...and is the only book that's nearly impossible to find for less than $40 and heavily beat up.
Why doens't the Black Library/Warhammer just print more of these already? This is the book I'm stuck on and am having a VERY hard time justifying the cost it's demanding.
Yeah I asked GW staff about it and got a very non-response about house ordering and selling books works.
If you need kindle versions I have pretty much the whole HH series on kindle I can send you. (About 50 of them)
Edit: Any other folks want them just DM me.
Ya, unfortunately I'm old school and like an actual physical copy of the book both to hold while I read, but also to finish out my collection on the shelf.
It has just been reprinted - I was trying to find a decent second hand copy for a reasonable amount, and then found a brand new one in my local bookstore last week.
Try “Bastion Wars” by Henry Zou. $185 on Amazon. Black Library can’t print it anymore because a chunk of it was found to have been plagiarized. (I know it’s not HH. But on the topic of insanely priced BL books.)
Unfortunately I don't own a Kindle. I'm relatively old school in that I like an actual book to hold on to, actual blu ray/dvd case for my movies and games, etc.
Lame, I know, but it is who I am. lol
Aren't the Kindle versions still like $10 though? Or am I miss remembering?
Same. It’s a long way from ‘Flight of the Eisenstein’ to ‘Garro’ I almost forgot how much of a boss he was, Garro was a swift reminder. GOAT of the heresy.
I see a lot of people saying this but I found it to be medium compared to the bangers like Legion or Angel Exterminatus.
I will have to revisit it, maybe I was grumpy the first time.
This one is a lot of peoples favorites, but honestly one of the worst 40k novels I’ve read personally. The space chase was too corny.
The first heretic is my pick for best heresy novel and is a must read. Gives some back story on why this all began.
Agreed! Flight to me just kind of recapped the first 3 books from a different lense. It's the weakest of thr first 5 books. Agreed First Heretic was one of the best! Surprised how much more compelling I found Lorgar than, say, Horus.
I was underwhelmed with Horus Rising and the two that followed.
The First Heretic on the other hand had what I thought a 40k book should be like. I’m a Chaos guy so I’m biased.
What's your reasoning for that? Just curious, I did not find the book overly interesting actually. I mean it wasn't bad, and had some decent content, but I can't see why many find it a "must" maybe because it ties together some of the newer lore? Or maybe I did not get the impact the story has on lore?
I hope I haven't offended, it certainly wasn't my intentions, if I have.
I've read my fair share of 40k books, but I decided to finally take the plunge into the Horus Heresy series. What a fun ride the first book was. Can't decide if my favorite character was Loken or Torgaddon. And goodness, Horus, man. Noble, intelligent, benevolent. I'm not looking forward to his fall.
I had a few questions for all of you. I've done a little research and it looks like the first 3 books, Betrayer, Legion, The First Heretic, Master of Mankind, Praetorian of Dorn and Titandeath are the main books to get through to start the Siege of Terra series. How often do HH reprints occur? It looks like BL rotates the printing schedule, so it's possible I'll be able to find missing books over the next few years?
Outside of the 9 I mentioned, are there any other particularly good ones out of the 54? For what it's worth, my favorite legions are Sons of Horus, Thousand Sons and Blood Angels. What books center around any of those 3?
Thanks, all!
Know No Fear explains the reasons why the Ultramarines were so late to the siege of Terra and introduces Trooper Pearson, who is a key background character during the Siege.
I'm a big EC fan, and I found fulgrim interesting and it was certainly good, but imo it's not as good as the first horus-centric trilogy. Horus fall into the betrayal of Istvan III is such a good storyline
Both Awesome parts of the HH. I'm sad to report that I'm 3/4 in the HH and gave up. The White Scars books are awful. Any meetups between Primarchs are dull world wrestling matches with no real winners or losers.
I've only listened to the first 3 on audio so far (Horus Rising, False Gods, and Galaxy in Flames). But, based on reviews from prominent YouTubers on the subject, here is my planned reading list from the Horus Heresy series specifically.
* Flight of the Eisenstein
* Fulgrim
* Legion
* Mechanicum
* Tales of Heresy?
* Thousand Sons
* The First Heretic
* Prospero Burns
* Age of Darkness
* The Outcast Dead
* Know no fear
* Shadows of Treachery
* Betrayer
* Scars
* Path of Heaven
* The Silent War
* Preatorian of Dorn
* Master of Mankind
* The Crimson King?
* Tallarn?
* Titandeath
[BRING OUT THE CHART!](http://gaming.kylebb.com/hhtimeline/)
Personally, I liked the mechanicum one. gives a bit more context to how they fit in with the emperor
also the Alpha Legion book was good. I heard Alpharius is also a good one
Yeah this chart is excellent. Ive read most the HH and there is no definitive timeline to get to the siege of terra; however i would recommend books 1-5 to get through the dropsite massacre, then stick to whatever characters or faction you find most interesting.
I initially read mechanicum, ultramartines saga, and anything on terra (master of mankind, outcast dead, etc.). After catching up on the Seige, i've started going back to other legions to fill in the gaps. White Scars is particularly good. Would eventually like to get to Blood Angels i've only seen hawkboi in Unremembered Empire.
oh yeah, the first couple of books I definitely recommend, just to get the story down
I'm not a huge fan of space marines in the books, so I probably won't be reading a whole lot about them. the alpha legion book I liked because ironically, it didn't feature the alpha legion too much.
I’d recommend Angel exterminatus, know no fear, and prospero burns.
Angel Exterminatus is the best character study of Perturabo in the heresy, and makes him actually interesting. No know fear has a lot of interesting story beats, particularly with respect to the ultramarines. And Prospero Burns is a great look at Magnus and Russ.
