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Warhammer 40k reading guide

Plundered from cd8d on Reddit

Thanks so much cd8d for creating this!

  • Status: 38 of 89

Part 0: 40K #

  • Storm of Iron - Complete Honsou Omnibus
  • Warriors of Ultramar - Uriel Ventris Chronicles Omnibus 1

Part 1: The Fall of Horus #

  • The Wolf of Ash and Fire - Eye of Terra (35) by Graham McNeill
    • I screwed up here and read the whole collection of short stories. This first story though is something different, we see the Emperor in action cutting up Orks. Overall a nice collection of stories, some I already spoilered for later in this list woops.
  • Horus Rising (1) by Dan Abnett
    • ends with reaching Davin. Here Horus is portrayed as the ultimate leader - kind, understanding, firm. Sure a warmaster, but also the best version of one that you could imagine. Murder (the planet) is also fun with lots of epic battle. The first half was great, the second a bit tedious.
  • False Gods (2) by Graham McNeill
    • This one took a while to get going but as soon as they land on Davin's moon, Nurgle makes his first appearance and I loved that part. The part where Horus gets corrupted was a bit weak for me - to me it was not really realistic that the character was so "easily convinced" to join Chaos. A good read overall.
  • Galaxy in Flames (3) by Ben Counter
    • Lots of battle on Istvan III, the rebellion is in full swing now. I liked Tarvitz as character, but the endless slaughter can get a bit tedious at times. So far the hardest to get through.
  • Flight of the Eisenstein (4) by James Swallow
    • best one in the series so far! Garro is a great protagonist, lots of fun battle and Nurgle action. Overall very entertaining read.
  • Fulgrim (5) by Graham McNeil
    • Even though its optional I would recommend to read it. The constant talk about becoming perfect is a bit annoying but the book is a entertaining tale of sinking into more and more depravity. I already spoiled the outcome for me a bit when I read one of the Eye of Terra shortstories on Fulgrim, but I liked that it was not only guns and carnage this time, but a more refined mix of topics.

Part 2: The First Heretic #

  • The Last Church - Tales of Heresy (10) by Graham McNeill
    • short story that sees the Emperor as philosopher musing about religion as he is finishing his conquest of Terra, lots of spooky foreshadowing included.
  • The First Heretic (14) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
    • I really liked this one. I would say it was maybe the best of the series so far - not only mandatory reading due to the important turning point in Lorgars journey towards Chaos, but the even aside of the lore the story and other characters are also great. I especially like Argel Tal, very much looking forward to what happens to him.
  • The Aurelian - Eye of Terra (35) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
    • short story where we hear the tale of Lorgars own travel into the empyrean. It sheds a bit more light on how he fully turns to Chaos, but I mostly liked the battle against Khornes avatar. Lorgar is becoming a little bit less pathetic here.
  • Know No Fear (19) by Dan Abnett
    • epic large scale warfare, really entertaining read, a bit confusing in the beginning but I enjoyed both sides of this conflict. So far the loyalists were pretty lame, but they had some real badass moments in this one. I especially liked the perpetual trooper, hopefully he shows up again later on! Also the newbie dreadnought was a great character.

Part 3: Betrayer #

  • After Deshea - Tales of Heresy (10) by Matt Farrer
    • The XII legion does not have it easy. Nice short story introducing Angron. The more he features as an actual character and not just some bloodthirsty butcher the more I like him!
  • Lord of the Red Sands - War Without End (33) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden - skipped for now
  • Butcher's Nails - Legacies of Betrayal (31) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden - skipped for now
  • Betrayer (24) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
    • describes the ascencion of the World Eaters through bloody massacres to become the bloody skull collectors we know and love. Angron is a particularly interesting primarchs, flawed and despicable but still a lot to like.

