latest 40k books

Black Library: ‘New 40k’ Reading List

After decades of remaining more or less static, these days the Warhammer 40,000 setting is evolving before our eyes, and many of the new and upcoming novels from Black Library are helping to shed light on these new developments in the lore. It’s not always clear how the various stories fit into the ongoing timeline, however, and Black Library as usual doesn’t seem inclined to provide anything in the way of an official reading order. I’ve put together this reading list to try to fit together where all of the recent books go in the ‘new 40k’ timeline – it’s entirely unofficial, and I can’t guarantee that I’ll have got everything right, but hopefully it will be a useful resource to anyone interested in keeping up with Warhammer 40,000 fiction.

NOTE: until such time as BL produces an official resource, I’ll do my best to keep this reading list up to date with new releases as and when they’re published. This version of the article was created in January 2021, but I’ve added books in here and there along the way – the last minor update was in August 2022.

A couple of caveats. Firstly, very few 40k stories are given specific dates so it’s tricky to know exactly when the events they cover take place. I’ve grouped things into various headings for the purpose of clarity, but take all of this with a small pinch of salt. Secondly, while I’ve done my best to put this together as accurately as possible, I may have got some things wrong and/or missed off a few stories here and there (I’ve read lots of recent BL books, but not all of them).

Essential Novels

I’ve added this section in as an extra (in the January ‘21 update) – feel free to skip ahead to the more detailed section where I talk about each title and link out to reviews, interviews etc., but if you just want a recommended reading order of the key novels dealing with events on Terra and the Indomitus Crusade then here’s what I would suggest: 

• Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne by Chris Wraight
• Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain by Chris Wraight
• Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion by Chris Wraight
• Vaults of Terra: The Dark City by Chris Wraight
• The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley*
• Dawn of Fire 1: Avenging Son by Guy Haley
• Dawn of Fire 2: Gate of Bones by Andy Clark
• Dawn of Fire 3: The Wolf Time by Gav Thorpe
• Dawn of Fire 4:  Throne of Light by Guy Haley
• Knights of Macragge by Nick Kyme
• Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow by Chris Wraight
• Indomitus by Gav Thorpe
• The Heretic Saint by David Annandale
• Dark Imperium by Guy Haley
• The Swords of Calth by Graham McNeill
• Dark Imperium: Plague War by Guy Haley
• Dark Imperium: Godblight by Guy Haley
• Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work by Guy Haley

* Yes, The Devastation of Baal is included twice in this list on purpose. See later on in the article for more details of why (TL;DR due to Warp/time shenanigans it spans quite a wide range of time).

Vaults of Terra/Watchers of the Throne It’s worth pointing out that Chris Wraight’s two Terra-set series –  The Vaults of Terra and Watchers of the Throne – are very closely connected, and there’s quite a lot of overlap between the two. I’ve included them in the list above in a chronological order that Chris kindly supplied, but this is definitely not a hard and fast order; The Hollow Mountain and  The Emperor’s Legion take place at roughly the same time, for example. The alternative option would be to read these books in publication order, which bounces back and forth between the two series:

• Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne
• Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion
• Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain
• Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow
• Vaults of Terra: The Dark City

Blood Angels If you’re interested in seeing how the rest of the recent Blood Angels stories fit alongside The Devastation of Baal , then here’s a recommended reading order just for these novels:

• Dante by Guy Haley
• Mephiston: Blood of Sanguinius by Darius Hinks
• The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley
• Mephiston: Revenant Crusade by Darius Hinks
• Astorath: Angel of Mercy by Guy Haley
• Darkness in the Blood by Guy Haley
• Mephiston: City of Light by Darius Hinks

More Detail

While the lists above are all about novels, for this main (and slightly more detailed) section I’ve added in some of the Games Workshop background books and a few audio dramas as well. I’ve also gone a bit further back in time to begin with the events of the Gathering Storm (i.e. the end of the old setting). Here’s how I’ve broken it up:

The Gathering Storm

The era indomitus, the aftermath/filling in the gaps.

• Other Perspectives

One final caveat: the majority of these stories are written from an Imperial perspective, so for the most part that’s what I’ve focused on in this article. Check out the ‘Other perspectives’ section for…um…other perspectives.

The point at which the old ‘5 minutes to midnight’ 40k setting started to change was when Games Workshop started building up to the Great Rift, the huge Warp storm which has split the galaxy in two. Big events included the fall of Cadia, the troubled birth of Ynnead (the aeldari god of the dead), and the miraculous resurrection of Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines. For the sake of ease I’ve referred to this whole era as the Gathering Storm .

The Gathering Storm background books The only place to get the full details of these events is in these three Games Workshop background books – Fall of Cadia , Fracture of Biel-Tan and Rise of the Primarch . They’re not currently available to purchase from GW, but they are available in the Warhammer Vault if you’re a Warhammer+ customer. If you’re not, a quick online search should give you the gist if you just want a summary. To be honest, given that they’re not novelised a summary should probably be enough to give you the context you need for the rest of the stories to make sense.

Cadia Stands by Justin D. Hill This offers a ‘boots on the ground/grunt’s eye view’ perspective on the fall of Cadia, told from multiple Imperial Guard viewpoints and reflecting the chaos and confusion as the Cadians reel from Abaddon’s invasion.

Read my review of Cadia Stands or my  Rapid Fire interview with Justin .

Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne by Chris Wraight If you want to see what life is like on Terra from an Inquisitorial viewpoint, this is the book to choose. It’s largely set just before the opening of the Great Rift, so this is less about finding out what happened and more about giving interesting context to the time period as background to a great story with some fantastic characters – namely Inquisitor Crowl and Interrogator Spinoza.

Read my review of The Carrion Throne .

Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain by Chris Wraight The sequel to The Carrion Throne , this continues the story of Crowl and Spinoza on Terra in the immediate wake of the Great Rift. Once again the big picture is loosely there in the background, but this is more about the next steps in an ongoing mystery lurking beneath the surface of Terra.

Read my review of The Hollow Mountain or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris .

Dante and The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley These two books focus on the Blood Angels in the build up to the Great Rift, and are well worth checking out. Dante is split between the Chapter Master’s origin story and his actions during the Shield of Baal campaign, while The Devastation of Baal (the first Space Marine Conquests novel) deals with the tyranid invasion of Baal itself, which takes place just as Cadia is about to fall. If you wanted to try and be as chronologically-correct as possible then you could read Dante before the Gathering Storm background books. 

The Devastation of Baal is trickier to pin down in terms of the chronology, however, but here’s how I understand it. Narratively speaking, the book starts before the Rift opens and then covers the immediate aftermath on Baal. From the perspective of the Blood Angels then, when the book ends it’s only just after the Rift has opened. However, due to some complicated Warp-related time jiggery-pokery, from the perspective of Imperium Sanctus (i.e. Terra, the Indomitus Crusade etc.) it’s a fair few years after the start of the Indomitus Crusade.

Technically speaking then, The Devastation of Baal probably also fits into the timeline at some point after the events of the Dark Imperium books (now that they’re being adjusted to take place earlier on in the crusade) and The Great Work …but for the sake of ease I’ve included it here.

Read my reviews of Dante and The Devastation of Baal , or my Rapid Fire interview with Guy talking about The Devastation of Baal .

Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion by Chris Wraight Also set on Terra, this takes a different approach to The Carrion Throne and shows the same time period through the eyes of the Imperial Chancellor, a Sister of Silence and a member of the Adeptus Custodes. It also features a BIG battle which takes place roughly simultaneously with the tail end of Rise of the Primarch .

Read my review of The Emperor’s Legion or my  Rapid Fire interview with Chris .

Vaults of Terra: The Dark City by Chris Wraight The third and (I assume) final novel in the Vaults of Terra series, this promises to pick up where The Hollow Mountain left off with Crowl missing, and Spinoza digging deeper into the ongoing mystery. I haven’t read it yet but I’m hearing very good things, and as I understand it this finishes shortly after the events covered at the end of Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion.

As Guilliman leaves Terra and sets off to liberate embattled Imperial worlds, the Indomitus Crusade kicks off the ‘Era Indomitus’, which for the purpose of this article I’m using as a catch-all for all the books that take place on or near Terra, involve some part of the Indomitus Crusade, or generally have a decent impact on the wider 40k narrative. Until recently the crusade itself was only covered in the Dark Imperium books, which take place towards the end of the crusade, but we’re slowly finding out more about this period (with more on the way).

Avenging Son by Guy Haley The first book in the brand new Dawn of Fire series, this effectively takes place as the Indomitus Crusade begins. If you haven’t already read Dark Imperium , this is definitely the place to start with the Era Indomitus stories. There’s lots about Guilliman and masses of great new lore, but also all sorts of interesting arcs featuring the Imperial Navy, the Inquisition and the Administratum.

Read my review of Avenging Son or my Rapid Fire interview with Guy .

The Gate of Bones by Andy Clark  Book 2 in the Dawn of Fire series, this portrays the next steps in the early stages of the Indomitus Crusade. It takes place on/on the way to Gathalamor, as a mixed force of Imperial soldiery – led by Shield-Captain Achallor of the Custodes – races to keep the vital shrine world from Abaddon’s grip. It’s a bit more of an all-out action story than Avenging Son , but it’s a fun read and it expands the scope of the series even if it’s not exactly a sequel to the first book.

The Wolftime by Gav Thorpe   I haven’t read this, the third book in the Dawn of Fire series, so I can’t say too much about it. From what I understand though, it changes the focus of the series away from Imperial forces battling Chaos and onto the Space Wolves facing off against the greenskin menace led by the legendary ork warlord Ghazgkhull Thraka.

Throne of Light by Guy Haley Another book I haven’t read yet, but this is Dawn of Fire book 4. The synopsis suggests it deals with Kor Phaeron’s Word Bearers targeting Black Ships, and Inquisitor Rostov searching for the Hand of Abaddon.

Knights of Macragge by Nick Kyme One of the most interesting Space Marine character arcs in post-Great Rift 40k is that of Cato Sicarius, and this book explores what happened to the heroic captain of the Ultramarines’ 2nd Company after he and his ship were lost in the Warp after being sent by Guilliman to ensure the safety of Ultramar. It’s hard to know exactly where this fits in the timeline, but somewhere around here feels like the right place for it to go. Ideally, read Assault on Black Reach ,  Fall of Damnos and  Veil of Darkness first.

Read my review of Knights of Macragge or my Rapid Fire interview with Nick .

Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow by Chris Wraight The sequel to The Emperor’s Legion , this takes a similar approach and features two of the three main characters from its predecessor. The Regent in the title refers to Guilliman, and the Primarch’s absence – and the void left behind – is very much at the core of this excellent, politics-heavy story.

Read my review of The Regent’s Shadow or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris .

Indomitus by Gav Thorpe This takes place within the first decade of the Indomitus Crusade, detailing a crucial conflict between the Ultramarines of Fleet Quintus and the Necrons. So far, this provides the best viewpoint on the events relating to the Pariah Nexus. It doesn’t seem to be the most popular of books in some circles, but I rather enjoyed it.

Read my review of Indomitus or my Rapid Fire interview with Gav Thorpe.

Ephrael Stern: The Heretic Saint by David Annandale As far as I can tell, this is the Black Library story which ties in the closest to the Psychic Awakening arc that’s been taking place recently in the main game. Ephrael Stern is undeniably cool, and this expands her story from the original Daemonifuge graphic novels to bring her into the current 40k setting. I wouldn’t call it absolutely essential, as Psychic Awakening doesn’t really seem to have had a major impact on the setting, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Read my Rapid Fire interview with David Annandale talking about The Heretic Saint .

The Swords of Calth by Graham McNeill Graham McNeill’s latest Ultramarines novel brings the ongoing saga of Uriel Ventris up to date with the current 40k timeline. As I understand it, for the full picture of how Ventris fits in with the  Dark Imperium trilogy you should check out the short story  The Death of Uriel Ventris , then the first  Dark Imperium novel, and then  The Swords of Calth . If you’re interested, you can check out my reading order for the whole Uriel Ventris (and Honsou) series here .

Dark Imperium , Plague War and Godblight by Guy Haley For a long time Dark Imperium and Plague War were the two main books set in the current 40k timeline. They’re focused on Guilliman’s battles against the forces of his brother Mortarion, and as well as telling great stories they give a lot of information about Guilliman, Cawl the Primaris Marines and the state of the Imperium (and I assume Godblight does the same).

The first two novels were originally set at the tail end of the Indomitus Crusade, but no longer! The long-awaited book 3 –  Godblight – has now been released, alongside update editions of the first two books which have been adjusted so that they now take place during the crusade, rather than at its conclusion. I haven’t personally read Godblight or the new editions of books 1 and 2, but it doesn’t sound like the tweaks are massive beyond that adjustment in the timeline.

Read my reviews of Dark Imperium and Plague War , or my Rapid Fire interview with Guy talking about Plague War .

Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work by Guy Haley With this book Haley turned his attention fully to Belisarius Cawl, combining story threads from his Dark Imperium books, the Horus Heresy and the ongoing story (mostly told by LJ Goulding) of the Scythes of the Emperor. Personally, I would say this is an essential read once you’ve tackled the two Dark Imperium books.

Read my review of The Great Work .

In the wake of the Great Rift, there are a few good stories which don’t necessarily fit into the Era Indomitus arc but which carry on individual character arcs from earlier. These are all character-focused stories which don’t cover too much of the grand sweep of galactic events, but are well worth checking out.

Cadian Honour and Traitor Rock by Justin D. Hill Two of the characters from Cadia Stands – Minka Lesk and General Bendikt – return in Cadian Honour , a story about how the Cadians are trying to cope with the loss of their world and the impact Cadia’s fall has had on their identity. I haven’t yet read the next novel,  Traitor Rock , but it’s billed as ‘a Minka Lesk novel’ so I assume it’s a direct sequel to  Cadian Honour .

Read my review of Cadian Honour or my Rapid Fire interview with Justin .

Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness by Gav Thorpe I’ve included these two audio dramas here because they feature a few key characters from the Gathering Storm stories, namely Inquisitor Greyfax and Yvraine, with a little bit of Guilliman and Eldrad Ulthran in the mix too. Of all the stories I’m including, these are the closest to direct follow-ons from the Gathering Storm .

Read my reviews of Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness .

Our Martyred Lady by Gav Thorpe If you’re a fan of Inquisitor Greyfax, this four-part audio drama is the next step in her story after Eye of Night . It also heavily features Saint Celestine, and has brilliant performances from Katherine Tate (Greyfax) and Emma Gregory (Celestine). I wouldn’t say it was essential to the ongoing story, but it provides a good look at the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition post-Great Rift.

Read my review of Our Martyred Lady or my Rapid Fire interview with Gav .

Mephiston: Revenant Crusade and City of Light by Darius Hinks I haven’t actually read either of these, but as Darius points out in this interview Revenant Crusade is set post-Great Rift, after the events of The Devastation of Baal . Meanwhile the synopsis for City of Light specifies that it’s set “deep in Imperium Nihilus”. If you want to continue exploring the Blood Angels, these seem worth having on your list (see the Blood Angels list earlier for where they fit in the timeline).

Darkness in the Blood by Guy Haley This explores what’s happening with the Blood Angels – and in particular Commander Dante and Chief Librarian Mephiston – after the events of The Devastation of Baal . Technically speaking, if you want to read this in chronological order then go for it in between the second and third Mephiston novels but after having read Astorath: Angel of Mercy .

Read my interview with Guy Haley talking about both Darkness in the Blood and Astorath: Angel of Mercy .

Spear of the Emperor by Aaron Dembski-Bowden Life in Imperium Nihilus on the wrong side of the Great Rift is pretty grim, which this fantastic book demonstrates to great effect. It’s a story about a Space Marine Chapter stretched too thinly and on the brink of defeat, but it explores loads of interesting ideas along the way.

Read my review of Spear of the Emperor or my Rapid Fire interview with Aaron .

Other perspectives

The vast majority of what I’ve mentioned so far has shown events from an Imperial viewpoint, but there are a few books which take a look from different perspectives as well. These are all set after the Great Rift has taken place.

Shroud of Night by Andy Clark One of the earliest post-Great Rift novels to be published, this entertaining A-Team-esque Alpha Legion story features a couple of big-name characters in the background, but is mostly a small-scale special forces sort of story. Want to know what a tight-knit squad of Alpha Legion make of Primaris Marines and the state of the galaxy? Check this out.

Read my review of Shroud of Night .

The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight The Death Guard are the antagonists in the Dark Imperium books, but here they’re the disgustingly brilliant protagonists of a story which explores what life is like for the ‘bad guys’ in the wake of the Great Rift. It’s a relatively small scale story, but well worth investigating for a brilliant take on Chaos Space Marines.

Read my review of The Lords of Silence or my Rapid Fire interview with Chris .

Ghost Warrior and Wild Rider by Gav Thorpe Gav Thorpe’s Rise of the Ynnari series currently extends to these two novels and a few accompanying short stories, and as the title suggests it focuses on the Ynnari, the newest sub-faction within the fractured Aeldari race. Yvraine, one of the key characters in the Gathering Storm , features heavily.

Read my review of Ghost Warrior or my Rapid Fire interviews with Gav about Ghost Warrior and Wild Rider .

If you’re still looking for more, there are all sorts of other Black Library stories set post-Great Rift, including the other Space Marine Conquests novels , John French’s The Horusian Wars series , and various standalone novels. Robbie MacNiven’s Blood of Iax and The Last Hunt feature Ultramarines and White Scars respectively; Rachel Harrison’s Mark of Faith is a brilliant Sisters of Battle story; Rites of Passage by Mike Brooks is the first novel to explore the Navigator Houses; Celestine: The Living Saint makes a nice companion piece to Our Martyred Lady . I’m sure there are others, but these should give you plenty to be getting on with!

If you really want the full picture you could always go back a little further, to the events detailed in the Shield of Baal and War Zone: Fenris background books and accompanying BL stories, and/or check out Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Black Legion books for in-depth context to the crucial character of Abaddon (although they take place long before the ‘present’ 40k timeline).

I hope that was useful! It’s clear that in the few years since the 40k narrative was moved forward there have been A LOT of books released, some of which fit relatively neatly into a single timeline while plenty more are a little more vague in terms of where they fit. If you want to know as much as possible about the ‘current’ 40k timeline then I would suggest reading all of these, but hopefully this article will help you to pick out exactly what you’re interested in checking out. As I mentioned earlier, I’ll do my best to keep this updated as and when new books are released!

As always, let me know if you’ve got any comments, questions or suggestions – drop a comment below or find me on Twitter !

If you enjoyed this article and would like to support Track of Words to help me to keep working on new content, you can leave me a tip over on my Ko-Fi page .

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80 comments.

You’re some kind of mind reader (a psyker?), I had just compiled a similar list for myself not long ago. But yours is structured much better. Thanks for this!

Awesome post, really makes it so much easier to grasp the newer books…btw, have you got any idea if ‘Spear of the Emperor’ will get a sequel?…I really loved that book…

That’s a lot of books and reading! I haven’t read about – or even played – anything 40k for a good few years now ( I preferred Warhammer Fantasy but they got rid of that!) But am getting back into it! I’ll have to check some of these out!

Excellent, thanks for putting this together # I’ll be following your recommendations

This is GREAT! 😀 Please, keep this reading list up-to-date, as more books are released.

Yes! This! I have bookmarked this page and it’s my go-to reference for what to read next.

Please keep it updated, and great job!

This is a great list. I dont understand why GW and BL dont make a list as well. I am actually deterred a bit from buying more books since I have no idea in which order to read what and it’s nice to avoid spoilers if possible. They really should link to your site here 🙂

Yeah I couldn’t agree more – it’s kind of crazy that there’s any need for people like me to put these sorts of things together! I’ve thought for a long time that it must be hard to know where to look for newer fans, and it’s a real shame that BL don’t make more of an effort to help.

I’ve been on a break and it’s time to get back in. Thanks for the updated list! This is great 🙂

What do you think of GW’s retconning of the timeline and rewriting the Dark Imperium books? While I agree that Dark Imperium taking place over a hundred years after the Great Rift is a little ridiculous, a dozen years seems too short.

From what I’ve heard so far I think it’s a good shout. No point speculating about the specifics until the updated Dark Imperium books are out, I don’t think.

I can not underscore enough how constructive and indispensable it is that you keep this post alive – listing Essential novels and a Chronology. (Surprised that noone else seems too do something similar.) Not surprised it was a tip hit for you 2020! 🙂 It’s a jungle out there and you stand up against the powers of Chaos. Can not thank you enough!

No problem at all, I’m very glad that it’s helpful! It’s the sort of thing that I think BL should do themselves, and keep updated on the WarCom site…but until they decide to do that, this is the next best thing 🙂

Michael, thank you so much. I’m back in the hobby after 10yrs, wanted to read and refresh and was put off by 30ks size when trying to read fluff…and the modern era is so jumbled and confusing. When primarus happened and I returned to he miniatures I decided I’d start reading again too from there, but understanding it was a little hell in itself. I’m not kidding that I got emotional when I found your post. I felt like I found someone who said ” here man try and relax and enjoy!” It’s been a hard year and when someone thinks of others and helps to make it easier, that’s the best part of being human. Thanks a lot, truly.

Any chance of you updating this once again? 😀

Try messaging him on Twitter

Hi Juri. So I’ve made a couple of quick tweaks recently – I’ve added in The Wolf Time and Traitor Rock, and added the Godblight cover. I’m perhaps not following BL releases quite as much at the moment, but I don’t think they’ve released anything else that definitively needs including in this article. Do let me know if you think I’ve missed anything, though!

For other perspectives, I’d also consider the Warhammer Crime novels and short stories. Those are set sometime during the Great Rift but don’t fit in any category, yet are still great books (and in my mind pretty good intros to 40k, as they don’t require any prior knowledge of anything – the reader can be as clueless about the whole setting as the characters are)

Yeah that’s a fair point. The point of this article is mostly to focus on the core 40k storyline, but the Crime stories are certainly an interesting addition to the overall 40k range.

Thank you for your work. There’s such a huge amount of WH40k books out there that it is hard to keep track and decide what should I read next. This really helped.

I’m so glad it was helpful, thanks for letting me know 🙂 I hope you enjoy your next 40k read(s)!

Will this list be updated ?

It’s had a few minor updates over the course of 2021, and I’ve just added in Throne of Light in the Dawn of Fire series. Very few new 40k novels outside of this series have really tackled the main ongoing narrative, so I don’t think there are any other crucial books to include as yet (bearing in mind I’m not trying to factor in every single newly released 40k book, just those that impact the big events of the setting).

Do you plan to refresh it in the upcoming weeks ? 🙂

I just want to say that I’ve been following this list for the last year and I’ve found it really helped in understanding the current state of the 40k lore, after finishing all the HH books to-date. Just upto swords of calth but I did swerve off to re read all the Ultramarine books! Thank you so much.

I’m so pleased it’s been useful, that’s great! Thanks for letting me know 🙂

I don’t suppose you’d know of a list that’s basically the opposite of this one? IE, a list of all recent novels that have no tie-ins to or mentions of the new metaplot at all. I get some people like the new stuff, but a few of us did actually quite like the “static” minutes-to-midnight setting.

That’s a good question actually. The short answer is that no, I don’t have a list of releases which don’t impact or explore the metaplot – I hadn’t really thought about it before. The longer answer is that to be honest, most BL books can be read without any wider awareness of the metaplot. All of the Crime, Horror and Necromunda ranges for example, plus a large proportion of the recent regular 40k releases – Day of Ascension, both Twice-Dead King books, Volpone Glory (although this is part of the Sabbat Worlds series – likewise both Urdesh novels), Steel Tread, Da Gobbo’s Revenge, etc.

Yeah I bit the bullet and ordered all the Crime ones, I’m just a bit hesitant these days after Vaults of Terra did a “minutes to midnight” first book and then jumped right into the Gathering Storm and after metaplot in the sequels. I also have a pretty visceral dislike for the Primaris/Cawl fluff, so i don’t want to be enjoying a book and then have that come out of nowhere to spoil things. And because this is the internet: all opinions are personal, I am not implying anyone reading this is bad or wrong or incorrect if they happen to like and enjoy things I do not 😛

I’m hoping the recent books are an indication they’re going to try and spin out the Sabbat Crusade into a replacement for the Heresy since that should be pretty safe from intrusions by the new background(touch wood), but I’ve not had a chance to read the new stuff yet with the annoying Paperback Gap.

I don’t know that I’d say BL are trying to position the Sabbat Worlds series as a replacement for the Heresy, but it’s certainly been interesting to see some non-Abnett novels in the series. Although, you may have given me an idea for an article… 🙂

Thank you for such a great list. I am reading the emperor’s legion right now and they mention something happening with the space wolves planet. Would you happen to know if they have books on currently what is happening there?

Glad you’re finding it useful 🙂 I can’t quite remember what events are being referred to specifically, to be honest. There are some books set on/around Fenris – things like Curse of the Wilden, Legacy of Russ and The Hunt For Logan Grimnar – but they might be a little bit earlier in the timeline. Not quite sure. I didn’t particularly enjoy them either, so wouldn’t necessarily recommend them.

There’s also Gav’s new Dawn of Fire book The Wolftime – I haven’t read it myself, but I guess it must take place quite early on in the Indomitus Crusade.

Also, I am curious as to why the second book of the emperors legion should be read after the dawn of fire series. Is it ok that I read both the books together

Yeah that should be fine. If I remember right, I put them in that order because The Hollow Mountain is set after the beginning of the Indomitus Crusade. So technically the early Dawn of Fire books (at least) happen before the events of The Hollow Mountain, although I don’t know the exact chronology. If you want to go straight into it though, I don’t think that will be an issue.

I just wondered, is there actually a book that explains the primarchs return, how it happened?

I have just started reading the books in this list, with Cadia Stands.

So my thanks to you for creating this list and maintaining it are boundless.

PS – The reason that BL should create the list, since it will drive the purchase of books.

Yeah I don’t understand why BL don’t create something like this themselves. It really wouldn’t be hard for them to do! Ah well. Glad this article is proving useful at least!

Sadly Guilliman’s return hasn’t been covered in novel form, not really. It’s referenced in the first Dark Imperium novel, but only very briefly in passing. The only actual depiction (as far as I know) is in the Rise of the Primarch background book. It’s a shame, but I’d be very surprised if BL went back and covered it now.

So, I am currently down to Watchers of the Throne – Emperors Legion. So progress is good 🙂

Devastation of Baal, was strange given who turns up in the last 20 pages of the book … Like “pop” I am here with this new form of “xxx” soldier, oh and Baal is in the Imperium Nihilus, there has been a “time” loss and then buggers off. I am thinking wooh, I have known it’s coming, but talk about sparse on the details. Why is Baal 70 years later than when it was … where did it go?

Imperium Nihilus wasn’t explained well, either. Or maybe I missed it, it was 2am.

What has been useful, is I have been buying WH40k books on the kindle at 2.99 for a while now on amazon whenever on sale, and all bar one up to now, have been at a reduced price. Very happy.

Hey, awesome list. I was wondering where all the other series fit in like the horus heresy or the imperial guard stuff like gaunts ghosts? I’m struggling to figure out where to really properly start off with 40k

Thanks, I hope it’s useful! That’s a good question, actually. From the series you mention, the chronological (in-universe) order is that the Heresy comes first (circa M31), then you jump ahead roughly 10k years to the Ghosts series (about 750-ish.M41) and then another couple of hundred years to the ‘current’ 40k timeline which is about the start of M42. Those are all rough dates, off the top of my head.

