The Black Library

[Antonius Pius]

You know you could just check the GW website to find out what they look like.

But where's the fun in that?

(I have checked the Warhammer Lexicanum (?) once or twice, but I don't mind not having an exact picture of the evil aliens. Cain treats nothing seriously, and they're all set up to kill or be killed anyway.)

I think I'm reaching the point where I'll have to start getting the books in these two series individually rather than waiting for the omnibus editions.

Ouch! 2013 is a long time away, not to mention 2015... I don't know if can wait that long either.

[Jon AS]

I have checked the Warhammer Lexicanum (?) once or twice, but I don't mind not having an exact picture of the evil aliens. Cain treats nothing seriously, and they're all set up to kill or be killed anyway.

Actually one of the things that I like about the Cain stories is that the Imperium's hatred of, well, everything, is played perfectly straight. Cain is such a laid-back guy who just wants to stay alive (preferably while sipping drinks on a beach in the company of a beautiful woman) that you'd expect him to be cool with working with aliens filthy xenos if it helps him, but he really is just as xenophobic as the average Imperial soldier.

[Nukelavee]

What I like about Cain is that, while he might be the "best man" an Imperial officer can be...he's still fully Imperial.

[nickg]

Started Horus Rising today. Seems different, in style at least, from other stuff by Abnett, but I like it. If the rest of the series can be compared to this quality wise ( at least for the most part ) in gonna to have a ton of reading ahead of me.

[Petyr Middlefinger Baelish]

Because of this thread I started reading the Ciaphas Cain stories. They were really good! So far I've read Fight or Flight, Sector 13, and The Beguiling. I'm planning on reading the rest in chronological order, but I wanted to know if that really mattered. Is it better to read them in the order they were published?

[Nukelavee]

First time I read them out of order, re-reads in order.

Now, I can never keep track of the timeline for Cain.

YMMV

[Antonius Pius]

No-one can, not even Amberley Vail. As she mentions in the prologue to For the Emperor, the Cain Archive is just a single dataslate full of anecdotes and stories, written down following whatever whim took Cain's fancy. ;)

The regular novels aren't really chronological either. In the first omnibus alone, the third story precedes the second in chronology. The second omnibus starts with a story that precedes everything in the first omnibus. It's all over the place, but that's also the point. Cain is too careless for accurate chronology. That's Amberley Vail's job.

[Lord of the Night]

Tyranids are basically the Zerg from StarCraft (but - and this must always be remembered - they came first) mixed in with the xenomorphs from the Aliens films and that's pretty much it. The Kroot are dog-soldiers who serve the Tau and tend to die a lot.

The Zerg are nothing more than a Tyranid rip-off. Only they fail at everything that makes the Tyranids awesome. And the Kroot are actually avian in nature, and are pretty tough thanks to their ability to assimilate DNA of other races into themselves, making them tougher and more varied. One short story, Primary Instinct, shows how scary Kroot can be if they evolve along the right path.

Actually one of the things that I like about the Cain stories is that the Imperium's hatred of, well, everything, is played perfectly straight. Cain is such a laid-back guy who just wants to stay alive (preferably while sipping drinks on a beach in the company of a beautiful woman) that you'd expect him to be cool with working with aliens filthy xenos if it helps him, but he really is just as xenophobic as the average Imperial soldier.

Indeed. The difference is Cain is willing to set it aside to ensure his own survival, but he doesn't trust the Tau and as well he shouldn't. They are essentially cult slavers.

Started Horus Rising today. Seems different, in style at least, from other stuff by Abnett, but I like it. If the rest of the series can be compared to this quality wise ( at least for the most part ) in gonna to have a ton of reading ahead of me.

Mostly it can yes. Some books exceed Horus Rising and some fall below it. The books of the HH series that I think, and many share my views, are not as good are Descent of Angels and Battle for the Abyss, the latter of those two is disliked by most fans of BL. I dislike it because the Word Bearers in the novel are closer to Saturday morning cartoon villains than the deadly heretics they are meant to be.

