Any Decent Warhammer 40k Books?

Thargor

Absolutely love the universe, you can spend whole days on the wiki, have a look at the necron entry for example:

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Necron

Just wondering if theres any decent novels I might be missing, read the Inquisitor Trilogy and loved it, not so much a fan of anything else Ive tried though, the Horus Heresy books didnt grab me and neither did Ghants Ghosts, any reccomendations welcome.

Nody

Heresy! You have to love Gaunts Ghosts! :P

There's three inqusition related series (Eisenhorn, Ravenor which builds on Eisenhorn but different character and The Inquisition War ) as I recall; I've only read Eisenhorn but was not overly impressed to be honest. I've read some of the Chaos stuff but they usually end up losing from infighting more then anything. If you want to get a feel for how bad ass Necros are you can try the Worldeater omnibus; it has Necrons in it as a side cast doing what Necrons do best. I also read Enforcer (the police force in a hive) which wet my appetitude for my Sisters of Battle once (but Enforcer in general is a bit of ho hum) I've bought two years ago that I need to get around to but no clue how good they are.

You could also try the normal WH world; Gortek and Felix does a good job of introducing the world; there's also a Blood Bowl Omnibus if you want a laugh and of course Malus Darkblade (two Omnibuses) if you want a anti hero type story (DE loses soul and has to fight to get it back and no he's not some happy do goodie ala Drizzt) and check this thread that I started on the subject 18 months ago; a few more books in there that may fit you.

Thargor

Nah I just didnt like them, the writing was low quality even though Dan Abnett is considered one of the best. No interest in the original Warhammer either, well I loved the pc games but that was it.

Ive actually spent hours reading the wiki, it goes on forever, such a great universe, Id love to see a feature lenght film like the intro to Dawn of War.

Reiver

The Last Chancers series are quite good, 13th Legion, Kill-Team and Annihilation Squad. Very gritty and realistic even (for 40K!).

The 2 Imperial Navy novels, Execution Hour and Shadow Point are excellent as well. A nice insight into the Navy, maybe not stand-out but consistently good.

I enjoy the ones at the more realistic end of the scale and even though humanity are absolute bastards in the setting, its still good to see them sticking it to the eldar, tau, chaos, orks etc and actually coming through with a bit of a fighting chance!

Gaunts Ghosts has been pretty hit and miss with me but Necropolis, The Guns of Tanith and Traitor General are pretty amazing. Double Eagle is one I'm reading now, a spin-off but still set in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.

Sulla Felix

Thargor wrote: »

Nah I just didnt like them, the writing was low quality even though Dan Abnett is considered one of the best. No interest in the original Warhammer either, well I loved the pc games but that was it.

He is the best of the writers writing for GW. I'd agree that it's not strong writing but it is what it is.
If you find the lore interesting in and of itself, track down the pen and paper roleplaying books, Inquisitor etc. Definitely a rich seam.

Thargor

I just read Priests of Mars and the sequel Lords of Mars and absolutely loved them, went to look for the 3rd book and its not out until this Summer. Writing a bit rough in places but the story is great, an Archmagos takes a massive Adeptus Mechanicus ark ship and a fleet out way beyond Imperial space, its got me hungry for more 40k now.

Dave_The_Sheep

If you like the W40K universe, then absolutely, yes there are. They're not literature, and some of them can be absolute muck (close to fan fiction) but that doesn't mean that a lot of them are very good indeed.

The Horus Heresy series started very well, first three books were great. Then it was a bit hit-and-miss for maybe a dozen books, but the more recent ones have been pretty consistent - consistently good. Ones to look out for:

Horus Rising (first one in the series, Abnett)
Prospero Burns and A Thousand Sons (Abnett and McNeill) - the same story told from the points of view of the opposing legions.
Know No Fear (Abnett... actually come to think of it, anything by Abnett :-) )
Angel Exterminatus (McNeill).
Betrayer (Dembski-Bowden).

Ones to avoid:
Descent of Angels (Scanlon). Absolutely dire. The other Dark Angels book is also ****e.
Nemesis (not a bad book per se, just does nothing for the series)

There are a few little short story compilations that are also quite good (Tales of Heresy, Age of Darkness, The Primarchs). I really enjoyed those.

Horus Heresy series aside, Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series is far more hit than miss - well worth a read - kinda like Sharpe in 40K, even comes with a 40K version of Harpur too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Ultramarines series (McNeill) and the Space Wolves (various authors) one also aren't bad at all (well worth a pop if you can get them in Chapters second hand), Soul Drinkers wasn't great really though. Interesting though, if you want to see it from the point of view of a Legion that isn't Imperium OR Chaos.

Morag

The Shira Calpurnia novels by Matthew Farrer esp the last one Blind which is based in a Telepathic tower.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Shira_Calpurnia_%28Novel_Series%29#.Uz75sVdvmLo

Sarky

The Ciaphas Cain books are rather good. Cain is an accidental hero of the Imperium who would really rather just run off to a nice paradise world.

Thargor

Ugh, just gave up on the Last Chancers half way through the series, the writing is shocking, Leaving Cert English quality and so dull. Such a great universe but the writers operating in it really let it down. Cant wait for Gods of Mars in the next month or 2 though, that series is the exception.