Hey everyone,

I'm pretty new to Rogue Trader, but I have a passing familiarty with 40K setting in general. I never owned 40K Battles game, but I did own Epic 40K and Battlefleet Gothic. I'm wonder what novels out there would help me get a feel for the Rogue Trader setting, but not overwhelm me with references to other 40K book. I'm looking for a good "tour" book lets say. A good starting point. for example, I'm not really into Space Marines, but I would like to know more about that organization. I know there are some Battlefleet Gothic books too, but which ones are any good? Anyone have any thoughts?

Rogue Star & Star of Damocles

Execution hour is not about rogue traders, but paints an excellent picture about the imperial navy and (harsh) life aboard star ships.

Relentless gives a possibly even better idea about lower-deck life than Execution Hour , although I personally enjoy the latter more. I'd also recommend Legacy and Savage Scars for the Rogue Trader-ness ( Savage Scars also does a fair bit of space-marine-y things), and possibly Farseer or even Eye of Terror (although the last bears very little relation to modern 40k fluff, and isn't one of Barrington J Bayley's better novels to boot).

bobh said:

Both of those are ideal for Rogue Trader as Rogue Traders are the focus and the author went on to contribute to the RPG.

As for "general 40k setting" stuff I'd always recommend the Eisenhorn trilogy and the (also previously mentioned) Shira Calpurnia "enforcer" trilogy (Crossfire, Legacy and Blind).

I really liked the Ciaphas Cain books and did not like the Shia Culpurna books at all... Though there is a novel about Rogue Traders in that trilogy.

Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! is a good read. A Commissar who thinks he doesn't deserve the title or his reputation as a hero, and yet keeps getting into the thick of it and coming out on top. It's 40K, but with a little more sarcastic humour than usual.

I'll also second the vote for Eisenhorn. Ravenor is a good follow-up to that. Eisenhorn gives some indication as to the kind of resources that a powerful independent person can muster - his private school of Untouchables, for instance. It's also given me some nice hints on how our group's Astropath can get her hands on a force weapon.

If you want to experience the baroque majesty of the 41st millenium as it was originally conceived, pick up the Inquisition War trilogy. It shows its age some, but the writing is quite singular, and it explores the Eye of Terror, the Eldar Webway, the Palace of the Emperor, and over a dozen worlds between. The way characters enter and leave the story is somewhat close to what I can imagine happens in some roleplaying groups.