# HH Books



## texcuda (Aug 17, 2010)

I'm not sure if this is the right spot for this but I'm curious what 40K novels I should be looking at to read if I wan to brush up on my fluff. I'm strictly talking pre HH, HH and post HH atm. I'm pretty new to 40K but I love to read and so far the little fluff I have read is absolutely awesome. Thanks:so_happy:


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Anything with CS Goto anywhere near it, set fire to.

Obviously, the Horus Heresy series is the best to get.

And the regulars will know the next plug coming in - Shadowpoint and Execution Hour (the Gothic War PtO Anthology) is an awesome novel, and naval combat has rarely changed since the HH (still using much of the same ships, so it's not like comparing a WW1 Dreadnought to a Type 45 Destroyer.) Anything to support getting Rennie back to 40K, the better.


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## texcuda (Aug 17, 2010)

So the books entitled with HH are the way to go...... and stay away from anything with CS Goto, 10-4 sir!


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Oh no, go near to it by all means if you want. For example, I purposefully download his book extracts and print them out to wipe my arse with after a shit. 

It's not the fact that they're horrendously unfluffy (Multilaser fetish, Marine Grenade launchers, and d movie marines), but the fact that he's such a shit writer, it makes me want to punch the book until I cut my knuckles causing the bleeding to obscure the words.

However, I just settle for putting the book down and rapid typing ebay.com.


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## texcuda (Aug 17, 2010)

Vaz said:


> Oh no, go near to it by all means if you want. For example, I purposefully download his book extracts and print them out to wipe my arse with after a shit.
> 
> It's not the fact that they're horrendously unfluffy (Multilaser fetish, Marine Grenade launchers, and d movie marines), but the fact that he's such a shit writer, it makes me want to punch the book until I cut my knuckles causing the bleeding to obscure the words.
> 
> However, I just settle for putting the book down and rapid typing ebay.com.


 
LMFAO.......:laugh:


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Good choice Vaz.

Seriously though the Heresy Series is excellent, shows how 40k became the false god-fearing, mutant burning, xenophobic, corrupt mess that we all know. If you want to read Heresy you should get _Horus Rising_ and _False Gods_, start with those, and then keep on reading.

Post-heresy there is far more variety. For Space Marines i'd recommend _Soul Hunter_ for the Night Lords series, _Salamander_ for the Tome of Fire series or the _Blood Angels_ omnibus. Or the Space Marines Battles series.

Others i'd say _Ciaphas Cain_ or _Eisenhorn_. Those two are excellent. You should also give Warhammer Fantasy a try, its really the best fantasy out there. _Chronicles of Malus Darkblade_, _Brunner the Bounty Hunter_, or _Thanquol and Boneripper_ trilogy. Can't go wrong.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

In fairness, trying to get up to speed with 40k fluff by reading in a chronalogical order will mean you won't get to some really good stuff for a long time. However, the HH series is quite excellent with one or two exceptions, and would be a good place to start. But there are several omnibus collections that would break up the Heresy stuff nicely, like the Gaunt's Ghosts _Founding_, The Eisenhorn trilogy, and, as previously mentioned, _The Gothic War_ collection. Also, there are many short story anthologies that are a great source of fluff.


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## Cloysterpete (Apr 30, 2010)

Damn picked up Eldar Prophecy this morning!, you could have told me earlier that Goto wasn't worth reading. Still it was only 50p so not a big loss.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Start with the Horus Heresy by all means, but one of the things i love in the HH series are the little refrences or characters from 40k that get mentioned or foreshadowed in them that people who know the current 40k fluff will read and go ooooooooooh

But HH series brilliant, the supposed order is
Horus Rising
False Gods
Galaxy In Flames
Flight of the Eisenstein
Fulgrim
Descent of Angels
Legion
Battle for the Abyss
Mechanicum
Tales of Heresy
Fallen Angels
Thousand Sons
Nemisis

Some people like to mix some of them around but generally stick to that order, as previous incidents and characters from the other books will get refrenced which you wouldnt get obviously having not read it. I know it sounds obvious but my mate the fuckwit read them all out of order then got massively confused or had hundreds of questions


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## gothik (May 29, 2010)

Lord of the Night said:


> Others i'd say _Ciaphas Cain_ or _Eisenhorn_. Those two are excellent. You should also give Warhammer Fantasy a try, its really the best fantasy out there. _Chronicles of Malus Darkblade_, _Brunner the Bounty Hunter_, or _Thanquol and Boneripper_ trilogy. Can't go wrong.


following on from that the ravenor trilogy is excellent and fantasy wise gotrek and felix adventures


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## texcuda (Aug 17, 2010)

excellent, I'll be starting with the HH series first, and I will read them in order, i'm OCD about that kind of thing. I've read the WOT and Drizzt series cover to cover twice and I don't like to skip around. k:


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## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

Is heresy now the longest running BL series?