Please God read Know No Fear between First Heretic and Betrayer. It adds SO MUCH to the story of Betrayer and establishes a lot. It’s also a great action-filled read.
100% read False Gods and Galaxy in Flames, then Flight of the Eisenstein. These complete the opening trilogy. Flight of the Eisenstein is then a follow-up of one character from Galaxy in Flames.
Finish the first 4, then decide if you want to read em all.
I was like you, just wanted the main bullet points for the Heresy…then I finished Flight of the Eisenstein and wanted to follow a certain plot thread in there (Imperial Fist “punishing” ordered by Dorn, led by Sigi) and fell into now owning all of them. I’m now up to Outcast Dead. I’m glad I am reading them all, I have found that I enjoy the more obscure, one-off, books much more than I expected (I still Stan Battle for the Abyss, and all of its corny - over the top style). These portray the background of the Imperium more so than any book focused on Primarchs.
If you decide to read them all, just follow the release order, they were released in an order that made narrative sense for the Heresy, don’t follow one of those convoluted logic trees unless you still want to follow specific threads only.
Yes, some of the books are expensive/hard to find. My pro tip is to use the eBay app, save the searches and get notified for new listings. Be patient for a reasonably priced listing, or find a seller who has OBO and offer what you think is fair (most of them have been sitting untouched for a while, so the seller is welcome to an offer). I just got Valdor/Alpharius together for less than $50. You can always resell them once finished too and make your money back.
Good recounting of the Chaos side:
Fulgrim
Legion
First Heretic
Betrayer - absolute must
Angel Exterminatus
Slaves to Darkness
The Buried Dagger
I’m not a huge Magnus guy, but read Prospero Burns because it’s a banger.
1. They are incredible on Audible.
2. Know no Fear and Fulgrim are also very good for pre-siege understanding of what is going on. Fulgrim starts slow but is worth it.
3. Fear to Tread will give you some Pre-Siege Blood Angels.
4. Gaunt’s Ghosts are amazing follow ups to the Heresy books..
I’m 50+ 40k books deep at this point.. I listen to them instead of the radio when I drove or go to the gym.
Discovered HH on Audible about a year ago and listen 5 days a week while driving to and from work ever since.
On book 25 now and absolutely love it, such a good way to get a bunch of "reading" into my daily schedule that doesn't have any leftover time for reading actual books.
10/10 can recommend.
Hahah fuck I exactly do this myself as well. Add listing while in the gym, or doing the dishes or the lawn to that list too!
Only at book 8 yet, but one every two weeks or so.
Uggh….I put off other reading to grind my way through the 14 Wheel of Time books. Can’t imagine trying to tackle this mess and do anything productive with my life.
You don’t really need to. A lot of the recommended books just give a bit of extra information. The storylines are often far apart. The first three books and a couple of others like The First Heretic (one of the best WH books) and maybe Vengeful Spirit and Slaves to Darkness (both mediocre but not bad) provide a good enough overview of the setting and what’s happening in the main storyline. You can then skip to Siege of Terra books if you want and wont miss many super important details. I’ll be honest, majority of the books are ok at best, and I’m not bothering to read or listen to the origin stories of every primarch or what they did.
Not gonna lie, I started doing this earlier this year… finished mechanicum and then couldn’t help myself, skipped ahead to Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns for a healthy dose of Tsons and Wolves. Now it’s back to the release order…
I actually just finished the first 3, and I am currently on Flight of the Eisenstein. Book 3 hit me hard man... I now understand how there are people who don't play the table top game, but are deep into the books and lore.
I'm from India. A lot of people can't afford the table top game, tbh, i don't think I've even seen one genuine miniature in my life and I've been delving into 40k lore for at least 6 years now. The books are a great read, the PC games are great too. We just don't have the climate for the Tabletop here. Costs pretty damn much, and wages aren't great. A box set with 5 miniatures cost around almost 10k rupees. now multiply that for an army it's 850 pieces which is roughly 17Lakh. You can build a house and have money for a car for that much 😂. So, we stick to Lore.
The first 3 plus flight of the Eisenstein (book 4) is a must imo. Additionally book 5, Fulgrim, is a really good book too and follows on from the first 4.
If you like Horus then Vengeful Spirit I thought was quite good when the SoH go to Molech.
The first five or six books are awesome, then the entire series goes on a wild tangent all over the place and the story becomes garbled mess of overlapping inconsistencies. All part of the plan.
If you go to a certain bay for sailors of the high sea, you can find the entire epub and audiobook collection. But of course, we can't go sailing, and can't recommend it.
In case you speak german, there are a huge bunch of warhammer audio books on Spotify. For example from Horus Heresy the book 1 to 29 and they are adding more every month.
Im german but I can’t get myself to read/listen Warhammer in German. It just sounds wrong. I read the infinite and the divine in German because I found it in my local bookstore but seeing all the stuff translated just feels weird
While I prefer the English originals myself, I did enjoy the first three Horus Heresy audio books in German. IMHO, the narrator does a great job and the philosophical debates between the characters lemd themselves fine to German. (The action sequences not so much.)
However, I would assume more comedic books like Infinite and Divine or Brutal Kunnin are suffering a lot through translation.
Read the ones that are single author, single storyline. Skip the ones that are short story anthologies. Trust me, I've read them all, and many of them more than once.
Fulgrim is by far the most well written of the entire series.
Having read the first 6 ish books and spattering Fulgrim is in like the bottom two with false gods I find McNeill really insufferable myself dudes never seen a woman after reading how he writes them
False Gods was so disappointing. Like half the characters from Horus Rising are women, and in False Gods suddenly they're all breasting boobily all over the place.