The problem is, with the exception of a few series like those ones, most 40k fiction isn’t dated that accurately. So generally speaking I wouldn’t recommend trying to read 40k stuff in chronological order. Instead, I’d say just pick a series that you think looks cool and jump in. You certainly can’t go wrong by starting with the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, or the Eisenhorn books. Hope that helps!

A little update is required for a couple of new releases. Throne of Light and The Dark City are both out now. Can’t wait to jump back in with Spinoza and Crowl, great series!

Thanks for the heads up on The Dark City.

Any chance you’ll update this in the next few months? I refer back here often as I work through the newer books and really appreciate your work!

I noticed that “Assault on Black Reach” mentioned the Primarch a lot. So these books covering Cato Sicarius are about the time of the Primarchs return?

No, the Sicarius stories are all set a bit before the ‘current’ 40k timeline and the return of Guilliman. He was always an important figure in Ultramarines lore, and hints had been seeded here and there that maybe his wounds were healing despite being in a stasis field, so he was referenced a fair bit in most Ultramarines stories. Assault on Black Reach came out in about 2009 I think, so was a long time before all the new stuff.

Thank you for clarifying that. It makes sense now, in the way they are referring to him.

I hope you are on a bit of a kick back, the number of books I have bought because of your guide 🙂

No problem at all 🙂

Hah, I wish! I do get small affiliates fees from anything bought after clicking on one of the Amazon links I add, but nothing like that from BL – but that’s ok, I’m just glad this article is proving useful! 🙂

Oh, I didn’t realise that if I clicked on the link on the webpage, it would help out. I just use the store on the Kindle itself.

I will strive to do better.

No worries – if you do use those links that would be lovely, but there’s absolutely no obligation! 🙂

Hi, would you make an update please ? 😀

I did update this page not long ago. What are you looking for in particular?

Small request, when you add say a book to the list, do you mind putting the MM/YYYY by the side, that way it’s easier to spot new books, especially if they not be added just at the bottom, since some books are in groups.

The work you’ve done here is much appreciated! I’ve been buying the books one by one and reading them as I go. Do you have a list of new 40k books on the release schedule? That would be much appreciated.

Glad it’s useful 🙂 Hope you’ve been enjoying the books! It’s not 40k-specific, but I do try to track all upcoming BL releases (based on WarCom and other information available online) here: https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/01/11/keep-track-of-upcoming-black-library-releases/

Im really glad i found this list.This is very helpful.Im just wondering will you ever put the books from where the King in Yellow is metioned in here (a bequin,Eisenhorn and Ravenor).I have heard a lot of people talk about.Im not sure though if this the mainplot since my first books were the three Dark Imperium books.

Brilliant, very glad it’s useful! This particular article is specifically looking at on the current 40k timeline – i.e. from the fall of Cadia onwards, and into the Era Indomitus – so I’m not planning on adding any books set earlier in the timeline. I want to keep it as focused as possible, otherwise it would just get out of hand and difficult to use.

I do however have a separate guide to Dan Abnett’s whole Inquisition cycle – the Eisenhorn, Ravenor and Bequin books, along with all of the associated short stories: https://www.trackofwords.com/2021/02/14/a-guide-to-dan-abnetts-inquisition-series/

They’re not really connected to the current timeline and the Era Indomitus, but they are fantastic stories so I’d definitely recommend giving them a go! That guide gives you a chronological reading order if you want to approach the series in that way. Enjoy!

Ah thanks for the explanation. Thx. I `ll check it out. I guess part of the main story will be the arks of omen when the books release.

Does anyone have a 2023 BL release schedule, and has anyone looked whether any of it influences the fine list above?

Nearly finished the “Essential List”. I will need to take a mini BL break 🙂

Impressive! 🙂

This is awesome!! As everyone else has said, thanks so much for doing this! I have been a casual warhammer reader for a while but have now passed the point of no return and am fully engaged and it is really hard to try to figure out which books go where. Why is Black Library/Warhammer SO bad making things less confusing? Thanks again!!

It’s weird isn’t it? You’d think they would want to help readers navigate their books and series, but apparently not! Glad this has helped though 🙂

Having got to the near end of complete, the movement of The Dark Imperium to near the front of Indomitus Crusade and the content of Devastation of Bhaal, does give away the end of the Dark Imperium trilogy.

Probably best if you put the exact chapter in Devastation of Bhaal the reader needs to stop at, before coming back to it at the end of Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work.

It’s been a great read.

A bit of John Scalzi next, and a Neal Asher, then back onto the “additional” books.

Hey, great list, always using it as a reference. I am half way through now

I am wondering. Are you planning to make any other 40k lists when it comes to the coming lore ? Or maybe try to make a comprehensive 40k timeline with all books divided pre and post Guiliman ?

I am asking since GW is coming up with new content all the time and what happens after Cawl ? They are making the Arks of Omen, the new 10th edition.. so it is hard to keep up with everything

Really glad it’s proving useful, thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂 Always great to hear!

To be honest, I’m not planning much more in the way of this sort of BL content. I’ll try to keep this page updated as and when ‘important’ new books come out, but I’m struggling for enthusiasm to do much more BL stuff these days.

Just want to say, I’ve had so much fun reading through the books listed here. Am a massive lore fan and this has helped a lot.

Brilliant, so glad it’s been helpful! 🙂

As stated by others, I’ve found this so very helpful… using the main list to help navigate the vast array of books acquired! Thanls for pulling this together.

Brilliant, always very happy to hear it’s of use! Appreciate you letting me know 🙂

How should i read these in order? I am new to 40k and want to read the most up to date stories and not having to read everything to get a picture of the lore

Thanks, this has been helpful. Read about 15 or so books from the your list. BL owes you a finders fee.

Very glad it’s helped! That’s a good chunk of books, great work 🙂

May want to update it now with the Lion novel.

The lion novel ????

Thanks, I found the book “The Lion Novel” 🙂

Cypher is out now as well. Although a stand alone book, I think it takes place at a similar time to others. It’s written in a unique style, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Located on Terra within the palace.

For those keeping up, The Iron Kingdom and The Martyrs Tomb are the 5th and 6th books in the Dawn Of Fire sequence.

Also The Lion Son of the Forest is out and probably sits after the Devastation of Baal

Would you happen to know when the 5th and 6th books of the dawn of War series would fall in the order of books to read they are the only ones I don’t know the order to.

Sorry, the only ones I am actively tracking are those related to the Rift. However this pre order tracker helps

https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/01/11/keep-track-of-upcoming-black-library-releases/

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Black Library Celebration New 2022 Warhammer Books

Another big online GW Preview for all things Warhammer has happened! Catch all the latest reveals from     Warhammer TV    and   Warhammer Community along with our team’s commentary!

Black Library’s Warhammer Preview Online

If you’re a fan of action-packed Warhammer fiction, then you’re in for a treat this weekend, as Black Library’s got a Warhammer Preview Online all to itself. As you might expect from an end-of-year special, you can look forward to oodles of exclusive reveals of upcoming books that will be arriving in 2022.

So much of these books and lore that you like are just that, what you like! So be sure to check out the full Warhammer Community post to read more in-depth about whichever of the books below peak your interest! There are also a few author Interviews if you have a favorite or two you’d like to hear directly from.

Get Your Favorite Black Library Books Cheap on Audible!

• 1 credit a month to pick ANY title from our entire premium selection—to keep forever!
• Stream or download 1,000s of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals in the Plus Catalog.
• No commitments. Cancel anytime and keep all your purchased titles.

Sign up for the discount here

If you’ve never used Audible before, the credits are really cool. You get a free book a month, on top of all the streaming stuff, that you get to keep. So just with this, you’ll get three Black Library books to keep, which is just cheaper than they actually cost.

Now let’s check out that book lineup!

Kragnos, Avatar of Destruction

With the return of the God of Earthquakes, the Realm of Beasts is in for some seismic upheaval in more ways than one.

Eisenhorn Xenos (Limited Edition)

If you enjoy reading about the gritty underbelly of the Imperium, and how forces within and without seek to manipulate things to their will behind the scenes, you’ll love this book, which kicks off the story of Inquisitor Eisenhorn. Does he bend the rules to do what’s ultimately right, or is he little more than a dangerous radical? You decide.

Eisenhorn is a fan favorite, so if you are interested be sure you pick up this book ASAP when it finally does drop!

The Successors

From storied successors including the Crimson Fists and Flesh Tearers to lesser-known Chapters like the Emperor’s Spears and Consecrators, you’ll be spoilt for no-holds-barred Adeptus Astartes action.

The nature of Successor chapters and their unique attributes help make 40k one of the most interesting sci-fi settings, so this book is sure to be great on that basis alone.

Saturnine (PB)

The fourth instalment of the Siege of Terra series, Saturnine, is coming soon in paperback, and it sees the fighting escalate to new heights across the perimeter of the Emperor’s Palace.

If you were unable to get it before, rejoice as the new Paperback should be easier to get a hold of (and cheaper!).

Battle of Lion’s Gate Space Port Map

What’s more, you can keep track of where all the action takes place with a map focusing on the Battle of Lion’s Gate space port, wrapped in vinyl for an opulent feel and stunning presentation.

Witch Hunter, Cadian Blood, and Astorath: Angel of Mercy

We’ve also got two Reader’s Choice books up for reprint, Witch Hunter and Cadian Blood, as well as the hardback of Astorath: Angel of Mercy – available for the first time since its release as a super-special edition last Christmas.

Another set of books you might have missed, these should all be great picks for anyone interested.

Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader (Limited Edition)

Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader will reveal everything there is to know about the stoic First Captain of the Imperial Fists and will be available as a limited edition hardback as part of the Black Library Celebration 2022.

With the Black Templars recent update, this book might go quickly, so be sure to grab it while you can after it goes live.

Gotrek has been slaying across the realms ever since his reemergence in, well, Realmslayer. His latest epic adventure, Soulslayer, is coming next year as a hardback.

Gotrek is and has always been a fan favorite, because who doesn’t love an angry dwarf slaying everything around him? Either way, this one is sure to be another great addition!

Throne of Light

Throne of Light continues the action from The Wolftime and sees the Indomitus Crusade push ever further from Holy Terra to face fresh new tribulations.

Throne of Light (Limited Edition)

It’ll be available as a paperback and shiny special edition.

The Triumph of Saint Katherine (Limited Edition)

Let’s take a closer look at what else is on its way in 2022, starting with the thrice-blessed limited edition of  The Triumph of Saint Katherine , by Danie Ware.

Ahriman Eternal (Limited Edition)

From one limited edition to another – this time, Ahriman Eternal by John French, the fourth instalment in the series. This book comes in a stunning display case, complete with a variety of esoteric arcana and more besides. If you seek the boon of Tzeentch, this is surely the way to do it!

With Chaos fans being so dedicated, this very unique limited edition is sure to sell like hot cakes!

Huron Blackheart

The Master of the Maelstrom, Huron Blackheart, is set to star in his very own novel, courtesy of Mike Brooks. In Huron Blackheart, which will be available as both a hardback and special edition, the lord of the infamous renegades known as the Red Corsairs must adapt to the unfolding events of the Era Indomitus or die trying.

Speaking of chaos, the only release here getting both a normal and special edition is this one! Huron is an interesting character, so if you want to learn about him this is the book to do it.

Assassinorum: Kingmaker

Assassins and Imperial Knights. It’s a match made in (a grimdark version of) heaven. Robert Rath’s upcoming novel, Assassinorum: Kingmaker, coming next year in hardback, sees two deadly killers become embroiled in the politicking of a Knight world in turmoil.

Hallowed Ground

Richard Strachan’s hardback novel Hallowed Ground will make for a great follow-up read to Kragnos, Avatar of Destruction, as not only is it also set in Ghur, the Realm of Beasts, but it kicks off in the aftermath of Kragnos’ return.

Ravenor Rogue (Limited Edition)

And finally, Dan Abnett has another treat lined up for fans of his Eisenhorn books in 2022. His Ravenor spin-off series is also getting some love with the return of book three – Ravenor Rogue – soon to be available as a signed special edition.

As another fan-favorite series, if you are interested you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled on release day because this will almost definitely sell out!

Wondering what’s still out there? Check out all the latest from Games Workshop below!

All the GW 2021 Previews:

• Faith & Damnation Preview
• Warhammer Fest 2021
• AoS 3.0 Dominion Preview
• Dominion Celebration Preview
• Octarius Preview
• Gen Con Reveals & Preview
• Warhammer Day Preview

Latest GW Model Previews For December & Beyond

How do you feel about these new lore releases? Are you excited?

Let us know in the comments of our  Facebook Hobby Group,  or our  new Discord server , and make sure you  enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!  

Get ad-free access to our videos, a monthly drop of miniatures, and support some of the best creators out there for as little as  $6 a month on Patreon!

About the Author: Andrew Schrank

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• Warhammer 40,000

The best Warhammer 40K novels are on Audible

A guided tour of our favorite pulp fiction

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Share All sharing options for: The best Warhammer 40K novels are on Audible

The Warhammer 40K universe is packed wall-to-wall with stories of humanity, aliens, love, loss, tragedy, and lots and lots of war. It’s an intimidating canon to approach, especially because so much of it is written by unreliable narrators. Instead of poring over tomes, it can be helpful to listen to the characters and get a sense of their poise, personality, and cadence. Here’s where audiobooks come in, and there’s a surprisingly deep library of Warhammer hits on Audible , which is offering a three-month free trial for new members until Feb. 20. After that, it’ll cost $14.95 per month to enjoy the content below.

Audible Premium Plus (monthly subscription)

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Until Feb. 20, new members can get a three-month free trial of Audible’s Premium Plus service, which usually costs $14.95 a month. Audible allows you to not only listen to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts but keep one new release each month, even through your trial period.

• $15 at Audible

These are the best titles on offer from a variety of perspectives, both heroic and villainous.

Gaunt’s Ghosts

First and Only kicks off the multi-volume Gaunt’s Ghosts series , one that tells the story of the Tanith First and Only. The Tanith First are a group of skilled Imperial Guard soldiers from a rural, relatively peaceful world. These common folk are thrust Hobbit-like into one of the most treacherous frontlines: the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. If you’re looking for blood-and-guts close-quarters fighting with lots of bayonet charges, look no further.

