Recommendations?

[Brother Heinrich]

Evening ladies and gents,

 

So I'm in the process of reading back through Rynn's World, by Steve Parker. I love this novel first off, I think it was the first one in the Space Marine Battles series, followed by Helsreach (which I just finished re-reading). I've got a good ways to go before I finish it again, however while looking at the stockpile of books on my Kindle I've realized I have re-read everything on it multiple times, and now need new material for my brain to consume.

 

I do feel I've become a bit of a snobbish elitist where 40k fiction is concerned, and have pretty much relegated myself to any novel with the words "Abnett" or "Dembski-Bowden" on the cover, with a few exceptions. This, in a way, saddens me. When I was a kid I used to gobble up any 40k fiction I could lay my hands on (except Commissar Cain novels, even back then I thought they were garbage) whereas now I'm picky to a fault. Thus I'd like to try and broaden my horizons again and see what newer authors have put out good material set in the dark millennium.

 

To the point, what would you guys recommend I pick up and read next? I'm geared towards 40k stuff at the moment, and Space Marine stuff as well, but I do enjoy Imperial Guard novels and maybe a xenos novel (scum that they are) if you REALLY recommend it. To avoid repeats, here is a rough list of what I have already:

• Entire Gaunt's Ghosts series including short stories

• Both Eisenhorn and Ravenor story arcs, as well as Pariah

• Titanicus

• Night Lords trilogy including all short stories 

• Rynn's World

• Helsreach (Blood & Fire as well)

• Fall of Damnos

• The Gildar Rift

• Wrath of Iron

• Battle of the Fang

• Hunt for Voldorius

• Pretty much all the Horus Heresy stuff (I try to stay up to date on everything 30k)
• All the Ultramarine novels and short stories by Graham McNeil

• Heroes, Victories, and Treacheries of the Space Marines

• Soul Drinkers Series (haven't read Daenyathos)

• Space Wolf series

 

That's all I can think of right now, I'm sure there's a few more, regardless I look forward to your recommendations guys and gals, unless you recommend something with Draigo in it. Don't be that person.

 

Cheers!

 

[Kol Saresk]

The Dark Eldar trilogy by Andy Chambers. Path of the Renegade is the first one I believe.Not amazing, but still entertaining I thought.

[Sothalor]

Have you read Double Eagle?

 

It's part of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade and ties in tangentially with Gaunt's Ghosts, featuring several characters from The Guns of Tanith. The focus is on dogfighting, aerial combat, and the (often short) lives of pilots. I've seen remarks that it's basically the Battle of Britain, in the grimdark far future.

 

If you like Space Marines there's Brothers of the Snake, following a series of exploits of a member of the Iron Snakes Chapter.

 

From the SM Battles series I'd also recommend Death of Integrity. It starts as a straightforward genestealer hunt, then has some interesting revelations. I particularly liked the author's depiction of fighting in a space hulk environment. Well thought-out and detailed.

[Grand Master Belial]

Also the Eldar trilogy. Path of the Warrior, Seer then Outcast is the order and they each intertwine with the others. A good read.

 

I do like the Commissar Cain series, but there is the Henry Zou books that are really good as well.

[Grotsmasha]

Besides those listed, The Last Chancers trillogy is worth reading imo.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Akragth]

The Tome of Fire trilogy by Nick Kyme! There's an omnibus for them these days. Focuses on the Salamanaders, the author exhibits a pretty clear enthusiasm for them and I thought it showed well in his writing.

 

Also Storm of Iron, if you haven't already.

[Kol Saresk]

That made Vulkan Lives all the more tragic.

[Flint13]

^^ I'll second that Kol. I'm not sure what happened there. I had to force my way through it in audiobook format.

