I asked the same questions on the WFRP forums, but any good novels to get an idea on the WH40K universe, since I pretty much know nothing about it except what I see in the boxes at my FLGS?

I'm not so enamored of the W40K novels. But if you want a good introduction to the universe and the themes of this setting, I suggest you read the material in the Dark Heresy core rulebook, and the fluff in the latest edition of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame rulebook.

If you're interested in good reference for DH or RT the Eisenhorn trilogy and the Ravenor omnibus are great sets of books for this. They deal with Inquisitors Rogue Traders Mutants Daemons Heretics Monsters and every other type of scum from 40k that you could think of!

If you want to be a real 40k anorak/obsessive, the best way would be to read through all of the 40k material published, in chronological order, starting with the original rogue trader, working your way through all of the white dwarf articles, the book of the astonomicon, the realm of chaos books, the supplements to the various boxed sets (Adeptus Titanicus, Space Marine, Space Hulk, Codex Titanicus etc etc) then the Inquisitor trilogy, the 2nd edition 40k (especially the excellent background book that accompanied it), the various army books that started to accumulate, then the better BI books (particularly those by Dan Abnett and Matthew Farrer), 3rd ed 40k, the new generation of army books, 4th ed 40k, the current generation of army books, the excellent Forge World books and finally the Dark Heresy material itself.

Doing it that way would not only give you an exhaustive view of the detail of 40k, but also how its evolved over time from a sort of Dune/200AD hybrid into the sci-fi/gothic/baroque thing it is today.

However, it would also cost you about £500 to do it that way...so...er...don't do it that way.

I'd say if you wanted 3 good source "primers" on 40k, get:

1. The current (4th) edition of Warhammer 40k

2. Dark Heresy

3. Rogue Trader.

Warhammer 40 000 table top game is now in its 5th edition. I would agree that getting the core rulebook for 4th edition or 5th edition would be a wise move. They both have large sections introducing the 40k setting.

I know not of one huge titanic tome that is a sourcebook for the entirety of the 40K setting. Would be a good idea to publish one, I would buy it.

D'oh! You're right, it IS on the 5th ed not the 4th. How annoying, I missed one out!

i would recommend http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page ... just hit the "random page" and you have a lot of lits bits of information on the universe

sepayne7l said:

No one novel will give you a comprehensive view of 40K.

For Dark Heresy, your best options are the Eisenhorn and Ravenor books (both available in collected versions if i recall correctly). They both deal with an interpretation of the Inquisition in 40k.

Something VERY much worth a look is the Thorian Sourcebook for the Inquistior game written by Gav Thorpe. It was available as a free pdf download through the GW website (under Specialist Games), but i'm not sure if its still there. Lots of really good stuff on the Inquisition in there.

Other than that, any edition of the 40K tabletop wargame will give you some decent background. 3rd Ed., is interesting. Personally i'd skip 4th ed. and go straight for 5th Ed., as it moves the story on fractionally towards 'midnight', and also has Calixis Sector on its maps.

There are some very '40k' options outside of GW IP.

Dune by Frank Herbert is worth a read as its basically the blueprint for 40k.... (i.e. GW ripped it off mercilessly)

The Durham Red graphic novels (particularly the Scarlet Cantos trilogy) is pure-40k inspired loveliness, although set in the 2000AD Strontium Dog universe. Penned by Dan Abnett its pretty much a version of 40K thats well worth a look.

If you'd like to cast your research net over films as well, two stick out as particularly '40k', - The Chronicles of Riddick, and Mutant Chronicles. I can't vouch for their theatrical quality though but they are definately '40k'.

Hope that helps....

Thanks for all the responses. I'll probably pick up the Ravenor or Eisenhorn books at Borders (when they e-mail me a coupon). My group has pondered the Warhammer and 40k stuff for awhile. Maybe I can finally get them to play.

I'll add my support to Eisenhorn and Ravenor. The Gaunt's Ghosts books are excellent as well, but they only deal with the Inquisition in one or two books.

Rogue Trader (novel) isn't bad, if you can get your paws on it, but don't spend more than $10 for it.

Execution Hour and Shadow Point are really good, too.

Dauntless was okay.

I hear good things about the Ciaphas Cain books, but I haven't read them.

The other 40k books are quite good, but many of them venture away from the men and women of the Imperium and focus on Space Marines - not so good for DH/RT.

As for Warhammer novels, Fell Cargo is quite good. Read the Gotrk and Felix books until the other author took over.

Lastly, both the Necromunda and Mordheim books are available for free online, and provide some good fluff for WHFRP, DH, and RT

Abnett had a less than stellar grasp of the setting in his early novels. They're still good stuff, but be aware that he demystifies technology a great deal, barely touches on the religious aspects and makes several small mistakes (a warp faring vessel with a crew of 70 ? Blasphemy). They are most definitely worth reading. Hell, Eisenhorne and Ravenor are practically the foundation of Dark Heresy. Just be aware of those things.

If you want to know what the Imperium is all about then I'd recommend Crossfire by Mathew Farrer. The events of the book are set inside the Imperium and explores the mindset and philosophy of a devout servant of the Imperium. The focus is on the Adeptus Arbites (the main character being a high ranked officer of it) but it also deals with the nobility, Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Mechanicus, and even touches on the Inquisition.

Both "Eye of Terror" and "Inquisition War" have crews of 2 on warp capable vessels. Small warp starships are entirely possible, its just the availability of Navigators that limits them- far more efficient to have 1 Navigator guide a huge ship with 10,000 crew and 100,000 passengers than 1 Navigator guiding a single passenger through the warp!.