Written by Dan Abnett ( Warhammer 40,000: Darktide , Alien: Isolation ), the books are inspired by the Sharpe series of novels by Bernard Cornwell, as well as a 1993 television series adaptation starring Sean Bean. The central character is Imperial commissar Ibram Gaunt, a political officer who is also a military leader, in the vein of the classic Russian commissars. Standout titles include Necropolis , Honour Guard , and Straight Silver . Like the Inquisition series that follows, and many other books on this list, the Audible version is performed spectacularly by Toby Longworth who, for all intents and purposes, is the modern voice of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. —Charlie Hall

Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts

• First and Only
• Honour Guard

The Inquisitor series: Eisenhorn, Ravenor, and Bequin

The Inquisitor Series is a brilliant trio of trilogies by author Dan Abnett that tells the story of the close-knit teams of undercover agents who pursue heresy in all its myriad forms within the empire. The books are gritty noir mysteries that place almost Dickensian period drama right next to heady science fiction themes.

The Eisenhorn Trilogy includes the books Xenos , Malleus , and Hereticus and tells the story Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, an unconventional agent of the Imperium of Mankind. Expect a pulpy storyline with echoes of Blade Runner and The Young Pope .

Warhammer 40K: Eisenhorn trilogy

The Ravenor trilogy follows Eisenhorn’s protege, Gideon Ravenor, a powerful psyker who is grievously wounded and forced to eke out his existence inside a glorified coffin. The three books are titled Ravenor , Ravenor Returned , and Ravenor Rogue . Expect Cyberpunk 2077 -style transhumanism mixed here with elements of Sherlock Holmes.

Warhammer 40K: Ravenor trilogy

• Ravenor Returned
• Ravenor Rogue

Finally, the Bequin trilogy ( Pariah , Penitent , and a soon-to-be-published third novel) tells the story of a member of Eisenhorn’s original warband, Alizabeth Bequin, whose unusual ability to negate and disrupt psychic energy makes her a sought-after agent by both the Imperium and the forces of Chaos. This trilogy links together both the Eisenhorn and the Ravenor series into a cohesive nine-book whole.

Warhammer 40K: Bequin trilogy

It’s also the rare example of a female lead in the Black Library, and is artfully performed on Audible by the incredible Helen Keeley. —CH

The Horus Heresy

Horus Rising is the first book in the massive 60-plus-volume series known as the Horus Heresy , and as far as I’m concerned, the most important novel in the entire series. Also written by Dan Abnett, it takes place around the year 30,000 and begins the story of the internecine conflict that will give birth to the eternal war of the 41st millennium.

What makes Horus Rising so special is that much of the narrative is delivered through the eyes of remembrancers — human analogs to modern-day writers, artists, and journalists — who are tasked with following along on a deployment of the Luna Wolves Space Marine chapter. The book also serves as an introduction to the erudite Horus Lupercal, the master tactician who will one day strike the fatal blow against his own father, the Emperor of Mankind. It’s best followed by False Gods by Graham McNeill and Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter, and together the three novels comprise a solid little trilogy within the larger series.

The final novel in the trilogy also includes the titanic battle known as the Betrayal at Istvaan III, which is the set-piece battle that underpins both the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy and Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy tabletop games. —CH

Warhammer 40K: The Horus Heresy, books 1-3

• Horus Rising
• Galaxy in Flames

Know No Fear is part of the larger Horus Heresy series, which is set 10,000 years before the current status quo of Warhammer 40K. The Ultramarines, a loyalist chapter of the Space Marines, have been lured into a trap. Their brothers, the Word Bearers chapter, have turned traitor and are now subjects of the ruinous powers of Chaos . Know No Fear is the historical documentation of their battle, along with personal notes from primarch Roboute Guilliman.

The novel, written by Dan Abnett, is largely credited with establishing the current tone of the Ultramarines, who are the poster boys of the Space Marines and a fan-favorite army. Captain Titus from the Space Marine games is an Ultramarine, and Ultramarine primarch Roboute Guilliman is one of the most important characters in modern-day 40K . Add in the historical documentation framing the narrative, and this book is a delightful listen for fans of battles and bolters. —Cass Marshall

Warhammer 40K: Know No Fear

• Know No Fear

Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon is a bit of a departure from the mainline Horus Heresy series. The narrative takes place long before the Heresy itself unfolds on the distant planet Caliban, the eventual home of the Dark Angels chapter of Space Marines.

While it’s an outlier, both stylistically and temporally, including it here in our list serves two purposes. First, it will inform the reader on the backstory of the first legion of Space Marines, and provide a helpful framework for understanding just how estranged the Emperor of Mankind was from his primarch children once upon a time. Second, Descent of Angels helps to set the stage for the betrayal of the Dark Angels primarch Lion El’Jonson, once the Emperor’s favored son and perhaps — perhaps! — a soon-to-be-resurrected force to be reckoned with in the 41st millennium.

The story of the Dark Angels is dotted all throughout the Horus Heresy series from here, with several novels — including Angels of Caliban — that also move the chapter’s storyline forward in meaningful ways. —CH

Warhammer 40K: Dark Angels

• Descent of Angels
• Angels of Caliban

Siege of Terra

The Solar War by John French begins the Siege of Terra sequence, the ultimate conclusion to the Horus Heresy. It kicks off with the spaceborn assault on the outer planets of the Sol system, including titanic fleet battles around the outer planets, before zooming into the conflict right around the Emperor’s Himalayan superfortress. There’s even an incredibly metal bit, midway through the book, where a prominent primarch rides his kilometers-long warship into battle while standing on its nose.

The Solar War also contains multiple passages told from the perspective of frontline Chaos Space Marine grunts, which gives the battles a bit more transparency than in previous novels. It also picks up the story of Mersadie Oliton, one of the more important remembrancers featured in Horus Rising , and works to bring the more mystical portions of the story to a satisfying conclusion.

The Siege of Terra series includes The Solar War , The Lost and the Damned , The First Wall , Saturnine , Mortis , Warhawk , Echoes of Eternity , and will conclude later this month with The End and the Death: Volume I , which is expected to include the climactic battle between Horus and the Emperor in detail. —CH

Warhammer 40K: Siege of Terra, books 1-3

• The Solar War
• The Lost and the Damned
• The First Wall

Vaults of Terra

The Vaults of Terra series by Chris Wraight is a much more recent series of novels, compared to others on this list that were written nearly 20 years ago. It includes The Carrion Throne , The Hollow Mountain , and The Dark City . The Carrion Throne in particular stands out specifically because it revisits the Golden Throne — the mechanical contraption that keeps the God-Emperor of Mankind alive — during 40K’s current timeline.

This novel, more than any other novel I’ve read, brings the reader closest to the “modern day” Imperium of Man in the 41st millennium. While the Arks of Omen are steaming through space in the current-day storyline of Kill Team and Warhammer 40,000 , this is a book about what’s happening on the homefront. Over a dozen hours, it does more to dispel some of the urban legends lurking in the corners of the Black Library than any other book I’ve read. I’m looking forward to spending time with the series as a whole before the end of the year. —CH

Warhammer 40K: Vaults of Terra

• The Carrion Throne
• The Dark City
• The Hollow Mountain

The Night Lords trilogy

The Night Lords trilogy is made up of Soul Hunter , Blood Reaver , and Void Stalker . These books, written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, follows the tenth company of the Night Lords. These Chaos Space Marines aimlessly hunt their way through the edges of the Imperium, spreading terror but also fighting among themselves and fellow renegade warbands. At one point, they even meet the alien Eldar, and find themselves fleeing in turn.

Through their eyes, we see what life is like as a Chaos Space Marine. Because Chaos is such a central antagonist, it can all kind of blend together. But the Chaos Space Marines are interesting in their own right: the remnants of a failed civil war who scrap among themselves as often they fight loyalists. The Night Lords in particular are haunted by the curse of their dead primarch, the Night Haunter. The trilogy follows these doomed soldiers as they drift from objective to objective toward an inescapable fate. —CM

Warhammer 40K: Night Lords Trilogy

• Void Stalker
• Blood Reaver
• Soul Hunter

Our experts:

• Charlie Hall , senior editor, tabletop
• Cass Marshall , news writer

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6 best Warhammer 40,000 books from the Black Library

For adeptus readers.

Warhammer 40,000 is a broad, expansive setting which can be daunting for those looking for a starting point into the lore. Black Library releases dozens of new Warhammer 40k books every year, ranging from short stories to multi-novel series. With this, there is so much to choose from and finding an opening can be tricky. Fortunately, some of Black Library's best work also lines up well for franchise newcomers.

Best Warhammer 40k books

• Eisenhorn: Omnibus by Dan Abnett: “My patience isn’t limitless… unlike my authority.”
• Space Wolf: The First Omnibus by William King: "War Within. War Without. War Unending. That is how we live, little brother. That is who we are."
• Night Lords: The Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden: "May the Warp be with you."
• Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium by Sandy Mitchell: "When in deadly danger, When beset by doubt, Run in little circles, wave your arms and shout!"
• Gaunt's Ghosts (Series) by Dan Abnett: "The Tanith First. The First-and-Only. That's what makes us 'Ghosts', you see."
• Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden: "Blood for the Blood God."

It's worth noting that a hefty chunk of the Black Library literature centres around the Imperial Guard, Space Marines and the Inquisition, as these are the most accessible factions within the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. Often human factions see popularity through association, which leads to deeper lore and extra resources to continue this trend. It may feel discouraging to see your favourite Xenos race not get the recognition they deserve, but the literature does exist - only in smaller doses.

Also, you don't require a background in the game to appreciate the source material as these are independently good sci-fi novels. However, if you do play or collect the miniatures, these Warhammer books will help paint a clearer picture of the characters and events that occur within the universe.

1. Eisenhorn: Omnibus by Dan Abnett

“my patience isn’t limitless… unlike my authority.”.

Eisenhorn follows the successful career of Gregor Eisenhorn, Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos. Eisenhorn tackles corruption in every corner of the galaxy, from mutants and daemons to heretics. Throughout the series, Eisenhorn manages to convince you that he has everything under control while slowly losing his grip due to the influence of Chaos. As a result, the events temper Eisenhorn's moral compass that presents a fine line between loyalty and betrayal. Within this omnibus edition, there are three full-length novels - Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus - which all share the same name as the Ordos (or commonly known as Orders) within the Inquisition.

Eisenhorn is ideal for the entry-level Warhammer 40,000 enthusiast as it offers a blend of action, character development and moral disposition in an easy to follow writing style. To that end, think of Eisenhorn as the 41st Millennium’s own Sherlock Holmes with Jack Bauer thrown in for good measure. If you enjoy science fiction, especially with technology blended within a religious backdrop, then this is the ideal Warhammer book for you.

Buy Eisenhorn: Omnibus on Amazon US or Amazon UK .

2. Space Wolf: The First Omnibus by William King

"war within. war without. war unending. that is how we live, little brother. that is who we are.".

Every hero begins somewhere, and Space Wolf: The First Omnibus follows the story of Ragnar Blackmane. The series is unique from the other Space Marine material as Ragnar isn't an all-powerful hero from the get-go. The First Omnibus features a trilogy of stories - Space Wolf, Ragnar's Claw and Grey Hunter - which offers a glimpse into one of Warhammer's most beloved characters.

With this, you get a sneak peek into the history of the Space Marines and the fabled process to induction. Author William King does an outstanding job of slowly exposing you to the Space Marine lore, making this an ideal starting point for Space Marine enthusiasts. There's a lot of detail that the Codex: Space Wolves does not provide, such as why the Chapter avoids wearing helmets and how they behave differently compared to other factions. Space Wolf: The First Omnibus is full of action, character growth and offers insight into one of Space Marine's most-loved Chapters. Besides, who doesn't love Vikings in space?

Buy Space Wolf: The First Omnibus on Amazon US or Amazon UK .

3. Night Lords: The Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

"may the warp be with you.".

Throughout Night Lords: The Omnibus, Aaron Dembski-Bowden has the members of Night Lord First Squad interact with and battle a diverse cast of allies and adversaries. Leading the charge is Talos Valcoran, a genetically modified super-soldier with a quest to seek vengeance upon the human empire he helped create. Night Lord: Omnibus is a compilation of three novels: Soul Hunter, Blood Reaver and Void Stalker.

Although a Traitor Legion, you'll end up sympathising with the Night Lords due to Dembski-Bowden's ability to give these characters emotion. In some cases, you'll cheer them on as they are faced with various challenges throughout, despite their horrific deeds against humankind and Xenos alike. Outside of conflict, the Night Lords grapple with the memories of their lost Primarch, the Imperium and themselves. Night Lords: Omnibus is one of the best book series you can read within the Warhammer 40,000 setting. It's dark, tragic and offers insight into a deeply misunderstood faction. Even then, you don't need to do any further reading as the trilogy is independent of any other Black Library material.

Buy Night Lords: The Omnibus on Amazon US or Amazon UK .

4. Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium by Sandy Mitchell

"when in deadly danger, when beset by doubt, run in little circles, wave your arms and shout".

If Blackadder translated to Warhammer 40,000, it would be Ciaphas Cain. The series follows the struggles of Commissar Ciaphias Cain, a happy-go-lucky leader with the infamous task of holding discipline amongst an army of unruly people. Cain is clever at covering his shenanigans while keeping the image as a hero of the Imperium. The series is positively charming as it offers comedic relief in an atmosphere that is often severe and brutal. Thanks to Cain's honest and sarcastic approach, it breaks the disparity that you typically see in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, resulting in an enjoyable read.

Hero of the Imperium collects the first three novels - For the Emperor, Caves of Ice and The Traitor’s Hand - plus three exclusive short stories. If you want more tales, there are seven more novels that follow the adventures of this likeable protagonist. Due to its light tone and easy understanding of the factions within Warhammer 40,000 , Hero of the Imperium presents a decent entry into the lore for franchise beginners. If you are looking for a lighter read to break the grimdark motif with humour and dry wit, then Ciaphas Cain delivers.

