I am not an avid reader but I'm reading more these days than I used to. I'm sure I have about a dozen half read books next to my bed with bookmarks gathering dust. I was at Borders the other day and gathered together about 8 Horus Heresy books and contemplated purchasing at least the first few... then I put them down and used my 30% off coupon to finally purchase Warhammer Invasion. My question is: If I am going to start reading some Warhammer... and I plan on picking up Horus Heresy (the game), should I start with these books. Or perhaps there is a better series to start with???

IMHO, Horus Heresy books are worth your money. In short, they definitely show just how different the reality of the 31st millennium is compared to the "default" 41st millennium and while they are still nowhere near (in terms of the timeline) the actual Battle for Terra (which in itself is rumored to be depicted in the final book(s) wrapping up the series), the authors manage to fill in the most interesting white spots of W40K fluff and convey just how rapidly everything starts to go downhill. Being an avid reader of the series I heartily recommend it, if only to get a better a better understanding of the era and thus the background of the upcoming HH game.

Agree the HH books are awesome and I would reccomend you should read them if you like the W40K universe.

I love the stories from Abnett and McNiell and looking forward to read Prospero Burns

Yes, you should read them. At least some of them. Here is my list of the suggested books in the order they should be read:

1. Horus Rising

2. False Gods

3. Galaxy in Flames

4. The Flight of the Eisenstein

5. Fulgrim

6. Legion

7. Battle for the Abyss

These seven will give you a good knowledge of the how the Heresy takes hold of the traitor legions and how it begins to spread. I have ommited Book number six in the series, Descent of Angels , because it doesn't really deal with the Heresy but with the Dark Angels founding.

But you forgot Mechanicum. It is about the Heresy and the AM is also present in the game.

Ah, but I am just about to start to read Mechanicum .

Yes you should.

But, as an alternative, you could just waltz in any 40k store and borrow from a space marine player their codex. The previous edition (4th ed), IIRC, is a little more detailed. These codexes give you a good rundown about Horus Heresy.

The Horus Heresy books are good, but they are waaay back before the event.

Thanks for the replies! I have picked up Horus Rising and I just started reading it. It's definitely sucking me in.

I love the opening to Horus Rising: "I was there, the day Horus slew the Emperor."

I'm half way through it. I'm loving it!

Mechanicum is fracking awesome, just love the novels by Graham McNeill.

Reading Tales og Heresy and there is a lot of nice short stories there.

can't wait for A Thousand Sons

The books are amazing, especially the first three. Surprisingly well written.. although I knew going in that Dan Abnett kicks ass.

I even liked Flight of the Eisenstein, not because of the different perspective but because you really get to see a primarch up close (Mortarion).

Have to confess I went out of order after the first four books, but it doesn't really matter.

Currently reading A Thousand Sons. Magnus is awesome.

I have to confess that I was really excited to read this epic story. I picked up the first three books and read them ravenously.

*spoiler alert*

After reading the 3rd novel, I now realize that they are REALLY milking this franchise and are nowhere near to the invasion of Holy Terra. I was hoping for a 3 part story, myself. Horus is a good guy. Horus becomes a bad guy. Horus gets grounded by his dad. Done and done. But looking at the book outline for the next few releases, this story may not conclude until a dozen or so books... which is far beyond my patience at the moment. I'll wait for a compilation.

I just finished A Thousand Sons, and I can highly recommend it. I thought it was one of the stronger books in the series, next to Legion. Some parts of the overall series gets a little slow, but anything written by Abnett or McNiell is pretty much going to be a good book.

HH (the series) is really good. Actually, just about all the 40k novels Ive read flow the same way. If you finish HH just jump over to all the Gaunt's Ghost's novels, theyre just as good.

or the books with the Ultramarine 4th company.

Love the one where their are fighting Nids.

Definitely should read the Heresy series.

I've read all that have come out so far and I am always slavering for the next one. The only one that I thought was a little disappointing was Descent of Angels. It really didn't progress the macro plot line at all and pretty much was just a long explanation for Fallen Angels.

The HH series is good. Anything Dan Abnett writes is better. Start with The Founding (3 books in one). You will become addicted to Abnett's writing style. IMHO, he's the strongest talent Black Library has in their shop. Abnett has also written (two I think) HH books. They are among the best ones in the series.

Welcome to the 40k fiction addiction. Don't be turned off by the franchise tie-in. The books are quite good in the their own regard!

J-Tech said:

I think this is the strength. We've been reading the codex books with the short summary for two decades now, and I am personally ready for a more complete story. I'm heavily into the TTG and Dark Heresy, and the stories on the periphery really have impact on them in the 41st millennium in ways I hadn't expected.

I concure that these are some great reading materials, even if you are not an avid fan of the game. There are some well written scenes that I can't write about without getting the books as it simply wouldn't do them justice. You will understand when you get to the part where a Sons of Horus Marine enters the fighting arena with that pompous Emperor's Children slash-face, or the last paragraph to the Legion Novel I think it was.

As an aside though. Did anyone else feel cheaped out on the corruption of Horus? I mean he gets diseased, has a fever dream and then he's chaotic. It seemed a little too simple for me. I envisioned a long convoluted teasing of the man... I understand the Chaos Gods are powerful, but I thought there should have been a much more elaborate sequence of corrupting the Emperor's favoured son.

These books are fantastic. Every single one of them. Dan Abnett and Graham McNeil might write better than the others but each book has its own feel and brings to life the universe of the 31st millenium. I know it might be a bit redundant to suggest you read from book 1 onwards but really, book 1 is probably one of the best. As you start to get to grips with the characters and the setting, the book ends and so you will no doubt read books 2 and 3 aswell.

If you were to stop there, that would be allright, the fall of Horus is well under way and I guess you could fill in the rest for yourself. Just for example let's say you did actually stop there,well if I knew you and we were out talking about this I think I would be a pretty terrible friend if I didn't say, "you MUST read Legion", because it is one of the best fiction books I think I've ever read.

My little addition would be the flight of the Eisenstein because it is really dramatic and has some great characters plus it finishes off some ends of stories that you want answers for.

LASTLY, books 1-4 are the core of the story, I think anyway. Book 10 I think it is which is a compilation of short stories is also quite good, some nice Emporer of mankind moments in that one.. Legion is a must own, all the others focus on other parts of the greater picture and so you don't NEED to involve yourself or your wallet in those if you don't want to.

I've read them all, I could go on for hours about these books because I love the story.

i would also recommend the Three stories in the two audio books.

"Ravens flight" by Gav Thorpe

"The Dark King" by Graham McNeill and "The Lightning Tower" by Dan Abnett