What? Did you finish our last recommendations? Well, we are back for more! This time we take a trip back to Terra (twice!), punch ghosts and have Actual Feelings on the other side of the galactic rift.
A Tiny Plastic Person Top Tip: The Black Library is full of text-based treats, but it’s not the only way to enjoy the schlocky delights of the Warhammer world. As a few of our contributors have mentioned, the audiobooks are of particularly good use when painting, running, working or other activities where your eyes are otherwise occupied. If you are one for the Audible, many books are now released day and date as audiobooks alongside the hardback editions. There is also a Black Library app where you can digitally purchase books, though they can cost a fair amount extra.
A final note is keep an eye out for Humble Bundles of Black Library books and audiobooks. These can offer a huge amount of content for a very reasonable cost, and you support good causes!
Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion
Recommended by: James Alone
Universe: Warhammer 40,000
Author: Chris Wraight
Released: 2017
What is this book all about?
Told from three perspectives, a Custodian, a Sister of Silence and an Imperial politician, The Emperor’s Legion weaves a narrative that delves into the core of Warhammer 40,000, Terra, aka, Earth! Between fairly traditional action, the story picks at the cogs that keep the Imperium working and, through the eyes of its three protagonists, is a window into what Earth has become in the grim darkness of the far future.
Why is this a great start?
Despite the book featuring only a handful of recognisable characters and barely any of those ‘Space Marines’ you have heard so much about, the story is set during the events that set up both 8th and 9th edition of Warhammer 40,000. Like many massive IPs, the tale of 40k is found across as many wiki pages as it is in the books and codexes published by Games Workshop. Yet rarely does a wiki page imbue the events and characters with agency and context. Watchers of the Throne is positioned as a great entry point to the universe and lore. It is both a great, breezy read and a perfect setup for the tabletop wars ahead of you. Each of the protagonists carry themselves through, witnessing events out of their control yet pushing ahead regardless. It also made me fall in love with both the Sisters of Silence range and build a Custodian army, so there is that too.
A special shout out to the audiobook which features separate narrators for each of the three characters, making it a pacey and interesting listen.
Where next?
A direct sequel to The Emperor’s Legion, The Regent’s Shadow, was released in 2020 alongside miniatures of Aleya and Valerian, and continues these characters’ tale. However if this story of Terra on the brink of madness is one that gets under your skin, then Chris Wraight’s Vaults of Terra series, starting with The Carrion Throne, is an even deeper dive into the heart of humanity.
You could also easily jump into the first book of the Dawn of Fire series, Avenging Son, which also follows on almost directly from The Emperor’s Legion, and introduces some more familiar aspects of Warhammer 40,000.
Spear of the Emperor
Recommended by: Fiyenyaa and Dines
Universe: Warhammer 40,000
Author: Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Released: 2018
What is this book all about?
Fiy: Told from the perspective of a Mentor Legion chapter-thrall (a normal baseline human who provides service to a Space Marine chapter), the book explores several facets of the 40k setting including the vast array of cultures within the Imperium, the impact of the warp storm that split the galaxy in two, how humans feel about Space Marines when they work closely alongside them, and the impact of the Primaris program on the culture of marine chapters.
Dines: It’s a look at the Imperium in its “latest” setting – that is, split in two. The book touches on a lot of the most interesting elements of 40k – life as a privileged human ‘grunt’, Space Marine chapters that are unusual and highly characterful, ‘life’ under uncompromising evil, what it means for the Space Marines that they’ve suddenly just got so much dang taller, and glimpses at the extraordinary power wielded by the Imperial bureaucracy.
Why is this a great start?
Fiy: The perspective character Anuradha is a compelling lead – she is competent but not infallible, and she doesn’t uncritically hero-worship the Space Marines due to her own complicated history with the chapter she serves. Aaron Dembski-Bowden is an author with skill and panache, and he is able to write her as a believable way to explore just how a warrior of the Adeptus Astartes relates (or otherwise) to normal humans in a way that I found fascinating.
This book is also a great way to see “the state of the universe” for the current 40k timeline – if you’re an old-time fan just coming back there is quite a lot to catch up on as the setting is no longer quite as static as it once was. Spear of the Emperor briefs the reader on this by telling a story that is intrinsically about how the galaxy is split and how the reforms of Guilliman and Cawl are being received and put into action.
Dines: Aaron Dembski-Bowden is a master at portraying the engaging ‘inhumanity’ of Space Marines, and developing Warhammer’s ‘Chaos’ concept into something tangible and comprehensible. Both of these are made more captivating by virtue of the protagonist’s perspective – as ‘merely’ a highly-augmented and (relatively) privileged human, Anuradha is often able to say what we’d all be thinking.