Buy Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium on Amazon US or Amazon UK .

5. Gaunt's Ghosts (Series) by Dan Abnett

"the tanith first. the first-and-only. that's what makes us 'ghosts', you see.".

Inspired by Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, Gaunt's Ghosts follows the adventures of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his regiment of Tanith First and Only - or better known as Gaunt's Ghosts. Their battleground is the Sabbat Worlds Crusade: an Imperial effort to reconquer a sector of space overwhelmed by the armies of Chaos.

Written by Dan Abnett, Gaunt's Ghosts is one of the most successful series within the Black Library catalogue as it offers a human tone. You can easily sympathise with the characters as they are individuals in a harsh and uncaring galaxy. As a result, it makes these characters more relatable compared to the almost god-like Space Marines. With 15 books in the series, you'll want to begin with First and Only as it sets the tone and offers a solid foundation to the Imperial Guard (now known as the Astra Militarum). If you enjoy end-to-end action, camaraderie and sacrifice similar to Band of Brothers, then Gaunt's Ghosts is for you.

Buy The Founding: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus on Amazon US or Amazon UK .

6. Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

"blood for the blood god.".

Continuing the story of the Word Bearers and jumping into the origins of Angron and the World Eaters, Betrayer takes place shortly after the events of Dan Abnett's Know No Fear. Betrayer is the 24th entry in the Horus Heresy series that describes a story of loss, anger and - you guessed it - betrayal.

The novel expands on the back story of the Chaos World Eaters Legion and their Primarch, Angron. Before this, it was easy to think of the World Eaters as one-dimensional, with the usual ‘Blood for the Blood God’ rage and Angron’s bitterness as their defining features. However, Aaron Demski-Bowden does remarkable work of building on these traits to add flavour and depth, which is a common theme throughout the Horus Heresy series. Admittedly, it's not for the faint-hearted as Betrayer is incredibly detailed on the violence and jammed-packed with action. The novel is also best appreciated if you already have foreknowledge of the Heresy Legions or the Chaos Space Marines; if you want to find out more, then you'll want to begin with Horus Rising, the first entry in the Horus Heresy series written by Abnett.

Buy Betrayer on Amazon US or Amazon UK .

If you prefer to digest your content on-the-go or prefer a stronger narrative to your storytelling, Black Library publications are accessible in audiobook form. Even if you aren't engaged in playing or collecting the miniatures, Black Library offers some of the best sci-fi content around and it's only going to continue.

While it's challenging to keep up with every Black Library release, it's best to stick to your favourite characters or factions then expand from there. Even then, you can always dip into something else if you fancy a change of pace or setting. Black Library publications extend outside of Warhammer 40,000 too, so you can read up on Age of Sigmar or Necromunda if you are curious about the franchise before investing into the games. It's a safe way to see something is right for you before bearing any financial commitment. Often you’ll find Black Library content can spark creativity in your next competitive list, or inspire your next kit-bash conversion. With dozens of Warhammer books and short stories released every year, there is something for everyone and it’s never a bad time to jump into the lore.

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20 Best Warhammer 40K Books of All Time: Fulgrim, Legion, The Founding, The Space Wolf Omnibus

What are the Best Warhammer 40k Books 2023? Not sure which model to pick? Then you NEED to see this list.

Warhammer 40K is a world that is unlike any other literary world. Due to over 20-years worthiness of rulebooks, codexes, and books printed, the world has rich and storied lore. This is lore. The typical person can research by checking out the books from the Black Library’s catalog.

If you are new to this world or have not seen it in some time, you will probably need to look at our testimonials and our manual to come up to speed. Thus, let us take a trip to this world combo of fantasy, science fiction, and horror wrapped into one. And allow Penn Book to begin our journey by having a peek at the best Warhammer 40K books to start with .

Top Rated Best Warhammer 40K Books To Read

In 1987, Warhammer 40,000 war game was initially released by Games Workshop and showcased the occasions of the distant future dream world. Shortly, its affiliate print home Black Library began publishing background literature that described the world and its personalities in detail.

A new reader does not understand what to start with. You will begin exploring the world with all the following listing of novels ranked best for worst. This choice contains the best 40k books that are available on the market these days.

The Black Library: The Art Of Warhammer 40,000

Black Library has been telling action-packed and character-driven stories set in Warhammer 40,000’s dark future for over twenty years. They also bring those stories to life with dramatic, dynamic illustrations on their covers.

Black Library: The Art of Warhammer 40,000 offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the creation of over a dozen of Black Library’s most beloved book covers. It is the perfect visual companion for Warhammer 40,000 fiction readers.

This book includes over 200 pages of full-color covers artwork from Black Library novels, past and present. It also features fan-favorite characters like Gregor Eisenhorn and Celestine, the Living Saint.

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

Whether you’re a hardcore Warhammer 40k enthusiast or new to the world, Horus Rising by Dan Abnett is where to start. Occurring 10,000 years before the significant 40k setting, this narrative lays the basis of the 40k mythos.

Together with the Imperium of Man at its height, the Immortal Emperor renders the frontlines and entrusts the great crusade into his Warmaster Horus. This sets forth the 40k world as we understand it.

Horus Rising is the best mixture of militaristic 40k cuisine and productive character growth. Dan Abnett’s prose is top-notch (that is why you can see his name several times on this listing), and Horus Growing is only the beginning.

There’s something for everybody in this book. In other words, this is the one Warhammer 40,000 novel you ought to read.

Fulgrim – Graham McNeill

This 40k novel is book 4 of the Horus Heresy Series; the Warmaster Horus proceeds his Good Crusade.

However, the Primarch of the Emperor’s Children, Fulgrim, leads his warriors into battle. And he does it while staying unaware that dark powers have locked their gaze upon the Imperium of Man.

Since loyalties are analyzed. Friendships are strained; each murderous and insatiable appetite will perform since the Emperor’s Children start their descent to actual corruption and on the street, which will lead them into the killing fields called Isstvan V. A warrior who will haul the reader with them.

Legion – Dan Abnett

A fantastic war looms, and loyalties are tested. Legion by Dan Abnett concentrated on the Space Marines of the Alpha Legion and an alien association known as the Cabal and told from the view of ordinary people, the novel’s details why and how the Alpha Legion is considering traitors.

Secrets, lies, spins, turns… Legion is a sci-fi thriller. Abnett weaves a web of espionage and intrigue. The book is frequently compared to a James Bond story set in the Warhammer 40K universe.

If this is not enough to hook you, then this Warhammer book is considered by some to be the most exceptional Horus Heresy book printed. Not to be overlooked!

Eisenhorn – Dan Abnett

Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett is a trilogy of books about the livelihood of Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn. Inquisitor Eisenhorn is a high-ranking member of the Imperial Inquisition, whose mission is to safeguard humanity and eradicate heresy throughout the world. Eisenhorn wields enormous power, but do the ends always justify the means? Good versus evil and everything in between.

The Eisenhorn trilogy was famous enough to be gathered as an Omnibus. Fast-paced and filled with personality, Abnett is in prime shape. This trilogy is self-contained and may be appreciated by anybody without preceding reading.

A Thousand Sons: The Horus Heresy – Graham McNeill

The twelfth book of Horus Heresy shows details the way A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill went from faithful musicians to so-called traitors.

Being forced to return to Prospero due to their sorcery, Magnus the Red and the Thousand Sons warn the Emperor of Horus’ treachery. However, the Emperor isn’t keen on their usage of prohibited powers and instead pushes the Space Wolves to attack Prospero.

A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill are gut-wrenching and robust, but also thoughtful and complicated. The figures are philosophical, and even the narrative awful.

From now on, the Space Wolves put down a brutal siege on Prospero, which may sympathize with the Thousand Sons. The path to hell is paved with good intentions.

The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

(Best first Warhammer 40k book)

Lorgar, as well as the Word Bearers, worship the Emperor as a god. For this, they’re punished. Questioning their religion, they search out the true gods. But when the Emperor isn’t the real god, then that is? In slides, Chaos and also the first heretics from the Warhammer 40k universe.

The fall from grace is a frequent narrative in the Horus Heresy series, but The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is among the more persuasive. It’s the battle of religion, shattered beliefs, and even betrayal.

If you happen to be interested in the world of heroes, go check out Most Powerful Marvel Character In The Marvel Universe 2023 before you carry on reading on.

The Founding (Gaunt’s Ghosts) by Dan Abnett

The Founding (Gaunt’s Ghosts) collects the first three books that follow Ibram Gaunt, commissar of this Tanith First-And-Only regiment. In the afternoon of the regiment’s heritage, Chaos destroys their entire world. Today Gaunt and his regiment travel from world to world battling conflicts, both political and physical.

The Gaunt’s Ghosts series by Dan Abnett is widely considered among the very best, and also The Founding is only the start. It’s not necessary to read any backstory. Abnett knows the way to flesh out the micro and the macro. The book is inspired by the Sharpe series and has a more human tone than many other Black Library books.

Storm of Iron – Graham McNeill

Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill is the book to see if you like Chaos Space Marines. This standalone book focuses on the Iron Warriors’ siege of this imperial world Hydra Cordatus. But haha she Iron Warriors invaded and will they be stopped?

False Rings: The Seeds Of Heresy Are Sown

This book was written by Graham McNeill, a writer that has written 20 distinct books for this particular series, books which have A Thousand Sons, and this 40k novel; he reveals why he’s written a lot of those Warhammer 40,000 novels.

Then, Noble captain, Gavriel Loken has misgivings about a few of those ways because of his brethren, and it is apparent the Horus has a personal stake in the reconquering of this moon of Davin. And all this happens because dark forces grow up.

Descent Of Angels: The Horus Heresy

Here is the sixth book from the Horus Heresy series. It appears to take a tiny break from the most compelling storyline or somewhat and wanders into some slightly different fantasy elements.

The coming birth of the Imperium induces new issues to arrive, and also the sons of Caliban should decide for themselves when they are likely to combine the Lion at the great Crusade.

Current read: I’m currently really enjoying Top 40 Best Urban Fantasy Books of All Time Review 2023

Ravenor: The Omnibus by Dan Abnett

The trilogy of Ravenor: The Omnibus by Dan Abnett follows Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor contains Ravenor, Ravenor Returned, and Ravenor Rogue. The Inquisition contributes to covert warfare, hoping to root out heresy and combating with the alien, the daemon, and the heretic. It must show the origin of chaos-inspired drugs disperse over the Imperium worlds.

Watch more about 40 Facts and Lore on Warhammer 40K Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor .

Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion – Chris Wraight

This is the next book in the trilogy Vaults of Terra composed by Chris Wraight. Considering that the Imperium was set up, the Adeptus Custodes watch on the Golden Throne. They’re among the greatest warriors and have gold armor, as well as their solution is well-known around the globe.

They’re the most reliable guardians together with Sisters of Silence allies to protect the Master of Mankind.

The narrative is told through the perspective of 3 Chief characters:

• Tieron (a person Chancellor);
• Valerian (a Custodian and Shield-Captain);
• Aleya (a sister of the Silent Sisterhood).

The writer utilizes the primitive and ambiguous language which the readers will expect in this world.

Dead Men Walking – Steve Lyons

This book is one of the Imperial Guard series. Hieronymous Theta is a mining world, and its cities have been assembled around mining facilities. One afternoon, the miners found odd artifacts deep underground and upset Necrons.

All these mutants, which occupy the lower degrees of this city, begin moving to high degrees. Together to retake the entire world, they ruin the human inhabitants. The Death Korps of Krieg is dispatching the Theta to Take Care of the mutants.

Galaxy in Flames (Horus Heresy) – Ben Counter

Galaxy in Flames is the final book in the Warmaster Horus Heresy trilogy by Ben Counter. Horus recovers from his injuries and contributes to the Imperial troops from the rebel world of Istvaan III. The rebels can easily be crushed, but virus bombs arranged by Horus can ruin the inhabitants of Earth.

Deciding the Emperor has taken the incorrect route, Horus makes a deal with the Chaos forces. The Warmaster Horus, together with his allies, begins removing all who could be in opposition.

Galaxy in Flames ends with a burst against his Astartes troops which were deployed on Earth. After Space Marines show Horus’s treachery, they flip their forces.

Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium by Sandy Mitchell

Hero of the Imperium by Sandy Mitchell carries a series of novels that explain the exploits and misadventures of Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperial Guard Commissar. He’s a respected guy and an inspiration to his peers. He’s only searching for a simple life.

The book is written unconventionally: an Inquisitor is studying the journal of Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium and leaves his humorous footnotes as Blackadder making it a lighter, more humourous Black Library title.

The book is excellent for the beginning if you would like to learn more about the Imperial Guard series. Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium may be the best for people sicking of Space Marines, this is a welcome change of pace.

False Gods: The Horus Heresy – Graham McNeill

Among the most notable books Graham is now written, coincidentally also among the greatest Warhammer 40,000 novels, is your 2006 book, False Gods. Knowing the Imperium of man is in the loftiest position it has been at. It’s logical to assume that there are corrupting, manipulating items that linger and are awaiting the high time when to attack.

Since Warmaster Horus has become the leader and continues to be shrouded with total strength, it stands to reason to wonder whether Horus will fall prey to temptations that set him up.

This book is the next among this series, should you want to read the novels in a proposed Warhammer 40,000 book reading order and awesome writing and a worthy sequel to Horus Rising.

Dan Abnett’s 2004 book titled Eisenhorn is a compelling read from the Warhammer 40k books, and also we think of it among our favorites.

Malleus – Dan Abnett

The omnipresent, ferocious, and infinitely gruesome enemies of humankind have not ceased their threatening manners a bit, and at the 2001 book Malleus, this series continues. Malleus is among those books we believe belong to the essential Warhammer 40k book order if a person wants to have a grip on the broader narrative.

