40k Fiction - Where to Start?

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Seb
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40k Fiction - Where to Start?

Post by Seb » Wed May 18, 2011 10:26 am

I want to start reading more books from the 40k universe. I only read one so far and already borrowed 3 books from Prim, which I haven't even gotten started with yet. But I would like to ask you experienced veterans on where to start from? What series? Is it ok to start from anywhere?

Also I want to ask about audiobooks, are there many audiobooks? Audiobooks are actually better for me because I can listen while doing other hobby related stuff.

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Re: 40k Fiction - Where to Start?

Post by me_in_japan » Wed May 18, 2011 11:29 am

I cant say about audiobooks, but I have shelves and shelves of the BL books.

I'd start with:

Gaunt's Ghosts by Dan Abnett. Yes, its about IG, but Abnett is one of the few BL authors who is actually good at writing. The stories all clip along at a fine pace, and you get really quite attached to the characters. (And then Bad Things start to happen to em. Abnett is a mean, mean man, in my opinon :D)

Eisenhorn, then Ravenor by Abnett. Same reason as above. Good characters, and a great perspective on the Imperium from the POV of a regular citizen.

I like the Ultramarines books by Graeme McNeill. Very Space Mariney, but the main characters are interestingly conflicted (well, for a space marine) and they go to interesting places (the eye of terror - yay!) and do interesting things (like accidentally waking up gods)
There are maybe one or two companing books about chaos marines (Storm of Iron is one of them) by McNeill. Characters from these books show up in the Ultramarines books and vice versa.

Some of the short story collections are quite good. Obviously, the quality of writing varies from story to story.

Brothers of the Snake is Dan Abnett's only space marine novel. Quite good. Kinda Grecian themed marines.

Titanicus is Dan Abnetts Titan Legion book. Again, fine.

Other than that, the Horus Heresy books are entertaining, mostly, but theyre not 40k per se.

There are others, but Ive just listed about 40 books, so that should do for now, Id imagine :D

*edit* The Night Lords stories by Aaron Dembski-Bowden are good, too.
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Re: 40k Fiction - Where to Start?

Post by Colonel Voss » Wed May 18, 2011 11:35 am

I'll second Abnett. I just finished reading Treadheads which was good. Again guard but it moves along at a good pace and is mostly armor based so it provides a different perspective.
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Re: 40k Fiction - Where to Start?

Post by Primarch » Wed May 18, 2011 1:03 pm

I'll go along with what M_i_J said for now, though I found Brotherhood of the Snake to be fairly weak by Abnetts standards.
Lord of the Night is a great read, as is Rebel Winter.

For a more light-hearted look at the 40k-verse I love the Commissar Cain books. They are definitely worth a read.
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Re: 40k Fiction - Where to Start?

Post by Seb » Fri May 20, 2011 5:46 am

Thanks for the advice, so I assume that there is no real "start", it is ok to read from any novel possible.

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Re: 40k Fiction - Where to Start?

Post by Primarch » Fri May 20, 2011 7:49 am

Seb wrote:Thanks for the advice, so I assume that there is no real "start", it is ok to read from any novel possible.
Yep. 40k is a setting, not a story line in and of itself. Some books do come in a sequence (Gaunt's Ghosts, Commissar Cain) and should be read from first to last. Other books are stand alone stories and can be picked up at random.
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