Part 4: The Lion and The Prince #

  • Shadows of Treachery (22) - The Dark King by Graham McNeill
    • I don't have much to say here, its a short story on Cruze's downfall. He probably already was on his way out to Chaos corruption without even Lorgar or Horus playing a role. Nevertheless one of the coolest primarchs.
  • Massacre - Eye of Terra (35) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
    • similar, a short story on Nightlords during the Isstvan dropsite massacre.
  • Fallen Angels (11) by Mike Lee
  • Savage Weapons - Age of Darkness (16) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
  • The Lion - The Primarchs (20) by Gav Thorpe
  • Prince of Crows - Shadows of Treachery (22) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
  • Master of the First - Eye of Terra (35) by Gav Thorpe
  • The Long Night - Eye of Terra (35) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
    • too lazy to write a review for each of these short stories, but I have to say I really warmed up to the Night Lords. Their primarch is pathetic and they are mostly traitors and turncloaks - but I like their savage pride and calculating nature. Especially Sevatar is a great character, rotten, cruel and brutal to the bone - but he still has a "good" side to him. In any case reading about Sevatar decapitating people with his chainglave is just very entertaining and for now the Night Lords are my favourites from these books.
  • Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier - I can recommend this one, very different setting from all other books I read before. Really liked the ending as well.
  • Night Lords Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden - this was a long one, took me a couple of months to get through. But highly entertaining I don't want to spoil anything but ADB can bring out the best in the Night Lords very convincingly. Truly the best read for those that want to get more into the Night Lords and all the thick lore around them. Also the Night Lords have a very unique view on the Great Betrayal and for all their savagery and evil they - or at least some of them - come across as the most sane of the fallen Legions.

Part 5: Imperium Secondus #

  • The Unremembered Empire (27) by Dan Abnett - flew through this one, a quick and easy read. If you want to see a lot of primarch and perpetual action and also a bit of backstory on a number of key characters I would recommend it.
  • A Safe and Shadowed Place - War Without End (33) by Guy Haley - not much to say here, nice little appearance of the Night Lords, can safely be skipped.
  • Heart of Pharos - Burden of Loyalty (48) by L.J. Goulding
  • Pharos (26) by Guy Haley - I really liked Curze in this one, even though he only had a brief appearance, he was a much deeper and less despicable character than in previous encounters and one of the more interesting primarchs. Also a good depiction of the larger struggle beyond humanity and the origin story of [redacted]. Overall worth to read but long stretches of not so interesting stuff as well.
  • Angels of Caliban (38) by Gav Thorpe - skipped for now
  • Ruinstorm (46) by David Annandale - Sorry David, but this one was the least fun for now in the series. I really did like some parts of it but at some point all the extreme bombast and the millions of miles of Chaos constructs and the gibbering armies of billions of demons were a bit much. It was all too crazy and out there even for 40k. I get that this is a monumental turning point in the story but I could've skipped this one without regrets and just read the synopsis. I did like Sanguinius and Curze's interactions though.
  • Scythes of the Emperor Anthology by L.J. Goulding - Entertaining battles against the Tyranids, but can safely be skipped, I see no immediate relation to the Horus Heresy story, but it's been interesting to learn what became of Oberdeii.

Part 6: Legion of One #

  • The Last Remembrancer - Age of Darkness (16) by John French - short but powerful, a glimpse of what the Imperium of Man will become after the great civil war.
  • Weapon of Fate - Garro (42) by James Swallow - always nice to see Garro in action, though it's noticable that these were audio books first. Nice origin story of the Grey Knights.
  • Luna Mendax - The Silent War (37) by Graham McNeill
  • Grey Angel - The Silent War (37) by James Swallow - I didn't really get this one, but probably will make more sense later on...
  • The Devine Adoratrice - War Without End (33) by Graham McNeill - really good short story, great setup for the Vengeful Spirit novel, and very well written. Looking forward to the next!
  • Vengeful Spirit (29) by Graham Mcneill - this one was a lot of fun to read, we get to see Horus in action again finally, and Loken and a bunch of other great characters. I also liked how the subplot from the previous short story was developed here and Molech is a really cool battlefield.

Part 7 - Mars & Magnus #

  • The Kaban Project - Shadows of Treachery (22) by Graham McNeill
  • Mechanicum (9) by Graham McNeill - I did expect a lot from this one, as I didn't know much about the pre-Heresy Mechanicum. It wasn't a bad read, but for me it suffered a bit from the bombastic scale of everything. interesting description at the adepts of Mars and a good explanation of why the Imperium is so technologically stagnant after the Heresy, although this one wasn’t as much of a banger as I hoped.
  • Into Exile - The Burden of Loyalty (48) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden - short story written in reverse, starting with the end and leading up to the beginning. Cute mechanical monkey and the unusual storytelling!
  • A Thousand Sons (12) by Graham McNeil
  • Thief of Revelations - Legacies of Betrayal (31) by Graham McNeill
  • The Master of Mankind (41) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
  • The Crimson King (44) by Graham McNeill
  • Ahriman Omnibus by John French
  • Forges of Mars Omnibus by Graham McNeil