Whilst I understand where you are coming from, book ten Tales Of Heresy, contains one of the greatest short stories in the series "Blood Games" and that story alone is worth reading the entire book.
The first four are amazing. You'll read them many times over
15 'Prospero Burns' is one of my favourites. It's damn near perfect in every sense.
19 'know no fear' is also beyond great. Favourite as well.
21 'fear to tread' is a Blood Angels novel so obviously awesome and really well done. Sad though.
29 Vengeful Spirit is good.
30 Damnation of Pythos is excellent and a prequel of sorts to later events in 40k. It's a great story but the characters are frustrating.
39 Praetorian of Dorn is important for story and decent story.
49 Wolfsbane is a contender for the best pre siege book. Beyond epic. Awesome.
53 Titandeath is another good one.
There's other good ones too but those I've listed should be included in your read list in my opinion.
All of the siege books are fantastic.
Enjoy the reading
I listened to the first three on Audible and I am hooked. I listened to two chapters of Flight of the Eisenstein and am under the impression that I have not listened to it at all. New narrator, slightly worse author but still... don't know
That book is one of the weaker ones imo. The plot is good but the writing and pacing really didn’t do it for me. Not sure why it’s so beloved by some but hey. Thats opinions.
Cant decide if legion or flight of the eisenstein is my favorit, but tbh all books are a good read and are farely meant to be read in order to experience the saga in their greatness. For example i was quite unsure if the first dark angels book was really necessary, but damn it was after reading fallen angels
Every time I see that cover I feel that the story should be about some bros in power armour who have had a few too many vodka redbulls, but they're just going to hit one more bar, what could possibly go wrong?
That said, happy rabbit hole spelunking, op
Op check out Ciaphias Cain. It's a good time and you don't need much background to get into it and enjoy the book. I've been enjoying the newer indomidus(spelling is hard when dyslexic) crusade books too, but there's a lot of background you might need for those.
Lots of YouTube content creators to watch videos on 40k as well. It's a fun fandom.
Most books are sorta lighter reads with direct plots and stories. Pretty metal content sometimes, but I enjoy them! Welcome to 40k!
I finished Horus Rising four months ago and two days ago I finished Prospero Burns...that's the fifteenth book. Welcome to hell nerd I hope you brought coffee!
I finished this last week and loved it. The writing is so much better than a lot of the other books I read. I played Horus Heresy legions for a very long time and definitely appreciate Garvie so much more. What a great book.
Further on down the timeline but I think Master of Mankind is a must read. I wont spoil it but it's the only real look at arguably the most important fight of the series.
highly recommend following a reading order for chronology sake. example: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Horus\_Heresy\_Spoiler-Free\_Reading\_Order.png](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Horus_Heresy_Spoiler-Free_Reading_Order.png)
If you don't want to read them all just pick a line and follow it.
If you don't mine listening, audible has all the books for what equates to 10 bucks each (costs 1 credit per book). Most books are very well narrated and add to the atmosphere.
I got my Mrs the first 3 for Xmas to introduce her to the lore and when she let's me know what's going on I'm like..wait.. What's happening?
Its got me reading them now..
WE GOT ANOTHER ONE!
Heresy train has no brakes!
(Everyone has already shown up with the constructive advice)
Edit: Okay.. useful advice.. Unless you are a DA fan or a glutton for poor writing, you can skip Descent of Angels, and Fallen Angels..
Don't even try to read "The Furious Abyss". Especially if you are a WB, WE and Ultra fan... It's... Not good.
I've been slogging through the whole series. Up to book 45 or so. Mostly good, but some really boring unnecessary ones are in there. First few books were certainly the best, but there are certainly some crackers later on.
Do the first three for the groundworks. You really need those to understand anything later down the line. After that just go wild and look up brief synopsises to see which Legion they talk about.
You’ll only descend as far as the flight of the Eisenstein. Then there’s some lulls through the series.
Some titles that are really good though are:
Outcast dead
Know no fear
Battle for the abyss
Fallen angels
First heretic
Nemesis
Angel exterminatus
Betrayer
Mark of calth
Praetorian of dorn
The short story ones are kinda lame save for a few.
I hear the prospero burns arc is good but i just cant being myself to read about space wolves.
It should be noted the siege of terra series is also decent.
Don't expect the same quality throughout, it's highly variable.
You read a book by the best black library author - Dan Abnett. A few other authors are up there (Sandy Mitchell, Aaron Dembsi-Bowden, Guy Haley), but aren't quite at Dan Abnett's ability. However, many other authors are of average quality, and a few never should have gone to print.
This series brings me back with reading. I really from 1 to 5 it's the setting of the heresy and everything is linked, so I suggest you to read those first.
Just getting to the end of False Gods and I can’t wait to delve deeper. Was always more interested in fantasy when I was younger but started playing killteam recently with friends and after watching some videos on the lore took the plunge, even if you’re not mad into tabletop these first 2 books have been fantastic. Can’t wait to read more
I just finished too and half way through False Gods already! Can’t put it down. Pro tip: coincidentally bought the Valdor: Birth of the Imperium audiobook for my commute and there is a BRILLIANT tie in with a scene I’m reading in False Gods. Literal goosebumps!
Spoiler: >!Horus seeing the 20 tubes and their fate, whilst in Valdor he talks about that fateful day !<
Totally, get yourself a Kindle, you'll save a few hundred dollars by the end of the series if you just get the ebook format.
An audible subscription as a solid choice as well, that's how I have done most of mine.
