the Fire Warrior book (based on the bad game). It was a great place to start because the main POV character was part of an alien race that was relatively new to the WH40k universe. Plus it was a fun pulpy action book

[@stras4472]

As a faithful servant of the dark Gods I would also like to recommend some books from the chaos point of view: Talon of Horus and Black legion(great if you want to learn about the origins of the black legion, also might change your opinion on Abaddon since he has been memed to death by the community) Lords of silence (hey, just because you are a disgusting and mutated monstrosity doesn't mean you can't have life goals) The night lords trilogy (just because we skin people alive doesn't mean we are all bad!) honorable mentions to the Fabius Bile and Ahriman trilogies. I have not read them my self, but I have heard nothing but praise!

[@LinkiePup]

My personal favorite book from Black Library is The Infinite and The Divine. It’s a wonderful introduction to Trazyn, and Orikahn, a look into Necron Society, and gives people an understanding that the Necrons aren’t just “Soulless Terminators In Space”… which… they are- but they have wants, and personalities all their own.

[@jackrice3258]

Knocked it out of the park! Took your suggestions and just finished Spear of the Emperor and will go to Brothers of the Snake next. I’m in😂👊🏼

[@justinweber4977]

A friend of mine recommended Ciaphas Cain as my entry point to 40K. Though that may have been taking my personal tastes I to account, too.

[@MrYegr]

Night Lords Trilogy is probably one of the best in the wh40k setting. It is really engaging considering that the books protagonists are a bunch of ruthless murderers.

[@djinnglebells241]

Ruthless murderers is an understatement, we kinda forget as we get attached to them, but they are the worst of the fucking worst. It's the second act of Voidstalker that really hammers that in.

[@bluespaceman7937]

It does sound like an interesting way to get an unusual perspective.

[@KillyBilly141]

@@bluespaceman7937 it is. but i dont think it is an good entry. this shit gets very very dark. But its one of my favourites.

[@Nibelheim1989]

I just bought the Enforcer omnibus, so glad to see that spoken of highly here! I'd suggest the Forges of Mars trilogy as well, especially if you love the Cog Boys or weird xenos stuff, as it features many branches of the Admech and Imperium, but has Eldar, Hrud, Orks, Rogue Traders and a whole load of other good stuff in there.

[@jonathandavis4819]

Great list. I only started reading 40k about two years ago. I agree that the first Dawn of Fire book Avenging Son is a good jumping on point for the universe. A large part of the story takes place on Terra so you get some good human perspectives of those that work within the insane bureaucracy of the Imperium. There's a subplot with an inquisitor and lots of other snapshots of the universe as a whole. I think novel Dante is a good introduction to Space marines. It is an origin story about a human's path to becoming a space marine. Definitely worth a read. After Dante, the second book, The Devastation of Baal is pretty much everything I'd want out a 40K war story. It is epic. So you have somewhere to go next if you like the first book.

[@scottovegtable]

I love that there are so many short stories. I just barely got into warhammer and my first read is ghazghkull thraka by nate crowley. I'm loving how it's told so far. I'm so hyped to get into it and kind of like that I have so many options to go from here.

[@lexman7179]

I've read a bunch of 40k novels and I still think that Space Wolf is my favorite so far. It's pretty simple all about one guy's training but it does a really effective job building the setting.

[@waaaghzag]

I definitely think Ciaphas Cain is a great entry point too.

[@stryke-jn3kv]

Same. Way better than Guant if you're judging on the basis of the first novel of each series.

[@meisterhyperion207]

I can also recommend the ciaphas Cain books

[@ktwc306]

Thank you for your recommendation. I am reading Xenos and am really enjoying it.

[@FatJesus123456789]

Great video! I’m currently wrapping up halo series this month. Think I’m going to read some Star Wars for a few months and jump into 40k. I couldn’t get into the games but might be able to for the books

[@perlago21]

I read the spears of the emperor by your recommendation, first ever WH40k book, and what a book man super good can't wait to jump on the other books now

[@JoshyXD]

Path of the Eldar series is also a real good non-Imperium series. Good introduction to Eldar society and how they structure their armies.

[@HistoritorJimaldus]

Can’t wait for you and Mira to get to the Gaunt’s Ghosts books :)

[@nielsklaver7469]

WH40K got me interested in reading again. I had fun getting introduced to the universe with the first four Space Wolves books. Now I'm onto the Eisenhorn series. Reading the first book. It's fing amazing.