The best Horus Heresy novels though, in my view, are... A Thousand Sons, The First Heretic and Know No Fear. The first got the series onto the New York Times Bestseller List, the second is chronologically the first Heresy novel, and the third is the Battle of Calth, a massively important moment in the Heresy.

Because of this thread I started reading the Ciaphas Cain stories. They were really good! So far I've read Fight or Flight, Sector 13, and The Beguiling. I'm planning on reading the rest in chronological order, but I wanted to know if that really mattered. Is it better to read them in the order they were published?

It doesn't matter. Books 1, 2 and 3 are in the right order, then Book 4 is a prequel to them all, Book 5 is after Book 3 and Book 6 is the ending of Cain's adventures. Not sure where Books 7 and 8 belong.

One series that I would recommend is the Space Marines Battles series. Its basically a series of novels, not connected to each other at all, that revolve around some of the most famous battles the Space Marines have ever fought. So far there are eight novels released, novel 9 will be released in May and novel 10 in July. Then the 11th will be the first of the series to revolve around the Chaos Space Marines. The current books though are really good. They are, in order of release...

Rynn's World by Steve Parker

Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The Hunt for Voldorius by Andy Hoare

The Purging of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe

Fall of Damnos by Nick Kyme (Part 1 of a duology)

Battle of the Fang by Chris Wraight (The only novel in BL set right after the Horus Heresy.)

The Gildar Rift by Sarah Cawkwell

Legion of the Damned by Rob Sanders

My personal favourites are Helsreach, Legion of the Damned and Battle of the Fang.

LotN

[Nukelavee]

I wanna go to the bookstore and buy more 40k....

It's cold out.

oh, yeah - Finished Blood Gorgons, by Zou. It was fairly entertaining and well written, and had a few really really "dayum" moments (maybe not plot wise, that's pretty straight forward - but just a few scenes or bits that were wow, cool!), and he resists just piling overwrought adjectives on.

Basically, you have Nurgle marines squaring off against Undivided marines, with some Dark Eldar messing around.

BTW - one of the BEST scenes with a Chaos power is in the Malus Darkblade books. There's an appearence by a plague daemon that makes me gag.

[nickg]

Well, im almost done with Horus Rising and I really have enjoyed it. The used bookstore near my house has nearly every HH book published for cheap ( like all of them around $1 ). Im so tempted right now.

I figured at least one or two would be duds, but I get the impression that I can skip some and not be lost completely so that is ok.

[SkynJay]

Well, im almost done with Horus Rising and I really have enjoyed it. The used bookstore near my house has nearly every HH book published for cheap ( like all of them around $1 ). Im so tempted right now.

I figured at least one or two would be duds, but I get the impression that I can skip some and not be lost completely so that is ok.

Not one WH4K book at our used book store. Not a single one.

[Lord of the Night]

Well, im almost done with Horus Rising and I really have enjoyed it. The used bookstore near my house has nearly every HH book published for cheap ( like all of them around $1 ). Im so tempted right now.

I figured at least one or two would be duds, but I get the impression that I can skip some and not be lost completely so that is ok.

Some yeah. Here is the line up and their connection to each other.

Horus Rising (Luna Wolves Trilogy)

False Gods (Luna Wolves Trilogy)

Galaxy in Flames (Luna Wolves Trilogy)

Flight of the Eisenstein (Standalone but has some connections to Galaxy in Flames. Its first quarter takes place concurrently with it.)

Fulgrim (Standalone but its second half takes place concurrently with Galaxy in Flames.)

Descent of Angels (Dark Angels Trilogy)

Legion (Standalone)

Battle for the Abyss (Standalone)

Mechanicum (Standalone)

Tales of Heresy (Anthology of short stories.)

Fallen Angels (Dark Angels trilogy)

A Thousand Sons (Prospero Duology Book 1)

Nemesis (Standalone)

The First Heretic (Standalone, chonologically takes place before Horus Rising.)

