Which novels from Black Library are the best for background fluff and to help set the scene?

Our DH group each bought a few =][= ones which we passed around.

PS I do not believe I posted on the RT forums and didn't once mention delivery times... Arr dang!

Star of Damocles comes to mind. I forget the title of the other one, but there's 2 books in that series I believe.

Rogue Star is the first in that series (of two), by Andy Hoare. They're about a rogue trader alright. Or something like Relentless by Richard Williams - set in the Imperial Navy. I haven't read any of these titles though...

Otherwise your usual Inquisition-related stuff would still be somewhat useful I'm sure. Eisenhorn, Ravenor, Inquisitor, you know the drill. Ravenor in particular features a few more rogues of the type you might meet during an RT session.

Rogue Star was pretty good and informative.

Star of Damocles was much worse. Essentially nothing happened in it.

Relentless was possibly the worst book I have ever read. It does show why the PC's can't wield an endless supply of mooks though.

Rogue Star was much more enjoyable read. Star of Damocles was the second book.

The basic premise is the RT Dynasty is down to it's last torpedo and they get caught up in a Xenos-Weapon smuggling scheme which they turn around to start a Crusade against the Tau. That, of course, changes their fortunes around for the better.

It does go quite a bit into sibling rivalry. The chick is older, but more competant and in the end more loyal to dad than the son, who is dad's favorite....and they come just shy several times of trying to kill each other (the sister and brother that is).

Not Dan-Abnett awesome, but very entertaining.

I liked Relentless. On a related topic is there any info on sequels to any of these novels?

You might also try Shadow Point (if you can get hold of it), and the Shia Culpurnia novels (Blind et al) deal with the Arbites and touch on geopolitics, space warfare and Rogue Traders.

I loved Relentless. I think it gave me a better picture of ship-board life than any other Black Library Novel, and it's well written and fun. Also, as a military man myself, I can say that its one of the few BL books that actually has a genuine 'military' atmosphere to it (as opposed to a set of military notions gleaned from repeated viewings of Dirty Dozen, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, and Aliens). There were long sequences in the Lower decks where I felt like I was in boot camp again. My first impression upon reading Relentless was that the author had actually served in the Navy at some point. Everything from the intra-officer politics and alliances, to the ****-baggery of the crew's plummeting morale and discipline, was like watching an actual military unit go down the crapper.

I'd definately recommend Relentless.

I liked Relentless as well.

I'm currently reading Legacy, by Matthew Farrer, and it seems very relevant indeed. It's about a transfer of Writ to the next in line as a Rouge Trader dies, and the interactions a Rogue Traders "fleet" have with Imperial society.

Maxim C. Gatling said:

I have to disagree here, to me it seemed the son was far more loyal, if less imaginative and "skilled" as his sister. To me, it seems she would have sold out anyone to get what she wanted. And the son was a far less annoying character. It felt as if the writer was trying to force her into the story and onto the reader.

Maxim C. Gatling said:

Not sure about this either, reading the second Gaunt's Ghosts novel right now, talk about BORING!

Peacekeeper_b said:

The second one put me off the series, but apparently the later ones are a vast improvement. I've not yet summoned the effort needed to get back into them, so I can't confirm this.

MDMann said:

I liked Blind because it gave a good insight into Astropaths, their function in the Imperium and their day-to-day lives.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

I started off reading one in the middle of the series, loved it and then I got obsessed and read them all in order. The later books are better, but I did enjoy them all.

Darth Smeg said:

Snap on both parts. Just read Relentless, and loved it (it's one of my all time favourite 40K books). Am presently reading Legacy and finding it very inspiring. :-)

Rogue traders are heavily featured in the following black library novels

Eye of terror (out of print)

Legacy (Out of print)

Rogue Star

Star of Damocles.

For more information see the original 40k Rogue trader rule books, or the Book of the astronomicon 40k supplement, which even detailed a Warhammer 40k Army for a rogue trader (complete with now extinct squats) and ideas on isignia. Both of these are now hard to find though...

I would suggest "Farseer" by William King if you can find a copy (published in 2002).

It's about a Rouge Trader 'Janus Darke' and his involvment with Eldar and deamons. It also features a Navigator very prominently, including a description of warp travel fron his perspective.

Steelheart said:

Its quite Good, but it was meant to be the first of three instalments before Bill King gave up the GW gig. Who knows he may revisit and finish the series eventually. Unfortunately the book is now out of print. I had to get mine from a store where it was gathering dust. I was very lucky...