[@RtxtDriver]

I honestly think the tau’s farsight series is also a good intro to the universe. The tau whilst alien, have a view of the world that’s closer to a modern human’s understanding of the world. It gives you a great outsider view of the 40k universe as the characters in it are slowly being confronted with the horrors of said universe and having to try and understand it.

[@brains4845]

I started my journey into the Black Library with the stories of Uriel Ventris in the Ultramarines Omnibus. Even if you're not the biggest fan of the Ultramarines, its a good series of books and it's been a go to for me when recommending starting points for 40k.

[@kristofersvahn2061]

I started listening to Nightbringer after watching Arch video about how Chaos recruit/make more space marines and he recommended Dead Sky, Black Sun so I thought that starting with Nightbringer would be a good start and I enjoyed it, looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

[@matthewdavis6366]

Been watching yt videos about general lore and this omnibus is pretty good start even with surface lore knowledge

[@matthewdavis6366]

Oh and my god the imagery is amazing which sells it as well

[@stevepirie8130]

Count myself lucky I read the short stories in White Dwarf 30 years ago onwards to get some insight for the novels that followed.

[@bholdr----0]

Ok, SO: I've been watching 40k vids for a while; I dig it, and I dig scifi, grimdark, expansive settings, etc, so 40k may be something I could get into, but there is SO much out there! I (think that I) know the timeline, factions, major characters, etc... I've seen this vid, but I'd like input from fans as well as content creators (who are also fans, but...) Reccomendations?

[@vilosey2013]

Fifteen hours was where I started, I thank its a great starting place.

[@digitalhighways3234]

Thanks Arbitor

[@rawhitewolf4038]

The Gaunts Ghosts series are amazing and the best series from my perspective. The entire Sabbat World setting is great och very nicely detailed. You truly feel how powerful how both loyal and traitor Astartes are compared to normal soldiers and the battles are told in a very detailed and vivid way. The characters are great and as in game of thrones no one is safe..

[@paulesch8640]

I think the Caphias Cain Novels are a good startpoint aswell. I would love if you would do a seperat video about the series.

[@allenbeever7934]

I love this, watched more than once. Could you do one for the Seige of Terra, because for me that's seriously hit and miss as well!

[@Cravatron]

Thank you brother

[@kenwiggins4543]

Spears of the Emperor is my favourite BL I read this year. I may have even started a fully converted ES force...

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

My first 40K novels were the Gaunt’s Ghosts & William King’s Space Wolf novels. The Uriel Ventris novels as well as Faith & Fire are also great intros.

[@Lolomlas]

My first books were Ian Watson's novels, and after those the Gaunt's Ghosts series. But my first introduction to Warhammer 40k was the first Dawn of War game.

[@chadwhitfield6946]

I started at the Eisenhorn series. I watched alot of lore videos 1st so i understood some things beforehand. I did the Ravanor books next, most of Cain books, and 1st 4 Horus Heresy books. The Ravanor books surprised me when they encountered tyranid gaunts and didnt know what they were. It was a time travel thing and it was stated that they would be a threat in 300 years. Didnt realize till then that those books were that far back of current timeline of 40k.

[@djinnglebells241]

For people who are loosely acquainted with 40k lore, but wanna know what's happening right now, I'd recommend Shroud of Night. It is one of the few Alpha Legion books, with, while not deep, likable legionaries, and it has cameos from notable players like Celestine and Kharn, as well as an intro to Primaris, as well as how the Heretic Marines and Firstborn Marines react to them.

[@chancelorofdisdain8425]

Definately The Horus Heresy(THH). The greatest WH40K series and once completed it's a great way to then start fleshing out your Warhammmer 40K knowledge by reading any of the other myriad novels or series in any order really-whether prequel or sequel. Also it can't be argued that these novels showcase the main historical events that so many of the other novels seem to orbit and mention. I mean THH explains the opening dialog at the start of nearly every WH40K novel. That's how I started. And I have to say that although THH is a long reading trek indeed it certainly hooked me on the whole WH40K universe. And I can't believe that any other way to start learning about the whole kick-ass concept that is WH40K would be as rewarding. It's just so crux. Is that too obvious?

[@ArbitorIan]

The issue there is that SO MUCH of the joy of reading the Horus Heresy novels is seeing all the call-backs and references to 40k. All of which is lost if you read them first.