Prospero Burns (Prospero Duology Book 2)

Age of Darkness (Anthology of short stories.)

The Outcast Dead (Standalone)

Deliverance Lost (Standalone)

Know No Fear (Standalone)

LotN

[nickg]

Some yeah. Here is the line up and their connection to each other.

Horus Rising (Luna Wolves Trilogy)

False Gods (Luna Wolves Trilogy)

Galaxy in Flames (Luna Wolves Trilogy)

Flight of the Eisenstein (Standalone but has some connections to Galaxy in Flames. Its first quarter takes place concurrently with it.)

Fulgrim (Standalone but its second half takes place concurrently with Galaxy in Flames.)

Descent of Angels (Dark Angels Trilogy)

Legion (Standalone)

Battle for the Abyss (Standalone)

Mechanicum (Standalone)

Tales of Heresy (Anthology of short stories.)

Fallen Angels (Dark Angels trilogy)

A Thousand Sons (Prospero Duology Book 1)

Nemesis (Standalone)

The First Heretic (Standalone, chonologically takes place before Horus Rising.)

Prospero Burns (Prospero Duology Book 2)

Age of Darkness (Anthology of short stories.)

The Outcast Dead (Standalone)

Deliverance Lost (Standalone)

Know No Fear (Standalone)

LotN

Awesome! Thanks for the list, will be helpful

[Nukelavee]

FUCK IT!

Snow, multiple buses, cold, BAH!

I'm off to get me some HH.

[nickg]

<p>Reading False Gods and its my first disappointment from 40k. Not that it's  bad, ( its pretty decent so far) Graham Mcneill just doesn't compare to Abnett, Dembski-Bowden, Mitchell, or Farrer as a writer imo.

I will finish it because I want to read the opening trilogy, but I'm going to be more selective of the other HH books I pick up. Who knows, it might improve as i read more, im only about 50 pages in.

Edit: I kind of made it sound like I think this book is a turd. Its not, just a letdown after Abnett. I expected this though, I usually have a bit of trouble with shared series like this ( some of the star wars stuff).

[Nukelavee]

Grabbed Nemesis, Outcast Dead, and Readme today.

Let the heaven vomit forth all teh snow they want! I'm set until, umm, Saturday!

[Lord of the Night]

Grabbed Nemesis, Outcast Dead, and Readme today.

Let the heaven vomit forth all teh snow they want! I'm set until, umm, Saturday!

Good choices. I have not read The Outcast Dead yet but Nemesis is a great book, and has one of the deadliest assassins in fiction in my opinion. You'll see why when you read it.

LotN

[Ouroboros]

oh, yeah - Finished Blood Gorgons, by Zou. It was fairly entertaining and well written, and had a few really really "dayum" moments (maybe not plot wise, that's pretty straight forward - but just a few scenes or bits that were wow, cool!), and he resists just piling overwrought adjectives on.

Supposedly Zou is a bit of a plagiarist. His book 'Flesh and Iron' lifts a lot from another book called 'House to House'. Never read either, but that's the rumour going around.

[Lord of the Night]

Supposedly Zou is a bit of a plagiarist. His book 'Flesh and Iron' lifts a lot from another book called 'House to House'. Never read either, but that's the rumour going around.

Indeed it was quite the issue at the time. I don't know if it was intentional or accidental, but I say that Blood Gorgons redeemed him, and hopefully he continues to write for Black Library.

LotN

[Nukelavee]

Grabbed Nemesis (as opposed to the others available) based on this thread, Outcasts cause it sounded like it may have gotten a thumbs up.

Fuck - not BL, or canaon, but years ago, I read a humour bit about, I think, Thanksgiving Dinner in the Warp. Holy shit, was it funny. Gork and Mork starting a foodfight, the Emperor crying into the stuffing over his poor children, Khaine sulking and picking a fight with Slanesh...