The first BL book you ever read

[R_F_D]

Hat tip to @Aegis for their query yesterday about Pawns of Chaos by Brian Craig which got me thinking; what was the first Black Library book that drew you in?  Given that I've been reading BL for two thirds of my life my memory is hazy but its a toss up between Space Wolf by King and First & Only by Abnett.  What's yours?

[Marshal Loss]

Execution Hour - a great read, I'd heartily recommend it to anybody able to get their hands on it

[E_50_Panzer]

Dark Disciple, one of Reynold's Word Bearers books. Very​ ironic, considering how I turned out to be a loyalist with a loathing for the XVIIth.

[N1SB]

Space Marine by Ian Watson.  I'm not sure if it was branded as a Black Library publication at that time.

 

It involved a Necromunda ganger becoming a Space Marine Scout, who helps pilot a Titan specifically one of its hands, with which he gives the middle finger and wonders if the rest of his Scout squad noticed or even knows what it means.  Also, Chaotic Squats.  And Zoats, talking.

 

In short, it is obviously the greatest literary masterpiece of our time.

 

A confession - at the time, I got 1 thing majorly wrong about the book.  It's about Imperial Fists.  Due to 1st ed Rogue Trader still being fresh in my mind and I was still young, I thought it was the Crimson Fists at the time.  My mental image was the wrong colour for years about that book.

[Sete]

Helsreach.

Greatest fiction ever written about the Black Templars.

If i knew where to find the author of the book i would ask him why does he not write about them anymore.

But he is dead to me. Dead i say! Coming august 22. (But seriously, do write about them)

[Brother Dougal]

The Warhammer RPG is what got me into the setting. You remember, those books made by Fantasy Flight Games? I'm pretty sure my first one was the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook. Oh, memories.... of course I still have them all, even if I never got a chance to actually play the game. Why, Black Library, why won't you make a story about space pirates and their adventures?

 

Now the first BL book, I'm fairly certain that was Legion of the Damned. Still one of my favorites in the series. So much was great about that book to me, from the characters Both major and minor, from the world-ending nature of Chaos to the haunting presence of the Damned. Ugh, I might just have to read it again.

[Sandlemad]

Deathwing. Not the original, the early 2000s reprint. Some brilliantly weird stuff including (my god I am only realising now looking at the contents) stories by Charlie Stross and Storm Constantine.

 

It was a pretty great grab-bag of barely understandable stuff for someone just starting out. Got genestealers, Officio Assassinorum body-mods, the origin of the Deathwing, the DA Fallen, Imperial insane asylums, hardluck preachers, the Iron Men, fully intact STC libraries, rebel human jetbikes, romance between a navigator and an astropath, overwritten squats... a heady mix for someone who still wasn't clear on the basics.

[Petitioner's City]

First and Only or the first of King's Ragnar books - basically I bought them when they came out, loved Ragnar more at first (yuck, the problem of being ten), but by the following year realised how good Abnett was - I could go from pratchett to Peake to Abnett and not feel too much whiplash. Whereas King...urgh.

[Aqui]

Space Marine by Ian Watson. I'm not sure if it was branded as a Black Library publication at that time.

It involved a Necromunda ganger becoming a Space Marine Scout, who helps pilot a Titan specifically one of its hands, with which he gives the middle finger and wonders if the rest of his Scout squad noticed or even knows what it means. Also, Chaotic Squats. And Zoats, talking.

In short, it is obviously the greatest literary masterpiece of our time.

A confession - at the time, I got 1 thing majorly wrong about the book. It's about Imperial Fists. Due to 1st ed Rogue Trader still being fresh in my mind and I was still young, I thought it was the Crimson Fists at the time. My mental image was the wrong colour for years about that book.

It's the book that cemented my love of 40K Lore. It's massively out of date now, but I don't care. I read it at least once a year and it goes with me where ever I go if I'm away from home for more than a couple of days (usually holidays - Japan, New York, Baltimore, various parts of Spain, Prague, the list goes on ), but unfortunately, age and a lot of use has made the book begin to fall to pieces I know there was a print to order service for this book at one point, but I can't find the place to get a copy from. I wish Black Library would release it as an ebook, at least then I could retire the hard copy with the honour it deserves

[R_F_D]

Space Marine by Ian Watson. I'm not sure if it was branded as a Black Library publication at that time.

It involved a Necromunda ganger becoming a Space Marine Scout, who helps pilot a Titan specifically one of its hands, with which he gives the middle finger and wonders if the rest of his Scout squad noticed or even knows what it means. Also, Chaotic Squats. And Zoats, talking.

In short, it is obviously the greatest literary masterpiece of our time.

A confession - at the time, I got 1 thing majorly wrong about the book. It's about Imperial Fists. Due to 1st ed Rogue Trader still being fresh in my mind and I was still young, I thought it was the Crimson Fists at the time. My mental image was the wrong colour for years about that book.