Mechanicum - Into exile -

Part 8 - Wolves #

  • Prospero Burns (15) by Dan Abnett
  • Wolf’s Claw - Legacies of Betrayal (31) by Chris Wraight
  • Wolf King - Burden of Loyalty (48) by Chris Wraight
  • Wolfsbane (49) by Guy Haley
  • The Hunt for Magnus by Chris Wraight
  • by Chris Wraight

Part 9 - Scars #

  • Scars (28) by Chris Wraight

  • Brotherhood of the Moon - Eye of Terra (35) by Chris Wraight

  • Allegiance - War Without End (33) by Chris Wraight

  • Path of Heaven (36) by Chris Wraight

  • The Last Son of Prospero - Heralds of the Siege (52) by Chris Wraight

  • checked until here

Part 10 - Iron #

  • The Emperor's Architect - Scions of the Emperor by Guy Haley
  • Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia by Guy Haley
  • The Iron Within - Age of Darkness (10) by Rob Sanders
  • Ironfire - Eye of Terra (35) by Rob Sanders
  • Angel Exterminatus (23) by Graham McNeill
  • Slaves to Darkness (51) by John French

Part 11 - The Imperial Fists #

  • The Lightning Tower - Shadows of Treachery (22) by Dan Abnett
  • The Crimson Fist - Shadows of Treachery (22) by John French
  • Templar - The Silent War (37) by John French
  • Praetorian of Dorn (39) by John French
  • The Chamber at the End of Memory - Primarchs - Scions of the Emperor by James Swallow
  • Now Peals Midnight - Herald’s of the Siege (52) by John French

Part 12 - The Siege of Terra Series #

  • The Solar War
  • The Lost and the Damned
  • The First Wall
  • Sons of the Selenar (novella)
  • Saturnine
  • Fury of Magnus (novella)
  • Mortis
  • Warhawk
  • Echoes of Eternity
  • Garro: Knight of the Grey (novella)
  • The End and the Death Volume 1
  • The End and the Death Volume 2
  • The End and the Death Volume 3

Expanded Optional Reads #

Optional 1: Raven Guard #

  • Raven’s Flight - Shadows of Treachery (22) by Gav Thorpe
  • The Face of Treachery - Age of Darkness (16) by Gav Thorpe
  • Deliverance Lost (18) by Gav Thorpe
  • Soulforge - Corax (40) by Gav Thorpe
  • Ravenlord - Corax (40) by Gav Thorpe
  • The Value of Fear - Corax (40) by Gav Thorpe
  • Raptor - Corax (40) by Gav Thorpe
  • Weregeld - Corax (40) by Gav Thorpe
  • The Grey Raven - Heralds of the Siege (52) by Gav Thorpe
  • Valerius by Gav Thorpe

Optional 2: Flesh Tearers #

  • Fear to Tread (21) by James Swallow
  • Herald of Sanguinius - Eye of Terra (35) by Andy Smillie
  • Sins of the Father - Eye of Terra (35) by Andy Smillie
  • Virtues of the Sons - War Without End (33) by Andy Smillie
  • Flesh Tearers Anthology by Andy Smillie
  • Wrath of the Lost by Chris Forrester

Optional 3: Oll Persson #

  • Unmarked - Mark of Calth (25) by Dan Abnett
  • Perpetual - Burden of Loyalty (48) by Dan Abnett

Optional 4: Tallarn #

  • Black Oculus - War Without End (33) by John French
  • Tallarn: Siren - Tallarn Anthology (45) by John French
  • Tallarn: Executioner - Tallarn Anthology (45) by John French
  • Tallarn: Ironclad - Tallarn Anthology (45) by John French
  • The Eagle's Talon - Eye of Terra (35) by John French
  • Iron Corpses - Eye of Terra (35) by David Annandale
  • Tallarn: Witness - Tallarn Anthology (45) by John French

Optional 5: Pandorax #

  • Veritas Ferrum - Legacies of Betrayal (31) by David Annandale
  • Sermon of Exodus - War Without End (33) by David Annandale
  • Damnation of Pythos (30) by David Annandale
  • Pandorax by C.Z. Dunn