In addition, the story provides a natural way of presenting a wide and diverse look at what the Warhammer 40,000 setting has to offer. In forcing a stuffy and arrogant Mentor Legion Marine to work alongside a band of more pragmatic and nonconformist allies, we’re exposed to a variety of characters and approaches that are sometimes lost under the all-encompassing grimdark.
To be clear, it’s not a “happy” book – the Imperium is awful even at its very best – but few other books provide so many relatable human snapshots of Warhammer’s future hell-world.
Where next?
Fiy: As of the time of writing, there is no sequel to this book, but I would recommend another of Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s works: The Talon of Horus – this follows the journey of Abaddon, former first captain of the Sons of Horus, after the Horus Heresy has failed. The characters are similarly compellingly written, and it explores a segment of the background which is much less often put into the form of a novel – Chaos and its adherents.
Dines: Dembski-Bowden is renowned for developing the ‘humanity’ of Warhammer’s most-inhuman supersoldiers, and nowhere is this presented better than in the “Black Legion” series. Starting with the Talon Of Horus, the books lay out the formation of the Imperium’s greatest threat. In fleshing out the almost-unfathomable rationales for joining the forces of unquestioning evil, some of Warhammer’s oldest and most venerable antagonists are revitalised and made more compelling than ever before.
Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne
Recommended by: Rizlar
Universe: Warhammer 40,000
Author: Chris Wraight
Released: 2017
What is this book all about?
Terra is the holy throne world of the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man, upon which the Emperor of Mankind himself has sat unmoving for over ten thousand years. Billions of souls toil and die to preserve a world and an empire where everything is ancient, stagnant and decaying. The story follows agents of His holy Inquisition as they investigate heresy and sedition which threatens the continued existence of the Imperium on the very world where it was born and upon which it turns, leading from the lightless depths of the hive cities to the gilded palaces atop the highest mountains of Old Earth.
Why is this a great start?
By taking a close-up view of The Imperium at a grubby, crumbling street level, The Carrion Throne gives us a window on the heart of the Warhammer 40,000 setting that requires no prior knowledge and creates a gripping standalone story. It’s a pacey romp with lots of action informed by personal drama (the secret to good action: it’s actually about the characters!), with the feel of a thriller or modern spy film. The characters themselves are welcomingly human and it is through their human-scale perspectives that the reader will witness the immensity and inhumanity of the grim darkness of the far future and the demigods that inhabit it.
Where next?
There is a sequel called Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain, which is definitely worth a read if you enjoyed the first and want to see more of these characters. The author also wrote the Watchers of the Throne series (which we recommended just a minute ago!), an equally good pair of novels also set on Terra with some shared references between the two series. One other book competes in my mind for top 40k recommendation overall and also explores some of the dusty depths of Terra, that is Dawn of Fire: Avenging Son. It’s the first book in a flagship series about the current leading edge of the 40k setting, as such it’s a great introduction to the setting as a whole and also happens to be a fantastic novel.
Soul Wars
Recommended by: Rachel (Nersh)
Universe: Age of Sigmar
Author: Josh Reynolds
Released: 2018
What is this book all about?
Nagash, the god of (un)death, is sick of everyone else’s shit. He just wants two simple things: 1) absolute dominion over all dead things, and 2) for everything to be dead things. Is that so much to ask? He doesn’t think so, but the Chaos Gods disagree, and so does that annoying jock Sigmar who keeps stealing his footballs – that is, the souls he uses to make his pesky Stormcast Eternals. It’s about time Nagash did something about all those haters. Soul Wars shows what happens when Nagash gets some of what he wants: there’s a cataclysmic universe-spanning magical death-wave, an epic city siege and, most importantly of all, tough soldiers having emotional feelings about difficult goings-on.
Why is this a great start?
It’s widely agreed that the early Age of Sigmar first-edition stories were a bit dull and repetitive, but Josh Reynolds proves starter set tie-in novels don’t have to be that way at all. In Soul Wars, Josh sets out to answer Warhammer’s greatest question: What’s it like to be a tiny plastic person? What’s it like to be a resurrected spirit, compelled to do the bidding of a vengeful and angry god? And what’s it like to be a Nighthaunt? Let’s find out!
Where next?
Want more Nagash and/or people trying to live with Nagash? Check out The Undying King, which follows a Shyishian tribal leader trying to save her people from invading Nurgle forces. It’s set a few hundred years before and Nagash, who she worships, is still sleeping off a bad hangover and isn’t picking up the phone. Will someone wake him up in time to “save” his subjects? Alternatively, if you’d like some more Stormcast-and-feelings action, perhaps try Blacktalon: First Mark.
With that, we wrap up on the Black Library for now. Maybe you have recommendations of your own? Let us know!