First And Only – Dan Abnett

Even though millennia passed, the Sabbat system gradually fell into disarray and has been shot by Chaos. Gaunt’s Ghosts, Tanith First and Ibram Gaunt would be those in the very first lines of conflict.

But when heresy becomes a demo event, the two research and discover the truth, which doesn’t set them. Among the greatest Warhammer 40,000 novels.

Betrayer – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Continuing the Narrative of the Word Bearers and Leaping into the origins of Angron and the World Eaters, Betrayer Happens shortly Following Dan Abnett’s Know No Fear events. Betrayer is your 24th entrance in the Horus Heresy series that describes a narrative of loss, anger, and, you guessed it, betrayal.

Aaron Demski-Bowden does an impressive job of building on those traits to add depth and flavor, which can be a frequent theme through the Horus Heresy series. Ironically, it is not for its faint-hearted as Betrayer is unbelievably comprehensive on the violence and jammed-packed using actions.

The publication can also be best valued if you presently possess foreknowledge of this Heresy Legion or the Chaos Space Marines; should you need to discover more, you will want to start using Horus Rising, the first entry Horus Heresy series composed by Abnett.

Read also: Top 50+ Best Action Books of All Time Review [2022]

Space Wolf – William King

Every hero starts someplace, and Space Wolf: The First Omnibus follows the narrative of Ragnar Blackmane. The show is distinctive from another Space Marine substance as Ragnar is not an all-powerful hero out of the get go.

The First Omnibus includes a trilogy of tales Space Wolf, Ragnar’s Claw, and Grey Hunter – that provides a glimpse into one of Warhammer’s most beloved characters.

For this, you get a sneak peek into the background of the Space Marines along with the fabled procedure to induction. Writer William King does a great job of gradually exposing you to the Space Marine lore, making this a perfect starting point for Space Marine fans.

There is a good deal of detail the Codex: Space Wolves doesn’t provide, like why the Chapter averts wearing helmets and how they behave differently compared to other factions.

Space Wolf: The First Omnibus is filled with action and character development and provides insight into Space Marine’s most-loved Chapters. Besides, who does not love Vikings in the distance?

Other Considerations:

Nemesis – james swallow, ravenor – dan abnett, night lords: the omnibus – aaron dembski-bowden, the flight of the eisenstein – james swallow, titanicus – dan abnett, dark imperium – guy haley, the emperor’s gift – aaron dembski-bowden, chaos space marines, space wolves, interesting facts.

Fascinating facts about the best Warhammer 40k novels:

• The Imperium resides from the country of war. Despite this fact, it’s a flourishing internal tourist market. It possesses some planets, which may be in comparison to 5-star vacation hotels.
• The Imperium could possess a thriving fashion business. This is an explicit assumption when you visit numerous matches and uniforms in various themes and colors.
• The Orks reproduce via spores, which can be discharged in their bodies when they expire. This means when somebody reaches an Ork, this can produce more Orks.
• The names used in such novels turn around famous names that currently exist. The title of Nurgle (the Chaos God of Destruction, Disease, and Decay) is motivated by Nergal (the early Mesopotamian God of war and pestilence). The title of Eisenstein (an Inquisitor) is known to Einstein (a scientist).
• There’s a joke floating about online: “youth wishes to develop at Star Trek, while maturity understands that the actual world is similar to the WH40k”.

Once you read some books about the world, share more intriguing facts, you’ll discover them.

FAQs about Best Warhammer 40k Books

Where to start reading warhammer 40k.

What Warhammer 40K Books Should I Start With?

In our view, there’s no wrong or right Warhammer 40,000 reading sequence to begin this superb series, but when we had to select three for our subscribers, to start with, then they’d be of the Snake, Horus Growing, and False Gods.

How many Warhammer books are there?

As far as it’s understood, you will still find an astonishing one-thousand-two-hundred-and-twelve novel from the Warhammer 40,000 series.

The Warhammer 40K Books Order?

Just like there is no clear-cut approach to put in the show, there’s absolutely no universal order in which you can read the novels. However, the one we laid out above might be a helping hand since it’s the one we stick to. However, the Horus Heresy collection of novels are critical to getting comprehension.

Are There Any Good Warhammer 40K Book Without Humans?

Route of the Eldar, Evil Sun Growing and Valedor are three novels where people are not the key protagonists we believe the reader should pick up!

Which Warhammer 40k books are the best?

Our research shows that “The Founding”, Legion, and “Fulgrim” are the most popular Warhammer 40k books. We recommend starting there if you are looking for a great book! Suppose you are a hardcore fan of science fiction adventures and love to read them. In that case, we recommend purchasing the whole Horus Heresy series. It contains 93 books! ).

Where can I find all the Horus Heresy series information?

Amazon is a good start, although they have only added 50 books to the series. Scroll down to the header and click “series”, then search for “Horus Heresy “. You will find what you are looking for.

What are the top Warhammer 40k authors, and why?

Author Dan Abnett is the top answer (with an excellent 10 books on our list!) Two notable mentions are Graham McNeill (4 books) and Aaron Dembski–Bowden (3 books). All three are top-rated authors with a lot of experience writing Warhammer 40k books.

Reading Warhammer 40k books is like a vortex. You flip page after page and can’t stop before the book is completed. All books are amazing and worthy of your attention.

For novices, it is far better, to begin with, the very best Warhammer novels listed previously. The books recommended cover the most intriguing topics, various personalities, and attractive plot spins. Enjoy the choice.

Black Library articles are available in audiobook format if you prefer to consume material on the move or want a stronger storyline to your stories. Even if you aren’t interested in playing or collecting the miniatures, Black Library continues to provide some of the greatest sci-fi materials available.

Watch more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CASZ9YcNZ2A

Last update on 2023-11-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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Warhammer 40K News, Roadmap and Images of New Models

By: Author Johannes Poulsen

Posted on Last updated: October 30, 2023

Categories Warhammer 40k

It can be hard to keep track of Warhammer 40k news, upcoming releases ands models as the Games Workshop release schedule is constantly evolving and updating.

Look no further: In this article, we keep track of everything that’s been announced, but not released for the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame and it’s related boxed games such as Kill Team, Necromunda, Legions Imperialis, board games and even Horus Heresy releases. This means you can see an updated Warhammer 40k roadmap and release schedule below, with everything that is confirmed for release.

We hope you enjoy this view of Warhammer 40K upcoming releases! All is sourced from the Warhammer Community and Games Workshops official.

If you are looking for the things that already have been released, look no further than our overview of past 2023 40k releases here .

If you like this type of overview, we also do an overview for all upcoming Age of Sigmar releases .

Affiliate Link Disclosure Age of Miniatures is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about that here .

Warhammer 40k News: Roadmap for 2023/24 and Release Schedule

This roadmap was revealed on April 29, 2023 and details all major releases of 2023/2024. We’ll add the releases to their proper sections below as they get proper reveals later this year.

Season Releases and Campaign Books

There are no current teased Season or Campaign books 40k

Miscellaneous 40K Releases

There are no current teased misc 40k releases coming up

Images of New Tyranid Models for Release

Onslaught swarm christmas battleforce.

This Christmas gift set for the Tyranids was revealed on October 23, 2023.

Status: Upcoming

Screamer-Killer

This massive update of a classic Tyranid sculpt was revealed on April 29, 2023.

Status: Released in the Leviathan box, separate release forthcoming

Neurotyrant

This new model for the Tyranids (and its two brain-minions) was revealed on April 29, 2023.

Neurogaunts

This new unit for the Tyranids was revealed on April 29, 2023.

New Space Marines: Release date and Images of new Models

Space marines spearhead force christmas battleforce.

This Christmas gift set for the Space Marines was revealed on October 23, 2023.

Space Marine Captain in Terminator Armour

This new multipart Terminator captain was revealed on August 31, 2023.

Space Marines Scout Squad

This new version of classic kit was revealed on August 31, 2023.

Status: Upcoming as part of Kill Team: Salvation

Lieutenant Titus

This new model for the protagonist of the Space Marine 2 video game was revealed at the Warhammer Skulls event on May 25, 2023. It will be featured first in the Space Marine: The Board Game adaptation, and then separately at a later date.

Apothecary Biologis

This new Apothecary was revealed on April 29, 2023.

Sternguard Veteran Squad

This new (Primaris) Sternguard Veteran Squad was revealed on April 29, 2023.

Ballistus Dreadnought

This new ranged dreadnought was revealed on April 29, 2023.

Space Marine Lieutenant (10th edition)

This new Lieutenant in Phobos Armour was revealed on April 3, 2023.

Images of new Necron Models

Overlord with translocation shroud.

This new version of the Necron Overlord was revealed on October 30, 2023.

Imotekh the Stormlord

This reimagining of a classic Necron character was revealed on October 14, 2023.

Codex Necrons

This new 10th edition codex for the Necrons was revealed on October 14, 2023.

Images of new Adeptus Mechanicus Models

Codex: adeptus mechanicus.

This new 10th edition codex for Adeptus Mechanicus was revealed on October 14, 2023.

Sydonian Skatros

This new sniper specialist for the Adeptus Mechanicus was revealed on October 14, 2023.

Images of new Astra Militarum Models

Cadian defence force christmas battleforce.

This new Christmas gift set for the Astra Militarum was revealed on October 23, 2023.

This new Kasrkin model, inspired by a piece of Karl Kopinski artwork, is the 40k choice of free miniature for anyone with a Warhammer+ subcription in 2023/2024. It was revealed on August 25, 2023.

Status: Can be ordered around September 25, 2023 if you subscribe for a full year immediately.

Chaos Space Marines Releases

Images of new world eaters models, exalted of the red angel christmas battleforce.

This new Christmas gift set for the World Eaters was revealed on October 23, 2023.

Azrakh the Annihilator

This new World Eaters Terminator will be available to annual subscribers of Warhammer+ in September 2022, and to monthly subscribers around a year later.

Leagues of Votann Releases and Images of New Models

Defenders of the ancestors christmas battleforce.

This new Christmas gift set for the Leagues of Votann was revealed on October 23, 2023.

New Ork Releases and Images of New Models

Beast snagga stampede christmas battleforce.

This new Christmas gift set for the Orks was revealed on October 23, 2023.

Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team Roadmap

This Kill Team roadmap was revealed on May 1, 2023. We’ll update the list below when the individual releases are officially announced.

Kill Team: Salvation

This box for the new season of Kill Team was revealed on October 14, 2023. It features a rulebook for the new season, as well as two new kill teams: The Space Marine Scouts (see above under Space Marine Images) and the Striking Scorpions pictured here:

Killzone Bheta-Decima

This new killzone for the new season of kill team was revealed at Warhammer Day on October 14, 2023.

Warhammer Legions Imperialis Images of New Models

Land raiders.

This new set of six Land Raiders for Legions Imperialis was revealed on October 26, 2023.

Dreadnought Drop Pods

These new Drop Pods were revealed on October 19, 2023.

Legion Fast Attack Box

This box of various fast-moving vehicles for the Legiones Astartes was revealed on October 5, 2023.

Legion Drop Pods

These tiny drop pods were revealed for Legions Imperialis on September 28, 2023.

Knight House Battle Group

This army box of Knights for Legions Imperialis was revealed on August 31, 2023.

Titan Battle Group

This army box of Titans for Legions Imperialis was revealed on August 31, 2023.

Basilisks and Medusas

This box of 8 artillery pieces that can be assembled as either Basilisks or Medusas was revealed on August 24, 2023.

Solar Auxilia Support Box

This box of Rapier Batteries, Tarantulas, and Cyclops Demolition Vehicles was revealed on August 3, 2023.

Civitas Imperialis City Road Tiles

This set of terrain tiles for Legions Imperialis was revealed on July 24, 2023.

Civitas Imperialis Ruins

This set of ruins was revealed on July 24, 2023.

Civitas Imperialis Structures and Spires

These two terrain sets (Structures and Spires) were revealed on July 24, 2023.

Manufactorum Imperialis

This terrain set was revealed on July 24, 2023.

Kratos Heavy Tank

This tank set was revealed on July 27, 2023.

Baneblade/Hellhammer

This dual kit was revealed on July 27, 2023.

Deimos-Pattern Rhino

This set of 10 (10!) Rhinos was revealed on July 27 2023.

Legiones Astartes Support Box

This expansion box of 4 Leviathan Dreadnoughts, 4 Deredeo Dreadnoughts and a selection of artillery was revealed on July 20, 2023

Plastic Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titan

This plastic version of the formerly resin Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titan was revealed on July 6, 2023.

Legions Imperialis Box Set

Warhammer played in Epic scale (like, a fourth of the size of regular Warhammer minis) is back, this time set during the Horus Heresy! This starter set contains 2 armies, 1 for Space Marines and one for Solar Auxilia (regular Imperial humans). It was revealed on July 1, 2023.

Horus Heresy Roadmap and Upcoming Releases

Horus heresy roadmap 2023.

This Roadmap for Horus Heresy was revealed on April 30, 2023. We’ll update the list below as the items on the roadmap are officially announced individually.

Traitor Champion Consul

This new Consul model for Traitor Legion forces was revealed on September 14, 2023.

Exemplary Battles of the Age of Darkness

This new book of battle plans and rules for Horus Heresy was revealed on September 7, 2023.

Status: Preorder October 14, 2023

Legiones Astartes Battle Group

This new army box for Horus Heresy Space Marine armies contains 30 new Mark III Marines, special weapons sprues, a Deredeo Dreadnought and a Land Raider.

Plastic Deredeo Dreadnought

This new plastic version of the Deredeo Dreadnought was revealed on August 31, 2023.

Fulgrim Transfigured

This transfigured version of the Primarch Fulgrim was revealed on August 31, 2023.

MKIII Tactical Squad

This updated version of the MKIII Tactical Squad was revealed on August 31, 2023.

Sons of Horus Weapon Upgrades

This set of weapon upgrades for the Sons of Horus was revealed on August 17, 2023.

Plastic Assault Squad

This new plastic kit for Legion Assault Squads was revealed on April 30, 2023.

Necromunda Roadmap and Upcoming Releases

Ironhead squat prospectors skalvian explorator.

