# Quick Gaunts Ghosts Question



## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

What all books are involved with this series? From what I understand, Cain is the primary character in all these books? If so, I know there's....what? 3 Omnibus out there covering his exploits? What other ones are there? I'm going to be setting up my next series of books to read and since there's so much (and a friend says that Gaunts Ghosts is great) of it.

Thanks.


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## Fire Tempered (Dec 16, 2010)

Those are 2 different series. Ciaphas Cain by Sandy Mitchell and Gaunt's ghosts by Dan Abnett. Ghosts have 4 trilogies afaik, not sure about Cain, still haven't read either.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Fire Tempered said:


> Those are 2 different series. Ciaphas Cain by Sandy Mitchell and Gaunt's ghosts by Dan Abnett. Ghosts have 4 trilogies afaik, not sure about Cain, still haven't read either.


Was I mistaken that all of them had Cain as the main character?


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## Fire Tempered (Dec 16, 2010)

Afaik Gaunt's ghost are about commissar Gaunt(or whatever rank he has).


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Fire Tempered said:


> Afaik Gaunt's ghost are about commissar Gaunt(or whatever rank he has).



Yeah, I took the massive effort on my part (a whopping 20 seconds to do a Wikipedia search for them) and saw that they were 2 different areas. No biggie. I'll end up getting both (Gaunts Ghosts first since it's such a massive read).


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## Fire Tempered (Dec 16, 2010)

I don't dare starting such a big series still, cause I wouldn't do anything else till I finish them all. I recommend you to read Eisenhorn if you haven't still, its just 3 books(one omnibus) and great read.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Fire Tempered said:


> I don't dare starting such a big series still, cause I wouldn't do anything else till I finish them all. I recommend you to read Eisenhorn if you haven't still, its just 3 books(one omnibus) and great read.


I've no worries about picking up the 3 Omnibus for the Gaunts Ghosts stuff. Heck, I'm working on my 5th Omnibus right now with 3 more waiting (1 being the Ultramarines and 2 being the Gotrek & Felix Warhammer Fantasy ones). So big reads mean nothing to me. Good reading is everything.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Grab Gaunts Ghosts asap. It's probably the best book series i've ever read. Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith 1st and Only are a unit you are soon going to love


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> Grab Gaunts Ghosts asap. It's probably the best book series i've ever read. Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and the Tanith 1st and Only are a unit you are soon going to love



Good read?

Probably.

Beat my Space Wolves & Blood Angels?

Probably not.

I'll be grabbing both the Gaunts Ghosts & the Cain series in the next month or so as I have to finish my (current read) of Space Wolves: The Second Omnibus, then finally read the Ultramarines Omnibus. After that? Then I delve down that path.


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## IraH927 (Feb 11, 2011)

Just be careful with The Lost, the third omnibus, there are some missing parts to it in some copies... some kind of misprint. I suggest skimming through the pages first before buying. Just my two cents.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Personally i think Gaunts Ghosts is much better than the Space Wolf novels, the Blood Angels series doesn't even hold a candle to the Ghosts to me either. 

No other series has had me so attatched to the characters and feel personally invested in them, it's so much easier to relate to men instead of astartes for one. It's just better in every single way for me.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> Personally i think Gaunts Ghosts is much better than the Space Wolf novels, the Blood Angels series doesn't even hold a candle to the Ghosts to me either.
> 
> No other series has had me so attatched to the characters and feel personally invested in them, it's so much easier to relate to men instead of astartes for one. It's just better in every single way for me.



I've no doubt I'll enjoy the GG stuff (as my friend said it was great and I trust his opinion), but the Blood Angels was my first foray into the 40k universe and as a result, they'll hold a special place in my heart that no one else will quite match (i.e. the first thing that made me go "Holy shit, this universe rocks!").


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Main thing to remember is this:

"Gaunt's Ghosts" is traditional 40k literature written about an Imperial Guard Regiment led by one of those rare individuals who hold the rank of Colonel and Commissar. The first couple of "novels" are actually collections of short stories written about the Commissar and his Regiment. Nothing wrong with them--but I could understand how someone who didn't like the "Brothers of the Snake" format might also be turned off with the first two in the series. Nonetheless, they are integral to the story and to understanding the characters and their motivations.

The "Ciaphas Cain" series is a more tongue-in-cheek look at the 40k universe, written from the point of view of a Commissar (in fact, it's a compilation of his journals, edited and "published" by an Inquisitor he met) who holds a decidedly self-deprecating attitude. He portrays himself as a coward, by and large, who is forced into situations he constantly seeks to avoid. The question is whether Cain is being honest... or if he just happens to be remarkably humble and humorous.

The nice thing about "Gaunt's Ghosts" is that, even though they are all based on the ongoing tale of a massive campaign (the Sabbat Worlds Crusade), they are (well, at least the first three are) self-contained. Same with the Cain novels. Thus, if you're intent on getting both, you can very feasibly throw in a Cain novel between each Ghosts one, to liven things up a bit.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Here's an example of how attached you can get to the character in the Gaunts Ghosts series- the first major character to die (I wont tell you who) is still missed by both the other characters and many readers despite it having happened many books before the latest novel.

