My nephew has been expressing a big interest in Warhammer 40k fluff after seeing my models. I'm not sure his parents would appreciate the expense of getting him into the game, so I was thinking about getting him a 40k novel or two for Christmas. Possibly Dawn of War I as well.
What would you suggest as a good starter novel for someone with little knowledge of the setting? Space Wolves Omnibus? Ciaphas Cain? Pic related, one of the first ones I ever read back in high school.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
But first tell him to start with the Greeks
>>44203337
Thanks m8, how many Space Marines are in those? Eldar?
>>44203275
Is he most interested in the space marines?
>>44203826
He seems to like the Space Marines and the Necrons, but is most fascinated with the Dark Eldar. Maybe because they're edgy looking and he's a young teen. I know there isn't much DE lit out there, and it probably wouldn't help to explain the universe too much.
>>44203642
The Iliad and Odyssey are pretty much the horus heresy. Basically. Sorta.
But, shameful as it may be, the ultramarine uriel ventris stuff might be the easiest. How old is he? Eisenhorn might be a bit much age depending.
The Inquisition War series
>>44203886
Young teen, never mind. Eisenhorn or maybe the Night Lords series.
>>44203929
I started with Space Marine when I was 12 or so. And I turned out fine. Only sometimes eat brains and fart on my friends.
>>44203916
>>44203944
Yeah I think he's 15.
One of the very first 40k novels I read was Dead Sky, Black Sun. While I thought it was very cool, I had no idea what the fuck they were talking about for a lot of it.
>>44203275
Get him Storm of Iron. It's a great starting place. Eisenhorn is a great read, but I wouldn't recommend it as the first point of call. If all he has known is the minis, then get him started on action heavy novels.
The Gaunts Ghost series might be good for him.
>>44203998
The Gaunt's Ghosts series is probably alright too. It does a decent amount of exposition and world building.
If you want to just jump right in though, Blood Gorgons is about chaos marines and a dark eldar.
>>44204024
>>44204053
I'll look into Gaunt's Ghosts! Storm of Iron sounds perfect, but it seems harder to find a new copy. Thanks for the suggestions, all you anons.
>>44204250
Find the Iron warriors omnibus. It contains both Storm of Iron and a prequel to one of the Ultramarines book.
https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjs7_qR4N_JAhXn6aYKHVp5A0kQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fjenniferbosier%2F2013%2F04%2F03%2Fgetting-to-know-warhammer-40000-beginners-guide%2F&usg=AFQjCNFJ2oUbO97daf1orT6JHeVHfuM9HA&sig2=fZOueAxY77OnAKKLq7Z4QA is a pretty solid guide to entry. Take a look through, pick out what faction you think they'd enjoy and pick one that fits.
>>44204498
Just saw that, and its not too expensive. One of the reviews says you won't know what's going unless you read Dead Sky, Black Sun after Storm of Iron. Accurate? Maybe that was the aforementioned problem I had, and I would have no problem with picking up both.
Honestly, regardless of where they start reading, most people don't know what is happening for most of their first novel. Get him a couple books and refer him to something like the Vaults of Terra channel for some easy-to-digest lore. From there he can decide what he'd most like to read about.
>>44204559
I haven't read the ultramarines books. So I only had a vague idea what was going on. In the story the explain a little bit of the evil masterplan. I read it like a short story and enjoyed it. Action packed and fun, so view it as taste for your nephew if he wants to read more of the Ultramarines. Otherwise you have Storm of Iron and that is more than fine. Shit is cray cray.
Look at the Bastion Wars omnibus as well. Three different stories connected which have been written by a soldier so some resemblence of reality in things exists. And all of the stories rock in my opinion. I first thought that the first one was just okay but after reading the second one, I changed my mind.
>>44203886
>space marines
>necrons
get him fall of Damoclese so he too can masturbate over the glorious 2nd comander whathisnuts McMemeThsatShouldDie of the smurfs.
>>44204667
This is very true
>>44204932
>Bastion Wars omnibus
Sounds interesting, I'll check it out as well. I'm not sure whether grand Space Marine adventures or gritty and "realistic" guardsman battles will be more up his alley, but considering his age I think it may be the former.
>>44204967
>so he too can masturbate
Good family sentiment tbqhwy
>>44203275
Gaunts ghosts are good.
>>44203275
Get him the first Gaunts Ghosts omnibus, then the first Ciaphas Cain omnibus just to show him that not all 40k is GRIMDARK WAR!!
>>44204932
>Look at the Bastion Wars omnibus as well. Three different stories connected which have been written by a soldier so some resemblence of reality in things exists. And all of the stories rock in my opinion. I first thought that the first one was just okay but after reading the second one, I changed my mind.