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Nope - Gotrek and Felix and Space Wolves have been running for longer - HH was 2006-2010 (4 years), while Space Wolf was first published in 2003, while Wolfs Honour was 2008 (5 years - if you include the Anthology, it was 6 years), and Gotrek and Felix was first released in 1999, with Shamanslayer released in 2009 (10 years). If you include the spin off series (Bloodborn, and Temple of the Sun), that brings it to 11.


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## Cloysterpete (Apr 30, 2010)

It must have the greatest number of novels in the series though?, dos anyone have an clue how many books the series is planned to be or is it just going to keep going lol.

I'm 80% of the way through Horus Rising, pretty damn cool book aint it!, I've been on these boards for a while now but it's actually my first ever lack Library book. I think Horus Rising serves as a great intro to Warhammer 40,000 (even though it's really 30,000 in this book), it really does a great job for a novice of explaining the Legions of Adeptus Astartes (do they ever refer to themselves as Space Marines?), does a great job at hinting at the other races in the universe (eldar, greenskins etc) and is full of action and interesting characters. Top Stuff.

Just one thing I'm not clear about, why did all the humans scatter away from Old Terra thousands of years before anyway?, did the human race just naturally disperse into the stars once they had developed FTL travel and then there a some disaster or war on Old Terra so they lost contact with most of it's settlements?.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I hate Horus Rising as it makes me like Horus so damn much! The book really shows you how he was chosen to be the warmaster and was seen as the greatest of the Emperors sons, soon as i finished the book i just though 'damn' as it really makes his fall so much more tragic. Even Abaddon is likeable as ever. Brilliant book.

Think they're going to be making alot, theirs still alot of ground to cover before the Seige of Terra itself. True alot of the events may be squashed into a Tales of Heresy type book, but there are still so many events which really need their own book to set up the Seige. I for one anyway hope they make looooads, really set up the Seige as best as they can


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

The HH series is the largest of BL's series but only by a couple of books- Gaunts Ghosts currently stands at around 12-14 books (14 if you include the 2 spin offs _Double Eagle_ and _Titanicus_).


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Cloysterpete said:


> Just one thing I'm not clear about, why did all the humans scatter away from Old Terra thousands of years before anyway?, did the human race just naturally disperse into the stars once they had developed FTL travel and then there a some disaster or war on Old Terra so they lost contact with most of it's settlements?.


The Human race spread out from Terra and colonised the Sol System and nearby systems using sub-light spacecraft throughout the Age of Terra (M1-15). The Second Age of Technology (M18-22) brought the invention of the warp-drive, which vastly accelerated the speed with which the human race spread throughout the stars, human colonies were established across the galaxy. However this Golden Age came crashing to an end with the Age of Stife (M26-30), when vast and turbulent warp storms and rifts engulfed the galaxy. Eventually preventing all warp travel all together. The vast majority of Human colonies became isolated and devolved into lawlessness. They were preyed upon by Xenos and Daemons alike.

Then the Fall of the Eldar occured and Slaanesh was born, which calmed the furious warp, its rage all but spent. This event allowed the Emperor to retake to the stars and begin the Great Crusade to reunite humanity. Thats it in a nutshell.


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## texcuda (Aug 17, 2010)

Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> The Human race spread out from Terra and colonised the Sol System and nearby systems using sub-light spacecraft throughout the Age of Terra (M1-15). The Second Age of Technology (M18-22) brought the invention of the warp-drive, which vastly accelerated the speed with which the human race spread throughout the stars, human colonies were established across the galaxy. However this Golden Age came crashing to an end with the Age of Stife (M26-30), when vast and turbulent warp storms and rifts engulfed the galaxy. Eventually preventing all warp travel all together. The vast majority of Human colonies became isolated and devolved into lawlessness. They were preyed upon by Xenos and Daemons alike.
> 
> Then the Fall of the Eldar occured and Slaanesh was born, which calmed the furious warp, its rage all but spent. This event allowed the Emperor to retake to the stars and begin the Great Crusade to reunite humanity. Thats it in a nutshell.


great history lesson.....:biggrin:


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## Chaosveteran (Aug 29, 2010)

wait....wasn't Slanny born way before the human race?? I know that Khorne was the first God to awaken and Slaanesh was the newst one but I always thought that the eldar reached their pinnacle back when the human race didn't even exist. Im confused now...