[@prototype102010]

The book that was recommended to me as a start was The Bloodied Rose by Danie Ware. Follows a squad of Sisters of Battle and I really enjoyed it! I found it was a very smooth entry into that faction.

[@in6087]

I loved Ian Watson’s Inquisitor book. I think that was the first WH40k novel, though I could be wrong. I liked the idea that the genius emperor could keep secrets from himself thanks to a dissociative identity condition.

[@Fred_L.]

Started with 40k a couple of years ago, first with reading some encyclopedia stuff online and then with novels. Began with the main Horus Heresy series, using a timeline graph for the novels as guide to try to put them in mostly chronological order to read. Afterwards I branched out into, well, everything basically. Nowadays my biggest problem is to keep up to date with the "current" stuff.

[@bmathieu5340]

Great review, and some very solid advices (Eisenhorn/Ravenor and Gaunt's Ghosts series are very good sci fi series in their own rights). I'm a bit disapointed that you didn't mention the Beast series also. Granted, the time setting is a bit off if you are considering only the 40-41K timeline, but it has the advantage of blending in politics at different levels, well developped human characters, space marine characters that actually have something more than only war on their mind, and really frightening xenos.

[@markweevil3985]

I disagree, that series was full of padding, it was probably twice as long as it needed to be

[@ArbitorIan]

I enjoyed the series, but I do think they padded it out near the end. But the main reason I didn't include that or the Heresy was that those series are way better if you already know the 40k setting, because then you get all the Easter eggs and origin story reveals!

[@ScampiTheSighted]

Xenos was my first entry into the series, will never forget the night I started up the audiobook for the first time

[@Chiefhomer89]

I started with Guants Ghosts, and after a few novels, got sidetracked and started up the Eisenhorn Series. Just started hereticus this morning, and am looking forward to more.

[@IamJohnCarter]

I started with the Grey Knights trilogy… LOVED IT

[@matthewdavies986]

In my opinion double eagle by dan Abnett is probably the best book for beginners for a few reasons, it’s a brilliant book, probably the best black Library book I’ve read. Its a single, self contained, story, so requires no prior knowledge of the setting or reading a huge series to see how it ends, but at the same time ties into the Gaunt’s ghosts book, leaving an opportunity to delve deeper into black library for the context behind the war. Its whole ‘Battle of Britain but in space’ thing makes it easy to understand what’s going on for non 40K fans, and it has a great cast of memorable and relatable characters, that shows a great mix of military and civilian life in the 41st millennium

[@crwarren]

For an introduction into chaos I'd recommend the dark apostle series. Bonus points that it's set around a character who then gets a cameo appearance from 10000 years earlier in the horus heresy books.

[@sameer95579]

Night lords omnibus is a extremely good starting point too. ADB at his finest

[@arnewei7872]

Thanks for the suggestions! The Enforcer novels sound great. Since I started getting into Warhammer with the Horus Heresy novels, I'm glad you didn't recommend them. They're way too hard to follow for a beginner. In one of your episodes of 40k Book Club with Mira you mentioned you also discussed 'Left Hand of Darkness'. Are these non-40k Book Club episodes available online? LeGuin is one of my favourite authors and I would like to hear your thoughts on her novels.

[@ArbitorIan]

Nah, it was an actual book club rather than a KZbin book club. But we have spoken about maybe doing something like that, either for YT or as a podcast or something. Surely a sci-fi book club podcast already exists??

[@Dimetropteryx]

My suggestion is to start with whatever topic interests you. I know there are classics, but I don't consider them as much required reading as solid recommendations. Personally, I'm scrounging for information about the Thunder Warriors. So I'm working my way through the cited sources on their wiki pages.

[@alexandervanwijk295]

storm of iron was my first, and boy did that hook me into the franchise

[@minitom1988]

On the warhammer crime front, I listened to bloodlines by Chris Wraight and really enjoyed it. My first BL novel was eye of terror, which like someone else in the comments said is some really weird stuff!

[@Re5pawning]

The first Novel I read was Rynn's World and it was immersive and gave great combat scenes and some cool characters.