 

@ Heinrich - Brotherhood of the Snake looks like it got mentioned slightly farther up. I can definitely recommend that one, huge 40k marine/Abnett fanboy that you are :P

 

But in seriousness, it's a great take on "realistic" marines, who have actual faults and idiosyncrasies that make them more interesting instead of just less human robots. It's a great read and does a good deal to flesh out Abnett's ideas on how a 40k Astartes operates. Other than the few little interactions of the marines seconded to Gaunt's Ghosts in Salvation's Reach, I don't think Abnett has done much other 40k marine fiction, has he? 

[Iron Father Ferrum]

The Tome of Fire trilogy by Nick Kyme! There's an omnibus for them these days. Focuses on the Salamanaders, the author exhibits a pretty clear enthusiasm for them and I thought it showed well in his writing.

 

Also Storm of Iron, if you haven't already.

 

Ugh.  Pass on the Tome of Fire.  Seriously.  It's bad.  Not Battle for the Abyss bad, but still bad.

[Artein]

I'm reading the first omnibus with Ciaphas Cain right now. Gods! This is awesome. Why haven't I picked it earlier?

 

Also Storm of Iron and Lord of the Night are pretty awesome. And Word Bearers trilogy is worth reading as well.

[Perrin]

The Emperor's Gift by ADB is really good.

 

Deathwatch isn't bad, explores the mechanics and recruitment/training of the Deathwatch.

 

The _____ of Mars series is apparently worth a read, haven't gotten to it myself but I'm planning to. So far there's Priest of Mars and Lords of Mars, with a third to be released soon I think.

 

I think you'd enjoy Pandorax as well, as it has some big links into the HH in certain parts.

[Hyaenidae]

Storm of Iron, beyond a shadow of a doubt. That book might be starting to show it's age a touch, but it's still excellent.

 

I know people have given it grief in the past, but I personally really enjoyed Legion of the Damned. Really, it's just a poor title for an awesome book. The Excoriators are an awesome addition to the 40K realm, and their founder has already been seen in the HH in The Imeprial Truth.

[Jareddm]

I strongly second Death of Integrity.  The two chapters involved feel distinctly unique from their progenitors and the story's got a lot of really interesting parallel plots going on. Guy Haley really knows when to add realism to 40k to make it feel all the more intense and when to let the warp wash over things.  After going back and reading Baneblade, It's pushed him up into my Top Five authors, which now consists in no particular order of ADB, Abnett, Sanders, Wright, and Haley, with Steve Parker just narrowly missing it.

[SteelPaladin]

I absolutely agree with Heathens, Legion of the Damned was freakin fantastic. Zachariah Kersh is one mean mother .

Deathwatch was a good read. There is some pretty messed up stuff in there, involving a female inquisitorial agent and some very bad people.

Atlas Infernal was fun. It had a very old school feel to it. Rob Sanders is right at the top with Abnett, ADB and Chris Wraight. I'm still hoping he gets to write an Alpha Legion Heresy book...

If you want to venture away from power armor, the Dark Eldar series is just great. Hugely entertaining. The novella set between the first two books, The Mask of Vyle, is probably my favorite novella yet released by the Black Library. And its just fun to have Andy Chambers back in the 40k universe. I really hope he sticks around for a while.

Priests of Mars and Lords of Mars are both worth the read as well. If the name McNeill normally scares you away, give these a shot. He can absolutely still write great books, these are proof that he has still got it. They also feature the return of a character from Storm of Iron.

My last suggestion might be somewhat controversial, but I really enjoyed the Shira Calpurnia series. Matthew Farrer has written a few great short stories for the Heresy, but these books are my favorite work of his. They give so much detail and life to the everyday characters from 40k, characters that you normally do not ever think twice about. His world building was top notch in this series, it was really fun reading about the inner workings of an average Imperial World. If there is one thing you read from this list, try Enforcer, which is a collection of the three Shira Calpurnia books.

[Jareddm]

They also feature the return of a character from Storm of Iron.