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Chaosveteran said:


> wait....wasn't Slanny born way before the human race?? I know that Khorne was the first God to awaken and Slaanesh was the newst one but I always thought that the eldar reached their pinnacle back when the human race didn't even exist. Im confused now...


The Eldar Empire reached its pinnacle of achievement and civilisation around a million years ago, however that is not when Slaanesh gained divine consciousness. Slowly but surely, the Eldar Empire slipped into decadence and decay as its people were gripped by indulgence and hedonism. It was this behaviour that allowed Slaanesh to slowly coalesce in the warp, until eventually in M30 the Fall of the Eldar occured as Slaanesh burst into consciousness.

So in answer to your question, no Slaanesh wasn't born before the human race. Humanity had already achieved galactic empires and federations, warp travel, and three ages of technology thousands of years before Slaanesh was born.


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## Chaosveteran (Aug 29, 2010)

riiight...well thanks for clearing that one up!


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## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

Yep its all a giant mess, thanks to the goddam eldar....


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## Cloysterpete (Apr 30, 2010)

Thanks for clueing me in guys!.

Do Black Library have a recommended read list they keep up to date of books to read to understand the current events unfolding in the 40,000 universe?, too many releases to know what to buy half the time I get a book then discover there's like five other books I should have read before it.


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## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

Your in the best place to ask and keep up to date!

All depends on what your looking for.

I think the HH series atm cover the furthest back in 40k history?


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## Barnster (Feb 11, 2010)

GW time line for the eldar is a little bit screwed up, in some sources you have eldrad talking saying that they have sung songs of lament since before humanity crawled out the oceans on their bellies, and in anothers the destruction of their empire was a relatively immediate around 30k. 

Its even more screwed up if you let Goto in......, he did do a good job on Ahriman though.

What you read 1st will really depend on what your most interested in, if your interested in how the imperium was born then the HH is a great series, but has a long way to go before they'll stop milking the cash cow. If your interested in the day to day life in the imperium read eisenhorn, if you like marines, many chapters of marines have their own series, eldar have path of the ... series, Guard appear in most human books, but the ghost series focus on them heavily. grey knights are a good stop if you want super cool silver knights (the 3rd book's bad imo) 

The GW fluff is a bit like a swimming pool, jump in with both feet, ad the people around here will act as your lifeguards if you need help.


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## Brother Subtle (May 24, 2009)

Read an anthology such as _'... of the Space Marines_' to get a wide spectrum view of the current 40K universe. i think theres 3 of them now. 

My first 40K book was _Space Wolf_ by William King. Great book to introduce you to the genre.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 20, 2010)

If you read the HH series, read the first 5 books in order.
After that it realy dosen't matter. 
The First Heretic came out and I want that because I love the Word Bearrers!
And if you like the Death Guar, Lgion of One comes out soon.

(Am I the only one that though Battle For the Abyss was great? No one seems to like it. And am I the only one that hated Legion? I read the first four chapters and quit)


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Androxine Vortex said:


> And if you like the Death Guar, Lgion of One comes out soon.


_Legion of One_ will be about Nathaniel Garro not the Death Guard.



Androxine Vortex said:


> (Am I the only one that though Battle For the Abyss was great? No one seems to like it. And am I the only one that hated Legion? I read the first four chapters and quit)


_Battle for the Abyss_ was appauling.

_Legion_ in my opinion is the best Heresy novel to date, you quit after the first four chapters? What possessed you to do that?


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 20, 2010)

Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> _Legion of One_ will be about Nathaniel Garro not the Death Guard.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well Nathaniel was from DG, thats what I meant.

It just seemed like you were put in the middle of the story; Dan started using terms and phrases that had no explanation. I couldn't make out what I was even reading.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Androxine Vortex said:


> Well Nathaniel was from DG, thats what I meant.


Indeed he was, but ultimately _Legion of One_ will not be a Death Guard tale, just like _Flight of the Eisenstein_ wasn't.



Androxine Vortex said:


> It just seemed like you were put in the middle of the story; Dan started using terms and phrases that had no explanation. I couldn't make out what I was even reading.


Really? Your the only person I've come across that has a problem with the terms in _Legion_ - in fact I didn't find them confusing in the slightest. Try re-reading it, it's the best Heresy novel out there in my (and many others') opinion.