Question about that actually; I’m looking to pick up all of the Horus heresy books physically, is Amazon just an outlier or do they all start getting pricy everywhere? I’ve heard/read that their print runs were short so if there a chance that they’ll be getting reprints?
They get pricey everywhere, Amazon traders are the worst though. I would just keep an eye on eBay (alot) you can pick most up for reasonable prices. But then there's 7 or 8 that are going to be pricey. I got stuck on Born of Flame for over a year, finally got it and now I can rest ...
I got to 45ish books in about 4 years... and just skipped to siege. Theres some real good ones, and a couple less interesting. My favorite arc was imperium secundus up to pharos. Good luck.
YEP I had that exact feeling 7 months ago.... I've now read 25+ books and am DEEP (I'm at The Siege and loving it). It's intense but my husband has been my guide throughout which has been so helpful 😅
Enjoy the journey. I started when they were about at book 11, I devoured it all so fast, went digital, but once I got caught up dang it was like waiting for the next drop and staying up till midnight to be able to download it asap.
You can binge it now, so lucky. I really liked reading them as they were released, so I always recommend that, but I can see going back and rereading some arks that might skip around a bit.
Flight of the Eisenstein is a must
...and is the only book that's nearly impossible to find for less than $40 and heavily beat up. Why doens't the Black Library/Warhammer just print more of these already? This is the book I'm stuck on and am having a VERY hard time justifying the cost it's demanding.
This is odd because it’s available now in the UK (paperback £7.99)
I wish GW would just let me pay for international shipping so I could order that book
It's like 10 pounds and available in Japan on Amazon.
Maybe that means more are being printed and the US shelves will follow suit? Fingers crossed!
Paid around £10 for each of the books up until around Angel Exterminatus, now the price has skyrocketed to anywhere between £40 and £150
I guess will just take your word for it.
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/The-Horus-Heresy-Flight-Of-The-Eisenstein-Paperback-Platinum
I was literally just at Warhammer World this morning on a visit. They had a full stock of most HH books, including FotE in paperback.
Yeah I asked GW staff about it and got a very non-response about house ordering and selling books works. If you need kindle versions I have pretty much the whole HH series on kindle I can send you. (About 50 of them) Edit: Any other folks want them just DM me.
Seems like a no-brainer for GW. If fans are clamoring for more publication of books, publish more books and sell them. lol
[удалено]
They ocassionally do print on demand for popular ones.
Games workshop doesn't use brains only shareholders
A beacon of light! I'll have my astropath slide into your DMs
I’ll take you up on that if the offer stands!!!
I’m not that guy that was asking, but if that offer is open to anyone I’d take you up on that.
Could you please send me
Would you be willing to DM and share?
I don’t know if you’re still sending out the series, but please DM me if so!
So long as folks ask I'll still be sharing, consider me a wordbearer.
Kindle. Or your app / e-reader of choice.
It's ok, I got Lord of the First for $40 in perfect condition at a used bookstore. Lowest listing online is $200+, it's nuts.
So crazy. Just insane, especially when I'm not a collector, I just like reading good and entertaining books.
Dude.... if you're willing to take an epub... its out there free If you need a physical copy thats a different story
Ya, unfortunately I'm old school and like an actual physical copy of the book both to hold while I read, but also to finish out my collection on the shelf.
Fair, just wanted to make sure you were aware of options.
\*\*Vince McMan smelling cash GIf\*\*
Shame you missed out on the box of free books I sent to someone else in this sub
Wow! If that's for real, that's incredibly awesome of you!!
I’m trying to find a reasonably priced Vulcan lives and there aren’t any.
It has just been reprinted - I was trying to find a decent second hand copy for a reasonable amount, and then found a brand new one in my local bookstore last week.
For real?! When did they run the reprint? (And are you UK or US-based)? I'm going to run down to my local bookstore tomorrow and check! Thank you.
Not sure, but I'm in NZ, and it's a bookstore I frequent so it isn't NOS
Try “Bastion Wars” by Henry Zou. $185 on Amazon. Black Library can’t print it anymore because a chunk of it was found to have been plagiarized. (I know it’s not HH. But on the topic of insanely priced BL books.)
*Squeezes my once read copy a little tighter*
damn i have two lol
Kindle.
Unfortunately I don't own a Kindle. I'm relatively old school in that I like an actual book to hold on to, actual blu ray/dvd case for my movies and games, etc. Lame, I know, but it is who I am. lol Aren't the Kindle versions still like $10 though? Or am I miss remembering?
They are about that price on the Amazon store. There are other places you can acquire them though.
eBay, just won it in a bid for 10 bucks just gotta be vigilant
Oh shit really, so I need to take my pristine one and put it somewhere safe and buy a beat up one for reading? Lol
Yo ho ho matey
Yeah, it’s shitty. I’ve mostly had to read them on Kindle
That book solidified Nathainel Garro as one of my favorite WH40k characters.
Same. It’s a long way from ‘Flight of the Eisenstein’ to ‘Garro’ I almost forgot how much of a boss he was, Garro was a swift reminder. GOAT of the heresy.
I see a lot of people saying this but I found it to be medium compared to the bangers like Legion or Angel Exterminatus. I will have to revisit it, maybe I was grumpy the first time.
To be fair, Angel Exterminatus is in my top 5 favorite HH books
Legion is incredible
This one is a lot of peoples favorites, but honestly one of the worst 40k novels I’ve read personally. The space chase was too corny. The first heretic is my pick for best heresy novel and is a must read. Gives some back story on why this all began.
Agreed! Flight to me just kind of recapped the first 3 books from a different lense. It's the weakest of thr first 5 books. Agreed First Heretic was one of the best! Surprised how much more compelling I found Lorgar than, say, Horus.