Bastion Wars is a great read, especially since chunks of it were plagiarized from an actual soldiers memoirs.
>>44203275
g2play has the dawn of war 2 grand master collection for like 6 dollars right now
>>44203916
>The Iliad and Odyssey
What. How do they even compare.
>queen runs off with pretty boy prince
>angry hubby king calls all his friends and their armies
>a 10 year siege ensues
>can't get in
>trojan horse
>open the gates
>burn the city
>go home, long journey wrought with perils and monsters
>make it home, kill all the suitors trying to get at my wife
Where is the comparison?
>>44205136
Bastion wars omnibus have both. Otherwise, look at the Space marine battles books. Easy reads, and are filled with grand Space Marine adventures as you put it. Helreach, Hunt for Voledorius, Wrath of Iron are good reads.
>>44205535
It's the demigods who hate eachother and destroy themselves.
It's not a great comparison. But I can see where people come from with that and Horus Heresy.
>>44203275
Soul Hunter was how I got started, I'd recommend the Night Lords Omnibus because of it. Other good introductions are Eisenhorn, the Space Marine Omnibus, Honour Imperialis, Titanicus, and Legion of the Damned for a brutal one shot.
I STRONGLY recommend Legion of the Damned and the Night Lords Omnibus to convey the grimdarkness of 40k.
>>44205435
Do not give him Cain at all OP. Not only are the books complete shit that only people who can't handle grimdark read, they're in-jokes only people experienced in the franchise even understand.
>>44205473
Ayy lmao
>>44203944
What does young teen have to do with the Night Lords by ADB?
If anything a teen will miss the tragedy of their Legion and just fucked things got.
>>44204024
>>44204932
>Storm of Iron, Bastion Wars
I think those portray the Imperium way too grimdark to make it a starting point. And SoI has Daemons slaughtering pretty much everyone with almost no problems, it's gonna skew his view.
Gaunt's Ghosts is the best introduction, it shows the Imperium as a grimdark place, but not every Imperial is a heartless bastard and it shows how the IG can wreck shit.
>>44207051
Grimdarkness is the only answer anon. In the Forty-First Millennium there is no hope, only war.
>>44205778
Complete samefagging, the comparison was shit because you havent read it and we all know it
>>44207051
Storm of Iron isn't especially Grimdark. I mean yeah, the bad guys win - but the main character still survives. It's a decent fight on all sides. It demonstrates the character of the 40k setting perfectly.
>>44207374
I fucked up. I was thinking of Wrath of Iron. Which is pretty grimdark.
You're right, Storm of Iron isn't grimdark. The only problem could come with the ending, because you'd have to know how important and sacredgeneseedis.
>>44205820
God, you're an edgy fuck. Cain is fine and sometimes you don't need to be GRIMDERP EDGY EVERYTHING IS AWFUL all the time.
Gaunts Ghosts Omnibus
Ultramarines Omnibus
Space Wolves omnibus
These are your best bets for starter. For intermediate you can move onto harder stuff like Eisenhorn and The Iron Warriors
Lets note what books to AVOID while we're at it
Salamanders Omnibus
Dawn of War novelization
Blood Angels Omnibus
>>44205832
Don't underestimate teens.
I'd give him one book from chaos perspective, the NL omnibus, and one from imperial perspective.
ADBs book was the first I read. I needed the Vaults of Terra once in a while but he's very understandable even if you know zero lore.
>>44207666
Satan is right. 40k is best when it stops being this retarded black hole of awfulness and misery for just a fucking minute.
>>44207752
>the chaos perspective
Is shhiiiiittttttt, But if you must, give huim Lord of the Night by Spurrier
>>44203275
I think that Eisenhorn is the best introduction available. It's not a bolter porn, it shows different factions of the Imperium, it's actually a pretty great story on it's own and it doesn't require any knowledge of 40k.
>>44203337
Okay, I am completely un/lit/, but I've read Homer's big things and a few Plato's dialogues, not for their literary value though.
So after having read that, I have to ask: What is starting with the Greeks supposed to give me? Understand references? Or is it literally just for Joyce?
>>44207874
Greek myths mostly, not Plato or Homer.
A lot of the stories of the primarchs and also the Emperor follow a rather classic Greek trope, which is that there is always that moment where the hero thinks too highly of himself and his capacities and thus sets his own tragedy in motion.
>no love for Imperial Fists
The macharian crusade trilogy is fanfuckingtastic, loved that shit when i was a teen
>>44208395
>The macharian crusade trilogy
>loved that shit when i was a teen
But the first part came out like 3 years ago and the last one last year. How old are you? o_O
>>44207611
People who read Wrath of Iron as their first 40K book are the reason everyone hates the Iron Hands so much.
