Warhammer books?

[Hi.standard]

Not sure this is a good place to ask.
But Warhammer seems like this massive thing with a huge world, and I dunno if it's because I'm an american I know basically nothing about it. I mean even playing the game I dunno what they are talking about with machine spirits and warp perils and all this gargle nonsense!

So...where is there a good place to start in like getting some of this lore in book format, I feel like if i just pick up any book I'll be completely lost. How does everyone know so much about Warhammer?

[Stranger]

The Black Library is the backbone literary series for the 40k setting, stating with the events of 30K and centering on the Imperium.

The first three books are always in print, after that you are pretty much on your own if you want physical copies. Used they range in price from 3 to 50 dollars for first, second, and third printings. The complete collection is available as E-Books through Games Workshop (unless things have changed since I last looked into it). Not sure the price on those.

First book is called Horus Rising. It is worth reading, Dan Abnett is the best writer in the series, if his name is on something it is always worth your time. He wrote comics prior to working with GWS, so set your expectations accordingly. Book 2 is False Gods. Depending upon your standards for literature you will either think it is absolute trash, or you might not notice anything wrong with it all. Graham MacNeill is divisive. Every time I get to one of his novels it takes me months to finish and it is almost as long before I pick up another. Galaxy in Flames in book three, it's by Ben Counter, and it didn't leave any impression with me at all. Must not have been that bad.

The quality of the series ranges quite broadly from incredibly inept to. . surprisingly good. I read the books and play the video games, I don't play with the toys, I like the setting and think it has tremendous potential and you can go into knowing nothing and get a sense of things pretty quickly.


edit: Recommended reading order.

https://www.tlbranson.com/horus-heresy-reading-order/

[Hi.standard]

Thank you for the detailed response. Will definitely check it out.

[behemoth227]

I recommend the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett. It's a similar premise to Rogue Trader, a high ranking official with a hand picked retinue of specialists setting his own path through the Empire, while being intentionally vague to avoid spoilers, of course.

Mr. Abnett's style of writing is very newbie friendly, I gave another of his works, Gaunt's Ghosts, to my septuagenarian father who had never even heard of Warhammer, and he was able to glean enough through context that he went through the first ten books one after the other. It's now one of his favorite series, being the only book series he actively watched for the next release of.

[Dr.Krieger]

Horus Heresy + Siege of Terra for the origins.
Eisenhorn / Ravenor / Bequin trilogies for the inquisition.
Gaunts Ghosts for the regular human soldiers.
Ciaphas Cain for more inquisition in a comedy/action-adventure/"too good to be true" stories.

Honestly, just pick a series and go. 40K is very loose with how everything connects outside of major events like Horus Heresy and fall of Cadia. You can read pretty much anything and it will slowly start to make sense as you go.

Edit: if you want to get lost for days, highly recommend reading through any topic you want on wh40k.lexicanum .com

[Riblion]

If you are complete beginner, starting with books is probably not the best idea since you will be just as lost as in the game. My advice is to watch a couple youtube videos which explain all the factions and brief lore of the universe. After that just pick a favourite faction and search books about them

[Shockz]

Probably going on youtube and watching some lore videos is the best way to start. There is a guy who put a ton of work into it and its really well made, open the playlist and go from there, to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6M9-oFEKpk&list=PLl6BRvEJ-auZ5aYPHj1B3pKJ_pLjg9qNU

Once you get a basic understanding of what is going on in the general sense then you can dive into the books and literally read whatever. There really is no order other than what you are interested in.
But as people said, the Black Library is a good place to start.

Warhammer 40k is a VAST loredump of a hobby, considering it has been a thing since the 80s

[0utlaw]

Originally posted by Hi.standard:

Not sure this is a good place to ask.
But Warhammer seems like this massive thing with a huge world, and I dunno if it's because I'm an american I know basically nothing about it. I mean even playing the game I dunno what they are talking about with machine spirits and warp perils and all this gargle nonsense!

So...where is there a good place to start in like getting some of this lore in book format, I feel like if i just pick up any book I'll be completely lost. How does everyone know so much about Warhammer?

They've tried some Rogue Trader books, I haven't been too impressed with, but the easy start are the Eisenhorn books, They're legendary for being a great introduction into 40K, If you're like me and don't have a lot of downtime you go on Audible and listen while on the road, fortunately Audible has a ton of the books, including the entire Eisenhorn series.

After that you might be interested in the Space Marines, that's kinda the hook for the franchise. There are a series of books on the Primarchs who lead the space marine regiments and you can get a lot of background.

Also the Horus Heresy as mentioned before goes into great detail about the space marine legions, the rebellion, it's a very daunting series,

But I think already mentioned in my post as well as half the posts here Eisenhorn is mentioned, it's a good start for sure.

[vortex_13]

The Horus Heresy books are a pretty good start.

[HB]

Originally posted by behemoth227:

I recommend the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett. It's a similar premise to Rogue Trader, a high ranking official with a hand picked retinue of specialists setting his own path through the Empire, while being intentionally vague to avoid spoilers, of course.

Mr. Abnett's style of writing is very newbie friendly, I gave another of his works, Gaunt's Ghosts, to my septuagenarian father who had never even heard of Warhammer, and he was able to glean enough through context that he went through the first ten books one after the other. It's now one of his favorite series, being the only book series he actively watched for the next release of.

Agree, a cracking series, soon to be a tv series with H Cavil https://startefacts.com/news/who-will-henry-cavill-play-in-the-upcoming-warhammer-40k-eisenhorn-tv-show_a132#:~:text=Eisenhorn%2C%20the%20first%20TV%20show,to%20his%20already%20impressive%20resume.

[Macsen]

A shedload of 40k books were posted to Usenet a few days ago

[Hi.standard]

Originally posted by Macsen:

A shedload of 40k books were posted to Usenet a few days ago

...what is that? I tried to google usenet but...maybe I'm just really ignorant on this lol

[Macsen]

Try Googling Usenet groups or Newsbin

[Gorwe]

What do you want to know?

[HB]

Originally posted by Hi.standard:

Originally posted by Macsen:

A shedload of 40k books were posted to Usenet a few days ago

...what is that? I tried to google usenet but...maybe I'm just really ignorant on this lol

Loads of ways to get them for free.

https://archive.org/details/warhammertheendtimesvermintideartbook/Warhammer%2040k%20-%208th%20Edition/

Horus
https://archive.org/details/1562642295313

Gaunt
https://archive.org/details/DanAbnett-GauntsGhostsFirstAndOnly

Or by author https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Dan+Abnett%22

[Hello Toonie]

Originally posted by behemoth227:

I recommend the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett. It's a similar premise to Rogue Trader, a high ranking official with a hand picked retinue of specialists setting his own path through the Empire, while being intentionally vague to avoid spoilers, of course.

Mr. Abnett's style of writing is very newbie friendly, I gave another of his works, Gaunt's Ghosts, to my septuagenarian father who had never even heard of Warhammer, and he was able to glean enough through context that he went through the first ten books one after the other. It's now one of his favorite series, being the only book series he actively watched for the next release of.

Strongly seconded, the Eisenhorn trilogy is both entertaining and newbie-friendly.