This new vehicle for the Ironhead Squat Prospectors was revealed on October 16, 2023.

Ironhead Squat Prospectors Orrin Grimjarl and Techmite Exovator

This new House Agent (and techmite Exotic Beast) was revealed on October 16, 2023.

Urson Grimjarl and Techmite Occuli

This new Bounty Hunter and his Techmites were revealed on October 16, 2023.

Mind-Locked Wyrd and Cephalopod Spektors

This upcoming set of a Hired Gun and 3 Exotic Beasts was revealed on October 2, 2023.

The Aranthian Succession: Fall of Jardlan

This third book for the Aranthian Succession campaign was revealed on September 25, 2023.

Status: Preorder October 21, 2023

Van Saar Ash Wastes Arachni-Rigs

These new plastic Arachni-Rigs for House Van Saar was revealed on September 25, 2023.

Asun´ghar , The Lady of Ash and Terror’s Shadow

This new Ash Waste Nomad character and her grapplehawk familiar was revealed on September 25, 2023.

Ash Wastes Outpost

This new box of Ash Wastes terrain was revealed on September 25, 2023.

Aeronautica Imperialis Upcoming Releases

Gw board games upcoming releases, space marine: the board game.

This board game tie-in to the upcoming Space Marine 2 video game was revealed during the Warhammer Skulls event on May 25, 2023.

Other great resources:

• 40k Beginner’s Guide
• 40k Army Overview
• Our 40k Hub (all 40k articles)

Books | Best Sellers

Hardcover nonfiction - october 08, 2023.

This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only.

• Hardcover Nonfiction

New this week

THE DEMOCRAT PARTY HATES AMERICA

by Mark R. Levin

Threshold Editions

The Fox News host and author of “American Marxism” argues for the defeat of the Democratic Party.

• Apple Books
• Barnes and Noble
• Books-A-Million

2 weeks on the list

by Walter Isaacson

Simon & Schuster

The author of “The Code Breaker” traces Musk’s life and summarizes his work on electric vehicles, private space exploration and artificial intelligence.

by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

The authors of “Vanderbilt” chronicle the Astor family’s place in American society from 1793 through 2009.

COUNTING THE COST

by Jill Duggar with Derick Dillard and Craig Borlase

A behind-the-scenes account of the reality TV series “19 Kids and Counting” and a portrayal of life inside the Duggar family.

26 weeks on the list

by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford

A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.

SOCIAL JUSTICE FALLACIES

by Thomas Sowell

A senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, gives his take on social justice and its advocates.

BLACK AF HISTORY

by Michael Harriot

A columnist at TheGrio.com articulates moments in American history that center the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans.

23 weeks on the list

by David Grann

The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF RUDOLF DIESEL

by Douglas Brunt

An account of the disappearance in September 1913 of the man who invented the internal combustion engine.

3 weeks on the list

WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL

by Joe Posnanski

The author of “The Baseball 100” brings to life 50 moments in baseball’s history.

59 weeks on the list

I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED

by Jennette McCurdy

The actress and filmmaker describes her eating disorders and difficult relationship with her mother.

DOPPELGANGER

by Naomi Klein

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The author of “On Fire” and “No Is Not Enough” explores the mirror-worlds of online paranoia and conspiracy theories in a divided culture.

OF TIME AND TURTLES

by Sy Montgomery. Illustrated by Matt Patterson

The author of "The Soul of an Octopus" presents observations on turtles and reflects on aspects of time and healing.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Lindsey Nyx Walker

National Geographic

Science and pop culture intertwine in this exploration of the cosmos, which includes parallel worlds and time travel.

LESLIE F*CKING JONES

by Leslie Jones

Grand Central

A memoir by the comedian who received Emmy and N.A.A.C.P. Award nominations for her work on “Saturday Night Live.”

The New York Times Book Review

Caster semenya: ‘i’m still a woman’.

In “The Race to Be Myself,” the Olympic runner tells the full story of her gender-based discrimination and dehumanization by the global athletics world.

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60 new eBooks and audiobooks coming out October 17 – 23, 2023

By Kobo • October 17, 2023 New eBooks and Audiobooks

Here are some of the most anticipated books coming out October 17 – 23, 2023

In his now 34-year-long career, with rare and only recent exception, John Grisham has been known as a writer of legal thrillers that each stand on their own. It’s a trait of the kind of writer (like Danielle Steel) who found fame in the 80s and 90s, before writers of never-ending series came to dominate bestseller lists. Grisham’s new novel The Exchange is set 15 years after his second book which was his first bestseller, The Firm , making it unique among sequels for taking place long after the first book, but not quite as long as it took to be published. Featuring Mitch McDeere, the hero lawyer of the earlier book, this new story finds him again in peril as he lands in the middle of a sinister plot. With the publisher now referring to “The Firm Series”, it’s possible Mitch is just getting (re)started.

It’s fall, so that means it’s time for celebrity bios. We hear from actor and talk show host Jada Pinkett Smith in Worthy about her rise to fame from the streets of Baltimore. Country music icon Dolly Parton shows off her private costume collection in Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones . Alt-comic and musician Reggie Watts tells his story of growing up in Montana as a biracial multilingual weirdo bound for the bigtime in Great Falls, MT . Toronto musician Jessie Reyez’s shares scenes from her life in verse in Words of a Goat Princess . And finally Sly Stone, the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter behind the legendary 60s-70s band Sly and the Family Stone, who fused 60s hippie culture with up-tempo R&B and laid the musical foundations for funk, offers a rare glimpse into his life with Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir —with the help of Ben Greenman, the writer/collaborator behind autobiographies by The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Parliament/Funkadelic founder George Clinton.

There’s something about the cooler weather that’s perfect for reading fiction that doesn’t last longer than the warmth in a pot of tea. Nobel Prize laureate and multi-Booker Prize-winning novelist J. M. Coetzee’s The Pole & other stories features a novella in addition to other short works. Yellowface author R. F. Kuang edited this year’s Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy , which features over a dozen authors as inventive as she is. And The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights carries forth the tradition of the Yuletide ghost story, drawing on the talents of a number of writers of historical and gothic fiction.

More books coming out this week

✍🏼 Poetry

Words of a Goat Princess by Jessie Reyez

🧰 Help and How-to

Forever Strong : A New, Science-Based Strategy for Aging Well by Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

Mind Over Matter : Hard-Won Battles on the Road to Hope by Jordin Tootoo

100 Ways to Change Your Life : The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success by Liz Moody

Think You'll Be Happy : Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude by Nicole Avant

Remember Love : Words for Tender Times by Cleo Wade

When Religion Hurts You : Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion by Laura E. Anderson

💡 Big Ideas

Prequel : An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow

Black Friend : Essays by Ziwe

He/She/They : How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters by Schuyler Bailar

Touch the Future : A Manifesto in Essays by John Lee Clark

Her Space, Her Time : How Trailblazing Women Scientists Decoded the Hidden Universe by Shohini Ghose

🗣 True Stories

The Class : A Memoir of a Place, a Time, and Us by Ken Dryden

Instead : Navigating the Adventures of a Childfree Life - A Memoir by Maria Coffey

Worthy by Jada Pinkett Smith

The Dictionary People : The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary by Sarah Ogilvie

I Love Russia : Reporting from a Lost Country by Elena Kostyuchenko

Behind the Seams : My Life in Rhinestones by Dolly Parton

First to Leave the Party : My Life with Ordinary People... Who Happen to be Famous by Salah Bachir

Great Falls, MT : Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again by Reggie Watts

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) : A Memoir by Sly Stone with Ben Greenman

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant : A Memoir by Curtis Chin

💘 Romance

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

Whalen by Dale Mayer

The Rebel's Prize by M.J. Scott

The Marquis who Mustn't by Courtney Milan

The Witch's Silver Lining by Deanna Chase

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Susan Wiggs

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

🗡️ Action, Crime, and Mystery

The Exchange by John Grisham

Home at Night by Paula Munier

Half Baked by Denise Grover Swank

Paws to Remember by Sofie Kelly

Way Down on the High Lonely by Don Winslow

Thistlewood Manor: Bumped by a Dame (An Eliza Montagu Cozy Mystery—Book 6) by Fiona Grace

🖊️ Literary & Contemporary Fiction

The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

The Pole and Other Stories by J.M. Coetzee

Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey

Sugar Birds by Cheryl Grey Bostrom

The Best American Short Stories 2023 by Heidi Pitlor

The Winter Spirits : Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights by Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Natasha Pulley, Jess Kidd, and others

House Gone Quiet : Stories by Kelsey Norris

✨ Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, and Speculative Fiction

House of Gods by K.A. Linde

Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker

Firebrand by Michelle Wilson

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 by R. F. Kuang

A Stranger in the Citadel by Tobias Buckell

Savage Tales Short Fiction - Conan: Black Starlight by John C. Hocking

The Queen's Crown by Jennifer Anne Davis

Defiance by C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher

Generation Ship by Michael Mammay

Minecraft: The Village by Max Brooks

Red Rising 3-Book Bundle by Pierce Brown

All These Sunken Souls : A Black Horror Anthology by Circe Moskowitz, ed.

🗯 Manga & Graphic Novels

Spy x Family , Vol. 10 by Tatsuya Endo

Sasaki and Miyano Official Comic Anthology by Shou Harusono

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End , Vol. 9 by Kanehito Yamada

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian , Vol. 4 by Sunsunsun

The Summer Hikaru Died , Vol. 2 by Mokumokuren

Hunting in Another World With My Elf Wife (Manga) Vol. 4 by Jupiter Studio

Check out even more new eBooks & audiobooks here

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Best Sellers in Books for 2023

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10 books to add to your reading list in November

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On the Shelf

10 books for your November reading list

If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your November reading list.

Booklover’s Thanksgiving arrives early this year, with most of November’s notable releases out Nov. 7 (and one pushed forward to Halloween). That should make it easier to stock up on titles to hide behind after (or even during) long hours with friends and family. At least two novels bring perspective to the COVID pandemic, while another involves a surprising view of the Vietnam War. Nonfiction ranges even more broadly, from artificial intelligence to the war in Afghanistan and the pleasures of a quiet garden. Happy — and grateful — reading!

Absolution By Alice McDermott FSG: 336 pages, $28 (Oct. 31)

Set during the earliest days of American involvement in Vietnam , McDermott’s ninth novel focuses on narrator Tricia, a Navy spouse, and her friendship with Charlene, an American businessman’s wife. After Charlene’s daughter Rainey gets a miniature ao dai for her Barbie doll from the family seamstress, Charlene cooks up a scheme that will ultimately push Tricia to her limit. A firmly feminist accounting of the era’s sins against women from both West and East, this could be McDermott’s best novel yet.

Again and Again By Jonathan Evison Dutton: 336 pages, $28 (Nov. 7)

Eugene Miles, who’s 106, lives in an eldercare facility and spends a great deal of his time telling housekeeper Angel the stories of his past lives. Since Angel has romantic troubles of his own, Eugene’s long and complicated stories make him an unlikely male Scheherazade , trying to distract someone he cares about from his distress. Does it matter if he really lived as a thief named Euric in Moorish Spain, or as Oscar Wilde’s cat?

Cubicle crucible

Personal Days A Novel Ed Park Random House: 246 pp., $13 paper

May 25, 2008

Same Bed Different Dreams By Ed Park Random House: 544 pages, $30 (Nov. 7)

Alt-history novels abound; it’s high time Korea got its own. Park (“ Personal Days ”) posits that the real-life Korean Provisional Government (KPG), founded in exile in China, became a powerful underground group working toward a unified nation during and after the Korean War. When a technical writer finds an unpublished novel that might be a KPG document, the book breaks into three sections: the discovery of the manuscript, the novel itself and then the speculative ramblings of a Black Korean War veteran. The result is twisty and high-concept and impossible to put down.

The Vulnerables By Sigrid Nunez Riverhead: 256 pages, $28 (Nov. 7)

In her last novel, “ The Friend ,” Sigrid Nunez included a dog as an important character. “The Vulnerables” stars a macaw named Eureka. When a grown son of her friends abandons his birdsitting gig, the narrator, a writer who shares the author’s name, age and profession, takes over. And when the young man returns and the pandemic shuts things down, the trio must negotiate their new proximity.

Famous at last for her previous novel, “The Friend,” Sigrid Nunez strikes again

“What Are You Going Through” feels like a spiritual and in some ways literal sequel to Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel, “The Friend”

Sept. 8, 2020

Day By Michael Cunningham Random House: 288 pages, $28 (Nov. 14)

On April 5 in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, we visit two siblings inhabiting a Brooklyn brownstone. Robbie lives in the attic of the building Isabel owns with her husband, Dan, and their two children. The members of the family age, relationships change and COVID looms over everything. But Cunningham , a wondrous novelist concerned as always with human connection, keeps the pandemic on a short leash in a book that has less to do with isolation than how life changes us all, whether we want it to or not.

To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul By Tracy K. Smith Knopf: 288 pages, $27 (Nov. 7)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning former U.S. Poet Laureate (“Life on Mars”) wrote her first memoir, “Ordinary Light,” about her mother’s cancer diagnosis, in 2015. This second nonfiction work focuses on her father’s side of the family as a means of exploring Black strength and history, constructing a new way of tracing and talking about race in our country. Whether she’s in her father’s home of Sunflower, Ala., or teaching at Harvard, Smith reminds all Americans that without Black history, none of us have any history at all.

The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir By Jami Nakamura Lin Mariner: 352 pages, $30 (Nov. 7)

Hyakki Yagyo, or the Night Parade of 1,000 Demons, is a Japanese myth that once helped people account for the various states we now understand as mental illness. Lin lived for many years with undiagnosed bipolar syndrome, and often felt as if she existed in places where no one else did. The stories from her childhood about ghosts and demons comforted her, as those figures also seemed to live between worlds. Lin’s braiding of personal experience and cultural touchstones make this memoir very special.