SJE

If you want an idea of how the Imperium was founded the Horus Heresy Series of novels is good. Also the Eisenhorn and Ravenor novels are great for the purely Inquisition element.

Whoa. Total brain fart earlier. When I said "Rogue Trader" I meant "Farseer" and when I said "Dauntless", I meant "Relentless".

Wow. Sorry.

SJE said:

The issue isn't just the navigator, it's that the Imperium's grasp of tech is bass-ackwards. It's shrouded in mysticism, knowledge of it is highly restricted, it's hugely inefficient and often relies on vast manpower over automated systems. Warp Drives are gigantic devices tended to by hundreds of workers and presided over by a dedicated cadre of tech-priests. The same applies to other systems inside warp-capable ships. When something goes wrong dozens of indentured ratings die as machines overload, sending arcs of energy flying or heating the immediate vicinity to blistering temperatures. This is how it's presented in Andy Hoare's writing, him being a man involved in both the original Rogue Trader and the new, RPG Rogue Trader. If you could have tiny craft that could embark on warp travel then every noble would be able to jump between worlds, something which isn't the case. The spacefaring nobility is an entire step above their terrestrial equivalent, the latter often never leaving their homeworld or, if they do, only on rare and special occasions.

Actually, Holy Ordos are capable of fielding ancient two-man warp capable courrier/scout ships, or even the Null Ships (piloted by psychich blank, which are almost all but undetectable by immaterium-scanning entitties), but they are extremly rare and are used mostly by most powerful Sector Ordoes, Segmentum Ordos and of course, Ordos Terran...

To the 40k lore sources, I could vouch for (some already recommended WH40k) TT game Rulebooks for 4th and 5th Edition, Dark Heresy Core rulebook and Inquisitor´s Handbook, Inquisitor: Battle for the Emperor´s Soul Living rulebook and Thorian Sourcebook, Codex: Witchunters, Codex: Daemonhunters, Codex(icies from various editions): Imperial Guard and Xenology backround book.

For novels I recommend, Matt Farrer´s Calpurnia trilogy (so far), which would be available omnibus next year (title: Enforcer (by the way, Herr Farrer isn´t just 40k writer... he IS the Warhammer 40 000)), Last Chancers Omnibus by Gav Thorpe (my personal start with 40k, grimdark, descriptive, enjoyable) Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett, Ciaphas Cain arc by Sandy Mitchell (altough humourus and less grimdark, it deals with Imperium lore nicely and usefuly), Faith and Fire by James Swallow, Grey Knights and Soul Drinkers Omnibus by Ben Counter (funnily, the worst thing about SD serie is the title renegade chapter... everything else about Imperium and various antagonists is simply awesome!), Relentless by Richard Williams and story anthology Let the Galaxy Burn .

Snidesworth said:

IIRC in First and Only Dan Abnett mentioned warp capable scout ships that were in use by the Imperial Navy that had tiny crews.

T-800 said:

'Tiny Crews' by the standards of the Imperial Navy may still be several hundred men and a similar number of servitors.

Definately start with the rulebooks before going to the novels

The Ciaphas Cain books are not the best for background info, though they do confirm a few things (mainly involving women). Still, they might be a good place to start as they are much easier reads then the other books. There's a lot of humor to break up the grimdark, and the writing style is very good (except for the Sulla sections, of course).

I haven't read much of Dan Abnett's stuff, but its pretty good and more central to the usual 40k lore (ie increadibly dark).

Cain's a bad idea for a novice because the novels contain so many 40k in jokes that will fly right over his/her head.

Eisenhorn and Gaunt's Ghosts are good as are 13th Legion.

Scourge the Heretic, going back to Sandy Mitchell, is a good choice.

Angels of Darkness is also good if you're interested in Space Marines as is Brotherhood of the Snake.

How come you omit Commissar Gaunt amidst the first ones?

TorogTarkdacil said:

I quite agree. Farrer's Calpurnia books ( Crossfire, Legacy and Blind ) are perhaps the most distinctively '40k' books I've ever read. As others have noted, no one novel is a perfect beginning. However, for a decent exploration of things, I strongly recommend picking up a couple of the short story anthologies. Let the Galaxy Burn is pretty much the best starting place as it's a very broad set of stories. I'd also recommend the 2008 anthology Planetkill , as it contains Robey Jenkin's excellent Phobos Worked in Adamant , Parker's Mercy Run and Matt Farrer's soul-stealingly splendid Seven Views of Ulguth's Passing .

As individual novels go, Richard William's Relentless is a very good starting place. It's a remarkably mature and understated 40k novel, well worth a look.

Of course, if you can get your hands on Gordon Rennie's two books, Execution Hour and Shadowpoint , I strongly recommend getting them. Sacrificing family members in an effort to obtain these books is perfectly acceptable.

Eisenhorn Trilogy is absolute perfection. Ravenor trilogy is fun too. Both are out in Omnibus editions, which include really good short stories to connect the books. And I think both are excellent to immerse you in the background for serving as an acolyte to an Inquisitor - i.e., the basic idea of Dark Heresy. IIRC Sandy Mitchell's book Scourge the Heretic was written with Dark Heresy in mind, and it's set primarily on Sepherus Secundus, which is one of the planet's in the Calixis Sector, the setting of Dark Heresy. It's nowhere near as well written as Dan Abnett's stuff, but it's not terrible.

As a general rule, I'd say anything written by Dan Abnett is solid gold goodness. With other a lot of the other authors there is a steep descent into complete and utter crapitude and just generally awful writing.