So I want to get into Warhammer 40k, but I'm not really interested in the actual game just yet. I'm mainly just interested in the lore.
So my question is: Are there any good books in the Warhammer 40k universe that you would recommend. I don't mind fluff, as long as it's good.
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Was once in a similar situation user. I personally say watch a lot of YouTube videos about it and read the lex to get a basic skeleton and then build out from there with what ever books strike your interest at that point.
Lurk wikis, especially Lexicanum and 1d4chan for more light-hearted approach. There are few good books, but that's the best way to learn lore in general. Also lore sections of codexes and rulebooks for both tabletop and rpgs are a great source of fluff if you can get your hands on them
Start there:
wh40k.lexicanum.com
Bear in mind this is a VERY vast setting, and and old one, so there is A LOT to cover. Take your time, there's something for everyone. Remember that is was written by English people years ago, it was never actually meant to be a sensible setting, so it's okay if stuff doesn't make sense. It functions on the rule of cool.
When you're done with Lexicanum, go there:
1d4chan.org
It'll help put things in perspective, and get a less "official" idea of things. Careful though, it is filled with memes to the brim, the majority of them outdated, so take what you read with a grain of salt. A lot of these articles are written by the same small amount of people with obvious bias so remember to not take everything at face value. Still funny though.
Really the best way to start is to explore the Lexicanum, even just picking a random article from the main menu can teach you loads when you follow and read link after link.
You can also lurk Veeky Forums. Don't worry if you see very strict opinions on some fluff of factions, many of us have forgotten that it is just meant to be a game and that it was never meant to be taken seriously.
Have fun.
I highly recommend Deathwatch by Steve Parker and the associated short stories, Headhunted and Exhumed.
Baneblade, Shadowsword, and the 2 short stories, Stormlord and Iron Harvest (Read this one before Shadowsword, it will make the crew much more likeable, in a Brothers in Arms sort of way) by Based Guy Haley (generally speaking Haley is a good pick).
Dead Men Walking for one of the most grimdark book about 40k, featuring the KDK, by Steve Lyons. Fantastic but super depressing. The short story Down Amongst the Dead Men by the same author deals with "training" on Krieg is equally good and depressing.
15 Hours is also one of the best IG book there is around.
Red Tithe by Robbie McNiven and Eye of Medusa by David Guymer are two excellent books giving loads of background information about, respectively, the Carcharodons and the Iron Hands (I have to say, I'm a Carcharodons player but hot diddly damn Eye of Medusa was good, IH are scary and brutal as fuck in this book)
Death of Antagonis and Warden of the Blade by David Annandale are solid books as well, one fluhes out the Black Dragon nicely (very different interpretation than Kyme's savage view on them) and the 2nd is about Castellan Crowe, and a fantastic insight on the perils of the GK and the bearer of the blade of Ant'wyr in particular. Manages to make him non Mary-Sue.
Pdf related is also a great book, it's everything a book about an unknown chapter should be. I like to share it around since it was take from the BL site 2 weeks before release because of legal problems, so poor Kearney wrote a whole damn novel for nothing, and I suspect he is the one that put up his novel on torrents so that it's not forgotten.
The new 8th edition rulebook is the perfect way to get an overview of 40k. It has a small section on every faction the changes that just happened and a basic setup of the Imperium itself.
Trust me start there then move on to the specific faction lore you like.
Burning of the Last Church and the Horus Heresy in order starting at Horus Rising.
Now I must leave before the neckbeards find out I have differed from the Veeky Forums hivemind.
For novels my picks would be
The Eisenhorn series
Shira culpernia series
Titanicus
I'm reading the Shira serie right now, and maybe it's just an impression because I can't see its true length since it's a pdf, but fuck me those books seem much longer than others.
OP, listen here and listen carefully. is not your friend. He may seem friendly but he tries to poison you. Be careful around those who don't consider Warzone Fenris and everything written after (i.e. 8th) to be works from the devil coming to destroy our hobby.
Go to a 40k thread, look the links posted in OP.
Read the older publications first
Stop reading after your reach stuff published after 4th. Take a break
Come back and read stuff from 5th onwards and see how bad the quality of the writing has fallen.
At least the excuse the older stuff has is the 80's and 90's but the newer ones are just bad writing with a few gems in there.
I recommend Dead Men Walking. Very under-appreciated book that I think is a little more 'accessible' for noobs to 40k, despite it being incredibly grim, even for 40k literature.
Plus, DKoK + Necron, what more do you want?
I don't think it's underappreciated, pretty much everyone agrees it's a gem. It just didn't sell as well as others, probably because it didn't came out when GW actually advertised their shit. Nowadays a book gets a least a small article in WD, and several fb posts.
DEFF SKWADRON!
Got any admech books on PDF? The megas don't work for me for whatever reason.
Enforcer is an omnibus, so it's going to be 3 books compiled. Same with most Eisenhorn, Ravenor, Ragnar Blackmane series...
I encourage reading Lord of the Night, Titanicus and Rynns World.
kill yourself
All of these suggestions are shit. You start with the main rule book and read the fluff. It gives you a good overview of everything. If you go to the 40kgen they have it in a mega.
>no mention of Ciaphas Cain novels.
Some of the best light hearted writing in the black library. Sandy Mitchell is one of the best authors to touch on how shaken Cain was after Slaanesh tried to corrupt him.
1d4chan is great
Picture related for 40k lore in a nutshell, OP.
You can also ask questions in this thread (don't be afraid if you see some autists bitching about female representation in 40k or wathever - we have some parasites from /pol/ trying to stir shit up sometimes, that's all).
Welcome on Veeky Forums, welcome to 40k !
Sorry, forgot to link the main 40k general :