 

And people say the Abnettverse is small :P

[Plague Angel]

+1 for Death of Integrity, it was so much stronger than I expected it to be. It does a really good job of nailing the uniqueness of the 40k setting while also being satisfying from a broader hard science fiction stand point. You can see the characters reacting to ships with the kind of technology they aren't used to encountering, and everything feels great.

[Brother Heinrich]

So I realize I forgot some quintessential ones that many of you have mentioned, here is an addendum to the list above:

 

• Brotherhood of the Snake (Fantastic)

• Storm of Iron (You all knew I played Iron Warriors right? Pretty sure that's required reading for every son of Perturabo) 

• The Tome of Fire (liked it the first time through, then read Vulkan Lives and the spell Kyme held over me was broken forevermore)

• Legion of the Damned (Damn near started an Excoriators force after that one)

• Tried to read Double Eagle (My time as a crewchief and a pilot has ruined me on most flight-related fiction)

 

I have yet to read The Emperor's Gift, so I may pick that up, also several of you have spoken up about Death of Integrity, so I might give that a shot as well. I'm not terribly interested in the Eldar series because humanity will always be my favorite canvas, but I may try reading the first book in that series. Any other good Space Marine battle novels or have they all just progressively gone downhill as I assumed they had?

[Chaeron]

Echo the praise for the ____ of Mars series - it's fantastic.

 

I'll also throw a nod to Mark Clapham's Iron Guard - I've heard few plaudits, but it is really a top quality book!

[Sothalor]

If you're an Iron Warriors player, have you read Siege of Castellax? It's an IW world against an Ork invasion. I particularly enjoyed the glimpse at how "regular" (if you can ever really call them that) Chaos Space Marines interact with members of the Obliterator cults.

[Stormborn]

Personally I'd suggest the Inquistior War/Jaq Draco Trilogy & Space Marine by Ian Watson and Eye of Terror by Barrington J Bayley.  You might have to hunt them out as they were some of the original GW/BL novels.

 

Of the modern era Henry Zou has wrote some nice stuff for BL & you can't go wrong with SandyMitchells Kiaphas Cain novels.

[Joeyray]

Last Chancers was a great read, the original Grey Knight series was also enjoyable to pass some time.

[Flint13]

Oh, I've heard Henry Zou in here a couple of times. I don't have experience with his first two novels, but "Blood Ghorgons" is pretty darn good. I think it does an excellent job of illustrating interactions between members of a renegade chapter. So often, Chaos Marines are portrayed as mustache twirlingly evil, and Mr. Zou does a great job of bringing a non-stereotypical chapter to life "realistically." 

 

Plus, since you hate the zenos, there's a great segment of a chaos marine dragging around a dark eldar hostage. Hilariously awkward cultural collisions ensue. 

[drooling blood]

+1 form stormborn.

Both great books. Alot of the info still stands even though i think theyve been declared heriticus, cause theyre old.

Seems you like the IG,

Cain will give you a giggle.

15 hours was pretty good

Dead men walking, was ok.

You could try Straken if you want a small force of Catachans somehow owning a planet but its got Sly Marbo in it sooo i dunno maybe youll like it

[Hyaenidae]

Zou's Bastion Wars series was really good, but the shadow of plagurism still hangs over his head.

 

Still, I'd give the series a read.

[Wade Garrett]

If you're an Iron Warriors player, have you read Siege of Castellax? It's an IW world against an Ork invasion. I particularly enjoyed the glimpse at how "regular" (if you can ever really call them that) Chaos Space Marines interact with members of the Obliterator cults.

I'd avoid Castellax, myself.

 

C.L. Werner has written lots of Warhammer Fantasy novels featuring the skaven (mutant ratmen with a comically high reproduction rate who keep their population size under control with chronic backstabbery and tacticless horde warfare).

 

The Iron Warriors in that novel didn't feel like Chaos Marines the way Honsou, Forrix, Talos, the Exalted, and even Barsabbas did...they read like big hazard striped skaven.