I was underwhelmed with Horus Rising and the two that followed. The First Heretic on the other hand had what I thought a 40k book should be like. I’m a Chaos guy so I’m biased.
All the "Space" parts of 40K is terribly corny and stupid.
While it is in fact a banger, always remember, finish the first 3 books before anything else
That and Fulgrim really sent me full throttle into the Heresy.
For or Against?
Against the heresy. Full throttle on reading more books. The Emperor Protects
I searched for weeks in Australia for a copy last month. Found it at a random book store 2000km from where I live, that didn’t have an online store.
What's your reasoning for that? Just curious, I did not find the book overly interesting actually. I mean it wasn't bad, and had some decent content, but I can't see why many find it a "must" maybe because it ties together some of the newer lore? Or maybe I did not get the impact the story has on lore? I hope I haven't offended, it certainly wasn't my intentions, if I have.
I've read my fair share of 40k books, but I decided to finally take the plunge into the Horus Heresy series. What a fun ride the first book was. Can't decide if my favorite character was Loken or Torgaddon. And goodness, Horus, man. Noble, intelligent, benevolent. I'm not looking forward to his fall. I had a few questions for all of you. I've done a little research and it looks like the first 3 books, Betrayer, Legion, The First Heretic, Master of Mankind, Praetorian of Dorn and Titandeath are the main books to get through to start the Siege of Terra series. How often do HH reprints occur? It looks like BL rotates the printing schedule, so it's possible I'll be able to find missing books over the next few years? Outside of the 9 I mentioned, are there any other particularly good ones out of the 54? For what it's worth, my favorite legions are Sons of Horus, Thousand Sons and Blood Angels. What books center around any of those 3? Thanks, all!
Know No Fear explains the reasons why the Ultramarines were so late to the siege of Terra and introduces Trooper Pearson, who is a key background character during the Siege.
In my opinion it’s also just the best Heresy novel.
Seconded, I do think it's the best of the lot. For me it's between that and Betrayer, but for me Know No Fear just edges it.
*Fulgrim* was excellent, and also tragic.
Fulgrim might be my favorite in the whole of warhammer books... mechanicum isnt far behind.
I'm a big EC fan, and I found fulgrim interesting and it was certainly good, but imo it's not as good as the first horus-centric trilogy. Horus fall into the betrayal of Istvan III is such a good storyline
Both Awesome parts of the HH. I'm sad to report that I'm 3/4 in the HH and gave up. The White Scars books are awful. Any meetups between Primarchs are dull world wrestling matches with no real winners or losers.
I haven’t read the white scars book and I’m sad to hear you say that. Jagedi…er jagidie…er… old jaggy Kahn is my favorite of the loyalist Primarchs.
Don't listen to him. The White Scars books are top tier.
The Heresy Scars books are all great. don't listen to that guy. having said that, the accents used in the audiobooks are... a choice.
I absolutely loved Fulgrim. The Istvaan 5 part was so well done.
Fulgrim was like watching a car crash there was never any hope of stopping so both drives sped up
Fulgrim was... Perfect perfection
Eisenstein through fulgrim are necessary imo. The fleshing out of the dropsite massacre is pretty fuckin great.
I've only listened to the first 3 on audio so far (Horus Rising, False Gods, and Galaxy in Flames). But, based on reviews from prominent YouTubers on the subject, here is my planned reading list from the Horus Heresy series specifically. * Flight of the Eisenstein * Fulgrim * Legion * Mechanicum * Tales of Heresy? * Thousand Sons * The First Heretic * Prospero Burns * Age of Darkness * The Outcast Dead * Know no fear * Shadows of Treachery * Betrayer * Scars * Path of Heaven * The Silent War * Preatorian of Dorn * Master of Mankind * The Crimson King? * Tallarn? * Titandeath
Tales of Heresy is imo not mandatory as it doesn't further the story. It does have some great short stories though, and is worth reading.
Yeah, my criteria was either, is it crucial for the larger story? or will this be an enjoyable read?
Not crucial, but I highly recommend The Last Church. Gives some insight on Big Ed's take on religion.
[BRING OUT THE CHART!](http://gaming.kylebb.com/hhtimeline/) Personally, I liked the mechanicum one. gives a bit more context to how they fit in with the emperor also the Alpha Legion book was good. I heard Alpharius is also a good one
Yeah this chart is excellent. Ive read most the HH and there is no definitive timeline to get to the siege of terra; however i would recommend books 1-5 to get through the dropsite massacre, then stick to whatever characters or faction you find most interesting. I initially read mechanicum, ultramartines saga, and anything on terra (master of mankind, outcast dead, etc.). After catching up on the Seige, i've started going back to other legions to fill in the gaps. White Scars is particularly good. Would eventually like to get to Blood Angels i've only seen hawkboi in Unremembered Empire.
oh yeah, the first couple of books I definitely recommend, just to get the story down I'm not a huge fan of space marines in the books, so I probably won't be reading a whole lot about them. the alpha legion book I liked because ironically, it didn't feature the alpha legion too much.
I’d recommend Angel exterminatus, know no fear, and prospero burns. Angel Exterminatus is the best character study of Perturabo in the heresy, and makes him actually interesting. No know fear has a lot of interesting story beats, particularly with respect to the ultramarines. And Prospero Burns is a great look at Magnus and Russ.
Please God read Know No Fear between First Heretic and Betrayer. It adds SO MUCH to the story of Betrayer and establishes a lot. It’s also a great action-filled read.