[@kalebgonzales4009]

My first WH40k book was from one of the Gaunt’s ghost novels where they went to a haunted facility and fought aberrations or something. I knew WH40k because of DoW, so I had a foundation of what the universe looked like but from the first novel I read, I got a bit skeptical or confused because the way they were described was like light infantry and nothing like the guards from DoW where they wore the “imperial guards uniform (Cadian shock trooper flak armor) ” then after digging a bit, I realized that there were different types of imperial guard factions. This was 15 years ago when I was still getting into the lore and universe. I now enjoy necromunda books and some catachan jungle fighter novels. :)

[@RevPirateDan]

The first 40K novel I read was "Lord of the Night". It might not be the *best* first book, but I really enjoyed it, it *definitely* got me reading more (many, many more) 40K novels, and I even re-read it years later (the only 40K novel I have re-read). That said, it does focus on a pretty non-standard character, who really no longer has a place in the world he finds himself in, which, again, makes it maybe not the best introductions novel. (I have always hoped for a sequel, since I found the two main characters, neither of whom truly has a place in the galaxy anymore, would make for a compelling "buddy movie"-style novel. At least for me it would.)

[@CrassusSilverwolf]

I would highly recommend ‘The Path of’ series for Aeldari point of view …. three books - Path of the Warrior - Path of the Farseer & Path of the Outcast. Excellent series and really good to provide the counter point to humanity 😊

[@robolizard222]

Infinite and Divine is amazing. Great start for 40k albeit from an outside perspective

[@julianwarren7770]

Love the 40K books! My first one was Inquisitor (I think it’s now called Draco), which I think was the first ever 40K novel, back when it was first released. Only recently finished the rest of the trilogy - kind of weird with space marines doing scrimshaw on navigator’s eyeballs and massive psychic jelly octopus things... definitely NOT a good intro! Absolutely love Dan Abnett’s books, need to finish off Gaunt’s Ghosts, and that Brother of the Snake and Enforcer series sound interesting too! Re-reading Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin at the moment, interspersed with Gotrek and Felix!

[@Mugdorna]

I read that one myself. Also read “Space Marine” from back then too. But I started reading 40K in the mid 90s when there wasn’t much of a selection

[@radeksmid6593]

As for us Eldar players, I would very much recommend both the Path of the Eldar and Path of the Dark Eldar trilogies. And the related Mask of Vyle, a Harlequin/Dark Eldar book. Also I did like both Ynnari books, shame these did not sell well. Both Phoenix Lords books (Asurmen and Jain Zar) I've got mixed feelings. On one hand, they were ok, but I somehow did not imagine the Fall and the start of the whole Path system, as described. Also, why there are only two? I need my Dark Phoenix story and finally know, what exactly happened!

[@brothernemiel6465]

They are all great recommendations. Personally I loved Mask of Vyle most but you need both the Eldar and Dark Eldar trilogy to appreciate it. For the Phoenix Lords books I found Jain Zar really good but Asurmen was kind of a let down but still a good read.

[@davidcallier9679]

Currently enjoying The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight. It's an interesting spin on the life and slow decay of a warband of the Death Guard, although it does seem to jump around a bit within it's own timeline, which can be a tad confusing at first. Definitely NOT a "where to start" kind of book though, but worth a look if you are already embedded into the world of 40K.

[@ArbitorIan]

Yeah, I really enjoyed that one. Also ties really well into Warhawk too!

[@brothernemiel6465]

I´ve accumulate over 200 BL books so far but if I have to pick just a single one which I would recommend as an entry point it is "Helsreach" by Aaron Dembski Bowden. Personally, my first BL novel I've read was Angels of Darkness...it's tiny compared to the latter releases, which makes it probably a less intimidating book for a first read instead of the big tomes the likes of the Dawn of Fire series ^^

[@mikepearse5196]

Spears also did a very good job showing both sides of the chaos divide.

[@pendantblade6361]

These videos are a God-Emperor-send to my non-40k fan friends. I can't wait for more! Thoughts on the Path of Eldar novels?

[@akselolsson7576]

Great vid! And shoutout Wrath of Iron💀💀💀

[@Itzak15]

I personally liked to read a ton of short stories and see which ones I enjoyed to then find a novel featuring that!

[@dreamingthelife]

thanks for listening a couple of Xenos, thanks to that I've been listening to Brutal Kunnin for a bit over an hour on Audible and it's great!, however I am finding a couple of the Ork voices really jarring, though I'm sure I'd be used to it if I larped or spent enough time with wargamers, so most should be fine, over all the narration is dope 🤘