The Black Library Books

[The Beaver King]

The Black Library is the publishing arm of Games Workshop and they have a fantastic collection of science fiction, war, horror, medieval and magic books.

I'll admit that a few years ago before I started reading them I was very sceptical. I had a long held belief that all books that were a spin off from movies, games or comics were generally st. So when I finally relented and bought Eisenhorn on the recommendation of a friend, I was very surprised at the quality of writing.

I know a few people will disregard them as purely a geeky Warhammer book, but they are honestly a lot more than that. Some of the books I've read from the BL have been very brutal and quite graphic in their description. These are not really books for kids.

The Gaunt's Ghost series is particularly good and I would compare them to the World War 2 Sven Hassel books in their style and attachment to the characters. Another one is the first BL I read, Eisenhorn. It is very much a brutal detective novel and the reviews on Amazon speaks volumes as to the quality of the book.

I've read a good chunk of the BL books now and love how they all kind of interlock into this massive galaxy spanning saga, being able to read a book that brief talks about another faction or group in the 40K universe and then reading books written from the factions POV. All brilliant stuff.

Anybody have any recommendations for other BL books or thinking of reading one?

[AnimalMkIV]

You bugger, that's another website to spend money on.

I've not read any Warhamster for years, but I bought a few in the early 90's (Zaragoz, Plague Demon & Drachenfels spriong to mind) and enjoyed them (whilst listening to Bolt Thrower ).

I've just ordered the Ultramarines e-bundle, but I can see me getting the Horus set before long.

Any recommendations for Chaos stories?

What's worthwile in the non-40k side?

[Nuclearsquash]

Definitely the Horus Heresy series, an excellent bunch of books describing the events just before and during the great galactic civil war. The series isn't strictly linear and does jump around a bit, but don't let that put you off.

I'd also recommend the Night Lords series (Soul Hunter, Blood Reaver and Void Stalker) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, I've never read bad guys written so well that you almost start to like them.

[AnimalMkIV]

Cheers

Looks like it'll be Warhamster e-books for my birthday

[Happy82]

I'm coming to the end of the second omnibus of Space Wolves and have loved it!

[Carfiend]

The Audio Books are quite good as well but in general there are some good ones and some bad ones. Horus Heresy ones are always at least readable but some others such as Path of the Warrior is a bit... naff.

From the Fantasy Universe Gotrex and Feilx are quite amusing from a nutter dwarf smashing everything in the face with his haphazard human sidekick in tow angle.

We are all massive man children on PH aren't we?

[The Beaver King]

AnimalMkIV said:

Any recommendations for Chaos stories?

I've recently read the Word Bearers omnibus, they were quite good.

Definitely start reading the Horus Heresy books though. I had the first 9, but then sold them when I had finished them and no new ones were available.
Since then they've written another 9 odd and I'm gonna have to buy the whole lot again

[AnimalMkIV]

I'd like to get the audio books, but I can't justify buying them as well yet.

I think the Horus Heresy collection will be next once I've finished Ultramarines.

The Rise of Nagash trilogy looks interesting, too.

[pwrc]

another vote for gaunt's ghosts and the horus heresy series. the former is very easy to get into if you're not familiar with warhammer, makes for great sci-fi reading. the latter is probably more suited to those with knowledge of warhammer 40k.
Dan abnett is a very good author!

[minivanman]

Another vote for Gaunt's Ghosts - you don't even have to like warhammer for it to be an awesome story! Latest one was a bit of a letdown though I thought.

[The Beaver King]

I finished re-reading 'The Founding' omnibus a few weeks back and just cracking through 'The Saint' again, forgot how good they were. I love the fact the Dan Abnett has no fear in killing off well liked characters.

I think I read some of 'The Lost' books, but will need to buy the omnibus.

I read Titan a few months ago, it was interesting as it's written from the point of view of a Titan Regiment. Not one of his best, but interesting none the less.

I'd shout out for Ravenor as well. Not as good as Eisenhorn, but still better than most stuff I've read.

Makes me wish I had psychic powers

[jr502]

I have never managed to finish a fiction book since school, I've always read books on how to do things, learn new hobbies etc. I've never had a fiction book grab me.

Until about 6 weeks ago. I read the first 3 of the Horus heresy books back to back, first time ever I found myself reading and not noticing that it had got very late!

I always thought fiction just wasn't for me, but now I have found something I can't stop reading.

[pwrc]

jr502 said:

I always thought fiction just wasn't for me, but now I have found something I can't stop reading.

the 40k universe is one of the best sci-fi universes there is. It's so in-depth, versatile and original. Sadly it's hurt by GW's incredibly restrictive intellectual property policies which means all we really get are the books. I'm sure we can all imagine the potential of blockbuster level 40k films.

Then again, at the same time it's probably a strength that it's exposure is limited.

[AnimalMkIV]

pwrc said:

... I'm sure we can all imagine the potential of blockbuster level 40k films...

Not quite a Hollywood blockbuster, but some pretty big names doing the voiceovers.

http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/

[The Beaver King]

AnimalMkIV said:

Not quite a Hollywood blockbuster, but some pretty big names doing the voiceovers.

http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/

I watched that, sadly I found it to be a little long winded and done to a budget. It's a shame really, I could see Warhammer 40k being something Spielberg or Micheal Bay doing very well.

[Happy82]

I've almost finished the Space Wolf omnibus (have read both) and fancy reading another warhammer 40k book

What would be best to go for next? I'm looking at Eisenhorn, Blood Angels Omnibus or the Ultramarines omnibus

[AnimalMkIV]

I'm half way through the last book of the Ultramines set and I've enjoyed them. Been the first GW stuff I've read since the early 90's (Drachenfels, Zaragoz & Plague Bearer were excellent), so I don't know how they compare with the other Black Library stuff.

[Uriel]

I devoured the first ten books of the Horus Heresy series back to back. Got bit sick by that point...although some of them (Dan Abnet's in particular) are very well written they are very samey and repetitive. Took a break to read some 'proper' books, but just this week started craving a little war porn and a W40k universe (30k technically) so picked up Fallen Angels. Loving being back into it; real comfort reading for me.

[irocfan]

pwrc said:

the 40k universe is one of the best sci-fi universes there is. It's so in-depth, versatile and original. Sadly it's hurt by GW's incredibly restrictive intellectual property policies which means all we really get are the books. I'm sure we can all imagine the potential of blockbuster level 40k films.

Then again, at the same time it's probably a strength that it's exposure is limited.

You'd think that with the riches on offer that something like 40k would work wonders on the big-screen - pray that hollywood ignores it!! You want to see how bad things can get watch the 2 D&D movies and wonder how a gaming system that has so many good stories and worlds to explore is reduced to such a pile of steaming dragon ste There are no words which can fully illustrate how absolutely kack these films are!!

[Uriel]

I take it that you haven't seen this, then? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1679332/