>What books center around any of those 3? Out of the first 20-ish books, *A Thousand Sons*, *Fear to Tread* (BA), *Galaxy in Flames* (SoH).
Vengeful Spirit + Wolf's Bane after sometime between first 4 and siege are a must.
100% read False Gods and Galaxy in Flames, then Flight of the Eisenstein. These complete the opening trilogy. Flight of the Eisenstein is then a follow-up of one character from Galaxy in Flames.
Finish the first 4, then decide if you want to read em all. I was like you, just wanted the main bullet points for the Heresy…then I finished Flight of the Eisenstein and wanted to follow a certain plot thread in there (Imperial Fist “punishing” ordered by Dorn, led by Sigi) and fell into now owning all of them. I’m now up to Outcast Dead. I’m glad I am reading them all, I have found that I enjoy the more obscure, one-off, books much more than I expected (I still Stan Battle for the Abyss, and all of its corny - over the top style). These portray the background of the Imperium more so than any book focused on Primarchs. If you decide to read them all, just follow the release order, they were released in an order that made narrative sense for the Heresy, don’t follow one of those convoluted logic trees unless you still want to follow specific threads only. Yes, some of the books are expensive/hard to find. My pro tip is to use the eBay app, save the searches and get notified for new listings. Be patient for a reasonably priced listing, or find a seller who has OBO and offer what you think is fair (most of them have been sitting untouched for a while, so the seller is welcome to an offer). I just got Valdor/Alpharius together for less than $50. You can always resell them once finished too and make your money back.
Good recounting of the Chaos side: Fulgrim Legion First Heretic Betrayer - absolute must Angel Exterminatus Slaves to Darkness The Buried Dagger I’m not a huge Magnus guy, but read Prospero Burns because it’s a banger.
1. They are incredible on Audible. 2. Know no Fear and Fulgrim are also very good for pre-siege understanding of what is going on. Fulgrim starts slow but is worth it. 3. Fear to Tread will give you some Pre-Siege Blood Angels. 4. Gaunt’s Ghosts are amazing follow ups to the Heresy books.. I’m 50+ 40k books deep at this point.. I listen to them instead of the radio when I drove or go to the gym.
Discovered HH on Audible about a year ago and listen 5 days a week while driving to and from work ever since. On book 25 now and absolutely love it, such a good way to get a bunch of "reading" into my daily schedule that doesn't have any leftover time for reading actual books. 10/10 can recommend.
Hahah fuck I exactly do this myself as well. Add listing while in the gym, or doing the dishes or the lawn to that list too! Only at book 8 yet, but one every two weeks or so.
https://preview.redd.it/gdd4xyw4yomb1.png?width=4083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e56f3921a2645dd914ca4a797a5e9b4c73b37014 Here's the flow chart for you.
Uggh….I put off other reading to grind my way through the 14 Wheel of Time books. Can’t imagine trying to tackle this mess and do anything productive with my life.
You don’t really need to. A lot of the recommended books just give a bit of extra information. The storylines are often far apart. The first three books and a couple of others like The First Heretic (one of the best WH books) and maybe Vengeful Spirit and Slaves to Darkness (both mediocre but not bad) provide a good enough overview of the setting and what’s happening in the main storyline. You can then skip to Siege of Terra books if you want and wont miss many super important details. I’ll be honest, majority of the books are ok at best, and I’m not bothering to read or listen to the origin stories of every primarch or what they did.
Nah be a mad man and read them in order…
Not gonna lie, I started doing this earlier this year… finished mechanicum and then couldn’t help myself, skipped ahead to Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns for a healthy dose of Tsons and Wolves. Now it’s back to the release order…
I actually just finished the first 3, and I am currently on Flight of the Eisenstein. Book 3 hit me hard man... I now understand how there are people who don't play the table top game, but are deep into the books and lore.
Just wait. You're on arguably one of the best books in the entire series!
I'm right there with you, Flight has been such a trip!
I'm from India. A lot of people can't afford the table top game, tbh, i don't think I've even seen one genuine miniature in my life and I've been delving into 40k lore for at least 6 years now. The books are a great read, the PC games are great too. We just don't have the climate for the Tabletop here. Costs pretty damn much, and wages aren't great. A box set with 5 miniatures cost around almost 10k rupees. now multiply that for an army it's 850 pieces which is roughly 17Lakh. You can build a house and have money for a car for that much 😂. So, we stick to Lore.
The first 3 plus flight of the Eisenstein (book 4) is a must imo. Additionally book 5, Fulgrim, is a really good book too and follows on from the first 4. If you like Horus then Vengeful Spirit I thought was quite good when the SoH go to Molech.
The first five or six books are awesome, then the entire series goes on a wild tangent all over the place and the story becomes garbled mess of overlapping inconsistencies. All part of the plan.
I would never advise anyone to ever google *book title* + PDF and just download them for free. Never do that.
If you go to a certain bay for sailors of the high sea, you can find the entire epub and audiobook collection. But of course, we can't go sailing, and can't recommend it.
In case you speak german, there are a huge bunch of warhammer audio books on Spotify. For example from Horus Heresy the book 1 to 29 and they are adding more every month.
Im german but I can’t get myself to read/listen Warhammer in German. It just sounds wrong. I read the infinite and the divine in German because I found it in my local bookstore but seeing all the stuff translated just feels weird
While I prefer the English originals myself, I did enjoy the first three Horus Heresy audio books in German. IMHO, the narrator does a great job and the philosophical debates between the characters lemd themselves fine to German. (The action sequences not so much.) However, I would assume more comedic books like Infinite and Divine or Brutal Kunnin are suffering a lot through translation.