Review: What a 1980 Japanese novel about a single mom foresaw about pandemic loneliness

Yuko Tsushima’s 1980 novel, ‘Woman Running in the Mountains,’ about a single mother’s struggles, gets a reprint just in time for a child care crisis.

Feb. 23, 2022

Cacophony of Bone: The Circle of a Year By Kerri ní Dochartaigh Milkweed: 312 pages, $26 (Nov. 14)

The Irish writer (“Thin Places”) and her partner moved to a landlocked railway cottage a year before the pandemic; within that year, she became pregnant after many years of trying, started a garden after years of never bothering and found a home after moving in each of her previous 35 years. Her chapters are lyrical and deliberately slow, the time allowed its dignified procession without literary tricks. “I can’t go back to who I was before that year,” the author writes, and readers who follow her also will be changed.

Whistles From the Graveyard: My Time Behind the Camera on War, Rage, and Restless Youth in Afghanistan By Miles Lagoze Atria/One Signal: 272 pages, $30 (Nov. 7)

When Lagoze joined the Marines, he signed on for the military occupational specialty of combat cameraman. Deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 at 18, he was meant to capture images the U.S. government could use, but he soon realized his photos were revealing the truth of war. Whether seeing the fear in combatants and civilians alike or observing how societal ills followed young servicemembers to the front, Lagoze startles in his prose just as he did in his 2019 documentary, “ Combat Obscura .”

Why this AI pioneer is calling for ‘human centered’ computing

Fei-Fei Li, author of ‘The Worlds I See’ and co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, joins the L.A. Times Book Club Nov. 14.

Oct. 20, 2023

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI By Fei-Fei Li Flatiron Books: 336 pages, $30 (Nov. 7)

Li, a computer science professor at Stanford, is the founding director of that university’s Institute for Human-Centered AI and the creator of ImageNet, an innovation that paved the way for some forms of artificial intelligence. She and her family immigrated from China to face poverty and illness in the United States, but Li prevailed over hardships to triumph in her field. Now she wants to be sure that the rest of us understand both the challenges and the incredible possibilities of the technology she helped pioneer.

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More From the Los Angeles Times

Stephanie Land’s new memoir takes ‘Maid’ readers to school — not always in a good way

Oct. 31, 2023

Opinion: H.G. Wells’ alien-invasion novel is night-before-Halloween scary. But it’s a lot more too

Oct. 30, 2023

She was told her grandfather had saved a Black man. Then she dug up the ugly truth

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Oct. 26, 2023

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News, Notes, Talk

Check out the 25 new books out in paperback this month.

November is almost upon us, and, as the weather cools, you might find yourself wanting to reach for a new book to curl up with, perhaps even one you found yourself eying on the shelves earlier. If so, you’re in luck: you’ll find twenty-five books reprinted in paperback below, including novels and stories from Jane Smiley, John Edgar Wideman, Wendell Berry, Mariana Enriquez,  and Meghan Gillis; Chetna Maroo’s Booker nominee; nonfiction by Haruki Murakami and Shirley Hazzard; a new translation of Marcus Aurelius’  Meditations ; explorations of grief, Black American history, method acting, unsung art, and politics; and much, much more.

If you missed them in hardcover, be sure to pick up one—or as many as you can fit in your possibly-already-tome-filled home—of these intriguing paperbacks this month!

Jane Smiley,  A Dangerous Business (Vintage)

“Now here’s something you don’t come across every day: a mash-up of a Western, a serial-killer mystery and a feminist-inflected tale of life in a bordello. But Jane Smiley’s  A Dangerous Business  is all that—and, amazingly, it works….Smiley smoothly melds three distinct narratives into one without breaking a sweat.” – The Washington Post

Chetna Maroo,  Western Lane (Picador)

“Profoundly resonant….A remarkable book in how it deals with that time, drifting forwards, backwards, sometimes superimposing different moments upon each other. To that end, it also contains some of the best sports writing I’ve read since Eimear Ryan’s Holding Her Breath ….In the act of making books, writers make choices on every line, with every word. This is a debut in which Chetna Maroo gets every choice right.” – The Irish Times

Meghan Gilliss,  Lungfish (Catapult)

“A family lives illegally on a Maine island, barely surviving, while a father endures recovery; Gilliss imbues every page with the ache and uncertainty of trying to give a child small pockets of joy under near impossible circumstances. The story is told balletically, compulsively, in short spurts of image and sensation, while also managing to immerse the reader fully in the textures, tastes and sounds of the Maine coast.” –Lynn Steger Strong

Haruki Murakami,  Novelist as a Vocation   (trans. Philip Gabriel and Ted Goosen) (Vintage)

“Murakami has written fourteen acclaimed novels..Novelist is indeed his true vocation, and in this collection of eleven interconnected essays, he tells would-be fiction writers, struggling novelists, and his many devoted readers about the path he’s followed and the ideas and thoughts he’s had in the process…Although this is a concrete and practical guide, as Murakami intended, it is also a fascinating personal and professional memoir.” – Library Journal

Brigitta Olubas,  Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life (Picador)

“An illuminating portrait….In this scrupulously researched biography, Olubas…charts the meandering course of Hazzard’s life and travels, drawing on events and impressions that would inform much of her writing….Throughout, Olubas offers a discerning, clear-eyed perspective of Hazzard’s complex character and a persuasive appraisal of what distinguishes her work. An absorbing, well-crafted profile of a supremely gifted writer.” – Kirkus Reviews

Jamila Minnicks,  Moonrise Over New Jessup (Algonquin)

“No one who’s read Zora Neale Hurston ever forgets her Eatonville. So too will Jamila Minnicks’s New Jessup live on in the American imagination as both a place and an idea.  Moonrise Over New Jessup is a staggeringly beautiful love letter to Blackness—particularly southern Blackness—that celebrates the joys, sadness, and multiplicity of existence outside the white gaze. An absolute triumph, Moonrise Over New Jessup confirms a major voice in Jamila Minnicks, a writer everyone should be watching.” –Dionne Irving

Delia Cai,  Central Places (Ballantine Books)

“A meet-the-parents comedy of manners! A town-mouse-country-mouse premise! A well-observed study of a provincial Manhattanite!  Central Places  has it all. It brims with charm, zippy observations, and the troublesome task of squaring  who you are  with  who you were  and who you want to be .” – Bustle

Mariana Enriquez,  Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories   (trans. Megan McDowell) (Hogarth Press)

“Enriquez’s stories are historically aware and class-conscious, but her characters never avail themselves of sentimentalism or comfort. She’s after a truth more profound, and more disturbing, than whatever the strict dictates of realism allow….[P]ropulsive and mesmerizing, laced with vivid descriptions of the grotesque…and the darkest humor.” – The New York Times Book Review

Wendell Berry,  How It Went: Thirteen More Stories of the Port William Membership (Counterpoint)

“Lovingly written….Taken together, the thirteen chapters in Wendell Berry’s How It Went create a tale that gently unwinds and doubles back on itself, not so much like a river but more like a flowering vine….Berry’s prose…is imbued with compassion….A book full of such gentleness, wisdom and humility seems preposterous in this day and age. It’s also something of a miracle. We are lucky, in such times, to still have a writer like Wendell Berry.” – Bookpage

Lynne Tillman,  Mothercare: On Obligation, Love, Death, and Ambivalence (Soft Skull)

“Tillman has in this slim memoir of the final years of her mother’s life zeroed in on an underrepresented facet of the universal contract: our queasy anxiety that the relationship might, in the end, be transactional…. Mothercare  is practical, not sentimental. It flirts with being analytical. It’s even useful, as Tillman runs through her and her sisters’ travails dealing with doctors and home care. Though it is memoir and not a novel, only Tillman the novelist could have produced it.” – The New York Times Book Review

Lauren Graham, Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember (Ballantine)

“Lauren Graham’s fourth delicious book of musings is fast, furious, smart, and ridiculously funny. Apparently she’s not just our modern-day answer to Carole Lombard, but she has a generous dose of Dorothy Parker thrown in for good measure. It’s not particularly fair, actually. But then again, life never is.” –Amy Sherman-Palladino

RJ Young,  Requiem for the Massacre: A Black History on the Conflict, Hope, and Fallout of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (Counterpoint)

“In recent years the horrors of the destruction of Greenwood, a thriving Black Tulsa neighborhood, have been resurrected by several authors, filmmakers and showrunners. Young’s account not only relies on survivors’ eyewitness testimony but adds the layer of his own upbringing in Oklahoma. Whether discussing his mother’s support for Trump, the traumas of systemic racism or his early career as a sports journalist, Young reclaims the story of Tulsa’s aftermath from the outsiders.” – Los Angeles Times

Johanne Lykke Holm,  Strega   (trans. Saskia Vogel) (Riverhead)

“A work of mythic reinvention about the power of girls coming of age in a world hell-bent on containing their passions and imaginations…. Strega left me breathless, angry, and then thrilled by the dare it leaves in the reader’s lap.” –Lidia Yuknavitch

John Edgar Wideman,  The Homewood Trilogy (Scribner)

“Long admired for its lyricism, Wideman’s work carries with it the rhythms and cadences of black vernacular and music. In his acclaimed Homewood trilogy—the novels  Hiding Place (1981) and  Sent for You Yesterday  (1983), and the short-story collection  Damballah (1981)—he evokes the spiritual and physical life of the working-class black community in Pittsburgh where he grew up.” – The Paris Review

Ethan Joella,  A Quiet Life (Scribner)

“ A Quiet Life is about the transformative power of connection if we are willing to risk opening our hearts. Joella’s characters help each other shoulder the burden of grief and unearth the shards of beauty to be found in the wreckage of loss. There is magic at the intersection of these stories, a rare and addicting alchemy of ordinary moments and choices that add up to whole, brave, flawed, joyful lives. This novel insists on our essential strength, resilience, and empathy in an age of isolation.” –Katie Runde

Marcus Aurelius,  Meditations   (trans. David V. Hicks and C. Scot Hicks) (Scribner)

“This new, accessible translation by Scot and David Hicks of the emperor’s famous Stoic handbook reflects far better the flavor of Marcus Aurelius’s own style. Americans should read Marcus—and this new edition now makes it a joy.” –Victor Davis Hanson

Isaac Butler,  The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to ACT (Bloomsbury)

“Butler accomplishes what the Method’s devotees sought to do in their performances, bringing color and dimension to figures who might have been boxed into archetypal roles (omniscient godhead or exploitative charlatan) and presenting them to us in all their brilliant, infuriating complexity.” – Bookforum

Christopher de Bellaigue,  The Lion House: The Coming of a King (Picador)

“A vivid, cinematic account of the rise of Suleyman the Magnificent….De Bellaigue follows with exhilarating clarity and suspense the era’s broader battles across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and the individual trajectories—grand ambitions, rivalries, betrayals—of these outsiders in Suleyman’s court, a place rife with intrigue and back-stabbing, rich with colorful characters.” – Harper’s

Tim O’Leary,  Dick Cheney Shot Me in the Face…and Other Tales of Men in Pain (Rare Bird Books)

“In the opening and title story of his riveting collection, Timothy O’Leary returns fire, blasting the S.O.B. Cheney with true facts spun out by a fictional victim in a most entertaining way. As with all of the stories, O’Leary’s exuberant, fast-paced style bobs us down rivers of his savvy takes on the cultures, fun, fears, and realities of our time….Each story in this collection is a gem of thought, language and craft. Some are funny, some are darkly funny…and others are dramatic.  All are superbly entertaining.” –Jeff Merrick

Matthew Quick,  We Are the Light (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)

“Filled with everyday guardian angels, this bittersweet, redemptive meditation on rebuilding after the unthinkable reminds readers that beauty can be found even among shattered pieces.  We Are the Light  is a perfect read for anyone in need of an insightful, optimistic view of humanity’s capacity for compassion and growth.” – Shelf Awareness

Shahan Mufti, American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC (Picador)

“Mining thousands of documents from FBI files and Department of Justice records, trial transcripts, and interviews…journalist Mufti fashions a tense, often grisly account of the events leading up to the two-day standoff and the arrests, trial, and aftermath….[An] engrossing work of investigative journalism.” – Kirkus Reviews

Milton Gendel, Cullen Murphy (editor),  Just Passing Through: A Seven-Decade Roman Holiday: The Diaries and Photographs of Milton Gendel (Picador)

“Milton Gendel was the soul of Rome, and for decades all roads truly did lead to him. He never stopped amazing us with his wit, his knowledge, and his social life (ranging from the local trattoria to Buckingham Palace, with people like Evelyn Waugh tossed in the mix). To fill the void left by his death in 2018, we have the surprise of this gorgeous book. What a gift he left with his diaries and photographs. As someone said to us all those years ago: ‘You don’t know Milton Gendel? You must meet him.'” –John Guare

Mark Braude, Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love, and Rivalry in 1920s Paris (Norton)

“ Kiki Man Ray is a thoroughly researched and gracefully written life of the (until now) underestimated model, performer, painter, actress, and influencer known as Kiki de Montparnasse. Mark Braude’s biography brings her out of the wings and sets her firmly center stage in this evocative portrait of artistic life in the Paris of the 1920s.” –Carolyn Burke

Beverly Gage,  G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century (Penguin)

“This is a monumental work about power, responsibility, and democracy itself. With deep research, an engaging voice, and penetrating insights, Beverly Gage has crafted a portrait of a man and a country in all its complexity and contradiction. To understand who we are, Gage argues, we need to understand the rise and reign of J. Edgar Hoover. And this book is now an indispensable element in the unending work of grasping the nature of our flawed nation.” –Jon Meacham

Chris Whipple,  The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House (Scribner)

“In this feat of a book, Whipple assesses the Biden presidency at the halfway point [and] has managed what seems to be a first: a two-year running conversation with a White House chief of staff. Whipple’s comprehensive approach adds dimension to the news stream and Whipple shines when he lets people talk…. The Fight of His Life  is a herculean effort. For any future writer eager to describe Biden’s first two years, this will be the book cited first and most often.” – The New York Times Book Review

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