Several major characters die or are maimed through out the series- no one is safe, and Abnett has even said that he'll kill characters who people grow attached to because it'll have a greater emotional impact.


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## Roninman (Jul 23, 2010)

I think it took quite a while before any main characters started to die considering where they been. This was one of main reason i have read about half of GG series only. Even though GG is quite enjoyable to read, its also sometimes totally unbelieavable. Cain novels aint much different, except little bit more humour in it and that he actually sees different stupid things that are wrong with Empire.

Blood Angels and Space wolf books dont even come close to those above.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

I would recommend Eisenhorn and Ravenors series as they give some connection between the 2.  Slight hints and stuff like it.


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## HorusReborn (Nov 19, 2008)

the ghosts are a good read for sure.. hell GW made models of the Ghosts and a gamer can field an army of them with Gaunt as their leader. I definately don't think you can compare Astartes prose, with that of the IG and normal human literature! It's like comparing a penis to a vagina. Just read it and love it man...


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Roninman said:


> I think it took quite a while before any main characters started to die considering where they been. This was one of main reason i have read about half of GG series only. Even though GG is quite enjoyable to read, its also sometimes totally unbelieavable. Cain novels aint much different, except little bit more humour in it and that he actually sees different stupid things that are wrong with Empire.
> 
> Blood Angels and Space wolf books dont even come close to those above.


 
Thing is you can't really kill main characters off that fast or quickly. If you want it to have any effect, you've got to build them up as you go along and get readers attatched to them before offing them. If one of the main characters was killed in the first book, it wouldn't really bother you that much as you have only been with that character for a short while.


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

Picked up the 1st Omnibus (The Founding) the other day. That and my 1st HH book (Horus Rising). Will end up picking up the rest over the next month or so (perhaps of the HH as well). At least I've got reading material waiting, eh?


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Angel of Blood said:


> Thing is you can't really kill main characters off that fast or quickly. If you want it to have any effect, you've got to build them up as you go along and get readers attatched to them before offing them. If one of the main characters was killed in the first book, it wouldn't really bother you that much as you have only been with that character for a short while.


I think only 2 peoples deaths that affected me truly in the first omnibus! It was the death of the doctors son (the only son of Tanith) and then there was this guy who got a splinter part of a chaos symbolic thing and he went to become a traitor, but he was short lived.


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## kwak76 (Nov 29, 2010)

Since Abnett wrote both the Ghost series and the Inquisitor series do they every cross over? I mean from my understanding ..the Ghost is ahead of Eisenhorn.


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

Want to say at some point Guant mentions/ thinks about either Eisenhorn or Ravenor writings from the past century or two.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Pretty sure one of them is long dead in the other's timeline.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

scscofield said:


> Want to say at some point Guant mentions/ thinks about either Eisenhorn or Ravenor writings from the past century or two.


The works of Ravenor are referenced in the GG series


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

scscofield said:


> Want to say at some point Guant mentions/ thinks about either Eisenhorn or Ravenor writings from the past century or two.


Gaunt himself references Ravenor's writings in the first book, I believe. When he first arrives at the scholam.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

hailene said:


> Gaunt himself references Ravenor's writings in the first book, I believe. When he first arrives at the scholam.


Ta muchly. I knew it was Ravenor, I just couldn't put my finger on when it was :good:


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

I believe "Spheres of Longing" (written by Ravenor) is Gaunts favorite book, also possibily Van Voytz gives him a first edition at some point saying something like "Books can't be lent" - I want to say it's in Straight Silver. There is of course "horse face" Heldane who shows up in the first book of course as well.


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

I thought about it a couple more minutes.

When Gaunt is on trial for...stuff, he references Ravenor's "armour of contempt" as evidence for his defense (though apparently the term isn't original to Ravenor).

Also in the latest book, a Ghost is reading a book by Ravenor. He asks Gaunt that "[Ravenor] died badly, didn't he?" 

And least we forget, Interrogator Lilith from the Ravenor series makes some waves in the Gaunt's Ghost series as Inquisitor Lilith early on the series.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

hailene said:


> And least we forget, Interrogator Lilith from the Ravenor series makes some waves in the Gaunt's Ghost series as Inquisitor Lilith early on the series.


Connection. Made.

Bloody hell, how did I not twig! :blush:


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## SwedeMarine (Jun 3, 2013)

Diatribe1974 said:


> Good read?
> 
> Probably.
> 
> ...


Depends on what you like. I'm a huge Space Marine fan and loved their books but the Gaunts Ghost series is by far the best written out of any of the books ive heard. you really connect with the characters. think of it as a Walking dead style storytelling minus the graphic novel. pick it up any you will not be disappointed trust me.


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