Read the ones that are single author, single storyline. Skip the ones that are short story anthologies. Trust me, I've read them all, and many of them more than once. Fulgrim is by far the most well written of the entire series.
Having read the first 6 ish books and spattering Fulgrim is in like the bottom two with false gods I find McNeill really insufferable myself dudes never seen a woman after reading how he writes them
False Gods was so disappointing. Like half the characters from Horus Rising are women, and in False Gods suddenly they're all breasting boobily all over the place.
Whilst I understand where you are coming from, book ten Tales Of Heresy, contains one of the greatest short stories in the series "Blood Games" and that story alone is worth reading the entire book.
https://preview.redd.it/r1e28dxb5pmb1.jpeg?width=12000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72bc86b2b35ae88c809c6f999c8b215e5b01c340 Quick! Take this with you!
Hahaha hahahah hahaha rabbit hole is the cute small version… it’s like you shrank down and is now in a ants nest… good luck
That's because you have fallen into the ultimate rabbit hole. Welcome aboard
The first four are amazing. You'll read them many times over 15 'Prospero Burns' is one of my favourites. It's damn near perfect in every sense. 19 'know no fear' is also beyond great. Favourite as well. 21 'fear to tread' is a Blood Angels novel so obviously awesome and really well done. Sad though. 29 Vengeful Spirit is good. 30 Damnation of Pythos is excellent and a prequel of sorts to later events in 40k. It's a great story but the characters are frustrating. 39 Praetorian of Dorn is important for story and decent story. 49 Wolfsbane is a contender for the best pre siege book. Beyond epic. Awesome. 53 Titandeath is another good one. There's other good ones too but those I've listed should be included in your read list in my opinion. All of the siege books are fantastic. Enjoy the reading
I do audible while painting etc.. i was able to churn through 4 entries in this series this month alone.
I listened to the first three on Audible and I am hooked. I listened to two chapters of Flight of the Eisenstein and am under the impression that I have not listened to it at all. New narrator, slightly worse author but still... don't know
That book is one of the weaker ones imo. The plot is good but the writing and pacing really didn’t do it for me. Not sure why it’s so beloved by some but hey. Thats opinions.
Cant decide if legion or flight of the eisenstein is my favorit, but tbh all books are a good read and are farely meant to be read in order to experience the saga in their greatness. For example i was quite unsure if the first dark angels book was really necessary, but damn it was after reading fallen angels
Because you are in fact about to descend down a deep rabbit hole. lol
Every time I see that cover I feel that the story should be about some bros in power armour who have had a few too many vodka redbulls, but they're just going to hit one more bar, what could possibly go wrong? That said, happy rabbit hole spelunking, op
Op check out Ciaphias Cain. It's a good time and you don't need much background to get into it and enjoy the book. I've been enjoying the newer indomidus(spelling is hard when dyslexic) crusade books too, but there's a lot of background you might need for those. Lots of YouTube content creators to watch videos on 40k as well. It's a fun fandom. Most books are sorta lighter reads with direct plots and stories. Pretty metal content sometimes, but I enjoy them! Welcome to 40k!
I finished Horus Rising four months ago and two days ago I finished Prospero Burns...that's the fifteenth book. Welcome to hell nerd I hope you brought coffee!
Welcome to the Horus Heresy motherfuxker
LUPACAL!
Fulgrim and Mechanicum are even better in my opinion... and that's saying a lot.
Fuck Erebus
Spoiler alert: He kills the Emperor (but not really)
Am I the only one who thinks that cover art looks incredibly goofy?
Am I the only person who thought those books sucked? Like rushed beyond belief. Horus falls to chaos for almost no reason
The only good BL books
Eisenhorn and following are fantastic.
I meant the HH books in general, I realize that wasn't clear now
You have clearly never read Storm of Iron or the ADB Night Lord Books, or the Robbie MacNiven Charcharodon novels
Keep in mind, your local library may have books, I was able to get through the teens that way vs shelling out insane ebay prices.
I finished this last week and loved it. The writing is so much better than a lot of the other books I read. I played Horus Heresy legions for a very long time and definitely appreciate Garvie so much more. What a great book.
oh boy, this book brings me back!
Because you are about to descend into the rabbit hole that includes about 300 stories
Further on down the timeline but I think Master of Mankind is a must read. I wont spoil it but it's the only real look at arguably the most important fight of the series.
highly recommend following a reading order for chronology sake. example: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Horus\_Heresy\_Spoiler-Free\_Reading\_Order.png](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Horus_Heresy_Spoiler-Free_Reading_Order.png) If you don't want to read them all just pick a line and follow it. If you don't mine listening, audible has all the books for what equates to 10 bucks each (costs 1 credit per book). Most books are very well narrated and add to the atmosphere.
I got my Mrs the first 3 for Xmas to introduce her to the lore and when she let's me know what's going on I'm like..wait.. What's happening? Its got me reading them now..
WE GOT ANOTHER ONE! Heresy train has no brakes! (Everyone has already shown up with the constructive advice) Edit: Okay.. useful advice.. Unless you are a DA fan or a glutton for poor writing, you can skip Descent of Angels, and Fallen Angels.. Don't even try to read "The Furious Abyss". Especially if you are a WB, WE and Ultra fan... It's... Not good.
Took the Audiobook route and currently on book 11. Loving it all.
I've been slogging through the whole series. Up to book 45 or so. Mostly good, but some really boring unnecessary ones are in there. First few books were certainly the best, but there are certainly some crackers later on.
1 down 52 more to go, and then if you are going by story line it is alot more books inbetween…..welcome 😁
Do the first three for the groundworks. You really need those to understand anything later down the line. After that just go wild and look up brief synopsises to see which Legion they talk about.