It's the book that cemented my love of 40K Lore. It's massively out of date now, but I don't care. I read it at least once a year and it goes with me where ever I go if I'm away from home for more than a couple of days (usually holidays - Japan, New York, Baltimore, various parts of Spain, Prague, the list goes on ), but unfortunately, age and a lot of use has made the book begin to fall to pieces I know there was a print to order service for this book at one point, but I can't find the place to get a copy from. I wish Black Library would release it as an ebook, at least then I could retire the hard copy with the honour it deserves

I think it's available here although it doesn't say e-book when you click add to basket the url says that is what it is.

[Aqui]

I think it's available here although it doesn't say e-book when you click add to basket the url says that is what it is.

Brilliant! Thanks!

[Reyner]

I bought First & Only - Dan Abnett and Space Wolf - William King as soon as they came out. I also had the short intro of First & Only from White Dwarf and I cannot count the number of times I read that little book! First & Only blew me away, Tanith sounded amazing with its moving forests and its culture and the Night Lords attack was genuinely insane to see it all destroyed, I still feel bad for Gaunts first adjutant who saved him from the autocannon round :(. Space Wolf was good but god the Ghosts series is my all time favourite book series. Abnett signed my Kindle haha (had it in my bag for the long car ride to one of the Games Days and forgot my actual books!)

[Kelborn]

Although it wasn't labeled from BL, my very first Warhammer novel was Nightbringer by McNeil.

That was around the time DoW 1 hit and I was so fascinated by these little Space Marine guys, beating the crap out of xenos scum that I started to read about them.

 

Along McNeils Ultras, Dans Tanith series and Kings Ragnar series were the first novelizations I read from BL.

 

Man, those were times... ^^

 

But the very first book which was also labeled by BL was Soul Hunter by A D-B. Still one of my favorites. Read it several times. Great as a standalone, even greater with the entire series. :D Still waiting for a Decimus story though.... :_( 

[Jareddm]

Eisenhorn. Though I had gotten heavily involved with 40k through Dawn of War: Dark Crusade prior to that. From there it was back and forth between Horus Heresy books, space marine battle books, and copious amounts of time on lexicanum.

[Xisor]

Pretty certain it'd have been 'Execution Hour' for me - BFG was what got me into 40k. (Seriously, that box in the hobby shop window! By *far* the most interesting thing there!)

 

Also, as it happens, Execution Hour is an astonishingly good novel. *Highly* recommended for anyone who hasn't read it. Will have dated almost not at all. It's a glorious book.

 

That said, I think there's a chance Execution Hour wasn't actually the first; slight chance it might have been "Dragonslayer" as I vaguely remember my mum picking it up on the cheap in a sale, in the early days of any hobby interest.

 

----

 

Before all that, I also picked up White Dwarf 241 (?) - it included the Masterclass BFG article, kin strife CWE vs DE, and most critically: Gav Thorpe's "The Torturer's Tale" featuring none other than Asdrubael Vect.

 

High chance *that* was the first proper lore/prose of BL quality & GW focus that I'd read.

[hopkins]

definitely by ian watson, but can't remember which one i read first, possibly deathwing

[Taurulf]

my first BL book was Space Wolf by William King. I actually managed to read the whole book before I paid for it, I spent every lunch time in Borders books that used to be on Buchanan street in Glasgow for about two weeks. got me hooked and I went on to buy the whole series.

[TheAlephNull]

Horus Rising. 

[Dagoth Ur]

Legion by Dan Abnett. Although I was not a fan of the Cabal subplot, it is still one of my most favorite BL books and certainly, next to Praetorian of Dorn, the best depiction of the Alpha Legion to this date.

[veterannoob]

Trying to remember but I think the first dwarf Fantasy novel, oathbreaker or honor keeper

[Dumah]

Space Wolf by William King. At the time, I had zero knowledge of 40K or Fantasy; I was mostly intrigued by the cover art and summary. The rest is history...

[Roomsky]

Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett, not even 2 years ago. Frankly, it isn't what sparked my love for BL, I was a total stranger to the setting and I couldn't remember anyone's names except Abaddon and Horus, and I wasn't sure how I was supposed to take a book involving things called "Megarachnids" seriously. That said, I'm excited to go back to it some day, now that my appreciation for both the setting and Mr. Abnett has grown so much.

 

The book that sucked me into the world of Spehss Mehrines was the second book I read from them: The First Heretic. In contrast to the weeks it took me to finish Horus Rising, I ate this book before the first week was done and came out of it hungry for more. I've read 68 more BL works since then, and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. So if ever I am accused of being an unmitigated ADB fanboy, I sayeth thus: Hell Yeah! My love of the setting is quite plainly thanks to him, and The First Heretic remains my favorite novel period to this day.

[DarKnight]

Space Wolf omnibus by William King. I should sue him for ruining my life and now I'm posting with you losers.

[DukeLeto69]

Inquisitor by Ian Watson (released by Boxtree) or Space Marine by Ian Watson... Whichever one was published first? Loooong time ago lol

[IronDrake28]

Mine was the Assault on Black Reach short story by Nick Kyme. But the first full novel would be Courage and Honour by Graham McNeill, which I was persuaded to buy as a major battle took place at Brandon Gate across the Brandon River in the story. (My name, of course. I still love that for some reason.)