Greetings, everybody! I've created this thread for the educational purposes and maybe some discussion (if so happens), I believe that newcomers (like me) can very much benefit from the information I hope will be placed here. The fact is, that I'm fairly new to WH40K. Yes, I'm a bit familiar with it, but I'd want to extend my knowledge beyond Warhammer Wiki, DoW and Space Marine (which are not representative of the universe, as far as I understand. Or are they?) and occasional reading of roleplaying rulebooks like Dark Heresy and Only War. I hope you guys will help me out and maybe other Initiates that come here seeking advice and knowledge, because information from other sources is quite inconsistent and disorganized. I think we'd love to see everything in one place. So, my question is, what literature should I start with? What books and authors can you recommend? I'd like to learn more about ALL factions: The Empire, Chaos, Eldars, Dark Eldars, Orks, Tau, Necrons, Tyranids and maybe other xenos there are out there. To learn more about history and "current" events in the Warhammer universe; familiarize myself with the canon in general. Posting art and/or saying where to find more may help as well I'd love to know lore from many perspectives until the game actually comes out. Your help will be much appreciated Another question is: how canon is Eternal Crusade do you think is going to be? Do you think it will expand the lore? Will Eternal Crusade tell us more about what we already know or tell us something new? Will it move the history forward into 41st Millenium and show us further events? Or is it just going to be about local conflicts, nothing global and world-shattering? What mysteries do you hope to uncover?
I've always found the links below helpful when running my Dark Heresy game http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page#.UnjZOHC8Bnk http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warhammer_40k_Wiki I tend to use the Lexicanum more, although I find that the wiki tends to have been updated more, especially with regards to FFGs games. I've spent hours just sat flicking through links on the sites - it's great when work is slow! Hope this helps!
This is not great, but better than nothing and in video format. So easier for some to digest: View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jweZ7drmTGE View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRdRj4CYUCo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzwj1nnbLok http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwIgSVhdMfI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp5va4IPU8g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCPkJo8JH1Q Watch them in that order. I did not make these and I do not know enough to know if all of it is true. As I am also trying to learn some background story, I thought I would share some of the stuff I found and am looking forward to seeing what others can dig up. Best regards, WNxAkalonian
The reason the wiki tends to get updated more than lexicanum is because the lexicanum tries to have tighter restrictions on citations, whereas the wiki is far more loose about what they allow. Obviously this doesn't mean lexicanum is always perfect, but I've personally found it more reliable. As to the OP, Off the top of my head I'd recommend the Gaunt's Ghosts series, the Night Lords series, Helsreach, Battle for the Fang, Titanicus, Fifteen Hours, Deff Skowdren, and The Redeemer series of comics. The Forge World Imperial Armor books, while expensive are unparalleled in their quality and detail. I'd also recommend all of the FFG RPG books and supplements as the simple fact that an RPG requires a more substantial world than a wargame tends to lead to their material being more interesting and detailed. Author wise, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Dan Abnett are top of the pack for me, with Rob Sanders and Chris Wright right behind them. Graham McNeil and James Swallow I find to be very hit or miss. Lastly, it's important to remember that 40k is not a story. It is a setting. A setting which has always been designed as a brink-of-annihilation/one-minute-to-midnight setting. There is no "pushing the story forward". While thousands of individual stories take place within 40k, the overarching events, ie. the 13th Black Crusade, the failing of the Golden Throne, the approach of the tyranid hivefleets, these things will never advance. In addition, there is no true canon to 40k. Yes, people will argue that only books by GW are official and certain sources will be referenced far more than others, but in general, everything in 40k is intended to be told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator. Everything is propaganda, or a half-truth, or a complete fabrication. It's what allows for contradictions in details across the setting and allows people to pick and choose what they wish to believe. The 40k universe is large enough to encompass them all.
Another good thing to keep in mind is, every bit of lore in every media is biased from the perspective of the protagonist as such, one thing might seem completely different from a different point of view (think of the stories told as a legend or in a history book) That being said, there are several authors you would do well to avoid or at least take them with a big heap of salt with C.S. Goto as a prime example. On the contrast (and as has already been said) everything by Dan Abnett is good. E.g. if you would like to know more about (a Regiment of) the Imperial Guard read the Gaunt's Ghosts-series
That was VERY helpful, thanks a lot guys I'm diving into books, scrolls and ancient parchments now One question though: as far as I understand, all novels are pretty much Imperium biased, basically telling us what Imperium knows about stuff? Or are there any that show the universe from Tau's or Eldar's perspective for example?
Gaunt's Ghost, Brother in Arms 40k version, Eisenhorn trilogy, history of an inquisitor hunting xenos and heretics. Best 40k novels, very few will argue against that. Vaults of Terra is freaking awesome go subscribe to the channel i think i saw the owner of the channel in this forum (or someone else using the nick name)
I believe the Devs have stated that if the game does well enough that Games workshop MAY make portions of it "canon". : ]
There's the Path of the Eldar book series, but I don't consider them very good. The Path of the Dark Eldar books were better, but still not fantastic in my opinion. As for the Tau, I'd hold up Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, the entire Deathwatch RPG line, and Imperial Armour volume 3, The Taros Campaign as the best places to find the view points of the Tau, besides their codex that is.