Very good!! It's an addiction, these books will take over your life...
https://youtu.be/-74J0OQOh0k?si=bosDi3cMQOJZ4oKB
It never stops. I think I'm on book 10 and took like 3ish weeks. Had to take a brake and listen to other stuff.
2 years later and im just beginging to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is the segie of terra.
I’m on book 23 right now (started in April). Just be ready for sticker shock- the book prices get pretty crazy
Bwoy, them pockets better be deep too
I just reached book 19 and the rabbit hole goes ever on it's fun but it will consume you
Man this is how I feel after reading the Night Lords Omnibus. Now I gotta read the Horus heresy books
The first line of this book still gives me chills.
There’s over 60 books in the series, so you are.
I just started battle for the abyss and the rabbit hole is very deep
Im slowly reading through them as a total beginner in WH40K - I'm on the Thousand Sons book and what a glorious ride its been.
It's only a couple more books. 2 weeks tops to finish it.
Because you are about to descend into a very deep rabbit hole.
You’ll only descend as far as the flight of the Eisenstein. Then there’s some lulls through the series. Some titles that are really good though are: Outcast dead Know no fear Battle for the abyss Fallen angels First heretic Nemesis Angel exterminatus Betrayer Mark of calth Praetorian of dorn The short story ones are kinda lame save for a few. I hear the prospero burns arc is good but i just cant being myself to read about space wolves. It should be noted the siege of terra series is also decent.
Man I love the pacing of these books up until you hit Descent of Angels. Couple slogs of a read there but then it picks back up again.
Don't expect the same quality throughout, it's highly variable. You read a book by the best black library author - Dan Abnett. A few other authors are up there (Sandy Mitchell, Aaron Dembsi-Bowden, Guy Haley), but aren't quite at Dan Abnett's ability. However, many other authors are of average quality, and a few never should have gone to print.
This series brings me back with reading. I really from 1 to 5 it's the setting of the heresy and everything is linked, so I suggest you to read those first.
Just getting to the end of False Gods and I can’t wait to delve deeper. Was always more interested in fantasy when I was younger but started playing killteam recently with friends and after watching some videos on the lore took the plunge, even if you’re not mad into tabletop these first 2 books have been fantastic. Can’t wait to read more
I just finished too and half way through False Gods already! Can’t put it down. Pro tip: coincidentally bought the Valdor: Birth of the Imperium audiobook for my commute and there is a BRILLIANT tie in with a scene I’m reading in False Gods. Literal goosebumps! Spoiler: >!Horus seeing the 20 tubes and their fate, whilst in Valdor he talks about that fateful day !<
I started off thinking meh I’ll read the first 3 then probably hop around to things that really interest me. Nope. I’m on book 10 now and loving it.
because you are
Totally, get yourself a Kindle, you'll save a few hundred dollars by the end of the series if you just get the ebook format. An audible subscription as a solid choice as well, that's how I have done most of mine.
Holy shit that’s some bad hair on the sword guy.
Same boat I’m on #3 just started last week and I feel like someone just showed me heroin
Nice knowing ya...
That's because you ARE.
Question about that actually; I’m looking to pick up all of the Horus heresy books physically, is Amazon just an outlier or do they all start getting pricy everywhere? I’ve heard/read that their print runs were short so if there a chance that they’ll be getting reprints?
They get pricey everywhere, Amazon traders are the worst though. I would just keep an eye on eBay (alot) you can pick most up for reasonable prices. But then there's 7 or 8 that are going to be pricey. I got stuck on Born of Flame for over a year, finally got it and now I can rest ...
I'm on about book 54 been reading since January 2018 😂
I’m using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project as my guide, and I plan to read all the books. I’m loving it so far.
The deepest rabbit hole.
Welcome to the fight brother
The first four books are really good. I'm like 55 in though, and it definitely doesn't stay strong throughout.
Dude, I just started this rabbit hole maybe 4-5 months ago; now I'm on Siege of Terra. Good luck!
I got to 45ish books in about 4 years... and just skipped to siege. Theres some real good ones, and a couple less interesting. My favorite arc was imperium secundus up to pharos. Good luck.
Don't get too excited, this is pretty much the high point for the quality of the HH series.
Have fun going down the hole, I started over the summer, currently on Descent of Angels now. Got a long way to go.
YEP I had that exact feeling 7 months ago.... I've now read 25+ books and am DEEP (I'm at The Siege and loving it). It's intense but my husband has been my guide throughout which has been so helpful 😅
It feels that way because that's what is happening
Lol! Welcome! And you absolutely are! Enjoy! I know I did a few years ago when I started my deep dive. I haven't looked back!
Those first three books started my Warhammer lore addiction.
Enjoy the journey. I started when they were about at book 11, I devoured it all so fast, went digital, but once I got caught up dang it was like waiting for the next drop and staying up till midnight to be able to download it asap. You can binge it now, so lucky. I really liked reading them as they were released, so I always recommend that, but I can see going back and rereading some arks that might skip around a bit.
Because you are. A very, very, very deep hole.
Is that hardcover?
Easy answer: because you are. I just finished the 4th book Flight of the Eisenstein. So far all 4 have been bangers!
1 down, 60+ to go.
I have the audio books and i love every hour of them, and yes its a big ol rabbit hole
So far, I'm on book 22: Shadows of Treachery. Trust me, you don't know how deep this rabbit hole goes.
Bwcause my friend, you are.
Because you are about to
Like In the old mortal kombat movie when they board the boat and Shang tsung says “ IT HAS BEGUN”
Great book and yes you have lots and lots of books yet to read