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## Captain Stillios (Mar 8, 2009)

I HATED Legion, it is by far (In my OPINION) the worst HH novel. It just felt like it was all building up to somthing the tension grew with all of the boring and dull bits getting cleared out...then the book ended on the most anti-climactic ending ever.
Mind you I am a guy who prefers open warfare like all of the other legions styles and frequent (Certain) primarch so that might have somthing to do with it.

On the other hand Battle for the Abyss I think was a good 30k book as long as you completly ignore the fact that it is a HH book.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Captain Stillios said:


> Mind you I am a guy who prefers open warfare like all of the other legions styles and frequent (Certain) primarch so that might have somthing to do with it.


That's probably why you like _Battle for the Abyss_, if mindless combat scenes with no character development, plot depth, or realistic situations are your thing...


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## Captain Stillios (Mar 8, 2009)

Oh no, dont get me wrong BftA was bad, just not terrible, for a one time read if you have nothing to do its good. Thats when I read it, nothing to do on a train pulled it out and read the entire thing in three hours that took up the time of the journey.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

I found _Legion_ to be terrible, personally. Not the level of prose of course, and Abnett's ever-present skill to weave his thoughts and promises with utterly perfect grammatical and lexical choices (In anthithesis to McNeill, who seems intent upon honeying his words with excessive terminology - different author; different style). It was more the theme's and general portrayel of both the Alpha Legion and the Great Crusade as a whole. The book certainly seems like it came from the same pool of liquid genius that was and still is Abnett's mind, but... I thought _Legion_ reminded me too much of an Imperial Guard novel, set within the 41st Millenium, or perhaps a little before then. It strayed a little too far from what makes the Heresy series great: I didn't yearn for the Golden Years of the Imperium, or the -literally- tens of thousands of Astartes unleashed like hammers over worthless little Chapters... it just seemed to lack in that rose-tinted view I give _Horus Risi__ng_, _False Gods _and _Fulgrim_.


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## gothik (May 29, 2010)

Vaz said:


> Oh no, go near to it by all means if you want. For example, I purposefully download his book extracts and print them out to wipe my arse with after a shit.
> 
> It's not the fact that they're horrendously unfluffy (Multilaser fetish, Marine Grenade launchers, and d movie marines), but the fact that he's such a shit writer, it makes me want to punch the book until I cut my knuckles causing the bleeding to obscure the words.
> 
> However, I just settle for putting the book down and rapid typing ebay.com.


:laugh:lmfao vaz lol

seriously i think the Anthony Reynolds word bearers trilogy it fantastic and the night lords book but anything HH and if you like the Eisenhorn/Ravenor books and Gaunts Ghosts in my opinion oh and Gav Thorpes last chancers


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## mal310 (May 28, 2010)

For me Legion is the best HH novel closely followed by The First Heretic. The characterization in Legion was fantastic, the story engaging, I thought Alpharius was excellent and best of all I loved the ending to the book. 

Spolier 



The possibility that the Alpha Legion is still trying to destroy Chaos and maybe save mankind into the bargain is an amazing twist. That was my interpretation of the ending anyway, there are going for a third option, their own one.


I know that everybody has different opinion on these things (and they are certainly entitled to that) but to say that Battle of the Abyss was better than Legion, well I find that shocking.


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## The Crimson King (Oct 14, 2010)

For those who have read the first chapter of _Prospero Burns_....anyone think the cabal will be involved in any way? The upperlander made me think that he could be John Grammaticus...


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

Captain Stillios said:


> Oh no, dont get me wrong BftA was bad, just not terrible, for a one time read if you have nothing to do its good. Thats when I read it, nothing to do on a train pulled it out and read the entire thing in three hours that took up the time of the journey.


I wasn't a big fan of _Battle of the Abyss_, but I think its overall plot could have contributed better as a short story somewhat in better timing before a book on the Battle of Calth. But in someways it was like _Nemesis_ in which a minor tale was made into a long story. :headbutt:.

As for _Legion_, it wasn't my favorite book, but I have to give it compliments on its contribution to the Heresy. It was no _Horus Rising, Fulgrim, Thousand Sons,_ or _First Heretic_, in which the book was able to work coherently with many aspects of the Imperium.


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## X FiftY 1ne (Aug 30, 2010)

That reminds me, I need to get to reading The First Heretic. I started reading Brothers of the Snake to pass the time until TFH and Firedrake came out. Then one day went to my local Barnes and Noble, looked on the shelf and there the two books were. I didn't know they were going to be released that quick. Quickly rushed home and canceled my pre-orders on Amazon. Only 30 pages left in Brother of the Snake. Then on to The First Heretic!!!


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