Whomever said Dune said it right.
Then Cain, then Eisenhorn, then Gaunt's Ghosts.
>>44207782
Sorry you've been eating the corpse emperor's shit, loyalist scum
Since you mentioned dawn of war, I just wanted to add that the Space Marine is decent, easy-to-get-into, and cheap/piratable. Also, nice as DoW is, I find the controls on the original to be really wonky. I'd recommend a new player start with either Dark Crusade or Winter Assault.
Oh, and even if it does irrevocably mark me as a filthy casual/normie/shit-taste-pleb/redditor/etc. I recommend https://1d4chan.org/wiki/All_Guardsmen_Party as a source of light-hearted 40k reading material.
>>44207666
But Cain's shit. Its jokes are fucking terrible and it drags on for too long- it should have ended at the first three books and kept it a neat and tidy trilogy. But the characters themselves are insufferable and the book itself feels like a meme. Fuck it with a power halberd up its arse.
>>44207752
Eh, I'll doubt he'll catch on to just what a sad lot the Night Lords are. It's basically Stockholm Syndrome, the book, with the reader being the hostage. You read more and more, you grow to like Talos and friends.
Then holy fuck that ending, and you realize that they're nothing but monsters.
>>44209561
If AGP Marks me as a filthy normie then so be it, that shit's hype
>>44203886
>He seems to like the Space Marines and the Necrons, but is most fascinated with the Dark Eldar. Maybe because they're edgy looking and he's a young teen.
He would probably love the Novel series of Andy Chambers focusing on the Dark Eldar.
Added bonus there's a Harlequin focused novel in it as well.
All are pretty well written, but they are primarily focused on the Eldar so don't expect any of the other races to make an appearance.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Dark_Eldar_%28Novel_Series%29
>>44204559
>Dead Sky, Black Sun
Oh lord, wish someone warned me about that one, yeah it picks up EXACTLY where Storm of Iron ends.
Complete change of tone too, went from the Omnibus' solid 5 on the grimdark scale to past 11 in a single chapter.
If you didn't read Storm of iron, you will be hopelessly lost.
>>44203916
The Horus Heresy is Paradise Lost, you dipshit. The designers have said as much.
Hey anons. I'm not OP, but can you recommend some decent necron literature? I'm planning on starting an army soon and I think it'd help me with fluff ideas.
>>44213392
"Hammer and Anvil"
"Fall of Damnos"-------->"Spear of Macrrage"---------->"Viel of Darkness
"Carnac Campaign"
"Dead Men Walking"
"Lords of Borsis"---------->" The World Engine"
"Shield of Baal : Devourer"---------->"Shield of Baal : Words of the Silent King"
Does it make any sense for you fa/tg/uys for someone who doesn't play the tabletop to get into 40k lore?
It's what I'm planning, because it sounds awesome.
>>44213753
Sure. Plenty of people hang around here just for lore discussion.
One in particular, in fact, so just try not to be like him and you'll be cool.
>>44210791
>>44203275
ADB writes 40k as horror. He's also the best BL writer.
For easy Abnett's solid. If he's actually interested in the roots of what's going on The Mote In God's Eye and 1984 are both actual worthy classics.
The Ultramarines series is pretty solidly average, so that's not a bad choice. Also the Grey Knight trilogy's decent.
>>44210767
This.
It's just not relevant. The setting is THAT dark and if you need some kind of relief the GG's are enough.
>>44203275
Eisenhorn and Ravenor are good, as are Gaunt's Ghosts and the Ciaphas Cain series. Cain has lots of background expositon on the guard and imperium and since he's a bit more diplomatic than the average comissar you get to see interactions with some other races as well
The short story collections are best for straight up diving into the setting IMO, stuff like Let the Galaxy Burn with a shotgun approach introduced you to the whOle setting at once in small easy to consume pieces
>>44214597
Another anon already mentioned Titanicus but I'll just add to this and say it's wonderful and giant robot combat mixed with political catastrophe is fucking metal and what 40k is all about
>>44214357
Or Legion of the Damned by Rob Sanders.Despite horrifying Daemons, Chaos Space Marines and Khorne Cultists assaulting a Company of the Excoriators Chapter, Sisters of Battle, and PDF and killing them down to a single man, the Captain manages to save all the women and children with the intervention of the Legion.
>>44208938
This nigga got the right idea
The realy best thing to start
http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/ravenor-collection.html
24 $, should be enough and it´s the complete saga after that eisenhorn
If you want to start him light, track down the Damnation Crusade Graphic novel.
It's basically a 40k Primer for fresh blood to see almost all the factions in the setting, and was my next step after the Dawn of War games.
>>44222667
Don't waste money on Damnation Cursade, just fucking torrent it.
